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Weekly Digest
Letter from an Editor | May 6, 2023
Dear John,
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) heritage month, and Ms . is highlighting the urgency of remedying persistent representation disparities that impact the AAPI community, and AAPI women in particular.
Despite making up 6 percent of the population, AAPI community members make up just 0.9 percent of elected leaders. In the face of this massive disparity, the appointment of AAPI officials like Julie Su—President Biden’s nominee for labor secretary—are more important than ever.
If confirmed by the Senate, Su would be the second-ever Asian American woman to hold the position. But unfortunately, corporate interests and their lobbyists, scared of her strong pro-labor stance, are working behind closed doors to block her appointment, and a handful of Democratic Senators have yet to indicate how they’ll vote.
On Friday, the House Democratic Women’s Caucus endorsed Su and urged her confirmation “without delay,” according to a report in Politico . In the endorsement statement, DWC Chair Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) stressed that her confirmation would “represent another step towards achieving gender parity among the Secretaries on the President’s Cabinet.” There are currently only 5 women among the 15 Cabinet secretaries.
On May 3rd, Ms . participated with educators nationwide holding teach-ins as part of the Freedom to Learn National Day of Action. At every level, from kindergarten through college levels, educators organized the teach-ins to oppose the coordinated right-wing attacks on academic freedom.
To mark the day, we re-released our Critical Race Theory (CRT) series for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade and college teachers. The Journey to Justice: A Critical Race Theory Primer —a joint initiative between Ms ., the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) and the Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice—includes articles, essays, lesson plans, an annotated bibliography and conversation-starters for teaching critical race theory.
As NWSA president Karsonya Wise Whitehead notes in Ms. , we could not be at a more critical moment for this work. “We have witnessed our colleagues at colleges around the country being targeted or threatened,” she writes. “Women’s and gender studies departments have closed. Public libraries have been defunded. Teachers and librarians have been threatened or fired. And conversations about the historical contributions of African Americans, members of the LGBTQIA community and women have been removed from state curricula.”
This is particularly true in Florida, where last month state officials moved to expand the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, extending the prohibitions on education about LGBTQ+ topics from grades K-3 all the way through 12th grade. And just this week, the state went further, with the legislature passing a bill that will allow the state to take trans minors who receive gender affirming care away from their families.
In the face of these attacks, Whitehead calls on us to step up: “These are perilous times that call upon us to do more,” she says.
We couldn’t agree more, and hope you’ll join us.
Onward,
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Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor
This Week's Must-Reads from Ms.
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Women Need Julie Su as Our Next Labor Secretary. The Labor Movement Is Ready to Fight for Her [[link removed]] Afghan Women Tell Special Envoys Not to Recognize the Taliban and ‘Refrain From Compromising Our Rights’ [[link removed]]
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Critical Race Theory Curriculum Brings Crucial Discussions on Race, Gender and History to Classrooms Across the U.S. [[link removed]] I’m the Professor Fox News Warns You About [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on
Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] + Spotify [[link removed]] .
In this episode, Dr. Goodwin is joined by law professor and author Dr. Julie Suk to discuss her urgent, new book, After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What To Do About It , and explore how turning a lens on misogyny can help us to better understand the social, political, and legal challenges of these times. In the face of these challenges, how can women fight back?
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!
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U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms . has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you [[link removed]] . We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity .
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