For Black people, Juneteenth is a big deal. 

The event commemorates when roughly 250,000 Black individuals enslaved in Galveston, Texas, were told life-changing news on June 19, 1865: They were finally free. While former President Abraham Lincoln had officially emancipated slaves two years prior, those in Galveston were kept in the dark — until Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived, at long last, to share the good news.

Though many years have passed, the event remains deeply meaningful for Black Americans, as it is a reminder of the cruelties they’ve overcome since slavery. It also acknowledges the fact that there remains a great deal of work to do. To celebrate the wins, and to energize everyone for the work that lies ahead, we’ve crafted a Juneteenth playlist. In it, we’ve included songs that spark feelings of joy, pride, strength and freedom.

Because, in the words of grassroots activist Tanesha Grant: “Juneteenth is for us… Juneteenth symbolizes the hope that my children and grandchildren will be free. It’s Black Joy and Black tenacity to survive.” 

(This article, first published June 18, 2024, has been updated for 2025.)

The post Celebrate Juneteenth with 6 Black Pride Anthems appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Nurturers, educators and protectors — mothers really are the world’s superheroes.

The countless hats they wear while caring for those they love is an impressive balancing act. And research proves it: A 2019 study conducted by OnePoll/Campell Soup found that the average mother with children ages five to 18 spends an average of 97 hours per week taking care of their kids. If moms were compensated for their hours “worked,” it would total about $100,460 per year, the report added.

What better way to pay tribute to moms this Mother’s Day, than in song? We’ve put together a playlist of artists’ heartfelt songs dedicated to their mothers (and aunts and grandmothers). These tunes will spark sentimental feelings and encourage listeners to reflect on the special women in their lives — including the mothers who are no longer with us. As the old adage goes, “A mother’s hug lasts long after she lets go” — and these artists were clearly feeling that.

1. “On My Mama” – Victoria Monét

R&B singer Victoria Monét plays no games about the style, beauty and talent she exhibits — and she gives credit to her mama for most of it. In this upbeat song sampled from Chalie Boy’s 2009 hip-hop track “I Look Good,” Monét flaunts her swag, urban fashion sense and impressive dance moves to create a fun vibe reminiscent of the 1990s and early 2000s. Monet even pays homage to Chalie Boy, who makes a cameo appearance in her music video. And of course, Monét features a jubilant “Mommy Monét,” who effortlessly struts her stuff. Even Monét’s young daughter, Hazel (who undoubtedly also gets her spark from her mama) makes an adorable appearance. By the end of the song, viewers know Monét isn’t lying when she says: “I put that on my own mama, on my hood, I look fly, I look good.”

2. “Dear Mama” – Tupac Shakur

As one of the greatest hip-hop legends of all time, Tupac Shakur often expressed his raw emotions about life in his music — and “Dear Mama” is no different. Released just a year before his untimely death in 1996, the tribute song recounts the turbulent relationship Shakur had with his mother, Afeni Shakur, a Black Panther Party member who was acquitted of conspiracy charges in May 1971 right before giving birth to him. Yet the pair’s life was far from wholesome bliss, with accounts of Afeni battling drug addiction and kicking Tupac out of the house at age 17. Despite the obstacles, Tupac gives a symbolic “thank you” to his mother for doing the best that she could, like making “miracles every Thanksgiving,” he raps. Tupac even came to his own realization that “for a woman, it ain’t easy trying to raise a man.” The love Tupac has for Afeni, who died in 2016, lives eternally through his lyrical love letter: “There’s no way I can pay you back, but the plan is to show you that I understand, you are appreciated.”

3. “Everywhere I Am” – Jaheim

Losing a mother can be difficult for anyone, including R&B singer Jaheim, whose mother died from spinal meningitis when he was just 17. Jaheim’s loss of his mother motivated him to start his own music career and eventually release “Everywhere I Am,” a tribute song from his 2002 album “Still Ghetto.” In the track, Jaheim expresses feelings many experience while grieving, like missing his mother’s presence and wishing that she could see his major accomplishments. These feelings, Jaheim reveals, are even more intense when dealing with the challenges of life. Yet it’s in these turbulent moments when Jaheim says he feels his mother’s presence the most. As the song progresses, he comes to terms with her death, understanding that she is where the chorus emphasizes: “Everywhere, everywhere I am.”

4. “A Song for Mama” – Boyz II Men

While being a “mama’s boy” might have a negative connotation to some, the R&B group Boyz II Men wears it with pride in “A Song For Mama.” In the 1997 single, the group swap their usual romantic lyrics with those that honor their mothers’ qualities, such as being caring, comforting, protecting, encouraging and teaching right from wrong. Most importantly, they make it clear that “no one else can be what you have been to me / you’ll always be the girl in my life for all times” — sorry ladies. Never underestimate a son’s love for his mama.

5. “The Mother” – Brandi Carlile

No one can convey the perfectly imperfect journey of motherhood like Brandi Carlile in her 2018 music video “The Mother.” Beginning at dawn, the song follows several mothers of young children throughout their day as they change diapers, cook breakfast, breastfeed, pump milk, drop their kids off to school and go to work. And if all of that already doesn’t sound exhausting enough, the video shows the other hats moms wear when unexpected challenges arise: When a child gets a “boo boo,” or when they become discouraged after losing in a baseball game. Yet everyone makes it safe and sound by bedtime, a testament to the love and strength mothers exhibit day in and day out. Carlile knows this all too well. In fact, the song is dedicated to her daughter: “They can keep their treasure and their ties to the machine, ’cause I am the mother of Evangeline,” she sings.

6. “Superwoman” – Alicia Keys

Mothers may not have super strength, x-ray vision or the ability to fly, but they still deserve to wear an “S” on their chest, according to Alicia Keys. In her 2008 hit “Superwoman,” Keys, who shares a blended family of five children with her husband Swizz Beats, steps into the shoes of several women around the world: From the powerful company executive trying to balance motherhood and work, to the struggling single mother applying for welfare assistance. And while each mother experiences her own unique set of challenges, she is powerful simply because she’s doing all — and the best — that she can do in her circumstances. As Keys’ song conveys, “Even when I’m a mess, I still put on a vest, with an S on my chest / oh yes, I’m a Superwoman.”

7. “Look What You’ve Done” – Drake

As a pop artist and rapper, Drake’s music catalog covers everything from sentimental downbeat tunes to lively club bangers. But in his 2011 song, “Look What You’ve Done,” Drake shows more of his vulnerable side. In this track from his “Take Care” album, he gives a heartfelt expression of love and appreciation for two important women in his life: His mother, Sandi, and his grandmother, Evelyn. While the song reveals the tensions Drake and his mother experienced during his childhood, the love they both had for each always led them to re-uniting. Toward the end of the song, Drake even includes audio from his grandmother: “All I can say, Aubrey, is I remember the good times we had together, and the times I used to look after you,” she says. “And I still have [a] wonderful feeling about that.”

8. “Marjorie” – Taylor Swift

Grandmothers can be like second moms, and Taylor Swift’s 2020 song “Marjorie” conveys the invaluable presence of hers from start to finish. The song begins with one of her grandmother’s most fundamental pieces of advice: “Never be so kind, you forget to be clever,” and “Never be so clever, you forget to be kind.” The song then dives into Swift’s feelings of missing her grandmother — who died in 2003 — and reminisces on the sweet moments they shared. What makes this song even more sentimental are the photos of Marjorie throughout her life in the accompanying video, which exhibit just how lively and beautiful she was. And while Swift’s grandmother is gone, not even death can come between the love they both have for each other. “What died didn’t stay dead,” she sings. “You’re alive, so alive.”

9. “Joanne” – Lady Gaga

Just like mothers and grandmothers, aunties are special, too — a fact Lady Gaga reminds us of in her song, “Joanne.” In addition to being Lady Gaga’s middle name, Joanne is the singer’s late aunt, who died from lupus 12 years before Lady Gaga was born, according to Billboard. And although Lady Gaga never had the chance to meet her aunt, she sings as if her aunt has always had a presence in her life as the singer begs her not to pass away. Gaga has made tributes to her aunt throughout her music career, including adding one of Joanne’s unpublished poems in the booklet of her 2008 debut album, “The Fame.” Although Lady Gaga rebels against her aunt leaving her at the start of the song (“Girl, where do you think you’re goin’?”), by the song’s end, she comes to terms with reality: “Honestly, I know where you’re goin’,” she sings. “And baby, you’re just movin’ on. / And I still love you even if I can’t / see you anymore – can’t wait to see you soar.”

10. “Mama’s Song” – Carrie Underwood

In 2009’s “Mama’s Song,” Carrie Underwood sings a lyrical love letter to her mother on her wedding day — a day that is often filled with mixed emotions, especially for moms “giving” their daughters away. As the bride in the song’s video, Underwood understands this, and shows empathy toward her mother by giving her a photo album of all their shared memories throughout her life. She even reassures her mother that the man she’s marrying is someone who values her. (“He treats your little girl like a real man should,” and “he makes promises he keeps.”) Starting a new chapter, Underwood reminds her mother, is a good thing — but no matter what, a mother’s love can never be replaced. “Mama, there’s no way you’ll ever lose me,” she sings. “Giving me away is not goodbye. / As you watch me walk down to my future / I hope tears of joy are in your eyes.”

11. “Mother Like Mine” – The Band Perry

The world would be a much better place if everyone had a great mother, The Band Perry says in their 2013 single, “Mother Like Mine.” Wars wouldn’t exist in that context, they add, because our mothers would raise everyone to be friends. Not only does this song show how important moms are for cultivating humanity within us, it also shows just how much each of the band’s members (who are all siblings) love their mom. And while everyone in the world may benefit from having a mom like theirs, the band’s lead singer, Kimberly Perry, makes it clear that she needs her more than anyone else. “ She’s the sky that holds the clouds. / She’s the lady of our house. / We all need her, / But no one more than me.”

Editor’s Note: This post, updated for 2025, was originally published May 10, 2024.

The post 11 Sweet Songs Dedicated to Mothers appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Amy Simon leading a painting class with women in New York City. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Simon)

Melissa Baez is an artist and domestic violence survivor. The abuse she endured for six years was so devastating that the attempt to leave resulted in her abuser threatening “to end my life,” she says. Thanks to support from her family and the law, Baez eventually escaped the situation and in 2020 started therapy. It was during this time that she came up with an idea that might bring healing to other women who’ve been in similar situations — and it involved the power of art.

“Once I finished with therapy, which was about two years, I felt like I was ready to launch and make my dreams become a reality,” says Baez, 32, a former elementary and middle school art teacher who is originally from the Dominican Republic.

In December 2023, Baez took $7,000 in savings and launched Colors in the Dark, a painting studio located in Brooklyn, New York’s artsy Dumbo neighborhood that offers painting classes for women of all ages. The concept behind the name stems from the idea that a person has colors and brightness within them, but they sometimes fall into a dark place, she says. Art can help them shine through again.

Melissa Baez. (Photo Courtesy of Melissa Baez)

Keeping an internal bright light on may seem difficult for women in the U.S. as they face challenges ranging from pay-gaps to policies restricting their reproductive rights. The impacts of this can cause high levels of stress, which is more common in women than it is in men, according to the American Physiological Association. 

But studies show that art can be a powerful tool in the healing process. Almost half of Americans use creative activities to help relieve anxiety and stress, and studies show that people who do these activities have a lower risk of developing cognitive issues like memory loss. The Story Exchange interviewed Baez and two other women using their passion for art to help others thrive during difficult times.

Helping Relieve Stress, Depression and Everything in Between

Amy Simon, an educator and artist living in Queens, New York, opened Allure Studio in April 2019, a few months before her 69-year-old father unexpectedly died. Then two years later, her older sister, who was “like a second mother to me,” died from cancer, she says. Dealing with depression and grief following the losses, she took the time to ask herself what made her happy. The answer: painting, and teaching others how to paint.

On the day her father was cremated, for instance, Simon decided to paint a childhood photo of herself as a little girl sitting on his lap at church. While healing is a “constant journey,” painting felt like a remedy. “It does help and it does heal,” she says.

Amy Simon hosting a painting event at Allure Studio. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Simon)

In her studio, which cost $20,000 to launch, Simon and her six staff help run three painting events each week that are often attended by millennial women. Much of the art in her studio focuses on Black culture, something she rarely saw when attending events at other painting studios. Like Baez, Simon had inner light in mind when she named her business.

“Your creative light is really your ‘allure’…that brings people into you,” says Simon, 37, who previously created a community art program for children and had an art exhibit focusing on Black men. “Painting, and more specifically just art, is really a powerful tool for our mind, our body, our soul, our spirit to impact other people.” 

A young girl posing with her painting after attending an event at Allure Studio. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Simon)

For Baez, many of the customers who come through Colors in the Dark studio are Black and Latina women dealing with domestic violence, she says. There is also a “sense of overwhelm” among women, especially those coming from immigrant families, due to their fear over President Donald Trump’s reelection and how it can impact their lives. 

Women “feel like they can’t really speak up [about domestic violence] because of their immigration status,” Baez says. “In our space, I try my best to encourage them to speak up,” by finding outlets where they can express themselves, she adds.

Melissa Baez (far bottom left) with a group of women who attended her Colors in the Dark painting event. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Baez)

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In Roslyn, New York, Deborah Adler of Creative Arts Therapy has been working with clients who are dealing with grief, depression and other emotional challenges. Over the course of her 30-year career as an art therapist, Adler, 55, estimates she has worked with at least 600 women, typically using clay, drawing and other forms of creative expression. One client saw her consistently for nine years following the loss of her mother. Another longtime client, an elderly woman who had a stroke, came to Adler for art therapy until her death.

“I gave her that dignity of what was her identity and gave her an avenue to express the memories of her life,” Adler says about the woman, who was an artist.

Deborah Adler. (Photo Courtesy of Deborah Adler)

When working with her clients, Adler believes painting is the most healing. She also meets with women once a month outside her practice at the local library and a local residence facility, where many of the women are dealing with challenges related to the pandemic and isolation that has persisted over the past few years. Helping women is deeply meaningful, Adler says.

“We do so much in the world and we’re such givers,” says Adler, who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in creative art therapy. “But…we take a lot of heat on things [and] we don’t get the credit. I love to give back and heal and…to make everybody feel as special and empowered and creative they can be.”

The Healing Journey Continues

While Simon is still grieving the loss of her sister, she has great plans for the future, including becoming an educational consultant for teachers and teaching art classes in the Caribbean, with the hopes of launching a studio there.

“We’re all placed with a seed,” says Simon, who is West Indian. “Part of my legacy is helping people to unlock their seed and to help their seed grow.”

Amy Simon posing with a group of women after a painting event. (Photo Courtesy of Amy Simon)

Before becoming a victim of domestic violence, Baez says she was much more outgoing and helpful. But once she fell into the situation, she felt like those traits were taken away from her. 

“I wanted to find something that was going to help bring my fire back — [painting and helping women] helped me take my power back,” Baez says. She also hopes to expand her staff, and finally finish her bachelor’s degree in psychology. 

Melissa Baez standing next to her painting. (Photo Courtesy of Melissa Baez)

 When women express how thankful they are to have a safe space like hers, she feels a sense of real reward. 

“Some of them knew how to paint, and some of them didn’t — but now they feel like they found a new outlet to be able to express their emotions,” Baez says. “I think overall, it’s mainly the sense of belonging, the sense of community, and also the sense that they feel like they are being heard and that there could be a change.”

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The post During Stressful Times, These Women Help Women Heal Through Art appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Longtime journalist Lisa Remillard stands in front of her phone, presses record and starts reporting on a government shutdown most likely to happen days before Christmas. But she’s not reporting live at a news desk —she’s in the comfort of her own living room, wearing a colorful sweater and jeans as her bright Christmas tree sparkles behind her. 

“I guess I’ll start with the facts, as I always do,” says Remillard, 45, before diving into the news report shared to her 3.2 million followers on TikTok. She spent years working as a local news anchor before deciding to leave the industry in 2018. Then during the pandemic, Remillard came up with an idea to report national news on TikTok — which she says no one was doing at the time — and she’s never looked back.

Remillard is among the trend of people serving as news sources online to a growing number of young people following them. According to a recent report by the Pew Research Center, one in five people ages 18 to 29 get their general news from “news influencers” — individuals with at least 100,000 followers on social media who regularly post about news. Younger users are more likely than older users to see breaking news as it happens across Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok, Pew’s data finds.

A potential ban on TikTok, which could come as soon as Jan. 19, could impact the work of news influencers, although many — including Remillard — post to a variety of social media platforms. The vast majority of news influencers (85%) studied by Pew have an account on X, while half are on Instagram, and a slightly smaller share (44%) are on YouTube. Roughly 3-in-10 are on TikTok.

While Remillard is a journalist, other women who share information – and often opinion – don’t appear to have a connection or background with a news organization. Some popular women who share their own political commentary include left-leaning Kate Leone, a fiction writer who goes by The Girl With A Microphone, and conservative female-duo “Chicks On The Right,” who have over 1.4 million followers on Facebook. There are also influencers who cover specific topics, like Kyla Scanlon, author of “In This Economy?,” who grew in popularity on TikTok by regularly sharing business and finance news. Her financial expertise — paired with an informal nature that Gen Z viewers can relate to — has helped her garner a following of more than 217,000 people.

“Hey everyone, Fed Chair Jerome Powell here,” Scanlon says in her TikTok video before climbing the couch and pretending to lose her footing. “As you can see, the Federal Reserve is in a balancing act.”

Addressing the Financial Drawbacks and Gaps

While there are many “fabulous female journalists,” there are few who report the news frequently on social media, says Remillard, who distances herself from the term “influencer” since she has professional news experience. One reason stems from the fact that many women are still figuring out ways to capitalize off the various platforms, she says. A report by the influencer marketing services and technology company Izea revealed that in 2021 male influencers made an average of 30% more money per post than female influencers.

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Remillard says she, too, has struggled making money off social media, especially since she doesn’t do sponsorships, which range between $100 to $200,000 per campaign depending on a user’s following count, according to Billo, a user-generated content platform based in the U.S. As a possible solution, Remillard says she recently started a Substack, a service that allows writers, journalists and other content creators to generate income through charging subscription fees.

“Nobody gets into journalism to be rich,” she says. “They’re making a living, and it’s hard to walk away from that [their official news job] and take a gamble on something that doesn’t make any…money.”

Sexism is another potential factor behind the lack of women news influencers — with Pew’s research finding that women make up just 30% of them, while men make up 63% (the rest either are nonbinary or their gender could not be determined by researchers). Brooklyne Gipson, an assistant professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, says many male influencers tend to have more reach despite having less credentials. She compares the popularity of “The Breakfast Club” host Charlamagne tha God to women news influencers like MSNBC’s Joy Reid and SiriusXM’s Reecie Colbert, whose popularity is not as large as Charlamagne’s, who has 4.5 million followers on his Instagram account.

“Charlamagne has more of an impact because he’s on a radio station, because he’s a man, and he’s seen as more credible off the top,” Gipson says. “Is he more credible than Joy Ann Reid or even Reecie Colbert? No, but he has that reach because he got the people through something else.” The Breakfast Club co-host, whose focus is music and entertainment, has shown more of a political presence in recent years, visible in his debate this past October with CNN’s Anderson Cooper about the media’s coverage of Donald Trump. Most people don’t have the time to sit, understand and vet political views and information, Gipson adds, so they rely on parasocial relationships from individuals they trust on a certain topic. 

Brooke Erin Duffy, an associate professor of communication at Cornell University who is currently teaching a gender and media class, attests to how sexism can impact women influencers and their followers. One example she cites is when X, formerly Twitter, announced in October that it would allow users to see the posts of those who blocked them. “You can imagine the fear of people who have used the block feature as a safety mechanism against criticism, negativity, hate, harassment [and] toxins,” she says. “X has been seen as a much less safe place for women and minoritized communities.” 

The Future for Women Online

Experts agree that there is an overall lack of trust in media organizations among young people. One of the biggest hallmarks in the new generation of influencers, Duffy says, is that many are coming from outside journalism, which can be beneficial, “because it enables more diverse voices to flourish.” But since these news influencers aren’t tied to an organization, “they’re less bound to the convention standards and ideals of the profession,” she adds. In fact, a recent study published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization revealed that 62% of content creators who were surveyed didn’t vet how accurate information was before sharing it with others.

Regarding the future of online sources for news, Duffy says any existing platform, like woman-led Bluesky, can emerge. She also believes that social platform companies need to provide better mechanisms of protection for women overall. 

As for Remillard, she fully believes reporting news on social media is the way forward, since local and cable news networks are struggling. While social media has shifted the landscape of how people receive news, the downside is siloed information that puts people in echo chambers, she says, which is “the other piece that needs to get figured out.” Until then, she says she wants to pave the way for other professional women journalists to share news on TikTok.

“I take a lot of responsibility in trying to find the way to make this work so more journalists would feel comfortable and safe to do this too — because I think more journalism is always going to be better.”

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The post Live, From Social Media – It’s the News appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Amanda Gorman is using her renowned way with words to inspire young girls around the world – this time, through a new children’s book.

The poet and activist explained in a recent Instagram announcement that she wrote the book, called “Girls on the Rise,” to share a message “that was all about the pride and the joy — and most importantly, the power — that comes with being a girl.” She added, “I think it’s an incredibly important message, now more than ever.”

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A post shared by Amanda Gorman (@amandascgorman)

It is, indeed, a timely topic, as girls and women’s rights all over the world are increasingly under attack. And it was one such infringement that inspired Gorman’s newest work, she told CBS Mornings. Watching psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford’s 2018 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about then Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh – during which she detailed his sexual assault of her in high school – proved formative. Gorman wrote a poem that very same night, she added, “because I knew that feeling of being a woman in a room screaming to be believed.” Her desire to encourage such strength in girls and women through her writing only grew from there – eventually becoming “Girls on the Rise.”

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Gorman is already an inspiration to girls everywhere. In 2021, she captured hearts around the world as she read “The Hill We Climb” during the inauguration of President Joe Biden. In doing so, she became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history – less than a year after graduating with honors from Harvard University. 

In addition to her latest project, Gorman has authored several other children’s books, including “Change Sings,” a lyrical picture book released in 2021 that urges kids to create change in their communities. In 2023, she also released “Something, Someday,” a children’s book that reveals “how even the smallest gesture can have a lasting impact.”

When Gorman posted about the release of “Girls on the Rise,” on Instagram, she also excitedly offered a sneak peek at the vibrant illustrations accompanying her prose, each of them designed by Los Angeles-based artist Loveis Wise. The art accompanying her prose shows women of different ethnicities enjoying nature through activities ranging from gardening to relaxing in an oasis. 

Yet in addition to honoring the beauty of diversity, Gorman’s new book also focuses on the strength of unity, which she says girls can find through allies, friends and community. The powerful women in her life, including her mother, have helped Gorman build her own strength, she added during the CBS Mornings interview. 

Now, she wants to pay that fortification forward — reads one excerpt: “We are girls like never before, speaking out more and more, because when our quiet is broken, the world must hear us roar.”

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The post Amanda Gorman’s New Children’s Book Celebrates the Power of Girlhood appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Only 8% of all behind-the-scenes roles were occupied by 10 or more women in last year’s biggest movies — while 70% of those films employed 10 or more men. (Credit: stockcake.com)

Women were the stars of some of this year’s biggest blockbusters, from the musical “Wicked” to the horror sequel “Smile 2.” But representation for women behind the scenes still lags far behind that of men.

The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University recently published its annual “Celluloid Ceiling” report, which broke down the numbers behind the casts and crews of 2024’s top-grossing movies. According to researchers involved with the study, who have been tracking gender representation in Hollywood for nearly 30 years, women accounted for only 16% of the directors who worked on the top 250 films of last year – the same percentage from the previous year. When they zoomed in to look at the top 100 films though, representation for women directors decreased, dipping from 14% in 2023 to 11% last year. 

More troubling, still: Overall, only 8% of all behind-the-scenes roles were occupied by 10 or more women in last year’s biggest movies — while 70% of those films employed 10 or more men.

Researchers point out that even the depictions of powerful women in last year’s films were noticeably problematic, pointing to films such as Netflix rom-com “A Family Affair,” in which Nicole Kidman plays an author, and action/comedy “The Fall Guy,” featuring Emily Blunt as a camerawoman. In these and other films, “fictional female helmers needed to be saved, required help translating their direction for a male actor who literally spoke a different language, or were rendered so brittle by thoughts of future opportunities that they were perceived as being difficult to work with,” researchers wrote in the report.

“Every one of the portrayals provided a Rorschach test of how we view women in leadership positions,” they added.

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This data aligns with previous research which also revealed an ongoing lack of women working in Hollywood. Data published by USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative in early 2024 revealed that women directed just 14 of the 100 top-grossing U.S. films released in 2023 — and four of them were women of color. Female representation in front of the camera lags behind men, too. Previous data from San Diego State researchers found that a staggering 77% of the 100 top-grossing movies of 2023 had more men in speaking roles than women, while only 18% had more women in speaking roles than men. (Just 5% of movies had equal gender representation on-screen.)

One possible, if obvious solution to this ongoing trend involves putting more women in charge – leaders who are more likely to, in turn, hire more women across the board. San Diego State’s latest report found that films with a female director “employed substantially more women” in significant behind-the-camera roles such as writers, editors and cinematographers, than films with male directors.

That said, the news wasn’t all bad – women accounted for 20% of writers working on 2024’s 250 top-grossing films, the report noted, marking a 7% increase since the study was first conducted in 1998 — an historic high for representation, researchers stated.
Still, more work and more progress is needed. As history-making director Kathryn Bigelow once told Time Magazine, “Gender discrimination stigmatizes our entire industry. Change is essential. Gender-neutral hiring is essential.”

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The post Women Are (Still) Underrepresented in Hollywood, New Data Reveals appeared first on The Story Exchange.

For better or for worse, younger people are flocking to social media to get their news. 

That’s according to recent data from the Pew Research Center, which found that 37% of Americans ages 18 to 29 learn what’s happening around them through “news influencers” — defined as those with over 100,000 followers who regularly talk about news online. Additional research reveals that younger users are more likely than older users to see breaking news as it’s happening across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X.

The Pew report also found that a clear majority (63%) of news influencers are men. To bring awareness to the 30% of women who are in the news influencer space, we’ve compiled a list of online voices — both female and nonbinary — which include individuals who lean far left and right, or who objectively report, along with those who have become voices for major humanitarian movements. Some have a journalism background, while others simply have a microphone and an opinion — but either way, they have drawn the attention of tens of thousands of intrigued viewers online.

Strictly Objective

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Lisa Remillard. (Photo Courtesy of Lisa Remillard)

Lisa Remillard aka “The News Girl”

Ever since she was 4 years old, Remillard knew she wanted to be a journalist. That childhood dream fueled the start of a journalism career that now spans over two decades. After leaving local news in 2018, Remillard co-founded a media company called Beond TV, and shortly after, decided to post herself reporting current events on TikTok, where she now gained more than 3 million followers. Calling herself “The News Girl,” Remillard says her content includes unbiased reporting with straight facts, which she emphasizes is how news should be.

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Kristen Welker. (Credit: Edward M. Kennedy Institute)

Kristen Welker

As a journalist and correspondent for NBC News, Welker’s career includes several wins. A major one occurred in 2023, when she became the first Black person to moderate NBC’s “Meet the Press” in the show’s 76-year history. She also received praise from social media and news outlets for how she maintained order during the second 2020 debate between President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump. On her Instagram, the “Philly girl” often posts clips of interviews she conducted with Trump, Senator Bernie Sanders and other political figures to her 108,000 followers.

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The women behind What You Missed Today News. (Credit: What You Missed Today News Official TikTok Page)

The Women of “What You Missed Today News”

There is so much news happening around the world, which makes it easy for people to miss it. That’s where “WYMT News” comes in. The TikTok page, which has over 450,000 followers, includes a daily recap of international news stories in a one-minute timespan. While people who share news on social media often talk in their videos, the two women behind the page are completely silent, with their videos having them point to text and pictures covering the news.

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(Credit: jordanismylawyer.com)

@jordanismylawyer

Jordan Berman is a licensed attorney who shares news and law “in an impartial, fact-based manner,” according to her YouTube channel. Her TikTok videos often start off with a rundown of things viewers should know, which range from breaking news topics like Biden pardoning his son, Hunter Biden, to explainers about Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ differing tax policies. Aside from running her TikTok account, which has more than 396,000 followers, she has a podcast titled “Unbiased.”

Left and Right-Leaning Voices

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Joy Ann Reid. (Credit: https://joyannreid.com/)

Joy-Ann Reid

Reid has made a mark in the world of broadcast journalism, witnessed throughout her career as an opinion columnist leading up to her current endeavor as host of MSNBC’s “The Reid Out.” On the program, the political commentator frequently calls out Republicans, including Trump — as seen with her recent remark that “Trump is casting his administration like a reality-TV show.” With more than 933,000 Instagram followers and over 11 million likes from her posts on TikTok, Reid is undoubtedly one of the top women in the news sphere.

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Laura Ingraham. (Credit: lauraingraham.com)

Laura Ingraham

As a Fox News host, Ingraham is a popular and controversial voice among conservative women. Some of her questionable behavior includes defending a group of “prominent voices censored on social media” in 2019, which included Paul Nehlen, a known white supremacist who has spewed antisemitism and racist rhetoric — among other things. With the help of her outlandish comments, Ingraham has garnered more than 250,000 Instagram followers and 5 million followers on X.

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Stephanie. (Credit: @stephaniesuniverse Official TikTok Page)

@stephanies_universe

With the caption “Darth Vader is my biological father” in her TikTok bio, Stephanie, whose last name is not revealed, gives her take on news and politics from a left-leaning perspective. In one video with more than 1 million views, she shows a sign that reads, “If you voted for Trump, you are not welcome at my house,” while telling her fellow Democrats in the caption to “stay strong.” While it’s unclear what Stephanie’s professional background is, she has garnered a TikTok following of more than 134,000 people.

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Trish Regan. (Credit: Trish Regan Official Facebook Page)

Trish Regan

Regan calls herself a “red-blooded American capitalist” who has a years-long career as a business journalist, previously working as a host for Bloomberg Television and CNBC, along with being a contributor to Fox News. In 2020, Regan launched her own independent media company and is the creator behind “The Trish Regan Show,” a podcast and talk show where she discusses news from a conservative viewpoint. Regan regularly shares clips from the show on her TikTok, which has over 195,000 followers, and posts videos to her YouTube channel, which has over 490,000 subscribers.

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Emily Amack. (Credit: Emily In Your Phone Official Facebook Page)

Emily Amack

Amack is a journalist and lawyer who has an extensive background in politics, which includes previously working with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and co-authoring the book “Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives,” which details the importance of civic engagement. On her Instagram account, @EmilyinYourPhone, the political analyst posts left-leaning content about Trump, including a list of his top nominees ahead of his inauguration. Amack’s approach to engaging those online has proven successful, as proven by her 192,000 Instagram followers.

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Amy Joe Clark (left) and Miriam Weaver (right). (Credit: https://chicksonright.com/)

“Chicks On The Right”

“Chicks On The Right” is a conservative — and somewhat controversial — podcast and website featuring Amy Jo Clark and Miriam Weaver, who formerly worked together as broadcasters on an Indiana radio station, according to their official YouTube channel. After Clark left radio in 2020 and Weaver shortly after, the duo launched their brand and business in 2022. It has since grown a following of 1.5 million on Facebook, over 551,000 on Instagram and 130,000 on YouTube. One of their most popular episodes includes “Donald Trump And Andrew Are A Phenomenal (And Super Funny!) Duo,” which has over 15,000 views on YouTube.

Research, Explainers, and Expert Insight

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Kyla Scanlon. (Credit: Kyla Scanlon Official TikTok page)

Kyla Scanlon

Known as a content-creator and educator, Scanlon graduated from Western Kentucky University in 2019 and started her career as an associate at the financial services company Capital Group. She regularly provides news updates and explainers on everything related to the economy, including bitcoin, the labor market and mortgage rates. Scanlon even adds humor to her content, as seen in one video of her reenacting a Federal Reserve meeting with its chair, Jerome Powell. Another video shows her fact-checking Trump’s inaccurate statements on the Federal Reserve’s power.

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Alaina Wood. (Credit: thegarbagequeen.com)

Alaina Wood

Followers interested in helping save the planet turn to Wood — over 380,000 of them in all on TikTok, to be exact. In addition to being the founder of the climate education and activism platform Garbage Queen, Wood is also a sustainability scientist, climate communicator and eco-anxiety researcher. On her social media channels, she regularly posts climate-related news, including her “Good Climate News” series, which includes a TikTok video on women who successfully fought companies damaging their communities. For those who want good news on climate, as Wood says in one of her videos: “You ask and you shall receive.”

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V. Spehar. *Credit: https://underthedesknews.com/)

V. Spehar, “Under the Desk News”

Spehar, who is nonbinary, is an internet personality and creator of “Under the Desk News,” in which Spehar breaks down the latest current events and how viewers are impacted. Some recent stories include an explanation of Trump potentially pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, along with a mini-series diving into the life of Luigi Mangione, the murder suspect accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Spehar’s content has garnered a large number of fans online, including over 560,000 followers on Instagram and 3.2 million followers on TikTok. 

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Areva Martin. (Credit: arevamartin.com)

Areva Martin

Calling herself America’s advocate for the voiceless, Martin is a civil rights attorney, political writer and CNN contributor. During this election season, Martin hosted her podcast, “Areva Martin in Real Time,” a news talk show that provides analysis on major headline news. Her reporting also focuses on topics pertaining to people of color, such as reparations. On her Instagram, which has 811,000 followers, she regularly shares clips of herself appearing on news segments as a legal expert.

International Conflict

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Palipina. (Credit: @iampalipina Official Instagram page)

@iampalipina

As an “I Stand with Palestine” supporter, Palipina’s Instagram page provides pro-Palestinian updates in the Israel-Gaza war — mostly in text posts — to her 155,000 followers. By providing followers with news updates about what’s happening to Palestinians, she uses her platform to expose the inhumanity they face while calling out Israel for genocide — as the Associated Press recently reported that the Palestinian death toll now tops 45,000 people.

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Elizabeth Savetsky. (Credit: https://lizzysavetsky.com/)

Elizabeth Savetsky

According to her Instagram bio, Savetsky is “a proud Jewish woman on a mission.” The pro-Israeli activist regularly posts news about antisemitism on college campuses, along with other news about the Jewish community — including the Israel-Hamas war — to her 394,000 followers. In a recent post, Savetsky shared a video of herself outside the New York University library where pro-Palestinian protesters, whom she referred to as pro-terror, anti-American and anti-Western, barricaded the entrance. In October, Savetsky was listed in The Jerusalem Post’s “25 ViZionaries” list.

Celebrity News and Entertainment

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Grace Ajo. (Credit: Empressive Channel YouTube)

The Empressive Channel

When it comes to urban hip-hop and Black celebrity news, “The Empressive Channel” has it covered. While the woman behind the YouTube channel — which has over 1 million subscribers – does not show her face, she is believed to be Grace Ajo, who reportedly started the channel in 2014 by discussing her natural hair journey, per Intellifluence. Aside from sharing celebrity gossip, Empressive creates music documentaries including “The SAD Stories about Black Disney Girls,” which has over 3.5 million views. 

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@jusnene. (Credit: @jusnene Official TikTok Page)

@Jusnene

For those who like receiving their news in a raw, funny and unfiltered way, @jusnene’s TikTok page is just for you. While the content creator keeps her real name a secret, her popularity is evident in her “like” count, which totals over 13.1 million. Jusnene’s videos, which feature both humorous and serious commentary, touch on celebrity news, current events, politics and even world news. Some popular videos that have gained traction include her reaction to the killing of Mexican YouTuber Miguel “El Jasper” Vivanco in November, and a Pennsylvania Halloween parade depicting Vice President Harris walking in chains.

Related

6 Bright Moments in Women’s Health Throughout 2024

The post A List of Influencers Sharing News and Shaping Public Opinions appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Good health is critical to living a good life — and thanks to new medical research and other significant strides forward, women now have more insights than ever into how to best care for their bodies.

Thanks to the hard work of researchers, we now know more about a range of issues that plague women, from heart disease and breast cancer to reproductive care restrictions and ageism. Their data has shown us that positive progress is possible – but it’s what we do with this information that truly matters. Which is why women like philanthropist Melinda French Gates and First Lady Jill Biden are stepping up to the plate, by launching initiatives designed to promote women’s health – and they’re not the only ones acting. 

Below, we’ve prepared a dose of hope, in the form of six health-news stories from 2024 that spotlight critical discoveries and encouraging moments in the work toward improving healthcare for women throughout the nation, and the world.

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Women caregivers spend about 153 more hours per year performing volunteer caregiving duties, compared to men, which equates to more than $625 billion annually in unpaid labor. (Credit: World Bank Photo Collection, Flickr.com)

Senior Women’s Mortality Rates Are Lower When Treated by Female Doctors

Aside from bringing senior women patients a sense of ease, research published this year in the Annals of Internal Medicine by researchers from the University of Tokyo, the University of California, Los Angeles, Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Francisco found that having women doctors treat senior women can save up to 5,000 lives per year. That adds up to 50,000 lives saved over the course of a decade. The reason: Women doctors are better communicators and listeners, and are better at speaking more openly to patients, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, explained to NBC News as an expert consultant.

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According to the reproductive rights nonprofit Power to Decide, more than 19 million women in the U.S. live in contraceptive deserts. (Credit: Kaboompics.com, Pexels.com)

Biden-Harris Administration Proposes Plan to Make Condoms, Over-the-Counter Contraception Free

Since the Dobbs decision struck down landmark abortion-access law Roe v. Wade in 2022, access to abortive and reproductive care has become a major concern among women — particularly Gen-Zers. To help ensure that all women have access to contraception they need, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris introduced a new proposal that would make condoms and other over-the-counter birth control options available free of charge to those with private insurance. This move, White House officials said, could benefit 52 million young women across the country if it goes into effect.

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The Morehouse School of Medicine Trains Doulas to Bring Maternal Care to Rural Regions

Twelve women walked across the stage at the historically Black university in Atlanta and officially became perinatal patient navigators — also known as doulas. The institution’s goal in formally training doulas, a representative told NPR this summer, is to provide maternal-care resources to women in rural areas. The broader aim is to decrease Georgia’s maternal mortality rate of 33.9 lives lost per 100,000 births. Advocates add that getting Georgia’s Medicaid program to cover the cost of these doulas would ultimately save the state money, while also easing persistent racial disparities in care.

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Samvia Henry holding her newborn baby with her husband after giving birth at home. (Photo courtesy of Samvia Henry)

Black Women Find Empowerment Giving Birth at Home

Giving birth can be a frightening experience for all women, Black women especially. Georgia isn’t the only part of the country with a problem – Black women throughout the U.S. face increased risks when carrying and delivering children. Tired of feeling unheard by doctors, three Black women told The Story Exchange about their positive experiences having babies in their own homes. Feeling more comfortable, having a say over their own bodies, and being in familiar settings are just a few of the reasons why these women refused to step in a hospital unless they had to.

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Under her new organization Pivotal Ventures, Gates is directing grants to several nonprofits supporting women’s rights, power and influence, including the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the National Women’s Law Center. (Credit: World Bank Photo Collection, Flickr.com)

Melinda French Gates Launches $250 Million Fund for Women’s Health

Gates is well known for her female-focused philanthropic efforts – and this year, she continued to be a champion for women by providing $250 million for her “Action for Women’s Health” initiative. It’s an effort she launched through her investment company, Pivotal Ventures, and its partner, Levers for Change. The money was portioned out to organizations that work to improve the mental and physical well-being of millions of women around the globe. This push came mere months after Gates donated another $1 billion to various nonprofit organizations, money that will be portioned out over the next two years to also support women’s health.

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First Lady Jill Biden Commits Millions Toward Women’s Health

Like Gates, Biden also launched a number of far-reaching health initiatives in 2024, within months of each other. Biden’s first effort came in February – the “Sprint for Women’s Health” involved a $100 million pledge to fund women’s health research, which has been historically underfunded. Biden then announced in September that she would commit another $500 million to the betterment of women in the U.S. military.

The post 6 Bright Moments in Women’s Health Throughout 2024 appeared first on The Story Exchange.

It’s been a triumphant year for women, despite everything bad that’s happened in the world. 

Indeed, women achieved numerous milestones in 2024, in realms ranging from music to politics. For example, the release of Beyonce’s song, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” resulted in her becoming the first Black woman to ever top Billboard’s country song chart. Taylor Swift, meanwhile, became the richest female musician in the world. And in the lead-up to Election Day 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris smashed fundraising records after collecting $81 million – in one day.

Though they and scores of other women reached new heights, we also lost several female icons along the way. Women whose legacies left a mark on many, including those still realizing their own greatness. To honor the contributions to the world made by those we lost, we’ve compiled some moving bits of wisdom from 15 of those outstanding women who passed away this year. 

May their works, and words, continue to touch us all.

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7 Songs by Women Artists to Meet Your Holiday Mood – Whatever it May Be

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Shannen Doherty (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“I don’t want to die. I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better. I’m just not – I’m not done.” – Shannen Doherty (1971-2024)

Years after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, Doherty publicly shared these words in a 2023 interview with People Magazine — a bid to help others dealing with the debilitating disease. Best known for her starring performances on classic 1990s shows “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Charmed,” Doherty consistently demonstrated perseverance in her more recent posts and interviews, a reflection of her determination to beat breast cancer. Though she ultimately succumbed to the disease at age 53, her willingness to fight, and to keep living life honestly and fully, is something everyone can learn from.

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Janice Burgess. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“I’m an example of someone who’s learned a lot along the way. It’s very important to follow your instincts about what it is you want to do, and try to get jobs that help you do that.” – Janice Burgess (1952-2024)

Whenever the theme song for Nickelodeon’s animated children’s show “The Backyardigans” plays, it sparks nostalgia for Gen Z-ers and Millennials alike. As the show’s screenwriter and creator, Burgess was the force behind the five lively, diverse animal characters that kids could relate to and dance with. She, herself, benefited from them as well – Burgess would say she saw herself most in the character Uniqua, a one-of-a-kind species who was sweet, graceful, adventurous and self-confident. And just like Uniqua, Burgess was a ringleader of sorts — a status she achieved by following her instincts, as she noted in a 2009 interview with Investor’s Business Daily.

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Ethel Kennedy. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“For anyone to achieve something, (s)he will have to show a little courage. You're only on this Earth once. You must give it all you've got.” – Ethel Kennedy (1928-2024)

Kennedy’s words, quoted in this tribute post from her nonprofit, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, gave us a glimpse into what fueled her through own social justice efforts – and her desire to carry on the work of her husband after he was assassinated in 1968. Ethel displayed strength even as she continued to experience loss – including the death of one son, David, to a drug overdose in 1984, and another, Michael, to a skiing accident in 1997. Amid those heartbreaks, Kennedy experienced wins, too. An award-winning documentary, “Ethel,” was released about her life in 2012, and she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama two years later. Up until her death at age 96, Kennedy made sure to live up to her own words by giving life all she had.

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Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. (Credit: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Flickr.com)

“We want to be responsive to all Americans, and we know how diverse this country has become.” – Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (1950-2024)

Lee represented Texas’ 18th congressional district — and in a broader sense, all of the American people, as she told Politico in 2019. In her work as a lawyer and politician, she had many accomplishments, including co-sponsoring the bill that led to Juneteenth becoming a national holiday. In 2021, she helped reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act in a bid to improve how the criminal legal system – and communities in general – respond to gender-based violence. She also supported policies designed to expand Medicaid, provide stricter gun-control measures and protect children from bullying. And it was her respect for our nation’s diversity, and the range of needs that diversity signals, that drove it all.

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Chita Rivera. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“I have a very young outlook. I don't think you know how much you can do until you try.” – Chita Rivera (1933-2024)

Well, Rivera could do it all onstage – singing, dancing, you name it. One of her most iconic performances – as Anita in the original Broadway cast of “West Side Story” – embodied much of what made Rivera, herself, special: Sparky, independent and passionate about her community. The performance also catapulted her acting career forward, with Rivera going on to star in the 1969 musical “Sweet Charity,” and “Chicago” in 2002. She was additionally the first Latina woman awarded with Kennedy Center Honors in 2002, along with being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama in 2009. The array of accomplishments throughout Rivera’s 91 years speaks to her willingness to try, and keep trying, she told AARP in a 2011 interview, per Reuters.

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Gena Rowlands. (Credit: internetadn, Flcikr.com)

“If you like to act, you just go ahead and act … You don’t necessarily have to have training. You just have to love to do it.” – Gena Rowlands (1930-2024)

Though she’s perhaps better known to younger generations for her heartbreaking role in the 2004 romance classic “The Notebook,” Rowlands acting career actually spans 60 years. Along the way, she won four Emmys, two Golden Globes and an Honorary Academy Award for her role as actor Myrtle Gordon in the 1977 film “Opening Night” – just to name a few accolades. She also made 10 films with her ex-husband, John Cassavetes, a notable filmmaker and actor himself. Rowland’s legacy lives on in part through her family, as all of her three children became actors and directors as well. But in order to build such a life, Rowlands emphasized in a 2016 interview with Beverly Cinema, you must love what you do – which she undoubtedly did.

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Hydeia Broadbent. (Credit: Social Security Administration)

“I am the future, and I have AIDS. I can do anything I put my mind to. I am the next doctor. I am the next lawyer. I am the next Maya Angelou. I might even be the first woman president. … You can’t crush my dream. I am the future, and I have AIDS.” – Hydeia Broadbent (1984-2024)

Broadbent was only 12 when she spoke these inspirational words at the 1996 Republican National Convention, after she’d risen to national prominence through a memorable appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” at age 11. Broadbent had been an AIDS and HIV activist since age 6, displaying her bravery as she shared her own AIDS-positive status publicly, and capturing hearts around the country along the way. By becoming a symbol of the movement, she also fought against the stigma that the disease – and those who have it – still face. “AIDS is something that happened to me, but does not define who I am as a person,” Broadbent once also noted, according to a tribute from the Social Security Administration. While she was just 39 at the time of her death, AIDS never got in the way of her grand visions.

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Iris Apfel. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

"I don't see anything wrong with a wrinkle. It's kind of a badge of courage." – Iris Apfel (1921-2024)

A businesswoman and interior designer, Apfel is well-known for her bold, eccentric style. The Queens, New York, native began her career as an art student and interior decorator, eventually working her way up to becoming one of the most influential designers in the world. Apfel’s wardrobe, too, emphasized colors, colors and more colors – with her once saying in a 2022 Vogue Portugal interview, “Color can raise the dead.” She also called herself a “geriatric starlet,” her longtime friend Elyze Held said in an Instagram post after Apfel’s death. Yes, Apfel also encouraged her design industry cohorts to be more age-inclusive – she spoke of wrinkles being a “badge of honor”sin her 2015 documentary “Iris,” which aired PBS’ POV in 2016. Before dying at age 102, Apfel collected many significant achievements under her (likely eye-grabbing) belt – for example, by becoming the first designer outside of the fashion world to be featured as part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in 2005. 

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Judith Jamison. (Credit: Ailey.org)

“People come to see beauty, and I dance to give it to them.” – Judith Jamison (1943-2024)

She began taking dance lessons at age 6. By the time she reached adulthood, Jamison had become one of the most notable dancers of all time. After getting discovered by choreographer Agnes de Mille in 1964, she joined the American Ballet Theater in New York City. One year later, she debuted with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a space for Black dancers, specifically, to express their culture and experiences. She became the artistic director for Alvin Ailey in 1989, and achieved several recognitions in that capacity, including winning a National Medal of Arts and an American Choreography Award. All in the name of beauty, as she said to Vogue Magazine in 2009.

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Barbara Taylor Bradford. (Credit: barbarataylorbradford.com)

“Even the most powerful women need a place to unwind.” – Barbara Taylor Bradford (1933-2024)

An acclaimed British-American author, Bradford was one of the best-selling novelists in history, with over 90 million copies of her works sold internationally. Her 1979 book, “A Woman of Substance,” sold over 30 million copies alone, and was later adapted into a television miniseries that aired in the United Kingdom in 1984. Bradford’s fictional works also became well-known around the world after being translated into 40 languages. The profits earned from book sales helped her fortune reach $300 million by the time she died at age 91. But, as she noted in her 2008 book “Being Elizabeth,” she couldn’t have done any of it without setting aside time to unwind.

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Glynis Johns. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“Relatives cannot help you in the studios. You stand or fall by your own efforts.” – Glynis Johns (1923-2024)

Success comes from the person reaching for it, Johns said in 1946 while discussing nepotism, according to IMDB. And succeed, she did. Johns captured the hearts of children around the world through her turn as Suffragette and matriarch Winifred Banks in Disney’s 1964 classic film, “Mary Poppins” – a role Walt Disney selected Johns for himself. As a child prodigy, she first made history when she received a teaching degree at the Cone School of Dancing in London at age 10. By the time she turned 12, she had won 25 gold medals in dancing competitions across England. At age 13, she debuted in her first movie, “South Riding.” Johns’ career continued apace, and she made history once again at age 19 by becoming the youngest female actor to play the titular role in a staged performance for “Peter Pan” at the Cambridge Theater in England. And she only reached – and rose up – from there.

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A young Barbara Rush. (Credit: Flickr.com)

“I’m one of those kinds of people who will perform the minute you open the refrigerator door and the light goes on.” – Barbara Rush (1927-2024)

Rush could perform anywhere, at any time, she asserted during a 1997 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. As a stage, television and screen actress, Rush performed alongside fellow legends like Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman. She received her first acting role in the 1950 film “The Goldbergs,” then went on to capture audiences again and again with turns in several other acclaimed movies and television shows. That includes 1953 sci-fi/horror flick “It Came From Outer Space” — which earned her a Golden Globe in 1954. She also starred in the long-running soap opera “All My Children.” Rush continued to perform until the refrigerator lights went off at age 97.

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Ruth Westheimer. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“When it comes to sex, the most important six inches are the ones between the ears.” – Dr. Ruth Westheimer (1928-2024)

Westheimer was a pioneering sex expert who made a career out of offering sage advice, as seen here in this quote — from a 2019 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — on one of life’s most interesting, taboo topics: Human intimacy. Her exploration of joy came after a childhood of hardship – she was a Holocaust survivor who had fled Nazi Germany for Switzerland at age 10. Her rise to prominence as an adult came in the 1980s and 1990s, when she hosted the popular call-in radio show, “Sexually Speaking,” as well as an also-beloved television program, “The Dr. Ruth Show.” Westheimer also published more than 40 books, and received an Ace Award in 1989 for her achievements in cable television. 

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Maggie Smith. (Credit: Flickr.com)

“I tend to head for what's amusing, because a lot of things aren't happy. But usually you can find a funny side to practically anything.” – Maggie Smith (1934-2024)

Smith was in a class all her own. Through her work in the “Harry Potter” film franchise, stealing scenes on popular period drama “Downton Abbey,” and decades of other memorable performances, she endeared herself to generations of fans. She was private about her personal life, but her stage presence was on display for the world to see, and love. Smith began acting in 1952, and continued doing so until 2023, when she starred in “The Miracle Club.” It would be the last film she made before her death. She also earned some of the biggest acting accolades one can get along the way, including seven BAFTA awards, two Oscars, four Emmys and a Tony. And no matter how hard the path got, Smith tried to find the humor in it all, she revealed in a 2004 interview with The Guardian.

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Cissy Houston. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“You can't treat your voice badly and expect it to stay around.” – Cissy Houston (1933-2024)

She was the mother of music legend Whitney Houston – but she was also a prodigy herself. The Newark, New Jersey, native was a member of the gospel group The Drinkard Singers, and later sang with The Sweet Inspirations, who sang backup for artists like Dionne Warwick (who was Cissy Houston’s niece) and Otis Redding. The two-time Grammy winner also acted – she appeared alongside her daughter in the 1996 film “The Preacher’s Wife,” and starred in the 1994 film “The Vernon Johns Story.” Besides her passion for performing, Cissy Houston was also a proud mother to Whitney, who died in 2012 at age 48. “She accomplished a whole lot in the short time that she had here… She was a very wonderful person,” Cissy Houston told My9 after her daughter’s death. Indeed, she cared for others, as well as herself, throughout her 91 years of life – a vital component to holding on to what matters, as she noted during a 2013 interview with USA Today. 

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Feeling Unheard by Doctors, Many Black Women Are Opting for Home Births

The post Inspiring Quotes from 15 Iconic Women We Lost in 2024 appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Diyasha Jones holding her newborn baby after having a water birth. (Photo courtesy of Diyasha Jones)

Ashley Johnson is traumatized by hospitals. Johnson, a Memphis native, gave birth to three children in one — but her first birth was by far one of the scariest experiences she ever lived through to tell. 

At age 15, Johnson delivered her first child at one of Tennessee‘s oldest operating hospitals, in Memphis. During the process, she developed preeclampsia, a high blood pressure condition, which doctors didn’t explain to her “until I started seizuring,” she says. Johnson also developed a fever that doctors tried to treat with an exorbitant amount of IV fluid, causing her entire body to swell. “I felt like I was drowning because I had so much body fluid.” 

After enduring 12 hours of labor, Johnson gave birth to her son but later started seizing again. While Johnson, now 32, and her son Marcus, now 17, survived the ordeal, the most troubling part of her birthing experience was getting dismissed by doctors during the process, she says.

“I didn’t feel like I had a voice,” says Johnson, who is Black and lives in Olive Branch, Miss. “I didn’t feel like anyone cared…even when I expressed to them that I was experiencing pain, something was wrong — this isn’t right.” Johnson’s experience led her to giving birth to her daughter, one-year-old Navi, at home. Unlike the hospital staff,  Johnson’s midwife “treated me with grace,” she adds.

Ashley Johnson giving birth at home. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Johnson)

Like Johnson, there is a growing number of women who are deciding to give birth in the comfort of their own home. Home births in the U.S. rose 12% from 2020 to 2021, reaching the highest level in 30 years, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And while home births increased across all races of women during the pandemic, data shows that Black women experienced the highest increase of 21% in 2021. There is also a fair amount of support for home births on social media forums, where a 2024 study analyzing 47,000 comments on Reddit and TikTok found that a majority of women (53%) had positive attitudes toward it.

Home births, of course, still remain rare, representing just 1.41% of births in 2021, according to the CDC. And they don’t come without risk: While most women deliver safely, research suggests that planned home births are associated with a higher risk of infant death, seizures and nervous system disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic.

But more women say they are choosing home births to have more control over the birthing process. That’s especially the case for Black women, who are three times more likely to die during or shortly after pregnancy than white women. Experts link the higher maternal mortality rate to bias, pre-existing health conditions and a lack of access to care, especially for women living in rural areas. 

The number of women opting for home births will continue to rise, according to Ashaki Tobias, who has been a doula since 2021 and is a healthy birth ambassador for Sista MidWife Productions, a birth advocacy, training and consulting agency in New Orleans, Louisiana. The push for midwifery care, she says, is growing — especially in places like Louisiana, where groups like hers are fighting for legislation so people giving birth can have more options.

“One of the biggest things that I’m seeing is lack of individual care,” Tobias says about patients. “Another thing is not feeling heard or respected in the birthing space.”

Comfort From Past Trauma

Samvia Henry, 34, gave birth to three of her eight children at home. In 2018, she gave birth to her fifth child at a full-service hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, which she says was a complete nightmare. 

“I didn’t have a say in anything,” Henry says, including an epidural that doctors forced her to get. One even told her that they didn’t want her to give birth to a “dead” baby. “It was the scariest moment to me, because I realized that…it don’t matter… what color you are, what race you are —- it’s a systematic approach.”

Samvia Henry holding her newborn baby next to her husband after giving birth at home (left) and the Henry family (right.) (Photos courtesy of Samvia Henry)

Henry’s home births with her next three children, on the other hand, were much different. Henry says she loves the feeling of waking up in her own bed the morning after giving birth, without getting disturbed by medical staff who would poke her and her baby and impact her sleep at the hospital. She also enjoys not having to pack a hospital bag, and not worrying about potentially bringing home germs from the hospital. 

“[Midwives] clean up everything,” Henry says. “They make sure that I eat. To me, that’s first-class care.” Henry’s husband and children also help with home births, she adds.

Other women, like Diyasha Jones, 30, of Charlotte, North Carolina, say education played a role in her decision. From her very first pregnancy experience, Jones, now a mother of five, immediately started looking up midwives and doulas for home births. She also watched the 2008 documentary film about America’s maternity care system called “The Business of Being Born,” which “really opened my eyes” to the negative treatment of women in the hospital while in labor, she says. Jones gave birth to her five children at home, and chose to have a freebirth — delivering a baby without medical assistance or a midwife — for four of them. While Jones’ husband initially had his reservations, he came around to the idea, she says. Jones also learned of methods to help ease pain – including a “pushing motion on my back,” she says.

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But most importantly Jones wanted to feel comfortable in her own home.

“You’re in your own familiar setting,” Jones says. “A lot of women don’t realize…that when you’re at home, that’s your safe haven, that’s your sense of peace — and your body knows that.” She also says women are allowed to do what they want in their own environment, such as lighting candles, playing music and having people over during the labor process.

Diyasha Jones. (Photo courtesy of Diyasha Jones)

Aside from comfort, home births can potentially ease some of the financial burden for expecting mothers. Johnson of Mississippi said she was billed $30,000 after the birth of her second child in the hospital, even though she was on an insurance plan. Johnson’s home birth, meanwhile, cost only $4,500. Henry also said she saved thousands of dollars opting for home births. However, home births aren’t always the cheapest option, as costs can range between $4,000 to $20,000. Hospital births, on average, cost $18,865 without insurance, according to the Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation Health System Tracker, per Forbes, and out-of-pocket costs with insurance average $2,854.

Certified midwives who assist in home births are usually covered by insurance but vary depending on the provider and state, while doulas typically aren’t covered under private insurance. Yet, there are exceptions in states like Louisiana and New York, where doula care is covered under Medicaid. A number of nonprofits and community programs provide free and low-cost doula support, including Citywide Doula Initiative and Community of Caring in the New York City area, and the Joy in Birthing Foundation in Los Angeles, California.

Ashley Johnson holding her newborn baby. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Johnson)

A Sense of Empowerment 

Jones of North Carolina views the home birthing experience as empowering for Black women. She says the media often depicts home births and natural births as negative, which prompted her to share her birthing experience online to show viewers they can have a “calm” and “quiet” birth.

“Birth is an unexpected thing,” Jones says. “You just never know how it’s going to go. But if you can be in control of yourself and [in] control of your emotions, you can birth exactly how you want.”

Ashley Johnson's newborn daughter. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Johnson)

Johnson’s traumatic hospital experiences are forever engraved in her memory. The birth of her first child would have been “100% better” if she did it at home, she believes. But now, she’s raising awareness through her YouTube channel — which has over 16,000 subscribers — by providing an intimate look into her home birth experience along with interviews with her midwife (a registered nurse with years of training) and advice on how mothers can prepare for birthing at home, including managing pain. 

Not all Black women are interested in home births, and many — such as those with high-risk pregnancies, or who have previously had Cesarean sections  — may be better off choosing a hospital delivery. 

But for women like Johnson, Jones and Henry, who have opted for home births and enjoyed the experience, they say it’s worth it.  “I would do it over a hospital birth, again and again,” Johnson says on her YouTube page. 

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The post Feeling Unheard by Doctors, Many Black Women Are Opting for Home Births appeared first on The Story Exchange.