Posts by amstrat

Sen. Kamala Harris hopes to reach a key Democratic voting bloc with her new column in Essence Magazine, a periodical geared toward African American women and a staple in black households for almost 50 years. For Harris, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, “Kamala’s Corner” gives her an opportunityto speak directly to a black female…

This month, a record number of women will be on stage when the Democrats meet for their first presidential debates. That two of them — Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris — are polling in the top five of the 23-person field only adds to the excitement of this historic moment. Nancy L. CohenYet the women who matter most…

FLINT, Mich. — Ariana Hawk’s trust in the promises that presidential candidates make to black communities evaporated about the same time the 2016 election ended and the candidates stopped coming to town. Flint’s crisis with lead-tainted water had put Hawk’s hometown in the national spotlight, prompting Hillary Clinton and her rivals, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and…

Black women continue to hold significant voting power within the Democratic party. After the 2018 midterms, some political insiders are predicting there could be a historic wave of black women elected to office. Former Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Party, Basil Smikle, and Democratic Strategist, Aisha Moodie-Mills join NBC’s Chris Jansing to…

Walt Whitman saw in trees the wisest of teachers and Hermann Hesse found in them a joyous antidote to the sorrow of our own ephemerality. “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way,” William Blake wrote in his most beautiful letter. “As a…

The construction business is no bed of roses — cutthroat competition makes it hard to stay on top. But one construction and design firm has been making its mark on some of our biggest landmarks.  Cheryl McKissack Daniel now sits atop the oldest African-American-owned and female-run construction company in the nation — a business her…

Pregnancy is a life-threatening condition. Women die from being pregnant. We have known that for thousands of years. They die from hemorrhage, infection, pre-eclampsia (which can lead to fatal seizures), obstructed labor, amniotic fluid embolism, thromboembolism, a ruptured uterus, retained placenta, hydatidiform mole, choriocarcinoma and many other causes that fill the obstetrics textbooks. Modern medicine can prevent and…

Meet Bed, Bath & Beyond’s new interim CEO, Mary Winston. She will be the first black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company since Ursula Burns stepped down as the CEO of Xerox in 2017. Winston has a long career as an executive. Previously, she was executive vice president and chief financial officer of family Dollar Stores.…

Women have sponsored some of the biggest bills in Springfield this session. That’s cause for celebration and continued frustration – they detail why. Read more at the Center for Illinois Politics.

During World War II, 600,000 African-American women entered the wartime workforce. Previously, black women’s work in the United States was largely limited to domestic service and agricultural work, and wartime industries meant new and better-paying opportunities — if they made it through the hiring process, that is. White women were the targets of the U.S.…