What we’re reading

Curated by May Olvera.

Women plaintiffs ‘sex-plus-age’ discrimination claim stands. Employment bias affects women of color over the age of 50 at the highest rate. A federal court recently determined that the Civil Rights Act — which previously did not protect against discrimination on the basis of age — would permit claims of sex-plus-age discrimination, a step toward intersectional legal protections. (Forbes, July 26)

One laid groundwork for the ADA; the other grew up under its promises. As the Americans with Disabilities Act turns 30, two women reflect on its accomplishments and shortcomings. While the ADA has made it clear that institutions should accommodate disabled people and not the other way around, it has done little to erode cultural bias. (NPR, July 26) 

How the pandemic could force a generation of mothers out of the workforce. Child care is one of the primary tools available to women to reduce the gender pay gap. In 2014, 61 percent of unemployed women with young children listed “caretaking” as a reason why they were not employed — a problem that has only worsened with the pandemic. (FiveThirtyEight, July 27)

Women are on the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19. Women around the globe are leading pandemic relief efforts as health workers, community activists and caregivers. Still, they’re largely excluded from formal leadership roles and even from access to protective measures in comparison to men. As preventive tools are developed, women are fighting for equitable access. (National Geographic, July 24)

One home, a lifetime of impact. There are substantially fewer Black homeowners than White ones, and the gap is widening. The issue is largely due to the lingering effects of now-outlawed discriminatory housing practices, which continue to have a wide-reaching, negative impact on generational wealth and upward mobility in communities of color. (Washington Post, July 23)

Truth be told: stories of Black women's fight for the vote. This interactive experience uses historical archives to paint a more complete picture of the fight for women’s suffrage, highlighting Black women as an enormous force in the movement from its very beginning and beyond the 19th Amendment. (Evoke, Special centennial edition)

🎧 Listen: Women’s suffrage and the White House. The very first movement to bring a protest to the White House gates was women’s suffrage. The protests, led by Alice Paul and other members of the National Woman’s Party, lasted two and a half years, ending only once the 19th Amendment passed in both chambers of Congress. The White House Historical Association speaks to various historians about the movement. (The 1600 Sessions, July 23)

📺 Watch: We are the Radical Monarchs. Two queer women of color in Oakland founded a radical alternative to the Girl Scouts called the Radical Monarchs, an organization focused on the experiences of young Black and Brown girls. This documentary follows the group’s first graduating class for three years as they learn to work together in the fight for justice and radical self acceptance. (PBS, streaming through August 19)