Personal Essay

Front and Center: ‘Maybe It’s Just Not My Time to Be Doing Everything I Hope For,’ Says Mississippi Mom of Four

Front & Center began as first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. Moving into the fourth year and next phase of this series, we’re expanding our focus beyond a single policy intervention to include a broader examination of systemic issues impacting Black women experiencing poverty. This means diving deeper into the interconnected challenges they face—including navigating the existing safety net; healthcare, childcare and elder care; and the importance of mental, physical and spiritual well-being.

Shomari is a mom of four who is struggling to find work because she doesn’t have reliable childcare. “My ideal future includes working a career I like, my kids doing well in school and extracurricular activities, and living in a house with a yard where my kids feel comfortable. I dream of going on vacations and providing a safe, stable environment for my family.”

I Refused to Let Texas’ Abortion Ban Decide My Life. Other Women Aren’t So Lucky.

The following is Madysyn Anderson’s personal story, as told to Courier Dallas:

“SB 8 became Texas law on Sept. 1, and I found out about my pregnancy just a couple of weeks later. I didn’t want an unwanted pregnancy to prevent me from completing the biggest achievement in my life thus far. I decided that I wanted to share my experience with abortion and be an educational resource.

“Unless our country gets a reality check about who we elect to office and we educate ourselves on their positions, we women have no hope of deciding whether we want to start a family or not—or if we want to carry a rapist’s child. We stand no chance unless we fight for what we believe in.”

Gun Violence—A Black Feminist Issue: An Excerpt From Roxane Gay’s New Essay, ‘Stand Your Ground’

Bold and personal, Roxane Gay unpacks gun culture and gun ownership in America from a Black feminist perspective in her latest work, “Sand Your Ground.”

“It is appalling that women and people with uteruses have lost such a fundamental right to bodily autonomy. And it is not lost on me that women in many states have more rights as gun owners than they do as women. The power to take a life is more constitutionally and culturally valuable than a woman’s right to live freely. I do not know how to reconcile this reality with my feminism.”

The Complexities of Choice: An OB-GYN’s Perspective on Abortion and Autonomy

A personal narrative by Dr. Katherine Brown, an OB-GYN physician who provides comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including abortion services. She reflects on the evolution of her understanding of her role as a physician, emphasizing the importance of humility and recognizing the expertise of her patients in making decisions about their own reproductive health. Dr. Brown criticizes political interference in abortion care, arguing that such decisions should be left to the individuals directly affected.

“Abortion can be relief but at the same time despair. Abortion can be the right decision, and at the same time feels like the only decision among a set of horrible decisions. What always remains true is the patient is the one who is the expert of their lives. No one can know what is right for them.”

A Year of Guaranteed Income Means ‘Freedom’ for This Single Mom and Her Son

Front and Center offers first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. First launched in 2018, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT) is the longest-running guaranteed income program in the U.S. Across the country, guaranteed income pilots like MMT are finding that recipients are overwhelmingly using their payments for basic needs like groceries, housing and transportation.

“MMT has given me more freedom. Freedom of mind, freedom from stress. Freedom from thinking, ‘I know I have this bill coming but I don’t know if I’m going to have the money to pay.’ It’s a relief to know that I can just go to bed and wake up and know that at the end of the day, it’s going to be taken care of.”

My Daughter Was Assaulted in a Hospital. Body Cams Could Have Brought Us Justice.

Six people assaulted or aided the assault on my daughter for no medical outcome. Her first experience with penetration in her private area was by an adult male, decades older, who overpowered her and refused to listen to her.

Especially when male doctors are going to be in the vicinity of female private parts, there must be consent, at all ages, at all times. If the ER staff wore body cams, if I had a video of that hospital room to offer as evidence of the sexual assault of a minor—a toddler—as evidence that the Hippocratic oath was breached, then I would be less likely to be seen as a mother overreacting.

The Case for a Guaranteed Income for Single Moms: ‘Everybody Needs a Little Extra Cushion, Especially When You Have Kids’

Front and Center offers first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. First launched in 2018, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT) is about to enter its fifth cohort, bringing the number of moms served to more than 400 and making it the longest-running guaranteed income program in the country. Across the country, guaranteed income pilots like MMT are finding that recipients are overwhelmingly using their payments for basic needs like groceries, housing and transportation.

“My main goals during this year of receiving funds is to find regular schools for my kids that offer them opportunities. And next year, or the year after, I’d like to find a house with a yard so they can feel comfortable. Something that’s ours.

“I’m so happy to be a part of this program. … I think it should be a standard all across the world. Mothers do so much every single day. Everybody needs a little extra cushion, especially when you have kids.”

Rep. Kamlager-Dove: ‘IVF Allowed Me to Dream of Motherhood’

Last month, the Alabama State Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children. The result: In vitro fertilization, or IVF, was paused for women across the state.  

Can you imagine the frustration that those women must be feeling? I can.

In Congress, I will continue to fight so that no one else has to go through the devastation that Alabama women are facing right now.  

Before the Stopping Starts

As I got older, I began to understand that things will get weirder and weirder before your period stops—something every woman should know before the stopping starts.

Then something else will happen. You will begin to notice a large chunk of the world, nearly invisible until now: an army of cool, older women, the ones who have emerged on the other side and flourished. In their eyes you will catch a glimpse of the person you want to become. You will do away with pretense then, giving up whatever is keeping you from beginning to live the rest of your life. And this is where the flamenco dancing might come in.

Front and Center: Single Mothers ‘Are Having to Work Two or Three Jobs and Beg for Help Just to Make It’

Back for its third year, Front and Center is a groundbreaking Ms. series that offers first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. First launched in 2018, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust is about to enter its fifth cohort, bringing the number of moms served to more than 400 and making it the longest-running guaranteed income program in the country. Across the country, guaranteed income pilots like MMT are finding that recipients are overwhelmingly using their payments for basic needs like groceries, housing and transportation.

“It feels like the people in power are boosting the cost of everything and it’s making it harder for us to survive, especially when there’s so little help out there. A lot of my family and friends are having to work two or three jobs and beg for help just to make it.”