Two and a half weeks ago, I was thrilled to open the annual conference of the National Organization for Women in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque felt like the perfect place to meet up with activists and map out action plans to move the feminist agenda forward. Just a year ago, the women of Albuquerque formed an emergency coalition, Respect ABQ Women, to fight against a dangerous municipal anti-abortion ballot measure.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) applauds President Obama’s refocusing the nation’s attention, through the “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, on the deep racial disparities in education, economic well-being, housing and health care facing people of color. At the same time, we share the concerns expressed by over 200 African American men in their letter urging the president to expand this promising initiative to include girls and women of color — who live in the same households, suffer in the same under-resourced schools, and struggle to overcome a common history of limited opportunities caused by various forms of discrimination.
It’s tempting to look solely at the wage gap and think the only thing keeping men and women from economic parity is 23 cents. We tend to ignore the other ways women, especially LGBTQ-identified women, women of color, and LGBTQ-identified women of color, are saddled with undo economic burdens because complication is hard.
Women’s rights activists and conservative pundits alike need to take a look at women’s #RealPay.
Immigration is a feminist issue. That’s why I’m adding my voice to the growing number of women who are telling House Republican leadership to wise up and stop blocking reform of our badly broken immigration system.