Interview With Brittany Packnett Cunningham: On Building Teams, Not Saviors And What It Will Take To Achieve Racial Justice
This year, as we’ve witnessed blatant and brutal police violence toward the Black community, award-winning educator, organizer, writer, and leader Brittany Packnett Cunningham has become a sought-after voice and expert on these issues. I had the opportunity to talk to Packnett Cunningham and get her powerful insights about this pivotal moment, how we can support Black women’s leadership, the importance of encouraging confidence and ambition in women, how to make sure we turn out the vote this November, what self-care means to her and what we can all do to advance racial justice to create, as she put it, “equitable, free, liberated societies where not only can people live and survive but all people can thrive.”
Interview with Arianna Huffington: On New Work-Life Strategies that Boost Resilience and Prioritize Well-Being During COVID and Beyond
As working from home becomes the new normal, studies are showing that working parents are increasingly feeling overwhelmed, confused and stressed. Reports are also now beginning to indicate that more and more women are being forced to drop out of the workforce at an alarming rate. Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global, is stepping in to help provide guidance and solutions.
In this interview, Huffington shares her perspective on the challenges working families are facing, the strategies Thrive is offering, her advice on self-care during COVID, how to proactively address the growing impact on women, and her personal insight and guidance on how to best manage our lives and well-being during these stressful and uncertain times.
News, Resources, and Actions
Now Is the Time for Women’s Leadership
By Cristina Escobar
Of course, it was a Black woman, Dawn Wooten, who blew the whistle on ICE. Wooten revealed a racist pattern of nonconsensual hysterectomies (forced sterilization having a long and ugly history in the US) and a lack of Coronavirus protections for immigrants in federal detention. Friendly reminder, many of those immigrants have committed no crime but are being treated as criminals anyway.
As we mourn Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it is women who are standing up to honor her legacy, whether it’s Nancy Pelosi arranging for her to be the first woman (and first Jewish person) to lie in the State capital or Senators Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and the entire Democratic caucus (38% women) demanding we honor Justice Ginsburg’s dying words: “My most fervent wish is that I not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
You see, we need women leaders and when we don’t have them, we suffer. Just look at which countries are controlling the coronavirus and which are not.
Say Her Name: Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor was murdered in her own home by police at the start of the pandemic. After months of organizing for justice, the state of Kentucky refused to hold anyone accountable, issuing just one indictment—wanton endangerment—against just one of the officers involved, the one who fired but missed Breonna Taylor. As political commentator Jemele Hill said, “The state of Kentucky deemed the lives of Breonna Taylor’s neighbors to be worth more than her own. Let that sink in.”
Immediately, the Black Lives Matter community organized protests, demanding justice for Taylor and Black women everywhere. They were met by an angry, emboldened establishment who rather than focusing on record-high rates of the Coronavirus, responded by surrounding a church harboring protestors after curfew and arresting and charging with a Class-D felony Attica Scott, the Kentucky State Representative who sponsored Breonna’s Law and the state’s only Black woman legislator. Perhaps it is time to listen to Black women rather than arrest and persecute them.
The Economy
America remains the country with the most Coronavirus deaths—more than 200,000—despite having only 4% of the world’s population. As we continue sheltering in place, distance learning, and getting Zoom fatigue, the economy, and particularly women, suffer. In-home aid workers, child care providers, and public sector employees, all predominantly women, are facing huge losses. Hunger looms and we need to listen to the women on the ground leading the response.
Self Care
So while we put out the fires around us, handle extreme weather, and deal with hurricanes, please remember to take care of yourself, the planet, and each other. With everything going on, your mental health is as important (and as endangered) as ever. Be sure to make a plan to vote (we hope you’ve registered already, but if not you still can in many states). Try some yoga, a well-cooked meal, or even a protest.
Authors Featured: Biba Adams, Jasmine Aguilera, Lauren Aratani, Yuriria Avila, Carrie Bauer, Veronica Bravo, Paul Butler, Angelina Chapin, Laura Coates, Britni de la Cretaz, Drew DeSilver, Matthew Dicks, Rachel Epstein, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Kashmira Gander, Supriya Garikipati, Joan E Greve, Elana Lyn Gross, Jocelyn Grzeszczak, Ellie Hall, Barbara Harvey, Christal Hayes, Katie Holbrook, Rachel Janfaza, Tolu Lawrence, Uma S Kambhampati, Jasmine C. Lee, Alex Leeds Matthews, Clarissa-Jan Lim, German Lopez, Sarah Mervosh, Ligaya Mishan, Sara M Moniuszko, Rebecca Morin, Victoria Oakes, José Olivares, Jaclyn Peiser, Melanye Price, Maria Puente, Manu Raju, Cassy Sarnell,Marianne Schnall, Deirdre Shesgreen, Jeremy Stahl, Alex Stitt, Harron Walker, Airen Washington, John Washington, Karla Ward, Abby Wendle, Josh Wood, and Soo Youn
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