Monday, April 14

Journalism

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Journalism

The Joyful Intersections of Disability Justice, Care, and Pleasure

A different kind of disability care is possible—and necessary. When I think of care and pleasure, I think of: • Me and my partner hanging out in bed during a “bed day,” constantly communicating about what hurts and what positions our bodies need to be in, offering to make each other tea or bringing over the chips. Spooning, reading, telling stories, making out and napping, in the middle of a massive pillow pile. We aren’t trying to cram ourselves into an able-bodied vision of what sexy or a relationship is; it’s totally OK for us to rest, chill, care for ourselves and each other. Our care needs are not some gross secret walled off from date night. • Or my friend whose multi-decade-old disability care collective helps her get on the toilet, shower, and dress every day, and people ...
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Journalism

JPMorgan settles biggest-ever anti-dad bias case

Payout resolves a 2017 complaint brought by ACLU alleging bank discriminated against a father seeking parental leave. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay $5 million to resolve a discrimination claim filed by a male employee who alleged the bank's parental leave policy was biased against dads. The payout resolves a 2017 complaint brought by the American Civil Liberties Union alleging bias against Derek Rotondo, who had applied unsuccessfully for the 16-week parental leave benefit available to employees who are the "primary caregiver" of a new kid. JPMorgan doesn't admit liability in the settlement. It's the biggest recorded settlement in a U.S. parental leave discrimination case, according to Rotondo's attorneys, and the most high-profile warning to c...
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Journalism

When Does a Person of Color Get to Be an Expat?

Around the world, the term is often synonymous with White people from affluent countries. I’m Black. I’m Hispanic. I’m a woman. And I’m an American who has lived “outside their native country” in Cameroon, Costa Rica, and now Istanbul, Turkey. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this makes me an expatriate, or expat. But I wrestle with the term, not because of its textbook definition, but because of its nuance. Expat is often synonymous with White people from affluent countries, mostly because they’ve traditionally chosen to self-identify this way. The word conjures up images of British aesthetes in Tangier, or American and European retirees in a take-your-pick of tropical paradises. And more recently, multinational executives in post-colonial states and internat...
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How New Yorkers Stood Up to Amazon and Won

Queens activists, unions, and political leaders worried about gentrification and opposed the $1.2 billion in tax breaks offered to the retail giant. When Amazon announced in November it would establish another headquarters in Long Island City, in the Queens borough of New York, the reaction wasn’t all positive. A group of local activists, unions, and political leaders voiced their opposition to the $1.2 billion in tax breaks the city and state offered the retail giant. Many cities had actively courted the company in hopes of investment and jobs. But the Queens contingent also feared increased gentrification and displacement from the neighborhood and came together to fight the decision. In February, the resistance scored a victory when Amazon abandoned its plans in New York. ...
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Stop Ignoring Mothering as Work

No one should be forced to mother, but women who choose that journey deserve political, social, and structural support. Every year during Women’s History Month we reflect on the many accomplishments of women and their contributions to society. Now that the month is over, it’s time to face a glaring omission so that it’s not repeated next March. This year, I was particularly concerned that the month’s overfocus on the secular and professional accomplishments of women brought an unintended consequence to undermine mothering as valuable work equally worthy of high-fives, GIFs, reposting, and tweeting. Women’s History Month or any such celebration is not complete until women are honored for their productive work—and their reproductive work. That means acknowledging work that’...
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Will Caster Semenya Be the One to Finally Bring Down Gender Policing?

On what basis do you exclude athletes because of who they are? Natural testosterone is a human condition. Caster Semenya, one of the world’s greatest female middle-distance runners, may be forced to quit the event she has dominated for a decade. After easily winning the 800-meter race at an international meet in Doha on May 3, the South African athlete was defiant in saying she won’t comply with new restrictions that will be placed on her at future competitions. “No man, or any other human, can stop me from running,” she said after the race, her first—and possibly last—competition since a controversial ruling by the supreme court of international sport. Her defiant words were in reaction to a horrible ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which denied an appeal b...
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While Paywalls Reign the Publishing Industry, Academic Papers Are Freely Accessible on the Dark Web

Modern digital piracy transcends almost all aspects of life. In this equation, the dark web and cryptocurrencies have fueled global piracy schemes. If you think that pirated material is only restricted to movies and music, you’ll be very mistaken. Today, piracy has become a solution to every item that is deemed expensive by the online world—even academic material. There exists a current war between academic factions and stakeholders about the need to tax academic research. While this battle rages on the surface, a host of academic materials have seeped deep into the underground, onto darknet websites. Significance of Academic Piracy A majority of scholarly materials are confined within paywalls, and unless you are logged into a university’s network with costly subscription, you must pa...
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The History and Political Power of Black Motherhood

Author Dani McClain wants us to stop pathologizing Black mothers’ experiences in this country. I first became a mother at 20 years old and was 22 when I had my second child. What I learned about the technicalities of being pregnant and what to expect came from what some have called the pregnancy bible, What to Expect When You’re Expecting. But, like many mothers, the practicalities and examples of motherhood came from the women in my family: my mother, my six aunts, and my maternal and paternal grandmothers. From them I learned what I wanted to do—and what I didn’t want to do. I made mistakes. But looking back, I realize I worked at it—hard. I find labels like, “stay-at-home mom,” “homemaker” “housewife” and “single mom” disparaging; there’s something even backhandedly co...
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For Black Women, Reproductive Justice Is About More Than High-Risk Pregnancies

Infertility affects Black women twice as much as other women—and they’re less likely to seek assistance. Lately, more light has been shed on the risks Black women face during pregnancy and childbirth. While this is good, another struggle remains largely hidden for Black woman—becoming pregnant. While infertility affects roughly 12 percent of the population, Black women are twice as likely to experience challenges achieving or sustaining a pregnancy—and less likely to seek assistance. According to Juli Fraga, a psychologist who specializes in women’s health, including pregnancy-related depression, infertility can severely harm women’s mental health. “Depression, anxiety, PTSD, unresolved grief/loss, and marital tension are all possible mental health consequences of infer...
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