Albert Woodfox, the last member of the “Angola 3” still behind bars, is expected to be freed Friday afternoon after more than forty years in prison, mostly in solitary confinement. Woodfox had always declared his innocence in the killing of prison guard Brent Miller in 1972. As Maya Lau of The Advocate reports, by entering a no contest plea to lesser charges of…
I’m a feminist for Bernie Sanders. No, Ms. Steinem, not because that’s where the boys are – I’m married and pregnant (in other words, entirely unavailable) – but because my informed political opinion is that Bernie Sanders is the superior candidate for president. I am humbled by and grateful to our feminist foremothers but will not be voting for Hillary…
Paid family leave has been at the fore of both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns. According to their campaign websites, both Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton support creating an entitlement to at least 12 weeks of paid family leave. While paid family leave would be a tremendous step forward, it is not the only issue affecting caregivers. Another related…
The New York Times recently published a fascinating and tragic article about a small group of women in rural India who challenged the social order of their village by seeking and obtaining jobs at a meat-processing factory. The women walked 10 miles each way (to save the 7-cent rickshaw fare) to the factory. There, they labored crushing rocks to rubble, carrying cement,…
In any uphill battle, solidarity is often the key to success. Last weekend I had dinner with an old friend, Chloe Safier, who has been an ongoing advocate for women’s rights, both in the US and abroad. I took the opportunity to talk with her about the global movement for gender justice and how building bridges for and amongst women…
Ponzi scheme victims suffer investment fraud, which can literally rob individuals of their savings. Learn here about a Ponzi scheme and what to do if you fall victim to this investment ploy. Ponzi scheme The grandfather of Ponzi schemes was Charles Ponzi, whose ideas for growing money took fruition in the 1920s. In the case of Charles Ponzi, the investment involved…
A 401(k) plan is essential for any American employee who wants to save for his/her retirement. However, chances are you just take a quick look at your balance every month to make sure things are moving forward. But without looking at your statement thoroughly, how would you know if your retirement plan is being misused or mismanaged? According to the…
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted by the United States and ratified by almost every country in the world. If you have not heard of it, that may be because the United States is only one of seven countries that has failed to sign on to this treaty.…
What do the words “ninja,” “rock star,” and “badass” have in common? It turns out that these words, when listed in job descriptions, are major deterrents for women job seekers. Social science research has called attention to the role of job descriptions in perpetuating gender inequality. For example, a 2011 study entitled “Evidence That Gendered Wording Job Advertisements Exists and…
In late 2014, the Sony Pictures email hack revealed a substantial gender-based pay gap. Of the most notable revelations was that Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence was paid substantially less than her male co-stars for her role in American Hustle. The hack also revealed that Hannah Minghella, co-president of Columbia Pictures, earns almost $1 million less per year than her male counterpart, Michael de…