As the new academic year kicks off, I am excited to embark on the third phase of my Theologies of CARE (Compassionate, Authentic Reproductive Health Equity) Initiative. The spark of the idea four years ago, after the reversal of Roe, is now a fire. 

Now, as we approach one of the most important midterm elections in the history of this nation, it appears that, once again, the Black Press will be expected to carry the message about voter turnout, while political and campaign dollars go to the White mainstream media. Now is the time to remind the candidates and the political initiatives and propositions that will appear on ballots across this nation that the Black vote must not be taken for granted.

This master seamstress, as her obituary stated, taught men and women “how to cut our lives out after the pattern of Allah (God).” She is surely a member of the contemporary sewing circles of Dorcas and Daughters of the Conference who mend more than clothes. Her remembrance echoes words from my column announcing my AME women’s anthology project: “We are stitching threads of faith into the sacred seams of our communities with hands of love.”

Asked to choose between two statements, Americans are more than twice as likely to agree that “we are in real danger of losing important democratic rights and freedoms” than to agree that “the important democratic rights and freedoms we have will remain protected” (68% vs. 29%). In a pattern that repeats itself throughout the survey, overwhelming numbers of Democrats (86%) and independents (70%) agree with the first statement, while Republicans are divided between the two statements (51% vs. 47%).