Jessica Toft - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Jessica Toft

Social Work Research, Apr 12, 2023

Neoliberalism, as an ideology and policy model that favors free market logic, operates across mul... more Neoliberalism, as an ideology and policy model that favors free market logic, operates across multiple levels of social work practice. Although there is growing interest in the topic, there is a lack of knowledge about the nature of this scholarship. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide a synthesis and summary of the extent, variety, and characteristics of the peer-reviewed literature on the effects of neoliberalism on social work practice in the United States. A total of 132 articles were examined according to the requirements of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews (or PRISMA-ScR). Findings suggest that research interest on neoliberalism and social services across disciplines has increased over the last four decades. Social work scholars and journals published at similar rates as non–social work scholars with notable exceptions of policy design and service users. However, there is a lack of research across the literature on the effects of neoliberalism on the supervisor level and the effects of neoliberalism on diverse populations and on key social work services, such as substance use treatment, health services, schools, corrections, and mental health services. Further research is needed in these areas to advance our understanding of the impact of neoliberalism on social work practice.

Journal of Social Work Education, Feb 12, 2020

ABSTRACT Political ideology, shaped by both social identity and policy preferences, may influence... more ABSTRACT Political ideology, shaped by both social identity and policy preferences, may influence how social work students define and approach social justice. This study examines how the political ideology of conservative and moderate social work students relates to their attitudes about the poor, attributions for poverty, and preferred ways to address poverty. Findings demonstrate that those with more conservative ideologies held more negative perspectives of the poor, were more likely to attribute poverty to individual fault, and supported more limited interventions. Unpacking political ideology in the classroom is critical in understanding our power within practice. Further research should consider how social workers’ political ideology affects their work with clients and dedication to the social and economic justice mission of social work.

Encyclopedia of Social Work, Oct 29, 2021

Neoliberalism is an international, transdisciplinary, and interdisciplinary concept with politica... more Neoliberalism is an international, transdisciplinary, and interdisciplinary concept with political, economic, and social dimensions. Neoliberalism is a governing rationality based on market logic that protects free markets by reducing business regulations, restricting citizen and resident welfare state protections, and increasing welfare state discipline. This entails three dimensions: First, neoliberalism consists of economic governing principles to benefit free markets both globally and domestically to the advantage of corporations and economic elites. Second, this includes concurrent state governing principles to limit welfare state protections and impose disciplinary governance so service users will be individually responsible and take up precarious work. A third component is neoliberal governmentality—the ways neoliberalism shapes society’s members through the state to govern themselves as compliant market actors. Neoliberalism is at its core a political reasoning, organizing society around principles of market rationality, from governance structure to social institutions to individual behavior in which individuals should behave as responsible and accountable market actors. Among its central tenets are that individuals should behave as independent responsible market actors; the social welfare state should be downsized and delegated to lower levels of government; and public welfare should be privatized, marketized, and commodified. While neoliberal policy design sets public provision parameters, its signature tool is to govern through state public administration. New public managerialism is a common example, as is managerialism more generally; they both borrow business management principles and apply them to the management of all aspects of social services. Because of its prescriptive nature, there is concern that neoliberalism dictates practice, threatening professional authority of social workers and challenging the implicit trust the public puts in professions. Writ large, there are concerns about democracy itself as neoliberalism works against the will of the people and collective responses to social problems. Resistance to neoliberalism is growing and early examples are provided.

Affilia, Feb 19, 2021

Background In early 2019, Anjanette Young was getting ready to launch her new business in her nat... more Background In early 2019, Anjanette Young was getting ready to launch her new business in her native Chicago, mentoring social workers to complete their licensure exam. Anjanette, who has two master's degrees, one in human services and one in social work from the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Chicago, was just doing what she had always done, lighting the passions of young people and coaching them to be of service to others. On February 21, 2019, as Anjanette undressed and prepared to go to bed, 12 white male police officers broke through her front door. The 45 minutes of terror that ensued unalterably changed her life. But, as Anjanette's own story reveals, it did not end her life or her mission-despite the frightening likelihood of either of those outcomes. In this editorial, Anjanette generously shares her story with the readers of Affilia. We include extended excerpts from an 80-minute conversation we had with Anjanette and end with a response to her story and the connections we have drawn to our critical feminist social work community. As a committed and lifelong social worker and woman of faith thrust into an unforeseen role as a public social justice warrior, Anjanette's words speak volumes about the deeply entrenched injustices of policing in America and the battle for truth-telling and social change that she asks us all to join. "#IAmHer" is a campaign she is beginning that not only draws the line from Anjanette Young to Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black EMT who was killed by police on March 13, 2020, but links all who have suffered and continue to suffer the systemic invisibility, dehumanization, and death forces that remain the everyday reality for black women and girls across America.

Social Work in Public Health, Mar 1, 2013

Journal of Policy Practice, Aug 18, 2016

ABSTRACT Alexander (2012) argues that the corrections system relegates African American men to pe... more ABSTRACT Alexander (2012) argues that the corrections system relegates African American men to permanent second class status. Although social work has advanced the democratic project, African Americans often have had to forge a parallel social assistance system. In a community environmental scan, the authors apply the Citizenship Social Work framework to assess availability of services, supports, and advocacy efforts to address civil, political, social and economic rights for African American men with felony convictions. The authors find that a number of social work services are available, but the majority focus on social and economic rights, rather than civil and political rights, perhaps emphasizing professional service over social justice.

Social Work, Jul 1, 2020

Neoliberal political reasoning is remaking the state's democratic character and its governing rul... more Neoliberal political reasoning is remaking the state's democratic character and its governing rules to reflect those of the market. The most prominent legislative example, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, dictates work requirements, time limits, and monitoring and sanctioning of clients. Through such policies, the primary aims of government assistance changed from aiding needy citizens to transforming individuals into paid workers, regardless of continued poverty or care obligations. Although scholarship of related policy and governance tools has grown, less study has centered on understanding the historic events and ways in which race-based, gendered, and poverty narratives facilitated adoption of such austere policies. This article compares circumstances of African American and White mothers in the United States from the Revolutionary War to the postwelfare era. It describes what neoliberalism is, discusses the role of ideological discourses in policy and governance, presents the history and historical racialized portrayals of White and African American motherhood during this period, and analyzes the differential impact of ideological discourses using a lens of intersectionality. The conclusion discusses how discriminatory discourses subvert a democratic ethos for all and suggests ways for social workers to contest the impacts of neoliberalism.

Social Service Review, Mar 1, 2020

The United States’ present neoliberal era shares with earlier tumultuous periods significant repr... more The United States’ present neoliberal era shares with earlier tumultuous periods significant repressive tendencies in the political and economic domains. In the past, leading social workers confronted such crises in public forums and venues. This discourse analysis examines how they constructed compelling democratic narratives that influenced the enactment of beneficial social policy within three periods of democratic crisis. These social work leaders were members of presidential administrations, leaders of social work professional associations, directors of civil society organizations, and prominent writers for the profession or the public. They communicated through public and professional speeches, peer-reviewed articles, pamphlets, radio addresses, and congressional testimony. Discourse analysis reveals democratic themes such as autonomy, human dignity, equality, recognition, fostering of human capacity, social responsibility, and the necessity of moral contemplation. The historical lesson is that all social workers today should advance democratic discourse in their areas of influence to stem neoliberalism and promote democracy.

Social Service Review, Dec 1, 2010

Prior to the creation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, federal legislation primarily p... more Prior to the creation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, federal legislation primarily positioned mothers in the private sphere of parenting and men in the public sphere of work. Welfare reform changed this citizenship construction dramatically, requiring mothers to work but failing to acknowledge their caretaking responsibilities. This article presents a discourse and content analysis of the welfare reform debate that directly referenced citizenship. Findings suggest that legislators emphasized paid work as a citizenship activity while rarely portraying parenting as such. Furthermore, legislators' endorsement of paid work as a duty of citizenship, and the manner in which they paired this endorsement with the minimizing of parenting as such a duty, may have further diminished the perception of parenting as a valuable citizenship activity. Welfare reform may have been possible because the heretofore recognized citizenship work of mothering was largely ignored in the congressional debate.

Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, Feb 5, 2019

While the research regarding Hmong-American women as firstgeneration college students (FGCS) has ... more While the research regarding Hmong-American women as firstgeneration college students (FGCS) has grown, it emphasizes cultural and individual factors, neglecting institutional and systemic factors that may mediate academic success. Using an ethnographic and phenomenological approach, interviews were conducted with six female Hmong-American FGCS to address the following question: What factors promote and impede success in higher education? Applying grounded theory data analysis method, four categories of themes emerged: complex culture clash, higher education institution experience, supports for success, and changing view of higher education. Future research is recommended regarding the interface and impact of specific aspects of education, as well as a needed focus on male students' experiences.

Social development issues, 2005

Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 2013

A composite of two descriptive interview studies regarding the implementation and impact of Minne... more A composite of two descriptive interview studies regarding the implementation and impact of Minnesota's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program on Hmong recipients is presented. The first study was an examination of Hmong engagement with Minnesota's welfare reform program and paid work. The second study was an examination of impacts of the program on the well-being of Hmong families. Both studies found that Hmong participants had difficulty with the program's paid work expectations given limited English, lack of formal education, and low wages. Both studies also emphasized the Hmong's commitment to family caregiving, which conflicted with program work requirements.

Social Work Research, Apr 12, 2023

Journal of Policy Practice and Research, 2020

Researchers have demonstrated that legislators did not explicitly recognize mothers' parenting as... more Researchers have demonstrated that legislators did not explicitly recognize mothers' parenting as an important citizenship duty in the 1994-1996 welfare reform debate. Despite this, some supportive parenting programs emerged from the debate, such as expanded child care. This study examined how legislators successfully supported some assistive programs within a predominantly punitive political discourse. Did legislators rather imply the citizenship value of mothering through allusions to rights and duties of citizenship? A critical discourse analysis of the entire welfare reform debate was conducted to determine if parenting as an important citizenship activity was implied by legislators through allusions to rights and obligations. All 66 relevant welfare reform debates and hearings of 1994-1996 were analyzed using a combination of grounded theory methods and content analysis within a critical discourse analysis framework. Legislators' articulations of rights and benefits related to parenting were often favorable. Themes included that the government should support parenting, parenting is an important activity, and that no behavioral obligations should be placed upon parents to receive benefits. Including all themes, favorable parenting discourse was nearly 50%. However, legislators also used implicit citizenship messaging to diminish value and importance of parenting with themes related to gender order, parenting as non-work, and poor mothers' parenting as dangerous. In the discourse, legislators overtly endorsed the personal responsibility ideology while often tacitly supporting poor mothers. The authors caution politically liberal legislators to carefully weigh policy gains won through implicit discourse against the overall costs to poor mothers' citizenship construction.

Affilia, 2021

Background In early 2019, Anjanette Young was getting ready to launch her new business in her nat... more Background In early 2019, Anjanette Young was getting ready to launch her new business in her native Chicago, mentoring social workers to complete their licensure exam. Anjanette, who has two master's degrees, one in human services and one in social work from the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Chicago, was just doing what she had always done, lighting the passions of young people and coaching them to be of service to others. On February 21, 2019, as Anjanette undressed and prepared to go to bed, 12 white male police officers broke through her front door. The 45 minutes of terror that ensued unalterably changed her life. But, as Anjanette's own story reveals, it did not end her life or her mission-despite the frightening likelihood of either of those outcomes. In this editorial, Anjanette generously shares her story with the readers of Affilia. We include extended excerpts from an 80-minute conversation we had with Anjanette and end with a response to her story and the connections we have drawn to our critical feminist social work community. As a committed and lifelong social worker and woman of faith thrust into an unforeseen role as a public social justice warrior, Anjanette's words speak volumes about the deeply entrenched injustices of policing in America and the battle for truth-telling and social change that she asks us all to join. "#IAmHer" is a campaign she is beginning that not only draws the line from Anjanette Young to Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black EMT who was killed by police on March 13, 2020, but links all who have suffered and continue to suffer the systemic invisibility, dehumanization, and death forces that remain the everyday reality for black women and girls across America.

Social Work Research, Apr 12, 2023

Neoliberalism, as an ideology and policy model that favors free market logic, operates across mul... more Neoliberalism, as an ideology and policy model that favors free market logic, operates across multiple levels of social work practice. Although there is growing interest in the topic, there is a lack of knowledge about the nature of this scholarship. The purpose of this scoping review was to provide a synthesis and summary of the extent, variety, and characteristics of the peer-reviewed literature on the effects of neoliberalism on social work practice in the United States. A total of 132 articles were examined according to the requirements of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews (or PRISMA-ScR). Findings suggest that research interest on neoliberalism and social services across disciplines has increased over the last four decades. Social work scholars and journals published at similar rates as non–social work scholars with notable exceptions of policy design and service users. However, there is a lack of research across the literature on the effects of neoliberalism on the supervisor level and the effects of neoliberalism on diverse populations and on key social work services, such as substance use treatment, health services, schools, corrections, and mental health services. Further research is needed in these areas to advance our understanding of the impact of neoliberalism on social work practice.

Journal of Social Work Education, Feb 12, 2020

ABSTRACT Political ideology, shaped by both social identity and policy preferences, may influence... more ABSTRACT Political ideology, shaped by both social identity and policy preferences, may influence how social work students define and approach social justice. This study examines how the political ideology of conservative and moderate social work students relates to their attitudes about the poor, attributions for poverty, and preferred ways to address poverty. Findings demonstrate that those with more conservative ideologies held more negative perspectives of the poor, were more likely to attribute poverty to individual fault, and supported more limited interventions. Unpacking political ideology in the classroom is critical in understanding our power within practice. Further research should consider how social workers’ political ideology affects their work with clients and dedication to the social and economic justice mission of social work.

Encyclopedia of Social Work, Oct 29, 2021

Neoliberalism is an international, transdisciplinary, and interdisciplinary concept with politica... more Neoliberalism is an international, transdisciplinary, and interdisciplinary concept with political, economic, and social dimensions. Neoliberalism is a governing rationality based on market logic that protects free markets by reducing business regulations, restricting citizen and resident welfare state protections, and increasing welfare state discipline. This entails three dimensions: First, neoliberalism consists of economic governing principles to benefit free markets both globally and domestically to the advantage of corporations and economic elites. Second, this includes concurrent state governing principles to limit welfare state protections and impose disciplinary governance so service users will be individually responsible and take up precarious work. A third component is neoliberal governmentality—the ways neoliberalism shapes society’s members through the state to govern themselves as compliant market actors. Neoliberalism is at its core a political reasoning, organizing society around principles of market rationality, from governance structure to social institutions to individual behavior in which individuals should behave as responsible and accountable market actors. Among its central tenets are that individuals should behave as independent responsible market actors; the social welfare state should be downsized and delegated to lower levels of government; and public welfare should be privatized, marketized, and commodified. While neoliberal policy design sets public provision parameters, its signature tool is to govern through state public administration. New public managerialism is a common example, as is managerialism more generally; they both borrow business management principles and apply them to the management of all aspects of social services. Because of its prescriptive nature, there is concern that neoliberalism dictates practice, threatening professional authority of social workers and challenging the implicit trust the public puts in professions. Writ large, there are concerns about democracy itself as neoliberalism works against the will of the people and collective responses to social problems. Resistance to neoliberalism is growing and early examples are provided.

Affilia, Feb 19, 2021

Background In early 2019, Anjanette Young was getting ready to launch her new business in her nat... more Background In early 2019, Anjanette Young was getting ready to launch her new business in her native Chicago, mentoring social workers to complete their licensure exam. Anjanette, who has two master's degrees, one in human services and one in social work from the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Chicago, was just doing what she had always done, lighting the passions of young people and coaching them to be of service to others. On February 21, 2019, as Anjanette undressed and prepared to go to bed, 12 white male police officers broke through her front door. The 45 minutes of terror that ensued unalterably changed her life. But, as Anjanette's own story reveals, it did not end her life or her mission-despite the frightening likelihood of either of those outcomes. In this editorial, Anjanette generously shares her story with the readers of Affilia. We include extended excerpts from an 80-minute conversation we had with Anjanette and end with a response to her story and the connections we have drawn to our critical feminist social work community. As a committed and lifelong social worker and woman of faith thrust into an unforeseen role as a public social justice warrior, Anjanette's words speak volumes about the deeply entrenched injustices of policing in America and the battle for truth-telling and social change that she asks us all to join. "#IAmHer" is a campaign she is beginning that not only draws the line from Anjanette Young to Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black EMT who was killed by police on March 13, 2020, but links all who have suffered and continue to suffer the systemic invisibility, dehumanization, and death forces that remain the everyday reality for black women and girls across America.

Social Work in Public Health, Mar 1, 2013

Journal of Policy Practice, Aug 18, 2016

ABSTRACT Alexander (2012) argues that the corrections system relegates African American men to pe... more ABSTRACT Alexander (2012) argues that the corrections system relegates African American men to permanent second class status. Although social work has advanced the democratic project, African Americans often have had to forge a parallel social assistance system. In a community environmental scan, the authors apply the Citizenship Social Work framework to assess availability of services, supports, and advocacy efforts to address civil, political, social and economic rights for African American men with felony convictions. The authors find that a number of social work services are available, but the majority focus on social and economic rights, rather than civil and political rights, perhaps emphasizing professional service over social justice.

Social Work, Jul 1, 2020

Neoliberal political reasoning is remaking the state's democratic character and its governing rul... more Neoliberal political reasoning is remaking the state's democratic character and its governing rules to reflect those of the market. The most prominent legislative example, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, dictates work requirements, time limits, and monitoring and sanctioning of clients. Through such policies, the primary aims of government assistance changed from aiding needy citizens to transforming individuals into paid workers, regardless of continued poverty or care obligations. Although scholarship of related policy and governance tools has grown, less study has centered on understanding the historic events and ways in which race-based, gendered, and poverty narratives facilitated adoption of such austere policies. This article compares circumstances of African American and White mothers in the United States from the Revolutionary War to the postwelfare era. It describes what neoliberalism is, discusses the role of ideological discourses in policy and governance, presents the history and historical racialized portrayals of White and African American motherhood during this period, and analyzes the differential impact of ideological discourses using a lens of intersectionality. The conclusion discusses how discriminatory discourses subvert a democratic ethos for all and suggests ways for social workers to contest the impacts of neoliberalism.

Social Service Review, Mar 1, 2020

The United States’ present neoliberal era shares with earlier tumultuous periods significant repr... more The United States’ present neoliberal era shares with earlier tumultuous periods significant repressive tendencies in the political and economic domains. In the past, leading social workers confronted such crises in public forums and venues. This discourse analysis examines how they constructed compelling democratic narratives that influenced the enactment of beneficial social policy within three periods of democratic crisis. These social work leaders were members of presidential administrations, leaders of social work professional associations, directors of civil society organizations, and prominent writers for the profession or the public. They communicated through public and professional speeches, peer-reviewed articles, pamphlets, radio addresses, and congressional testimony. Discourse analysis reveals democratic themes such as autonomy, human dignity, equality, recognition, fostering of human capacity, social responsibility, and the necessity of moral contemplation. The historical lesson is that all social workers today should advance democratic discourse in their areas of influence to stem neoliberalism and promote democracy.

Social Service Review, Dec 1, 2010

Prior to the creation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, federal legislation primarily p... more Prior to the creation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, federal legislation primarily positioned mothers in the private sphere of parenting and men in the public sphere of work. Welfare reform changed this citizenship construction dramatically, requiring mothers to work but failing to acknowledge their caretaking responsibilities. This article presents a discourse and content analysis of the welfare reform debate that directly referenced citizenship. Findings suggest that legislators emphasized paid work as a citizenship activity while rarely portraying parenting as such. Furthermore, legislators' endorsement of paid work as a duty of citizenship, and the manner in which they paired this endorsement with the minimizing of parenting as such a duty, may have further diminished the perception of parenting as a valuable citizenship activity. Welfare reform may have been possible because the heretofore recognized citizenship work of mothering was largely ignored in the congressional debate.

Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, Feb 5, 2019

While the research regarding Hmong-American women as firstgeneration college students (FGCS) has ... more While the research regarding Hmong-American women as firstgeneration college students (FGCS) has grown, it emphasizes cultural and individual factors, neglecting institutional and systemic factors that may mediate academic success. Using an ethnographic and phenomenological approach, interviews were conducted with six female Hmong-American FGCS to address the following question: What factors promote and impede success in higher education? Applying grounded theory data analysis method, four categories of themes emerged: complex culture clash, higher education institution experience, supports for success, and changing view of higher education. Future research is recommended regarding the interface and impact of specific aspects of education, as well as a needed focus on male students' experiences.

Social development issues, 2005

Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 2013

A composite of two descriptive interview studies regarding the implementation and impact of Minne... more A composite of two descriptive interview studies regarding the implementation and impact of Minnesota's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program on Hmong recipients is presented. The first study was an examination of Hmong engagement with Minnesota's welfare reform program and paid work. The second study was an examination of impacts of the program on the well-being of Hmong families. Both studies found that Hmong participants had difficulty with the program's paid work expectations given limited English, lack of formal education, and low wages. Both studies also emphasized the Hmong's commitment to family caregiving, which conflicted with program work requirements.

Social Work Research, Apr 12, 2023

Journal of Policy Practice and Research, 2020

Researchers have demonstrated that legislators did not explicitly recognize mothers' parenting as... more Researchers have demonstrated that legislators did not explicitly recognize mothers' parenting as an important citizenship duty in the 1994-1996 welfare reform debate. Despite this, some supportive parenting programs emerged from the debate, such as expanded child care. This study examined how legislators successfully supported some assistive programs within a predominantly punitive political discourse. Did legislators rather imply the citizenship value of mothering through allusions to rights and duties of citizenship? A critical discourse analysis of the entire welfare reform debate was conducted to determine if parenting as an important citizenship activity was implied by legislators through allusions to rights and obligations. All 66 relevant welfare reform debates and hearings of 1994-1996 were analyzed using a combination of grounded theory methods and content analysis within a critical discourse analysis framework. Legislators' articulations of rights and benefits related to parenting were often favorable. Themes included that the government should support parenting, parenting is an important activity, and that no behavioral obligations should be placed upon parents to receive benefits. Including all themes, favorable parenting discourse was nearly 50%. However, legislators also used implicit citizenship messaging to diminish value and importance of parenting with themes related to gender order, parenting as non-work, and poor mothers' parenting as dangerous. In the discourse, legislators overtly endorsed the personal responsibility ideology while often tacitly supporting poor mothers. The authors caution politically liberal legislators to carefully weigh policy gains won through implicit discourse against the overall costs to poor mothers' citizenship construction.

Affilia, 2021

Background In early 2019, Anjanette Young was getting ready to launch her new business in her nat... more Background In early 2019, Anjanette Young was getting ready to launch her new business in her native Chicago, mentoring social workers to complete their licensure exam. Anjanette, who has two master's degrees, one in human services and one in social work from the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Chicago, was just doing what she had always done, lighting the passions of young people and coaching them to be of service to others. On February 21, 2019, as Anjanette undressed and prepared to go to bed, 12 white male police officers broke through her front door. The 45 minutes of terror that ensued unalterably changed her life. But, as Anjanette's own story reveals, it did not end her life or her mission-despite the frightening likelihood of either of those outcomes. In this editorial, Anjanette generously shares her story with the readers of Affilia. We include extended excerpts from an 80-minute conversation we had with Anjanette and end with a response to her story and the connections we have drawn to our critical feminist social work community. As a committed and lifelong social worker and woman of faith thrust into an unforeseen role as a public social justice warrior, Anjanette's words speak volumes about the deeply entrenched injustices of policing in America and the battle for truth-telling and social change that she asks us all to join. "#IAmHer" is a campaign she is beginning that not only draws the line from Anjanette Young to Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black EMT who was killed by police on March 13, 2020, but links all who have suffered and continue to suffer the systemic invisibility, dehumanization, and death forces that remain the everyday reality for black women and girls across America.