Student debt is a feminist issue
  February 28, 2023 Hope you’re having a good Tuesday, Meteor readers, According to my calendar, we are somehow two whole months into 2023. I guess it’s true: Time flies when you’re having a million different crises at once.  Meanwhile, it’s officially the last day before Black History Month ends (and Women’s History Month starts). To close it out, today’s newsletter contains a list of recommended reading and viewing curated by Ayesha Johnson. It’s a wealth of good options—for every month of the year. But first: the news. Flipping my calendar, Bailey Wayne Hundl  WHAT’S GOING ON STUDENT DEBT BORROWERS CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN TO CANCEL STUDENT DEBT (PHOTO BY PAUL MORIGI/GETTY IMAGES) “Student debt cancellation is legal”: Today, the Supreme Court begins to hear arguments in two cases challenging President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program—the first: a lawsuit from six Republican-led states arguing the plan hurts loan providers; the second: a case put forward by two individual borrowers who did not qualify for full debt relief forgiveness, claiming the law is unfair. The central question behind this case: Does the Department of Education have the authority to forgive loans? A little background: The Department of Education first paused payments at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and extended this pause as the pandemic continued. When the payments were set to start back up in 2022, the Biden administration decided to offer up to $20,000 of relief to lower-income borrowers. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar cited the 2003 HEROES Act, which provides the Secretary of Education the right to help borrowers in a national emergency—which the COVID-19 pandemic certainly was. But the opposition claims this was an over-extension of executive powers that shouldn’t have been able to pass without Congress. The payment pause, which has been extended in light of this litigation, will last until 60 days after this case is resolved. But Biden’s policy, which would wipe out $400 billion in student debt, would be crucial for so many Americans who are facing rising costs of education but stagnant salary growth. And lest we need to say it again: Student debt is a feminist issue. Women hold nearly ⅔ of all student debt in the United States, with Black and Native women disproportionately affected. As Bernie Sanders said today outside the deliberations, “You should not have to face financial ruin because you want a damn education!” Abortion is for everyone: Jessa Duggar Seewald—of the Duggars, the infamous family of forced-childbirth advocates—posted a video on Friday recounting the story of her life-saving abortion. Of course, she didn’t call it that; she described it as a miscarriage, and the procedure used to remove the fetus—a dilation and curettage (D&C)—as a medical procedure. But D&Cs are used to remove uterine tissue in the case of non-viable, dangerous, or unwanted pregnancies—a process that does, in fact, constitute an abortion. Duggar Seewald was lucky to be able to access one; there are many documented instances of people who required the same procedure but were denied it due to their states’ abortion bans. To be clear: It’s a good thing that Duggar Seewald wasn’t forced to carry a nonviable pregnancy to term. But her family has been very vocally anti-abortion—and she herself has compared abortion to the Holocaust. This story is another reminder that any pregnant person, for any reason, may one day need an abortion—regardless of how much of a boogeyman they’ve made it out to be. AND:
  MY BLACK HISTORY MONTH LIST The Meteor’s Ayesha Johnson shares some of the TV shows, movies, and books that are, for her, an essential way to understand Black history. TV Shows/Movies
Books
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