Dirt, debutantes and feminine expectations
I came to a conclusion that I often come to these days when we question what is presumably proper for women. My conclusion revolves around the use of nuance.
It’s not just Texas and Mississippi: Abortion access is in jeopardy across the Deep South
This story was published in partnership between Reckon and The Fuller Project. As the nation focuses on abortion bans in Texas and Mississippi now before the U.S. Supreme Court, some advocates in the South are frustrated that their dire warnings — that abortion restrictions in the region would inevitably reverberate [...]
Honey Voices: Accepting all the love we have
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Samantha Williams I turned my head to peer at my mom [...]
Most Improved: How A Diagnosis Freed Me of Shame
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Lydia Oliver It is the springtime of my first year in [...]
I haven’t found the ‘love of my life,’ but I have plenty of love in my life
I am in love with love—and I’m single. And guess what. I’m okay with that.
‘You don’t look gay’ and other things people say to me as a lesbian in straight woman drag
I am paving the way, with other feminine lesbians, shattering one preconceived notion at a time. We really need capes and our own superhero theme song for the number of villains we take down in a day. All while sporting our straight woman drag of six-inch heels, minis, crop tops, leggings and cute tees.
How do we fix child care in the South? These 5 advocates have thoughts
Before the pandemic, the South was already a place where child-care workers are paid less, even when wages are adjusted for cost of living, than the national average. Many places in the South, particularly rural areas, don’t have enough child-care slots for the number of eligible children. This year, Reckon obtained data on child-care program closures in Tennessee, Alabama, [...]
‘You can’t ‘til you can:’ On recognizing the signs of domestic violence
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Courtney Walker I became a victim of domestic violence when I [...]
Bullshit: how purity culture polices language
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Mandy Shunnarah When I was in second grade, a silly but [...]
A child care crisis worsened in the pandemic. Meet the Southerners working to fix it.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nancy Sylvester watched with growing concern as child care centers around her own center in Jackson, Miss. closed their doors – for good. “There was one center that was just down the street, the largest center in this area, which had been [...]
Mind the Gap: What it means to have an age gap in a same-sex relationship in the South
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Haley Loveday My wife is 13 years older than I am. [...]
Ashley M. Jones—Alabama’s youngest, first Black and, possibly, dopest poet laureate—on the need for reparations now, tomorrow and forever
There's power in art. Power to persuade. Power to inform. Power to move. And the powerful work of Ashley M. Jones is deeply rooted in stories and images from the American South. Today on the Reckon Interview, we discuss Ashley's latest collection "Reparations Now!" the title of which comes from [...]
Why Reckon and The Fuller Project are teaming up to deepen coverage of women in the South
If you’ve followed Reckon for a while now, you already know that we’ve put women at the center of much of our work. If you know that, you also know why the moment we’re in now, particularly here in the South, demands not only more, wider coverage but also deeper [...]
Why this Alabama mom and daughter are fighting their school’s ‘creepy and unsettling’ dress code rules
When Nyoka Holmes, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, came home upset about a dress code enforcement day at Alabama’s Huntsville High School, her mother, Kim, knew she had to say something about the policy that she says unfairly targets girls and low-income students. Although Nyoka wasn’t one of the [...]
What’s so funny about my Southern accent?
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Audrey Atkins Laughing. That’s not what you expect to hear on [...]
I will live as if I’m not going to die
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Coretta Collins What if I get it too? It is a [...]
Meet Alaina Comeaux, one of thousands of New Orleanians practicing mutual aid after Hurricane Ida
More than two weeks after hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, residents in New Orleans and in smaller coastal communities are still suffering. Down in the bayou, a couple of hours south of New Orleans, homes have been entirely pushed off their stilts and residents are in full survival mode. [...]
Sharing others’ stories showed me my HIV diagnosis wasn’t a death sentence
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Montee Lopez In 2017, I launched a project with The New [...]
Why I will always listen to your story
f I were to see him now, I would want him to know that because of him I pay attention to people that cross my path. I make a point of them knowing that I hear them, I look into their eyes as they speak.
Meet the Black woman who established Emmett Till’s murder as sparking the Civil Rights Movement
Before the late 1980s, most academics cited the start of the Civil Rights Movement as Rosa Parks’ refusal to vacate her bus seat on Dec. 1, 1955. But 95 days earlier, the death of a 14-year-old boy named Emmett Till was about to shake the movement to life. Clenora Hudson-Weems, who [...]
Being open about infertility helped me heal
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Kaira Boston At the playground watching my daughter, Delaney, run from [...]
Hannah-Kate Williams sues Southern Baptist Convention, claiming defamation, failure to investigate sex abuse
In June, a Kentucky woman asked the Southern Baptist Convention to investigate sexual abuse by ministers within the denomination. Now, Hannah-Kate Williams is suing the powerful evangelical religious organization, and its key leaders, alleging church leaders failed to adequately investigate Williams’ own reports in 2019, defamed her as a liar and “conspired to protect [...]
Josh Harris, a key purity culture figure, created a course on losing your faith. A firestorm ensued.
The author of a now discontinued book that taught young Christians that dating could threaten their future relationships has created —and swiftly removed — a 5-week course on how to deal with religious trauma and find your own true beliefs. Joshua Harris — the author in the center of the controversy — is an ex-pastor and leader of [...]
The pandemic gave me time to heal by choosing myself
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Danyale Daniels Recently, I went back to therapy. Not for posttraumatic [...]
Returning to my southern roots helped me cope with mental illness
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Laura Watts I was 21, and it was summer [...]
I painted strangers’ nudes to find peace during the pandemic
This global slowdown gave me the opportunity to explore the way I see myself and others in a way I don’t think I previously could have had I not been forced.
Meet Haylie McCleney, softball silver medalist Olympian from Alabama
In the first five games of Olympic play, Alabama-native Haylie McCleney scored four of Team USA's nine runs.
Kendra Gayle Lee, of Atlanta’s Bookish, wants you to diversify your bookshelf
Kendra Gayle Lee remembers the first time she read a book with an LGBTQ character who got to live “happily ever after.” “It was the first book that I read where the lesbian didn't have to die at the end,” Lee said, referring to Rita Mae Brown's 1970s lesbian coming-of-age [...]
What I’m doing to make sure ‘Good People Vote’
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Tyra Robinson Think about your local election period. You're in your neighborhood, and [...]
Sometimes ‘no’ needs to be a resounding chorus
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Jane Patten Back in May, a Florida high school made news when it [...]
Sha’Carri Richardson teaches us to love all Black women’s colored hair, long nails, lashes and tattoos
One of my favorite ways to wear my hair is in long red knotless braids. At one former workplace, the hairstyle drew offensive questions and statements from my employer. Are you in a gang? I don’t think that color is appropriate for our workplace. You normally look so professional. What [...]
How my HIV status inspired my fashion business and saved my life
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Daniel Grier “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” -- [...]
Why I don’t celebrate ‘coming out’ stories
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Kiwi Lanier For most people, coming out is nothing like it [...]
‘What most kids need’: How one school community got SMART when its rural hospital closed
The only hospital in rural Pickens County, Ala., closed its doors for good just two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It was March 2020. The west Alabama county sits along the Mississippi state line, its landscape dotted with small towns. When the hospital closed in the county seat of Carrollton (pop. 1,000), Pickens County [...]
The miseducation of Black, queer, southern youth
Marginalized folx are often lauded as being brave, as if there is any survivable existence that doesn’t necessitate it. And so often, we are the only ones left to reconcile the cost of that bravery. Survival does not come without compromise.
Need an abortion in Appalachia? ‘Holler’ at this West Va. group
Holler Health Justice launched in 2018 to fund abortions in West Virginia and Appalachia. Since, its mission has expanded to include providing free emergency contraception and harm reduction services. In 2020, the organization provided $111,415 in abortion funding and other support. The group dispersed more than 6,000 units of emergency [...]
How one survivor is standing up for sexual abuse victims in the Southern Baptist Convention
Hannah Kate Williams was raped by her father, a Baptist minister, then endured a forced abortion she says a deacon at her church helped perform. Now, she is asking the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Christian church denomination in the U.S., to hold sexual abusers like her father accountable. In [...]
Queer Cobbler: A recipe for being gay in the South
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Tyler S. Hatcher Preheat the oven. 350 is fine. [...]
Wanna be a drag queen? Alabama’s Champagne Munroe shares resources to get you started
When Champagne Munroe wanted to try drag back in July 2014, she turned up at B-Bob’s bar in downtown Mobile with a few old Halloween costumes, a little makeup, and a promise to herself to get on stage and have fun. “When I first started coming up, being gay and [...]
Why the $300 child tax credit could be a step toward universal basic income — and happier families
Next month, millions of American families will begin receiving monthly direct cash payments, and unprecedented foray into the idea of a universal basic income. A new expanded child tax credit, part of the American Rescue Plan that Congress passed in March, will give low- and middle-income families monthly payouts of $300 per child under age 6 [...]
How I finally stopped wondering if I’m ‘queer enough’
Queerness isn’t a competition. Evan saw me in a way that I desperately needed to be seen at the time and it made me more confident in my bisexuality over the years. When I did come out a few years later in college, I did so on my terms.
Will I ever wear shoes again? Dressing for work post-pandemic
I’ve had no reason to wear heels or dressy boots or even fancy flats. And I’ve tried to wear mules or loafers a few times just to see if I could. But the hard soles just seemed so … hard and the leather stiff and unforgiving.
As a human trafficking survivor, my story is bigger than myself
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. by Esperance Uwayirege Taylor with Laura Secord Early that morning I was [...]
Black women care for everyone. When will Georgia care for us?
Childcare providers in Georgia and across the country are expected to always work, with no relief or support, and these providers are mostly Black women.
I like my queerness southern fried
Each week the Honey newsletter includes a column from women and LGBTQ folks in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. We’re always looking for more stories from you. Click here to learn more about how to get published. By Joi Miner Southerners like their food deep fried, their [...]
On weathering seasons of change after the pandemic
Just over a year ago, I had just finished filling out my schedule for the month of April when all of my plans went astray. The pandemic hadn’t really affected my daily life up to that point. I continued to do my regular job in person since we did parts for the railroad and I worked in an office alone anyway.
Rachel Pearson of Engage: Reading, watching, listening on women’s economic security, policy
Rachel Pearson founded women’s economic policy organization Engage, www.engagewomen.org, after working for years in Washington, D.C., and growing frustrated at the lack of bipartisanship in Congress. “Women outlive, outnumber and out vote men,” Pearson said. “The political power should be ours, and we should have a much larger impact on [...]
The choice between art and violence in the stories of the South: Minari was an opportunity for Asians in the South to tell their stories. The Atlanta shootings changed that.
Minari, through its brilliant storytelling and cinematography, paid attention to the nuances of a Korean immigrant story in the South.
Emily Joy Allison: Reading, watching, and acting on purity culture
America and the evangelical church is wrestling with the ramifications of purity culture: a teaching that tells people they should not have any sexual contact before heterosexual, monogamous marriage. In some circles, purity culture also demonizes masturbation, sexual fantasies and even simply being attracted to or aroused by someone else. [...]
For Tennessee lawmaker, Black Maternal Health Week is personal
In 2019, less than a year after London Lamar was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, she suffered a devastating late-term pregnancy loss. Lamar herself nearly lost her life. Since then, the Memphis-born Democrat has gained attention as a champion of maternal health issues in her role as a state legislator. Most recently, she introduced a resolution recognizing the [...]
North Carolina lawmakers propose Black maternal health legislation
A group of North Carolina legislators filed their own “Momnibus” act this month, a collection of state-level bills meant to address Black maternal health and the factors that contribute to disparities in health care, particularly for women of color. The act was inspired by the federal Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021, introduced in Congress earlier [...]
No matter how many degrees I earn, my imposter syndrome never goes away
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. by Tina Bausinger I grew up working class poor. My parents moved to Springdale, Arkansas in 1980, and our house only [...]
This Alabama nonprofit is fighting ‘period poverty’ and restoring dignity to menstruating people
Aiko Pickering, a recent college graduate and Mobile, Ala., native, started Monthly in November 2020 to raise awareness about period poverty and provide menstrual products to people who need them. Researchers found that 64% of women were unable to afford period products in 2017, according to a study conducted in [...]
How self-care and blogging changed my life
By Cherith Fluker I could start this essay by griping about how terrible 2020 was to me. But that probably wouldn’t grab your attention because I’m sure you’d have a comeback for every single complaint or problem that I listed. Your response would probably match or exceed whatever gruesome event [...]
What my first mammogram taught me about sisterhood
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Caryn Bell Mammograms are not fun. I had my first one recently. A COVID screening check-in served as a vivid [...]
Dr. Patience Hodges Claybon: A medical pioneer, advocate for Black med students in Alabama
Born May 24, 1946, Patience Hodges Claybon was a physician and the first African American woman to graduate from the UAB School of Medicine. When Claybon was a child, Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood became the first Black students to attend the University of Alabama. After graduating from Burrell [...]
Gladys Love Avery Tillett: A N.C. native who encouraged political activism among women
Gladys Love Avery Tillett was an American organizer and activist born in Morgantown, N.C., in 1891. She graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1917 with a political science degree and eventually went on to continue her education at Columbia University. She was an early supporter of the Equal [...]
How Birmingham’s Thank You Books created community, found success through pandemic
Laura Cotten, Kristen Iskandrian and Elizabeth Goodrich wanted a home for Birmingham’s literary and author community. They were proud of the city’s rich history of storytellers and avid readers and felt like something was missing within the city limits. The three friends opened Thank You Books in mid-December 2019, just [...]
Racism and purity culture: Atlanta shootings show how they’re linked
When Angie Hong heard about the purported “sex addiction” of the Atlanta mass shooting suspect and his so-called need to “take out that temptation,” she thought about purity culture and the blame-shifting that men embedded in it use to justify their behavior, including violence. Ministers and activists say the [...]
Pauli Murray: A civil rights leader, writer and queer trailblazer
Pauli Murray was born in 1910 in Baltimore. Yes, Maryland is considered the South, but stay with us. We want to claim this woman as a Southern icon. She became involved in the Civil Rights Movement in 1938 and attempted to integrate the University of North Carolina School of Law. [...]
Moms and daughters: What Birmingham public servants Crystal and Carole Smitherman learned from each other
Reckon Women’s series on Southern mothers and daughters who share the same profession is part of Reckon’s celebration of Women’s History Month. Crystal Smitherman, 27, is a Birmingham city councilor for District 6, the same district where her mother Carole Smitherman served as city councilor in the early 2000s. She’s also an attorney, like her mother, who is now a Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge. [...]
‘Please don’t leave me alone:’ More than the baby blues
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Eleanor Billington “Please, please don’t leave me alone.” These were the words I spoke to my spouse as he headed [...]
Moms and daughters: What Toyota plant workers Angela and Destini Stewart learned from each other
Reckon Women’s series on Southern mothers and daughters who share the same profession is part of Reckon’s celebration of Women’s History Month. Angela Stewart and her daughter, Destini Stewart, try to eat lunch together whenever they can. The two women work at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Huntsville, Ala. Angela began working at the plant in [...]
Moms and daughters: What attorneys Elizabeth and Wesley Smithart learned from each other
Reckon Women’s series on Southern mothers and daughters who share the same profession is part of Reckon’s celebration of Women’s History Month. The first time newly minted attorney Wesley Smithart attended a meeting of the Women’s Section of the Alabama Bar Association, she got to watch her mother, Elizabeth Smithart, lead the meeting as chair. The two women, both graduates of the University [...]
Ronni Mott: She broke the story about Mississippi’s last attempted execution
Ronni Mott (neé Beate Veronika Frisch) was a reporter and editor in Mississippi. Born in Germany to Austrian parents on July 12, 1956, she was raised in New York City and Fairfax, Va., where she graduated from high school. She attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Mott [...]
More than cookies: The importance of Girl Scouts in my life
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Millie Jackson Long before Women’s History Month was established in 1981, I was involved in celebrating the achievements of girls [...]
Why I’m teaching Black history all year long
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Janelle Graham Last month, around the third week of February, I sat down with my 9th grade students to discuss [...]
Self-care is your crown
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Toya Poplar The word “self-care” is thrown around a lot these days. But what exactly is self-care? Self-care is care [...]
Purity culture and the perception of singleness
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By JP Austin Picture yourself at a large Southern family gathering, surrounded by more than a few of your closest relatives [...]
Workplace pregnancy protections proposed by Alabama lawmakers
Alabama lawmakers are eyeing several proposals that could have significant impact on the rights of pregnant people and, specifically, pregnant workers. Here’s a quick look at the proposed bills: Pregnant workers The most comprehensive is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, HB 352, sponsored by Rep. Neil Rafferty, D-Birmingham. It would require all employers to provide reasonable accommodations for [...]
Taking a stand for love next Valentine’s Day
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Carla Youngblood As Valentine’s Day approaches, I reflect on my love life (well, the lack thereof) and wonder how I [...]
Sweeping Black maternal health reforms proposed in Congress
African American moms could get better health care under a series of proposals recently introduced in Congress. This week, the congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus introduced a sprawling legislative package aimed at improving health outcomes for mothers and addressing glaring racial disparities in maternal health. Dubbed the Black Maternal Health [...]
Southern states pushing anti-abortion bills despite Biden’s vow to protect Roe
President Joe Biden has promised to codify Roe V. Wade on the 48th anniversary of its passing, but states across the South show no signs of letting up on anti-abortion-related bills this legislative season. According to Planned Parenthood, more than 100 bills targeting abortion and abortion access.have been introduced in [...]
To keep or not to keep: on things that spark joy
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Jane Patten I could never claim to be like Marie Kondo, the decluttering guru who recommends giving away items that [...]
‘If I want settled, I have to choose settled. It starts in my heart’
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Kathryn Lang Every time I got it all together, someone seemed to move the middle, and I was left starting [...]
From life-mate to playmate: how Alzheimer’s transformed my marriage
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Renée Brown Harmon, MD The world my husband, Harvey, embodied “before” was quiet, reflective, thoughtful, and responsible. Harvey’s world “after” [...]
Ga. factory worker, fired after miscarriage scare, sues ex-employer over attendance policy
Seven days after Georgia mom Kaytiara McAlister learned she was pregnant, that pregnancy cost her job, according to a new federal lawsuit.. McAlister claims she was fired from her job at a manufacturing center in west Georgia after leaving her shift early due to severe abdominal pain and heavy bleeding related to her pregnancy. Her employer, TydenBrooks, claims in court documents the company did nothing wrong. But McAlister, in court documents and an interview with [...]
Reframing purity culture, step by step
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By: Lea Ervin Growing up, I didn’t have a purity ring, nor did I attend an elaborate ball pledging my purity [...]
Reckon’s top 10 stories of 2020
You might have noticed that Reckon started to look a little different this year. The biggest reason is because we're listening more closely to our readers, Southerners who are shaping the world around them in all the big and little ways we know are possible. Throughout the year, we've dug [...]
A look back at Reckon Women Voices essays that will inspire you to write your own
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from women in the South, in collaboration with See Jane Write. Click here to join the Reckon Women Facebook group. By Javacia Harris Bowser I love a good superhero story. On December 25, I sported a Wonder Woman Christmas sweater to [...]
Kwoya Fagin Maples talks poetry, trauma and the craft of writing with See Jane Write
Kwoya Fagin Maples is a poet, writer and a University of Alabama professor from Charleston, South Carolina. In her poetry collection, “Mend,” she explores the traumatic strife of enslaved women used as medical guinea pigs in the mid-1800s. She recently sat down with See Jane Write founder and editor [...]
How to Have a Perfectly Imperfect Christmas
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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: Linda Lyle In 1994 I was teaching English in Seoul, South Korea [...]
How this Covid nurse hoping to get pregnant made her decision about taking the coronavirus vaccine
In the days and months ahead, millions of Americans will be asked if they want the coronavirus vaccine, a mixture of mostly unpronounceable ingredients that prepare your immune system to fight the disease should you become infected. For most people, according to a November poll, the decision to take the [...]
The Reckon List 2021: These people are fighting to build the future South
Chokwe Lumumba, the late mayor of Jackson, Miss., used to say, "To change America, you have to change the South." That's been true since the first enslaved Africans were delivered to Virginia in 1619, a year before the Pilgrims landed up North, since the federal government was forced to cut [...]
Why I No Longer Celebrate Christmas
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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 Janelle Graham Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Christmas Day will look [...]
Looking for better sex education? Try these resources
If you read our series on purity culture and sex education in the South and you’re hoping to make sex education better for your children and community, we’ve complied a list of resources to help you have better conversations about sexuality and relationships. For parents Talking to your children about their bodies and sex can be [...]
These people are making sex education better in the South
Toy Rollins knew she had to find some way to talk to her two older daughters about sex after she learned her children’s Atlanta-area charter school wasn’t planning to teach a robust sex education curriculum. Rollins, who also grew up in Georgia, said she expected her children to get the same sex [...]
After my dad quit his job, I received the best Christmas gift ever
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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 Caryn Bell The memory of being 10 years old is foggy [...]
Purity culture can impact long-term sexual health
This story is part of a series about purity culture, sex education and the role of family, faith and communities in addressing the lasting impacts of purity culture’s teachings. Cultural norms surrounding sex in the South can lead to long-lasting physical effects such sexual dysfunction, sexually transmitted infections and gynecological cancers, experts say. Many [...]
Experts say purity culture teaches boys an unrealistic view of sexuality
The gender roles assigned to men via purity culture further perpetuate sexual dissatisfaction and unrealistic relationship expectations, sex educators say. While a large portion of research on purity culture has focused on how the ideology has affected women and girls, these same gender expectations enforce an unrealistic view of [...]
‘Come to church, we have the best sex:’ Christian leaders rethink purity culture messaging
This story is part of a series about purity culture, sex education and the role of family, faith and communities in addressing the lasting impacts of purity culture's teachings. John Paul Basham remembers, when he was a teenager, participating in a sexual abstinence program called True Love Waits at his Southern Baptist [...]
A conversation with Joshua Harris on “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”
This story is part of a series about purity culture, sex education and the role of family, faith and communities in addressing the lasting impacts of purity culture's teachings. Joshua Harris’ book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” was published in 1997. More than 1 million copies of the book have [...]
Purity culture: How sex was taught to a generation of Southerners
This story is part of a series about purity culture, sex education and the role of family, faith and communities in addressing the lasting impacts of purity culture's teachings Rings promising chastity passed from fathers to daughters. Virginity pledges signed at school assemblies. Flower petals torn from stems to symbolize the [...]
Sustainable fashion continues Alabama sock entrepreneur’s family business
Reckon Women partnered with seven women-owned small businesses and creators whose stories illustrate the grit, innovation and creativity we admire, and together we curated holiday gift boxes for our readers to purchase. Click here to support these women creators with your purchase.. Gina Locklear was not planning on getting into the [...]
How I applied my PR strategies to survive my own life crises
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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: Chasiti Shepherd Amid a global pandemic, I sit back and reflect on another [...]
OPINION | It’s time to address the trauma of adoption
Contributed By Mila Konomos and Rebecca Seung-Bickley Another November has passed us by. For those not already aware, November is designated as National Adoption Awareness Month, or as adoptees like myself prefer to call it, National Adoptee Awareness Month (NAAM). I do not think it is coincidence that the month [...]
Women-owned printmaking studio creates space for Alabama artists to make a statement
Reckon Women partnered with seven women-owned small businesses and creators whose stories illustrate the grit, innovation and creativity we admire, and together we curated holiday gift boxes for our readers to purchase. Click here to support these women creators with your purchase.. Rachel Lackey fell in love with printmaking in college [...]
8 women activists minding the gap in the South
The South is home to the most diverse people, landscapes and culture in the country. We have so much to be proud of. But our governments are often stagnant, disproportionately stocked with white men and ineffective when it comes to taking care of vulnerable communities. But minding the gap are [...]
Jacqueline McMillan finds healing in wood-carving after losing limbs to sepsis
Reckon Women partnered with seven women-owned small businesses and creators whose stories illustrate the grit, innovation and creativity we admire, and together we curated holiday gift boxes for our readers to purchase. Click here to support these women creators with your purchase.. Jacqueline McMillan likes to watch customers browse in [...]
Learning to live in the present even in a pandemic
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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 Jane Patten I thought I had been managing [...]
Reckon Women curations: Unique gifts featuring Alabama makers
Throughout the year, we meet Alabama women almost everywhere who help us see the world differently, who write their own narratives and who craft beauty and art despite odds. And we want to introduce them to you, too -- through their creations. Welcome to our first curation of creations [...]
Southern states lead U.S. in preterm births
The South leads the nation in babies born too early, according to a new report from the March of Dimes, a national organization that funds research and advocates for healthy mothers and babies. The only states to earn F ratings for their high rates of preterm birth were Alabama, Georgia, [...]
Making a name for myself as a Shunnarah
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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 Mandy Shunnarah They think they know me based [...]
Maternal mortality panel finds 70 percent of Alabama pregnancy deaths preventable; urges Medicaid expansion
Nearly 70 percent of pregnancy-related deaths of Alabama women were preventable in 2016, according to the state’s first report on maternal mortality since officials began collecting data last year. The report also recommended that Alabama expand Medicaid, calling a failure to do so “an underlying, yet significant factor” impacting the maternal deaths covered in the report. [...]
Speak up for women’s health all year long
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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 Millie Jackson In the early 1970s months were [...]
8 Black women fighting for voting rights in the South
Georgia quickly became a meme during election week as mail in ballots slowly flipped the state blue for the first time in 1992. Social media identified voting rights queen and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams as one to thank for helping Joe Biden inch pass the 270 seats needed [...]
The threads of privilege are all over me
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 Donna Eich Brooks Imagine an almost invisible shining thread. It’s [...]
Where are Alabama’s elected Republican women?
Republican women are a key GOP voting bloc. Why do so few of them successfully run for legislative and statewide offices?
Finding my new normal after cancer
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October’s essays will all be [...]
‘Rushed and undemocratic’: Hundreds of Ala. women decry Ivey’s support of Amy Coney Barrett
More than 800 Alabama women cosigned a letter this week, denouncing Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s support of what they called the “rushed and undemocratic” confirmation process of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ivey, along with two other women Republican governors, had written a public letter [...]
Becoming the one-breasted lady
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October’s essays will all be [...]
Lilly Ledbetter’s urgent warning about the Supreme Court
Lilly Ledbetter knows what it’s like to lose a Supreme Court case and to keep fighting. She shares her experience with Reckon and her concerns about the 2020 election and confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett.
Breast cancer taught me what it means to ‘woman up’
Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman in the South, 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. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October’s essays [...]
How breast cancer ruined and restored my confidence
By Javacia Harris Bowser Each week the Reckon Women newsletter includes a column from a woman with ties to the South, 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. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness [...]
The South still lags U.S. on paying women fairly
Alabama still has one of the widest gender wage gaps in the nation, and most of the South follows suit, a Reckon analysis shows. Nationally, women make 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, with an annual gap of $9,774. Southern women earn less, around 78 cents on average. Women in [...]
The doctor is out: A snapshot of women’s health in the 21st century
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 Mikkaka Overstreet I never thought I’d get a hysterectomy at [...]
Amanda Shires confronts ‘The Problem’ with abortion in the South through new song
Amanda Shires wants people who have had abortions to feel less alone in their decision. The Grammy-winning singer and songwriter released “The Problem,” about a couple navigating the decision to have an abortion, on International Safe Abortion Day. All proceeds will benefit Alabama’s Yellowhammer Fund, an abortion fund and [...]
As women suffer more under the financial strains of COVID-19, The Wealth Edit is stepping up to help
Cassandra Leibensperger gave birth to her daughter Tzipporah in January. She was supposed to start a new engineering job with a government contractor in Huntsville, Ala. when her maternity leave ended in April. But her employer was not able to safely accommodate her work accommodations, required due to her [...]
Widowed at a young age, she turned tragedy into a catalyst for supporting women’s financial planning
Emily Lassiter is an attorney turned financial advisor and mother of two who lives in Birmingham, Ala. She co-founded The Wealth Edit, an online, membership-based community for women looking to learn more about personal finance with Emily Pearson, another Birmingham-based financial advisor. Emily talks about losing her husband at [...]
Reckon Women share: If I knew then what I know now about money
Women in America hold less than one-third the wealth of men. Motherhood and race further complicate women’s lifetime wealth earning potential.In this season of Money Talks, Reckon explores wealth — who has it and how to grow it.Reckon asked members of the Reckon Women Facebook group to share what they [...]
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 [...]
‘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 [...]
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
Reckon Women is launching a monthly Zoom panel series we're calling “Be Better.” Each month we will hear from extraordinary women across various backgrounds to discuss how we can be better in different areas of life. Our inaugural "Be Better" panel on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. will [...]
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?
