Dear John,
This week marked the beginning of Black History Month—and while the accomplishments of Black feminists are worth celebrating all year long, we at Ms. wanted to spotlight the lives and legacies of some of the groundbreaking Black feminists who have been featured on our magazine’s covers and in its pages over the past 50 years.
From Anita Hill’s powerful breakdown of how sexual harassment holds women back in the workplace from our Jan./Feb. 1992 issue, to our 2022 commemoration of bell hooks—the Black feminist guide who saved so many of our lives—you can dive into the archive with us, at MsMagazine.com. (And be sure to stay tuned throughout the year for more historical looks back as we celebrate 50 years of reporting, rebelling and truth telling—and look towards the next 50).
Speaking of Black feminist leaders, this week we applauded Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who along with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), introduced a joint resolution to affirm the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and remove the arbitrary deadline for its ratification, recognizing the amendment as part of the Constitution.
“Our resolution will help address centuries of gender disparities in America by removing the unnecessary barriers that have prevented us from enshrining the dignity, humanity and equality of all people into our Constitution,” said Pressley. “We as women have done our job, the states have done their job, and now it’s time for Congress to do its job and pass this resolution.”
Finally, later today anti-abortion activists will congregate across the U.S. for a day of protests targeting pharmacies that, in the wake of a recent FDA ruling, have announced plans to become certified to dispense mifepristone (abortion pills)—which include Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid. Some of the groups behind the protests, advocates note, have connections to violent, anti-abortion extremists.
“These extremists are infamous for stalking physicians, invading clinics, and bullying patients and clinic staff,” said duVergne Gaines, director of Feminist Majority’s National Clinic Access Project, speaking to Ms. “Groups like PAAU, the Survivors and Live Action are doing their best to grab headlines and terrorize pharmacies out of providing critical access to the abortion pill, but they must be stopped.”
Mark our words—when it comes to accessing abortion, whether it’s at the pharmacy or at the clinic or online, feminists won’t back down.
Onward,
