The Politics of Life, Over Time

When a 19-year-old Macalester student on our editorial board suggested doing a story about an intergenerational conversation between her and two colleagues — all Jewish, queer, advocates, and writers — I was interested, but not sure it would make it into the print version of this month’s theme. We had so many stories to cover, and a limited budget for the page count.

Yet Ella Stern’s edited transcript of their conversation proved so compelling that it became a centerpiece. It represents the best of what we do: showcasing powerful everyday women contemplating together the challenges and solutions of communities and selves.

In the conversation, Judith Katz notes that the chain of history — which links our capabilities today with those who came before us — helps her recognize that it is her job to stay vocal and visible. “As the oldest person in this conversation,” says the 73-year-old, “this is the scariest time that I can remember — and I lived through Reagan, and Bush, and however many wars. Conversations like this are important for me to remember that I’m one of the advocates for never shutting up. So I’d better not shut up.”

In the same story, Rachel Gold says she believes our challenge is to learn how to collaborate. “We’re not good at it yet,” she says. “We evolved from small-band hunter-gatherers, who never dealt with more than 150 people in their lives. We’re not good at figuring out how to operate on these scales.”

This month’s magazine is filled with women who have built movements, sometimes over decades, related to disabilities, labor rights, mental health, and women’s rights.

One of those women, Karin Wille, indicates how angry she was about the requirement to keep her husband’s name if she wanted to vote — and the energy it required to engage in battles against unfairness.

Former intern Aria Eichhof shares an essay about our archived stories on reproductive rights.

Election News

I was surprised to learn that a strong-minded woman I know is not convinced that the country and our state would be well-served by women leaders. A young friend does not vote, thinking politics is simply gamesmanship and hot air. A colleague says her mother has become fixated on conspiracy theories in her later years, absorbing fear-based misinformation that might lead her to vote for Trump — which she did not do in 2016.

For these reasons and more, we are stepping up elections-related coverage. We are taking advantage of a relationship with AP, funded by Knight Foundation, and providing coverage with our unique feminist lens. Please support our statewide outreach efforts at womenspress.com/donate.