Every Monday leading up to the election, McNally Jackson Seaport is hosting journalists and writers to help break down the events of the week as it relates to their area of expertise, for our Engaged Electorate series. These clarifying conversations aim to cut through the waves of information on our newsfeeds, and bring discussion forums to our in-person communities. We will also be joined by different organizations each week, who will provide ways for you to get involved with local and national causes. 

This week, we are pleased to present a panel on one of the most pressing issues in this election: reproductive rights, particularly in relation to people of color. Amy Littlefield, Sarah Leonard, Regina Mahone, and Renee Bracey Sherman will discuss the history, present, and future of abortion rights, pulling from years of extensive reporting and research. They will also discuss Regina and Renee's new book, Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve. 

About Liberating Abortion:

A galvanizing history of abortion recentering people of color to put forth a timely argument that we must liberate abortion for all. People of color have been having abortions since the dawn of time, yet our access is continuously under attack. In Liberating Abortion, award-winning abortion activist Renee Bracey Sherman and journalist Regina Mahone illustrate the long racist history that brought us to this moment, uncover the hidden figures who set the foundation activists and storytellers are building on today, and explain how abortion has been and remains essential to the health of our communities

Liberating Abortion will take you back to the basics of sex education, detailing the traditions of abortion over centuries, while examining how society makes us feel about our experiences. You’ll find rigorous research, never-before-heard stories, and eye-opening interviews with over 50 people of color who’ve had abortions, including activists, actresses, television writers, politicians, and the two Black members of Jane, the Chicago feminist service that provided abortions before Roe.

With poignant storytelling and precise analysis, Liberating Abortion will change how you think about abortion forever.

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This event is co-presented with We Testify, The New York Abortion Access Fund, The Nation, and Lux Magazine.

We Testify is an organization dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who have abortions, increasing the spectrum of abortion storytellers in the public sphere, and shifting the way the media understands the context and complexity of accessing abortion care. We Testify invests in abortion storytellers to elevate their voices and expertise, particularly those of color, those from rural and conservative communities, those who are queer-identified, those with varying abilities and citizenship statuses, and those who needed support when navigating barriers while accessing abortion care. 

The New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF) supports New Yorkers and people traveling to New York State to access abortion care through financial assistance, case management, and connections to other resources. NYAAF believes funding abortion is an act of radical community care and supports 100% of callers, regardless of income, age, or citizenship status.

Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has long believed that independent journalism has the capacity to bring about a more democratic and equitable world. Our writers shift paradigms and open minds. Our deep investigative reporting launches congressional hearings, forces policy change, and shapes news cycles. Instigating progress: It’s not only our legacy, it’s our continued commitment to future generations of torchbearers. 

Lux is a feminist magazine of politics and culture founded in 2021. We publish a glossy print edition three times a year featuring our award-winning writers, and a regular newsletter. We are interested in the many points at which identity intersects with politics. Our coverage runs from in-depth political reporting — on underground abortion networks, for example, or on abolitionists’ 911 alternatives — to reviews of the latest batch of bisexual novels and reports on feminist politics from Afghanistan to Mexico. We publish established and emerging writers and artists, delivering their work to readers in over a dozen countries.

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Regina Mahone is a writer and editor whose work explores the intersections between race, class, and reproductive rights. As a senior editor at The Nation magazine, she edits articles on a range of topics, including national politics, and runs Repro Nation, a monthly newsletter about global efforts to protect reproductive freedom. She is the co-author of the new book Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve from Amistad/HarperCollins and co-hosts of the podcast The A Files: A Secret History of Abortion from The Meteor.

 

Renee Bracey Sherman is a reproductive justice activist, abortion storyteller, and writer. She is the founder and executive director of We Testify, an organization dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who have abortions and share their stories at the intersection of race, class, and gender identity. She is also an executive producer of Ours to Tell, an award-winning documentary elevating the voices of people who’ve had abortions, co-host of The A Files: A Secret History of Abortion, a podcast from The Meteor, and the co-author of Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve.

 

Amy Littlefield is The Nation’s abortion access correspondent and a journalist who focuses on reproductive rights, healthcare, and religion. She is the author of the forthcoming book American Crusaders, a history of the anti-abortion movement over the last fifty years, to be published in 2026.

 

 

 

Sarah Leonard is editor-in-chief of Lux magazine. She is a contributing editor to Dissent and The Nation.

 

 

 

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