MERJ Newsletter 7/21/2025
John Lewis, 24, national chairman of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, is taken into a police patrol wagon during demonstrations in Nashville, Tenn., on April 29, 1964. (Bettmann / Bettmann Archive) (Source: NBC)
A letter from MERJ’s Co-Founder
July 21, 2025
Making Good Trouble
On the anniversary of his death, I had the opportunity to commemorate the life and legacy of activist and political visionary John Lewis. Reflecting on Lewis’s unwavering commitment to justice, nonviolence, and the power of “good trouble," I framed his legacy in relation to today’s political moment and the rise of fascism in the US. Drawing parallels between the civil rights movement of the 1960s and today’s grassroots uprisings, I called for renewed vigilance in the fight for voting rights, bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, a free Palestine, an end to ICE detention camps, and a promise to protect our free speech. The speech honored Lewis not only as a historic figure but as a guiding light for a new generation of activists demanding equity and dignity for all. We’ve posted the video below — please enjoy, as our Power Watch of the Month!
With Appreciation,
Justin Haas
MERJ Co-Founder
📖 4-Minute Power Read, from MERJ Co-Founder George Marx:
Review of Killing the Black Body
🎥📺 Video Power Watch of the Month:
MERJ Co-Founder Justin Haas speaking about good trouble at a protest on July 19, 2025! (3 minutes)
📚 MERJ Book Club!
If you’re interested in joining our next book discussion, email us at action@endthepatriarchy.org, and we’ll be happy to invite you!
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, by Dorothy Roberts
Originally published December 29, 1998; notes below from Bookshop.org page.
Killing the Black Body remains a rallying cry for education, awareness, and action on extending reproductive justice to all women. It is as crucial as ever, even two decades after its original publication.
"A must-read for all those who claim to care about racial and gender justice in America." —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
In 1997, this groundbreaking book made a powerful entrance into the national conversation on race. In a media landscape dominated by racially biased images of welfare queens and crack babies, Killing the Black Body exposed America’s systemic abuse of Black women’s bodies. From slave masters’ economic stake in bonded women’s fertility to government programs that coerced thousands of poor Black women into being sterilized as late as the 1970s, these abuses pointed to the degradation of Black motherhood—and the exclusion of Black women’s reproductive needs in mainstream feminist and civil rights agendas.
“The powerful Western image of childhood innocence does not seem to benefit Black children. Black children [both born and in utero] are born guilty.
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Other books we’ve read, and strongly recommend:
Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win, by Jessica Valenti
Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion, by Gabrielle Blair
Comics for Choice, ed. Newlevant, Taylor, and Fox
You’re the Only One I’ve Told: The Stories Behind Abortion, by Dr. Meera Shah
Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice, by Silliman, Gerber Fried, Ross, and Gutiérrez
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction, by Loretta J. Ross and Rickie Solinger
💸 Amazing Organization to Support:
From their website: “Our mission is to transform the landscape of reproductive health in the U.S. by educating & empowering our communities. Every human being deserves safety, dignity and a sense of belonging. We seek to restore a sense of safety, dignity, and belonging for people along the reproductive continuum with a primary focus on birth equity.” Please join us in uplifting and supporting this amazing organization!
“Republicans are hellbent on pushing this fight as far as they can. After all, this is a pretty existential divide between pro-choice and anti-abortion states: As one expert in extradition law put it earlier this year, ‘We haven’t seen this kind of disparity in state laws around human rights since the Civil War. What constitutes a human right in one state is a capital crime in another.’
That’s why leaders in pro-choice states need to be unequivocal and unflinching in their support for abortion rights and abortion providers.
”
Help and Resources to Share with Anyone Needing an Abortion: (from ifwhenhow.org)
Find a local clinic by using the National Abortion Federation map.
If you have questions about your legal rights and self-managed abortion, the Repro Legal Helpline is a free, confidential source for legal advice and information. Visit ReproLegalHelpline.org or call 844-868-2812.
If you are under 18 and need information about your rights to an abortion, you can message or call our Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812. You can also read more about your rights on our Judicial Bypass Wiki.
If you have been arrested, contacted by the police, or fear you may be arrested for a self-managed abortion, our Repro Legal Helpline can provide immediate legal advice and support, and our Repro Legal Defense Fund can help with bail and legal fees. You can call our Repro Legal Helpline at 844-868-2812, and for help with bail and other fees, visit ReproLegalDefenseFund.org.
Medically-reviewed, step-by-step directions for how to self-administer a medication abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol can be found on the Hey Jane website.
