Black motherhood ain’t for the weak. Between the infuriating Black maternal health crisis, the horrible job market and the depressing economy (Have you purchased a tank of gas lately?), the […] The post Rihanna’s Liberating Approach to Motherhood: What She’s Taught Us appeared first on Essence .
By Bridgette Bartlett Royall ·Updated May 8, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… Black motherhood ain’t for the weak.
Between the infuriating
The post Rihanna’s Liberating Approach to Motherhood: What She’s Taught Us appeared first on Essence.
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WerQfest, St. Louis ‘s premier Black queer arts and culture festival, is back for its seventh year, and the 2026 edition is shaping up to be its biggest yet. On July 11, the festival returns to The Atomic Pavilion by Jamo with a headlining lineup that brings together some of the most exciting names …
This article was copublished with Truthdig . Taylor Townsell remembers her OBGYN reassuring her that her IUD insertion would feel like “just a pinch.” The pain came a split second later. The 32-year-old described it to Truthdig in still-vivid detail: “Bright, electric, as if my body had become nothi…
The grass grows tall on the MacDowell residency’s 450 acres, making arrival on its grounds feel like trespass and invitation at once. In Peterborough, New Hampshire, the road gives way to a quiet grammar of field, wood, and studio all existing in harmony.
Everyone is talking about affordability right now, mainly because of skyrocketing gas, grocery, and housing prices. But I’ve noticed this discourse lacks any mention of an essential expense millions of Americans rely on: birth control .
Please note that SCOTUS Outside Opinions constitute the views of outside contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff. In a previous piece for SCOTUSblog, I suggested a somewhat unconventional way to gauge which are the most important Supreme Court cases: simpl…
Please note that SCOTUS Outside Opinions constitute the views of outside contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SCOTUSblog or its staff. Every day, Americans are witnessing the most significant expansion of presidential power in modern times.
Gilmore Girls is a tale of reproductive justice. I’ll die on this hill. Where many see just a perfect, cozy show to watch in the fall, my many, many rewatches have shown me something deeper about this 2000s-era TV hit.
Rebecca Lindsey is no stranger to challenging the status quo. From an early age, she built a reputation for being outspoken. Her mother, a teacher, encouraged an inquisitive spirit on Lindsey and her sister Mary, even to the chagrin of administrators at the schools they attended.
Click to expand Image A demonstration against the deportations of young adults held at Sergels torg in Stockholm on May 10, 2026. © Susanne Bergsten (Stockholm) – Sweden is deporting young women to countries where they could face severe gender-based rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today.
On Friday, July 3, ESSENCE LUXE transformed the garden at the Four Seasons New Orleans into an intimate luxury shopping destination. Festival attendees and VIP guests had the rare opportunity to shop directly from some of fashion’s most celebrated Black designers.
Click to expand Image An activist at EU Commission headquarters protests against a meeting with a Taliban delegation in Brussels, Belgium, June 23, 2026. © 2026 Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images The European Union hosted a delegation of Taliban officials in Brussels on June 22 for the first time si…
Most of us have seen the photograph by now. I keep coming back to the masks. Masks have always carried meaning. A surgeon wears one to protect a patient. Someone recovering from an illness wears one to protect themselves and others.
US Communications Assistant Organization Founded in 1968, the Guttmacher Institute is a global leader in advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Through a unique and interrelated program of high-quality research, evidence-based advocacy and strategic communications, the Institute…
Over 70 million people depend on Medicaid. The Trump administration and members of Congress who constantly turn to the program to make cuts, want you to think that's a problem. It isn't—it's the point .
Later abortion is one of the most stigmatized and least understood aspects of reproductive health, and yet some of the voices perpetuating that stigma come from inside the reproductive rights movement itself.
On Sunday, T.I., and his live orchestra, wasn’t the only closing act of Essence Festival 2026. Earlier that day, Essence hosted our first Black Women in Music Awards in eight years, honoring the artists who’ve made historic contributions in the industry.
On the morning of June 11, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), a grassroots pro-democracy organization focused on registration, civic engagement and community organizing for marginalized communities.
Last week, the Supreme Court finished handing down its opinions in argued cases this term. In light of its decisions on birthright citizenship and the administrative state , one decision, from the prior week, may be somewhat easy to overlook. But I think this ruling is of great importance.
Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, is facing mounting pressure to drop out of the race following an allegation of sexual assault, which he’s denied. Platner, a military veteran, oyster farmer and first-time candidate, launched his campaign against GOP Sen.
Amena Brown believes “Black girl” is a verb. This belief is so strong, as is her belief in the joys of being a Black girl, and the expansive ways she’s learned to exist as a Black girl, that she wrote a book about it all.
Many commentators have complained that Chief Justice John Roberts has shown himself not to be a true institutionalist but rather a conservative ideologue. Hillary Clinton recently provided an example , suggesting that the chief justice had never been an institutionalist at all.
Click to expand Image A young protester raises a poster, “Today still discriminatory?” with the love rainbow sign during the Women’s March rally in March 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia. © 2023 Andreas Harsono/Human Rights Watch (London) – Harassment and attacks against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transg…
Indiana’s Planned Parenthood affiliate remains cut off from state Medicaid funding even with the expiration of a federal ban on such payments to abortion providers for any health-care services. The nationwide funding ban that Republicans included in last year’s “big, beautiful” law expired July 4, 2…
Legislatures in left-leaning states have consistently rejected bills that would bar transgender student-athletes from participating in sports in line with their gender identity. But this November, the question of whether to exclude them will go straight to voters in two blue states, Colorado and Was…
Gen Z women often show up in polling as the most progressive group. They’re also the most pessimistic about the American dream. That’s according to a new analysis of polling data by PRRI . Americans overall have become more pessimistic about the American dream — defined in the poll as “if you work h…
Click to expand Image Saadia Mosbah (center), president of the antiracism association Mnemty, attending a march in Tunis, Tunisia, on March 4, 2023. © 2023 Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto via AP Photo (Beirut) – Tunisian courts sentenced eight human rights defenders to prison terms and fines in rec…
Click to expand Image Asylum seekers sit in a UNHCR registration center in Cairo, Egypt on July 25, 2023. © 2023 Jaime Giménez/UNHCR Many refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt, most from Sudan and South Sudan, have faced a months-long campaign of arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, and deportation.
Amy DuBois Barnett’s attendance at this year’s ESSENCE Festival of Culture was a heartwarming homecoming for the top editor turned popular novelist. Barnett worked at ESSENCE early in her career before becoming the first Black woman to be editor-in-chief at a major mainstream magazine, Teen People .
"Not Penélope Cruz being better educated in the menopause than the myriad of male doctors I’ve seen over the past five years."
Eni Popoola knows how to command the room. The Nigerian-American blogger is from one of the loudest cities in the world, New York. She graduated Harvard University with a government and sociology degree, commanded the classroom as a 7th grade teacher in Harlem, and is now a student at Columbia Law S…
After failing to advance in the Senate four separate times in two years and drawing opposition from members of their own party, Republicans are once again attempting to resurrect the SAVE America Act (an even more extreme version of the original SAVE Act)—legislation that would require Americans to …
Apparently, President Donald Trump will support a recipient of birthright citizenship when it’s a member of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team. Trump stated in a press conference Monday that he asked FIFA to review U.S.
Click to expand Image A doctor examines a pregnant woman at a hospital in the province of Fayoum, southwest of Cairo, Egypt, February 19, 2019. © 2019 Hayam Adel/Reuters An Egyptian court sentenced doctor and filmmaker Omnia Suwydan on July 4 to a six-months suspended prison sentence and a fine…
Click to expand Image Burkina Faso soldiers patrol aboard a pickup truck on the road from Dori to the Goudebo refugee camp, on February 3, 2020. © 2020 OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP via Getty Images Burkina Faso’s military junta has approved a law requiring every Burkinabè student wishing to pursue higher…
For the third year in a row, I packed a bag and headed to New Orleans for the ESSENCE Festival of Culture. Going solo has become my tradition, and this year gave me every reason to keep it. I walked into the Convention Center on Friday and felt it right away. Longer lines. More people.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gives a statement ahead of a NATO Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels in June. Omar Havana/Getty Images ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
Black women have always been the soundtrack to our lives. Their voices, creativity, and innovation have shaped generations, pushed music forward, and influenced culture in ways that reach far beyond the stage.
This column first appeared in The Amendment, a newsletter by Errin Haines, The 19th’s editor-at-large. Subscribe today to get early access to her analysi s. It is an arresting image: On the Fourth of July, a lone, young Black woman sits on a train filled with White nationalists headed to commemorate…
One year ago, the Supreme Court had just wrapped up the 2024-25 term with a series of high-profile rulings, including decisions limiting the availability of universal injunctions and upholding a state ban on certain medical treatments for transgender minors .
Each week, Rewire News Group editors scour headlines nationwide—from lawsuits over abortion access to LGBTQ+ rights—to bring you the most urgent news in reproductive justice. Here’s the past week’s latest news.
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