READ: Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America
Using current headlines as a framework, award-winning historian Keisha N. Blain traces the legacy of activist Fannie Lou Hamer from her humble beginnings as an impoverished child in Mississippi to her role as a central figure in the civil rights movement. The book examines key moments in Hamer’s life, including co-founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and helping to organize the Freedom Summer movement, and considers how her actions and words can be used to inspire a new generation of activists to fight for social justice causes. Published by Beacon Press
WATCH: Always Jane
This four-part series documents two years in the life of Jane Noury, a transgender teenager from New Jersey, as she navigates adolescence, undergoes gender confirmation surgery, and competes in an international modeling competition for transgender girls. While the show includes vulnerable moments that touch on issues of anti-trans discrimination, director Jonathan Hyde explained in a recent video interview that instead of taking a sensationalist approach, he “really wanted to tell a story where a family just shows their love and acceptance of their trans child.” Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
LISTEN: Washington Post Live: “Medical Experts Examine Efforts to Make Research More Equitable”
In response to evidence showing major racial and gender disparities in medical research, the U.S. Congress mandated in 1993 that all federally funded clinical studies must include women and underrepresented individuals. Despite this requirement, the amount of diversity in clinical research has yet to improve in the last 30 years. In this episode of the Washington Post Live podcast, several medical experts — including the director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities — discuss how organizations and pharmaceutical companies are addressing these inequities to ensure underrepresented populations are not excluded from life-saving medical interventions. Available on washingtonpost.com and all major podcast apps●
This article was published in our January/February 2022 issue.
