Dear John,

What possibilities could open up for Black mothers experiencing poverty if financial survival weren’t always top of mind? What dreams would these mothers and their families be able to pursue? Front and Center, a new year-long Ms. series launched this week, will answer these questions through the first-hand narratives of Black women participating in the Magnolia Mother’s Trust—a guaranteed income program in Jackson, Miss. sponsored by Springboard to Opportunities. They write candidly about their unique struggles, and the importance of receiving support. 

“We are at a unique moment in our history where the deeply entrenched problems of racism and sexism are finally being exposed and addressed,” I wrote in an introduction to the series, with Springboard’s chief executive officer Dr. Aisha Nyandoro. “The pandemic has cracked open some much-needed empathy within our leaders, who seem to be listening to the growing number of voices calling for an economy that works for all. ... The fact is, our economy does not function without women. And we must learn from the lessons of the past to create a long-overdue system that works for us all.”

Thursday, we released the first edition of Front and Center: Single mother Tia opens up about how guaranteed income changed her own life, as one of the first 20 participants in Magnolia Mother’s Trust. “It’s different when you have that little extra help. My rent went up, and that was okay, I could handle it,” wrote Tia. “My car broke down, I was able to get it fixed right away. Things would happen, but I could take care of them. ... I get emotional talking about it, but I just feel very honored. Because I was able to get that little push, and that’s what I needed. And so many people need that, just a little push.”

Tia is only one of millions of parents who have struggled to balance work and child care, especially over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. We report on how President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and his proposed American Jobs Plan make substantial investments in caregiving infrastructure, including child care and home health care workers. 

And when Politico claimed it was “silly to call [caregiving] infrastructure,” feminists took to Twitter with the hashtag #WhatsSilly in response. “They pointed out that the work of caregivers is what allows our economy to function normally, even though their work is too often devalued and underpaid,” writes Katie Fleischer for Ms.

In another win for feminists, the Biden administration announced a proposal to rescind the Trump-era domestic gag rule that stripped Title X funding from any provider who offers abortion care or provides referrals for these resources. The proposal asserts that the domestic gag rule may have resulted in over 180 thousand unintended pregnancies by cutting down on family planning resources in underserved communities. 

“Over four million people rely on Title X funded clinics to receive their reproductive health care, including access to birth control, STI screening and treatment, and breast and cervical cancer screenings,” Dr. Jamila Perritt, CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health, said in a statement. “These four million people deserve the same information about all of their health care options.” 

And finally this week, as we await the verdict of Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, On the Issues podcast host Michele Goodwin asks, “Who Killed George Floyd?” In the first of a three-part series and the focus of an upcoming podcast, Michele explores the hidden truths about midwestern racism: how “racism in policing, housing, employment and resistance to integration is a problem that extends up the liberal, socio-economic ladder.”

For equality,

Kathy Spillar
Executive Editor