U.S. Gun Culture Is Killing Our Children—Including My Own

Six years ago, my beautiful boy was shot in the head at his best friend’s house. His friend’s father stored his three handguns and ammunition in a shoebox. We later learned that Ethan’s friend, who had just passed the NRA safety course and grew up with guns, had been regularly accessing and showing his teenage friends unsecured guns for over six months.

Ethan’s death was not an outlier. Over 4.6 million children in America live in a home with access to an unlocked or unsupervised firearm. And one in five children have handled guns in the home without their parent’s knowledge. As a result, eight children a day are killed or injured by unintentional shootings—a type of “family fire,” or a tragedy resulting from unsecured access to guns. Family fire killed Ethan, despite being entirely preventable. We can start to end this war by safely storing firearms and asking about unsecured guns in the home where our children go to play.

Legislators Should Protect Domestic Violence Survivors Like Me

These words are being written from inside Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud, Oklahoma. We are nearly one month into 2024 and I’m nearing the end of my 26th year of incarceration. Why are so many domestic violence survivors like me locked up in America? After all, I’m far from alone. 

For years, my ex-fiancé raped, choked, beat and stalked me. On numerous occasions, he even threatened to kill me and my son. People have asked me over the years, “Why didn’t you just leave?” How I wish it were that easy.

Single Moms Receiving Guaranteed Income: ‘It’s a Relief to Know I Have That Extra Income Coming In’

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.

“I work from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon everyday, and anytime there is something I can do to earn a little extra … I do it. … I receive $92 a month in SNAP benefits (food stamps), which is not nearly enough to cover my grocery bill for the month. And that’s why I’m so grateful for MMT—I can go spend cash on some groceries, and my baby and I are still good. Cash is more helpful than SNAP because I can buy groceries with cash, but I can’t pay bills with SNAP.”

The Difference a Guaranteed Income Makes: ‘I’ve Been Sleeping Better. I’ve Been Eating Better.’

Front and Center is a groundbreaking series created in partnership with the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which aims to put front and center the voices of Black women who are affected most by the often-abstract policies debated at the national level.

“This is my first month being a part of Magnolia Mother’s Trust and it has already made a huge difference physically and emotionally. … I’ve been sleeping better. I’ve been eating better.

“To the politicians who say programs like the Magnolia Mother’s Trust shouldn’t be expanded because it’ll stop families from working, I want to say that there are people who are working, who want to better themselves, who are trying to move out of the unsafe apartment complex that they’re in, or start a business. These programs help with that.”

Front and Center: ‘We Need More Resources as Single Moms to Take Care of Kids’

Front and Center is a groundbreaking series created in partnership with the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which aims to put front and center the voices of Black women who are affected most by the often-abstract policies debated at the national level.

Yamiracle first shared her story with Ms. in 2022. While she was receiving funds through the Magnolia Mother’s Trust program, she was able to pay off debt and put a down payment on a car, but is struggling to navigate receiving any benefits from the traditional social safety net.

“Programs like the Magnolia Mother’s Trust don’t make people lazy—they make us feel like we have people who understand where we’re coming from and what it’s like to be a single mom trying to raise and take good care of our children.”

Front and Center: ‘We’re Working and Making Money, It’s Still Not Enough. Our Kids Are Going Without.’

Front and Center is a groundbreaking series created in partnership with the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, which aims to put front and center the voices of Black women who are affected most by the often-abstract policies debated at the national level.

“The last time I applied for SNAP, they told me I made too much to qualify. So, I’m not making enough at work to be able to care for my people, and at the same time I can’t get food stamps? It doesn’t make any sense. … And what we do bring home goes toward rent. And just like the Rental Assistance Program, as soon as I’m making a little bit more money—boom, I’m paying the full amount of rent. So how can we ever save? How can we ever do better for ourselves?”

September 2023 Reads for the Rest of Us

Each month, we provide Ms. readers with a list of new books being published by writers from historically excluded groups.

The spectacular 50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution will go on sale Sept. 19 from Knopf; pre-order yours and get it sent to your door. It is seriously magnificent.

Oh, and check out these 30 other fantastic books releasing this month!

Barbie and My Midlife Crisis

This year has found me clinging to youth with more gusto than ever. One of my kids mused, “Why can’t you be like other middle-aged people?” I shrugged, but I guess it’s because I think you’re either young or old. And I know which one I’d choose. Then I saw Barbie.

Greta Gerwig’s film has been labeled a feminist triumph (or failure) and a manifesto against (or tool of) corporate capitalism, but for me, it’s all about my midlife crisis (or “transition” to be kind). In the film, Barbie finds herself having irrepressible thoughts of death—and before she knows it, her perfect body and her dream world start showing signs of Real World flaws. Outside of Barbieland, much of our collective panic about dwindling youth stems from a culture that glorifies being young while rendering older people—particularly women—invisible.

‘Banned! Voices from the Classroom’: Call for Submissions

Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Submit pitches and/or completed draft op-eds and reflections (between 500-800 words) to Aviva Dove-Viebahn at adove-viebahn@msmagazine.com. Posts will be accepted on a rolling basis, with posting beginning in August 2023.