Four Sisters Publishing prints and sells books, artwork, and other merchandise that embrace the feminist ideal of equality for all people. In our newsletter, we bring you stories that are relevant to this mission. We also update you on our newest products, coupons, and sales so that we can continue to spread the feminist perspective! |
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Who Deserves to be a U.S. Citizen? |
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In 1866, Congress passed the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which stated, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." This amendment was necessary to clarify the citizenship status of people of African descent who had been enslaved before the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865. However, this was not the only motivation for Congress to pass the 14th Amendment. At the end of the Civil War, southern states had a nasty habit of rejecting African Americans' civil rights as well as the rights of whites who had supported the Union. The denial of the human and civil rights of specific groups such as black people, Chinese people, Native Americans, women, and even people with differing political views is baked into the fabric of our country. This battle is still raging today. | | |
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Donald Trump, the twice impeached ex-president who incited the January 6th Insurrection and leading contender for the Republican Party's nomination for president in 2024, announced on May 30th that he plans to use an executive order to end birthright citizenship if he's elected president. Although immigrants and their children are subject to all state and federal laws, Trump claims that the children of foreign nationals are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and, therefore, can be denied citizenship. | | |
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Whether or not the Constitution requires universal birthright citizenship is under debate, but originalists contend that it is not memorialized in the Constitution and has never been mandated by the Supreme Court. That means a Trump presidency could mean a revocation of citizenship for hundreds of thousands of children born on American soil. Many of these children would be left stateless, as most countries require people born outside of the state to undergo various application processes to gain citizenship. Most countries in the Western Hemisphere offer birthright citizenship. This makes sense because states invest significantly in their population by providing various public services such as education, childcare, and healthcare. Once a person becomes an adult, they contribute to the state by working and paying taxes. If you force people to live on the fringes of society by denying them citizenship or legal residency, they are likely to be far less productive and beneficial members of society. | | |
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Immigrants make major contributions to the U.S. economy. In 2018, immigrants occupied 36% of farming, fishing, and forestry jobs, 36% of building, grounds cleaning, and maintenance jobs, 29% of textile manufacturing jobs, and 27% of food manufacturing and hotel industry jobs. As the birthrate in America has continued to decline, immigration has been supplementing our aging population with young, hard-working people who have filled in the positions left vacant by ever-shrinking numbers of native-born young people. Immigrants also contribute to our society by bringing with them a variety of cultural traditions, perspectives, and experiences. With cultural diversity comes diversity of thought, which allows us to tackle issues from multiple perspectives to arrive at the best possible solution. It enables us to expand our understanding of humanity and the world we live in. Diversity has always been one of America's greatest strengths. |
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Whether or not birthright citizenship is enshrined in the Constitution, banning it would hurt innocent children and our country as a whole. On the Statue of Liberty are the words of Emma Lazarus, a Jewish immigrant, who wrote, "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore." The United States has always struggled to live up to this promise, and now is not the time to give up the fight. We must not let ignorance and bigotry color our decisions. The promise of American democracy is to unite all freedom-loving people under the protection of the Constitution so that they may live out their lives in peace. Many Americans seem to have forgotten that their families were also once unwanted immigrants. It's time we remind them of our country's beginnings and its promise. We must speak out against the innate prejudice and hatred of the rising white nationalist movement in the U.S., spearheaded by Donald Trump. |
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MAPS: The state of Equality in the U.S. |
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Gender-Affirming Care Bans Impacting Youth (by hrc.org) | | |
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Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe (Guttmacher Institute) | | |
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State Affirmative Action Information (ballotpedia.org) | | |
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CRT Bans (worldpopulationreview.com) | | |
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Get LOUD on the 4th of July!!! |
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We have to make our support for trans rights and abortion rights visible! The more Americans openly support LGBTQ+ people and abortion access, the faster we will get our country back on track. Support our allies in the fight for equality!!! “Your silence will not protect you.” ― Audre Lorde |
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The Supreme Court's War on Women On June 24th, 2022, the Supreme Court changed the legal, financial, and healthcare landscape of women across the country. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, they decided to overturn 49 years of precedent set by Roe v. Wade, which gave women a fundamental right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability as guaranteed by the right to privacy enshrined in the Constitution's 14th Amendment. Since this decision, 16 states have enacted severely restrictive abortion laws, and ten other states have created slightly less stringent laws. At least 66 women's clinics in 15 states have been forced to close due to new abortion laws. Women have been sued and have faced criminal charges for getting abortions and helping other women get abortions. Pregnant people have been forced to travel long distances to access maternal healthcare. States have been considering making laws banning women from traveling to other states for an abortion. Women's health and lives have been put at risk, and there's significant evidence that abortion restrictions increase maternal mortality rates, especially in minority populations. |
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When a federal judge in Texas, Matthew Kacsmaryk, rejected the FDA's approval of mifepristone (one of two drugs used in combination to treat both miscarriages and abortions), the Supreme Court refused to overturn his decision. Instead, they sent the case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, leaving women's access to the drug in limbo. The justices did not care that Kacsmaryk's decision was wholly arbitrary and without legal reasoning or data to back it up. He denied the safety of mifepristone and stated that mailing an abortion drug is illegal under the Comstock Act. If you're wondering, the Comstock Act says you can not send any "obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance.” As for the safety of mifepristone, it has been used for over 20 years, is 95% effective for ending pregnancy, and rarely requires medical follow-up appointments. Data shows it's responsible for around five deaths out of one million people using it. In contrast, penicillin causes approximately 20 deaths per million people. Yet, nearly every American has used penicillin in some form during their lifetime. Despite this, the Supreme Court refused to step in on the side of women. |
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Most recently, the Supreme Court has decided to hear a 1st Amendment case regarding stalking. In 2016, Colorado convicted Billy Raymond Counterman of stalking because he harassed a local singer/songwriter for years, sending her hundreds of thousands of messages, some of which stated that she should die. During arguments in Counterman v. Colorado, Chief Justice Roberts read some of the stalker's messages and joked, "I can't promise I haven't said that," to laughter from some of the other justices. Though the Court's ruling is not out yet, Roberts argued that if the stalker doesn't understand their messages as threatening, they could be protected as free speech under the 1st Amendment. In reference to a message sent by Counterman that read, "Die. Don't need you," "You're not good for anybody," he claimed that because the communication was through text, you can't determine the tone. Roberts said, "But tone, to me, that means how it's enunciated. We don't have any of that here, right? It's cold emails." On top of rejecting the effect words like that would likely have on the stalking victim, Justices Roberts and Gorsuch also lamented how "increasingly sensitive" people are becoming. |
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At issue in this case is whether "true threats," which are not protected by the 1st Amendment, should be determined by a subjective or objective test. Up to this point, an objective test has been used. This means a statement is considered a "true threat" if a "reasonable person" regards it as threatening violence. The Supreme Court seems to be leaning toward a subjective test. That would mean a statement would only be unprotected as a "true threat" if the person who made the statement meant it to be a threat of violence. The first problem with a subjective test is that there's no way of knowing a person's intent. Anyone making threatening statements could just say they didn't intend any violence. Who would be the judge of what the person intended? The second problem is that a subjective test completely ignores damage or hurt caused to other people by the statement. For instance, the woman Counterman stalked ended up leaving Colorado and her career behind, saying, "I don't know if any dream is worth feeling this terrible." |
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The third problem is that data shows stalking and unwanted messages are often a precursor to violent behavior. The Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center shows that 81% of women stalked by a former partner were also physically assaulted. 76% of female murder victims were stalked by an intimate partner before their murder. 60.8% of women in the U.S. have reported being stalked by a current or former partner. In 2019, women were stalked more than twice as often as men and 67% of stalking victims reported being fearful of being harmed or killed. Of those stalking victims, 65.8% reported receiving unwanted phone calls, voice messages, or text messages, and 54.6% reported receiving unwanted emails or social media messages. For our Supreme Court Justices to say that harassing messages are not "true threats" and are legal under the 1st Amendment as long as the perpetrator says they didn't mean any harm is a complete rejection of the facts. Ninety-four percent of murder cases involve stalking. Study after study shows strong correlations between stalking and violence. |
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Under the current Supreme Court, women are becoming second-class citizens. They have lost the right to privacy, the right to bodily autonomy, the right to access healthcare, and the right to control their destinies. States are threatening to take their right to travel away as well. Under this Court's watch, a judge has unilaterally threatened women's access to safe and necessary medication without any legal foundation while insultingly calling abortion/miscarriage medication "obscene" and "vile." And now, the highest court in the land is set to validate stalkers' 1st Amendment right to send threatening and harassing messages regardless of the physical and emotional consequences to their victims, who are overwhelmingly female. |
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The Supreme Court of the United States is no longer a court of law. It does not uphold the Constitution. It's filled with corrupt justices and right-wing radicals. All justices who have proven themselves enemies of women, freedom, and lawfulness should be impeached. Those justices include Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts. These justices have lost their legitimacy as they no longer uphold the Constitution or the rule of law. They've unleashed a right-wing extremist war on women that shows no sign of letting up. All Americans have mothers, sisters, daughters, or friends who are under fire. We all have an obligation to fight for what's right. Supreme Court Justices can be removed through impeachment. The House of Representatives can file articles of impeachment, and the Senate can choose whether or not to convict. If you're fed up with the injustice of the Supreme Court, write to your members of Congress! | | |
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GET YOUR COPY TODAY!!! Your children can follow Bellatrix on her biggest adventures all while learning to love and stand up for themselves as well as those around them. They will also learn new and interesting words that will help their vocabularies grow! Don't forget to download your free activity book with each purchase!!! |
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Bellatrix Meets The Saddest Little Man (a story about injustice) We’ve all felt the sting of injustice in our lives, and our kids are no different! Sometimes people (or institutions) seem out to get us, and it feels like no one will listen. Learn from Bellatrix's experience in this hilarious story that will have your kids cracking up but will also help them deal with the anger and helplessness they feel when confronted with unfairness. NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!!! | | |
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Bellatrix Gets Her Wings The second book in the Bellatrix Series is in the works! We're so excited to share another of Bellatrix's adventures and can't wait to post more sketches. Updates to come! |
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It's Pride Month!!! Support the LGBTQ+ community and freedom for all Americans! You can fly a flag for free by visiting Pride Palace. You can also show your support by sporting a pride shirt from Human Rights Campaign or Four Sisters! |
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Get together with people in your area and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community! | | |
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For more ideas on what you can do to fight for equality, buy Fight the Patriarchy: A Survival Guide on Amazon!!! Did the overturning of Roe v. Wade make you sick to your stomach? Are you angry that women in America are still fighting for basic human rights? If so, this important guide will help you use your anger to affect real change in your life and in our society. It will provide perspective on the role patriarchy has played in creating inequality in America and give you tips on how to combat it from the ground up! I'd love your feedback. Leave me a review to help spread the feminist message! | | |
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Legislation and Court Cases to Watch |
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Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay "Roxane Gay is so great at weaving the intimate and personal with what is most bewildering and upsetting at this moment in culture. She is always looking, always thinking, always passionate, always careful, always right there." -- Sheila Heti, author of How Should a Person Be? A New York Times Bestseller Best Book of the Year: NPR - Boston Globe - Newsweek - Time Out New York - Oprah.com - Miami Herald - Book Riot - Buzz Feed - Globe and Mail (Toronto) - The Root - Shelf Awareness A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched cultural observers of her generation In these funny and insightful essays, Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture. Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny, and spot-on look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are, and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better, coming from one of our most interesting and important cultural critics. -thriftbooks | | |
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Keep up on news that affects you and learn how you can fight for equality in the U.S.! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Twitter! | | |
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