Women's History Month

This Women’s History Month, we should be celebrating the resilience, brilliance, and contributions of women throughout history. Instead, we find ourselves in an alarming battle against erasure. The latest government purge of language—targeting words like "diversity," "inclusion," "equity," "women," "pregnant people," "sex," "gender," "breastfeed + person or people," "Black," "Hispanic," "Native American," and "victim"—feels like an Orwellian attempt to rewrite reality. But curiously, words like "men," "white," and "Caucasian" remain untouched.

Let that sink in.

This isn’t just a bureaucratic reshuffling of terminology. It is fascism in action—an attack on the very fabric of our nation, an attempt to erase the identities and lived experiences of those who have shaped this country. It is an attempt to pretend that we do not exist—women, people of color, indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and all those who dare to demand recognition, justice, and equality.

What are they so afraid of? What is it about acknowledging the truth of our history, our diversity, and our contributions that threatens those in power so profoundly? Is the male ego so fragile that it cannot stand the truth of a nation built by stolen labor on stolen land? Are they so afraid of women’s power, of our voices, of our ability to shape history and the future, that they would rather pretend we don’t exist?

As every federal agency in the U.S. scrambles to purge forbidden words from official communication, I am sickened by the thought of our history being permanently erased. As a journalist, it pains me to witness the blatant disregard for our constitutional right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press—principles enshrined in the very First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This is the foundation upon which our country was built. Even our forefathers—who were all white men—agreed to these principles. It is what has made America the greatest nation in the world.

The implications of this language purge go far beyond semantics. Words matter. Language shapes policy. If you cannot name a problem, you cannot address it. If you cannot identify a community, you cannot advocate for it. If you erase the words "Black" and "Hispanic," you erase the ability to address racial disparities. If you erase "gender" and "women," you erase the ability to fight gender-based discrimination. If you erase "equity," you erase the very idea of fairness in a country that claims to be the land of opportunity. It should come as no surprise, however, that the words racial, disparities, gender-based, and discrimination are also on the purge list.

This is not just a political maneuver; it is a direct assault on democracy. A democracy thrives on representation, on truth, and on the acknowledgment of all its people. What we are witnessing is a deliberate attempt to dismantle that foundation, to push us backward into an era where only a select few hold power, where history is rewritten to serve their interests, and where the rest of us are expected to simply disappear.

But we will not disappear.

As women, as leaders, as citizens who believe in justice and truth, we must push back. We must fight not just for words, but for the people behind those words. We must refuse to let this administration dictate who gets to be seen and who is erased. We must demand accountability, resist complacency, and continue speaking out—loudly and unapologetically.

To those who are complicit in this act of erasure, I say this: history is watching. And to the little girls and boys growing up in this time, know this—your stories matter. Your identities matter. Your future matters. No government purge can erase the truth of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going.

Please join me in telling our stories and preserving our history. You can erase words, but you cannot erase the rich history, or the men and women—white, Black, Hispanic, gay, and beyond—who built this country and whose contributions extend far beyond the borders of the U.S.

This is our fight. And we are just getting started.

Onward and upward,