Archive for March 2018
The status of women of color in the U.S. news media 2018: full report
The Women’s Media Center report “The Status of Women of Color in the U.S. News Media 2018” offers a rare look at where women journalists of color are — and aren’t — in legacy print, radio, TV, and digital news. It is an important extension and extrapolation of data previously published in the Women’s Media…
Read MoreInvest in more women of color in 2018
Today, women stand at a moment of political ascendance in America. As the Women’s Marches, the #MeToo movement, and 2018’s first TIME Magazine cover make clear, women are evolving from resistance fighters to power brokers. But while women are running for office in record numbers, they continue to face considerable challenges. In our work with…
Read MoreArena original Lauren Underwood makes history
Lauren Underwood, an Arena Fellow, has won her primary and is now the Democratic nominee for US Congress in the Illinois 14th District. In an upset victory against six challengers, Lauren won with 57.3% of the vote with 99% of precincts reporting. What’s more, this primary marks historic turnout in Illinois, with 48,743 votes counted.…
Read MoreBlack politics 2.0: The post-Obama generation is so done with the Democratic Party’s old ways
On a Friday afternoon in late September, dozens of young black political hopefuls gathered at a restaurant in Northwest Washington to talk strategy and shore one another up. Nearby at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference was underway, bringing together lawmakers, activists, faith leaders and others to assess…
Read MoreThe Black Ceiling: Why African-American Women Aren’t Making It to the Top in Corporate America
It was supposed to be different by now. When Ursula Burns quietly shut off the light to her office as Xerox CEO at the end of 2016, her departure also cast a light on a sad statistic: There are currently zero African-American women running Fortune 500 companies. Burns’ appointment to the top job in 2009 had been hailed as a…
Read MoreThe Feminism of Black Panther vs. Wonder Woman
First, I’ll start off this article by stating a simple fact: I saw Black Panther on opening night, and since then, I’ve wanted to write this post. I walked out of that film with so many ideas to talk about, I was nigh bursting. However, I waited this long to post anything about Black Panther…
Read MoreOVERLOOKED
It was not all that unusual when, in 1892, a mob dragged Thomas Moss out of a Memphis jail in his pajamas and shot him to death over a feud that began with a game of marbles. But his lynching changed history because of its effect on one of the nation’s most influential journalists, who…
Read MoreGuidebook maps the legacy of black women on Chicago’s South Side
With its boarded-up windows and rusting wrought-iron fence, the abandoned three-story mansion in the 4700 block of South King Drive doesn’t look historically significant. But in the 1930s, the elegant greystone was where Melissia Ann Elam, a woman born into slavery and later emancipated, provided housing and social services to other black women and girls who…
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