I didn’t fully commit to my married name until my daughter started kindergarten
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from an Alabama woman, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to sign up for the newsletter. Click here to sign up for the Reckon Women Facebook page. By Mary Lanaux Katzman A few weeks ago, the kindergarten moms in [...]
‘All right to be a hero’: Meet the woman whose landmark case was the first Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued at the Supreme Court
One day in June 1999, Sharron Cohen stood nervously on steps of the U.S. Supreme Court facing a bank of photographers and lawyers. Beside her, appearing equally uncomfortable, was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “Do you enjoy this?” Cohen recalls whispering to Ginsburg. “I mostly work,” Ginsburg muttered back, drily. The occasion – a photo for a calendar celebrating the Women in Military Service for America Memorialin [...]
I fight with my fingertips
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from an Alabama woman, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to sign up for the newsletter. Click here to sign up for the Reckon Women Facebook page. By Randi Pink This summer, a rumor began circulating around Birmingham [...]
Reckon Women launches ‘Be Better’ virtual event series
Throughout the last year of Reckon Women, we’ve heard folks talk about their closely held beliefs on politics, their stories of solidarity during difficult times and even their weekend musings. Group members have bonded with one another and learned to consider new perspectives as they explore tough topics facing [...]
The last supper before the pandemic
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from an Alabama woman, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to sign up for the newsletter. Click here to sign up for the Reckon Women Facebook page. Want to submit your own essay? Fill out the form at [...]
How exotic dancing helped me succeed in corporate America
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from an Alabama woman, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to sign up for the newsletter. Click here to sign up for the Reckon Women Facebook page. By Dachondra Cason “This is normal,” the manager assured me as [...]
Reckon Women to host virtual writing workshop with Javacia Bowser
No matter how you came into this pandemic, you are likely leaving it differently. To navigate change, one of the most powerful tools at your disposal is effective communication. But you don't have to be a "writer" to be able to develop and hone your voice and write effectively. [...]
How should a Black southern woman commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment?
Javacia Harris Bowser is celebrating the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote by acknowledging the work of Black suffragists such as Ida B. Wells.
The consistent, disciplined and thankless work of Black women in American politics
A few years ago, when Alabama Democrat Doug Jones narrowly won a U.S. Senate seat, there were more than a few news headlines suggesting that Black women, almost out of the blue, had become inspired to ramp up their organizing efforts to help deliver Jones the victory. Truth is, though, it's always been Southern Black women doing the in-the-trenches work of grassroots organizing in this country — from abolition to civil rights to women's equality.
How the South nearly killed women’s suffrage
This week on the Reckon Interview, we examine the South's role in larger movements for universal women's rights.
Our lives shatter: poetry, prayer and the plight of Black and Brown people
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from an Alabama woman, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to sign up for the newsletter. Click here to sign up for the Reckon Women Facebook page. By Toya Poplar When my heart is heavy, I weep in poetry. [...]
Reckon Women reflects on first year while looking ahead
https://youtu.be/XPsW5MVJG00 Earlier this year, the first anniversary of Reckon Women quietly passed while we all navigated life during a pandemic and racial justice uprisings in our communities across the South. And though May 2020 marked a year since our online community was born, we are still celebrating today—all that [...]
Why I don’t regret going to a predominantly white college
LaKisha Cargill talks about how she thrived at a predominantly white college.
Starting school during COVID
Kaci Lane Hindman grapples with the changes her children will be forced to experience going back to school during a pandemic.
How COVID-19 taught me to stop taking responsibility for others and start caring for myself
Samantha Williams writes about finding independence and personal responsibility while quarantining with her family.
Reproductive justice non-profit buys Alabama abortion clinic
The director of the Yellowhammer Fund, a non-profit that provides financial assistance for abortions in Alabama, said she was considering shutting down the organization amid financial worry before Alabama passed a law banning near all abortions in the state in May 2019 . One year later, after an influx of more than $2 million in donations from across the country in the immediate aftermath of the ban and the support of 1,200 monthly financially sustaining members, the fund now owns and operates the West Alabama Women’s Center, one of three of remaining abortion clinics in the state.
Reckon Women: Pre-term Infant Loss and Heartache
"Hold on to hope, Mothers. We are some of the strongest people God ever created." Warning: This video discusses graphic elements of infant loss. These brave women shared their hearth-wrenching stories of pregnancy complications and infant loss with us for Reckon | Women. Did you know that Alabama has the highest pre-term birth rate in the nation, behind only Mississippi?