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“While I am so proud to have achieved elected office, it’s without a doubt the most mentally and emotionally taxing job I’ve ever had,” writes Portland, ME city councilmember Victoria Pelletier. (Left: @councilorvictoria; Right: courtesy RepresentWomen)

BY VICTORIA PELLETIER | I was elected to the Portland, Maine, City Council in November 2022, in what I call the ‘new generation’ of Black leadership in public office. After the murder of George Floyd and the racial awakening this country experienced in 2020, we saw record-breaking numbers of Black women campaigning and being elected to public office.

Despite my excitement for more of us in elected positions, we are still severely underrepresented in government—and I believe this is by design. Our current system not only enhances the barriers that stop us from accessing public office but also hinders our ability to craft equitable policies once elected.

(Click here to read more)

BY FELICIA KORNBLUH | Black leaders were critical to the formation of the modern reproductive rights movement. Before the end of Black History Month, we should pause and remember some of the leaders who shaped the movement in the years before Roe v. Wade.

(Click here to read more) 

Azeema Mohaideen Batchelor with her children in late 2023. (Courtesy)

BY AZEEMA MOHAIDEEN BATCHELOR | For over a decade, I have been faced with constant reminders of the long and winding road it took for me to become a mother.

In the wake of last week’s Alabama Supreme Court ruling, there are very obvious places along the way where the whims of a judge who would like a Christian theocracy would supersede the wishes of myself, my husband and the suggestions of my doctors—well-educated and well-known experts in their field. 

(Click here to read more) 

Listen to United Bodies—a new podcast about the lived experience of health, from Ms. Studios, on Apple Podcasts + Spotify. 

Moving your body, in any way you can, can be a liberating experience—to feel your power, your strength, your security and resiliency through a step forward, a dance, a roll or stroll through nature. This week, we explore how two efforts centered around movement are leading to transformative liberation for those involved, starting with Morgan Dixon and GirlTrek and following with AJ Williams, a documentarian working on a film about accessible recreation.

We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!

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