The right to vote is often described as the cornerstone of American democracy. Yet the ability to exercise that right depends on something more basic: whether citizens possess the practical means to participate in the systems that govern their lives.
I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera. Parks recognized photography's potential as a tool for social change and advocacy, viewing the medium not merely as documentation but as an active means of confronting systemic injustices and giving visibility to marginalized communities.
This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for women across the world, referring to a coordinated, deliberate effort to dismantle the progress toward women's equality. The effects of this growing inequality in the U.S. are magnified for women from marginalized communities, who already face barriers to financial and educational opportunities.
When a life-size skeleton dressed like the Grim Reaper first appeared on a street altar in Tepito, Mexico City, in 2001, many passersby instinctively crossed themselves. The figure was La Santa Muerte - or Holy Death - a female folk saint cloaked in mystery and controversy that had previously been known, if at all, as a figure of domestic devotion: someone they might address a prayer to, but in the privacy of their home.
The only citywide festival of its kind in the nation is a celebration for the Chinese diaspora, signifying a time when the boundary between human and spiritual realms is thinner.