As an African feminist pushing against how systems of oppression endeavor to constrain and diminish, I am concerned with the functions of violence. Violence in its myriad forms serves to inscribe who is deemed human and who is not, who is considered deserving of dignity and who must be stripped of it. It is a [...]
Elizabeth Freeman was an enslaved person living in Massachusetts when the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago. The document’s famous words “all men are created equal” did not apply to her, but she thought they should. Subscribe to Mother Jones podcasts on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app. “She is somebody who […]
Last year, at a Women’s History Month event, Donald Trump called himself the “fertilization president.” The moniker is an obviously pronatalist one, and it comes alongside a rise of cultural and political concern over the birth rate, particularly on the right. That concern is based on the fact that the United States birth rate has fallen considerably since 2007.