Women Activism

An inspiring and radical celebration of 70 women, girls, and gender nonbinary people who have changed - and are still changing - the world, from the Civil Rights Movement and Stonewall riots through Black Lives Matter and beyond.

An activist calls for better support of young families so they can thrive and reflects on her experiences as a Black mother and college student fighting for opportunities for herself and her child. Pregnant Girl presents the possibility of a different future for young mothers - one of success and stability - in the midst of the dismal statistics that dominate the national conversation.

Being inspired to act can take many forms. For some, it's taking a weekend to volunteer, but for Shannon Galpin, it meant leaving her career, selling her house, launching a nonprofit, and committing her life to advancing education and opportunity for women and girls. Focusing on the war-torn country of Afghanistan, Galpin and her organization, Mountain2Mountain, have touched the lives of hundreds of men, women, and children.

A dazzling and lyrical look at the making of one of America’s most remarkable presidents, The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt celebrates five extraordinary yet unsung women who opened the door to the American Century and pushed Theodore Roosevelt through it.

When Laura Bush moved into the White House on January 20, 2001, everyone wanted to know what kind of first lady she would be. Would she be like Mamie Eisenhower? Would she follow in Barbara Bush's footsteps? Would she be another Hillary Clinton?

Through the Pacific Northwest forests and along the rugged coastal shores of California, Wolf Girl is a young environmentalist's coming-of-age story about learning, discovery, and survival. Wolf Girl takes listeners on Doniga’s journey: from the wilderness immersion school where she was taught by Indigenous elders and wildlife trackers, to hitchhiking across the Pacific Northwest, to Alaska, where she fell in love with tracking wolves. These experiences shaped and inspired Doniga to become the leader in the regenerative agricultural movement that she is today.

On November 7, 1991, basketball legend Magic Johnson stunned the world with the news that he was HIV-positive. For the millions who tuned in as he shared his news, Magic's revelation became a seminal moment for the nation. Now twenty-five years later, Cookie Johnson shares her story and the emotional journey that started on that day - from life as a pregnant and joyous newlywed to one filled with the fear that her husband would die, she and her baby would, too, be infected with the virus.

Few people have sat across from the Iranians and the North Koreans at the negotiating table. Wendy Sherman has done both. During her time as the lead US negotiator of the historic Iran nuclear deal and throughout her distinguished career, Wendy Sherman has amassed tremendous expertise in the most pressing foreign policy issues of our time. Throughout her life - from growing up in civil-rights-era Baltimore to stints as a social worker, campaign manager, and business owner to advising multiple presidents - she has relied on values that have shaped her approach to work and leadership.

Former congresswoman Katie Hill shares her experience with misogyny and double standards in politics to help women topple the longstanding power structures that prevent them from achieving equality.

Le 8 juin 2016, le Québec entier est en émoi. Les médias viennent d'annoncer qu'une femme a été sauvagement attaquée par un chien de type pitbull, dans la cour arrière de sa propre demeure, et qu'elle a succombé à ses blessures au terme de souffrance inimaginables. Christiane Vadnais a été cruellement tuée par une bête déchaînée – un drame infernal qui plonge sa famille dans le deuil et le désespoir.

As a minority in a predominantly white institution, taking up space is an act of resistance. And in higher education, feeling like you constantly have to justify your existence within institutions that weren't made for you is an ongoing struggle for many people. Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi, two recent Cambridge graduates, wrote Taking Up Space as a guide and a manifesto for change: tackling issues of access, unrepresentative curricula, discrimination in the classroom, the problems of activism and life before and after university.

Red Star Tattoo is Sonja Larsen's unforgettable memoir of a young life spent on the move, from hardscrabble Milwaukee to dreamy Hawaii, from turbulent Montreal to California. At the age of 16, Sonja joins a cult-like communist organization in Brooklyn - unaware of the dark nature of what awaits her. Over her three years at the organization's national headquarters, Larsen works 16-hour days. Noticed and encouraged by the Old Man, the organization's charismatic leader, he makes her one of his "special girls", as well as the youngest member of the organization's militia.

Mary Boleyn, ‘the infamous other Boleyn girl’, began her court career as the mistress of the king of France. François I of France would later call her ‘The Great Prostitute’ and the slur stuck. Mary would emerge the sole survivor of a family torn apart by lust and ambition, and it is in Mary and her progeny that the Boleyn legacy rests.

In this candid and compelling memoir, the first lady of South Carolina reveals the private ordeal behind her very public betrayal - and offers inspiration for anyone struggling to keep faith during life’s most trying times. She’s been a successful investment banker, a mother of four, and the campaign manager for one of American politics’ rising stars - her husband, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, once widely hailed as a possible candidate for president in 2012. Yet to most Americans, Jenny Sanford is best known for the one role she refused to play.

As an adult, National Public Radio foreign correspondent Jacki Lyden has spent her life on the front lines of some of the world's most dangerous war zones. As a child, she lived in a war zone of a different kind. Her mother, Dolores, suffered from what is now called manic depression. In her manic phases, Dolores became Marie Antoinette or the Queen of Sheba, exotically delusional, yet to young Jacki also transcendent, even inspiring. In time, Jacki grew to accept, even relish, Dolores' bizarre episodes, marveling at her mother's creative energy and using it to fuel her own.

Osada, valiente, libre, divertida, cosmopolita, popular, amante de los placeres de la vida pero también capaz de grandes sacrificios pocos reconocerán en este retrato a esa gran desconocida que fue la madre del rey, un ser humano excepcional a quien no en vano Alfonso XIII apodó María la Brava. Porque sí, María fue todo esto, y también conoció profundas desgracias -exilio, la muerte accidental de un hijo, infidelidades matrimoniales, soledad y sanatorios- que la arrastraron a un abismo del que surgió más vital, más interesante y más cercana.

Racism can only be defeated if white people educate themselves and actively engage in antiracism work, especially in their inner circles. With this book, you'll learn how to change from someone who defends and protects racism to someone who fights against it. And you'll become an example to others that true allies are made, not born.

While on the campaign trail, Elizabeth Edwards met many others who have had to contend with serious adversity in their lives, and in Resilience, she draws on their experiences as well as her own, crafting an unsentimental and ultimately inspirational meditation on the gifts we can find among life's biggest challenges.

This extraordinary memoir details the monumental journey of one young Gambian woman from survivor of FGM and forced child marriage, to global activist and political leader who became UN Women's first Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, and among the youngest people nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was arguably the greatest figure of the 20th century. While FDR's official circle was predominantly male, it was his relationships with women - particularly with Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd - that most vividly bring to light the human being beneath this towering statesman.