Last week we came together — women’s funds, organizers, feminists, scholars, students — from across the country, in the same virtual room, for the same reason. To name the thing clearly.
Together with New York Times bestselling author Dr. Anna Malaika Tubbs, we discussed the power of her book Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us in giving people the language for what they’ve always felt in their bodies but couldn’t quite say out loud. She was joined by Aisha Becker-Burrowes, co-founder of FEMINIST, the largest social-first media platform serving women and gender-expansive people globally. And holding the whole conversation together: Danielle Robay, Queen of Questions, who has spent 8,000 hours in elevated conversation.
Here is what Anna said that we keep returning to:
“Patriarchy is not divine. It’s not the natural order. It takes people who choose it, who write it into policy. It’s made up. We all have to remember it’s made up. We can make up something new.”
Made up. Chosen. Written.
Which means it can be rewritten. That is not optimism, that is history. That is the argument Anna makes in Erased with the kind of rigor and clarity that makes it impossible to look away. The book traces exactly how this system was constructed in 1776 — who it was built to serve, who it was built to erase — and what we stand to reclaim when we finally see it for what it is.
Someone asked Anna how she stays hopeful.
“These attacks can be read as fear of our power. Deep, deep fear. And that gives me a lot of hope.”
Fear dressed up as power. We’ve seen it before. We know what it means. Watch the recording here:
Anna’s book is called Erased. Which means the act of reading it is already an act of resistance. Get the paperback. Read it slowly. Then buy another copy and put it in someone’s hands who needs to remember how powerful they are.
Our deepest gratitude to Anna, Aisha, and Danielle for their brilliance, their honesty, and the gift of their time. Thank you to everyone who joined us in that room, who asked questions, who sat with the discomfort and the hope in equal measure. And to our partners who made this moment possible — Gender Justice Fund, Impact Collective, Ms. Foundation, Third Wave Fund, Women Donors Network, Women Moving Millions, Women’s Foundation of Colorado, Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, Women’s Foundation of the South, and Feminist Majority Foundation — this is what solidarity looks like. To everyone who will watch the recording, read the book, or pass it to someone who needs it: we are grateful for all of you.
P.S. Erased is now available in paperback. Get your copy here — and come ready to go deeper.