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Joan Steinau Lester is the author of six books, most recently " Loving Before Loving: A Marriage in Black and White ." The opinions in this commentary are her own. Read more opinion at CNN. (CNN) In 1981, long before the legalization of same-sex marriage , I committed to living for the rest of my life with Carole, the woman I loved. But when Carole and I introduced each other to friends, we had no language to describe our relationship. If I referred to her as my "partner," many assumed business partner. "Lover" felt too intimate, "life-partner" too clunky, "special friend" an abhorred remnant of a closeted era. "Wife" would have made our relationship absolutely clear, but it was a word denied to us at the time. Read More The penalties for this extra-legal union were severe: Carole's adored father, who was Catholic, refused to speak to her because of his faith-based objections. We both faced potential job losses … [Read more...] about Opinion: I will never live in the marital shadows again

When President Trump used the prime-time debate last week to urge his supporters to “go into the polls and watch very carefully,” he wasn’t just issuing a call for a grass-roots movement or raising the prospect of intimidation tactics at voting sites. He was also nodding to an extensive behind-the-scenes effort led by the lawyers and operatives on his campaign. Over the summer, Mr. Trump named a new campaign manager, Bill Stepien, who was once a top aide to former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey before being fired amid the “ Bridgegate ” scandal. Mr. Stepien swiftly elevated a group of lieutenants focused on using aggressive electoral tactics, moves that led Marc E. Elias, the leading election lawyer for the Democratic Party, to tweet that Mr. Trump was “tripling down” on “opposing voting rights.” One of the main architects of the effort is Justin Clark, whom Mr. Stepien promoted to deputy campaign manager. He has been viewed with suspicion among Democrats since he was … [Read more...] about Trump Told Supporters to ‘Watch’ Voting. His Staff Is More Than Watching.

In September 2021, Evelyn Lai sat at the brown teak desk in her childhood bedroom and looked out the window. She felt just as uncertain as she had two decades ago. “I remember sitting at that same desk when I was applying to colleges,” Ms. Lai, 36, said. Now she was recalibrating her life. Feelings of professional burnout had left her crying on a street in downtown Austin, Texas, three months earlier. It was more than a year into the pandemic, on her day off, which she had been spending with her mother and sister. She was finally overcome by a panic attack. Ms. Lai had been working 50 hours per week as a pediatric nurse practitioner at a community health clinic in southeast Austin. Some of her patients at the clinic, which Ms. Lai said served a primarily Latino population, didn’t have access to clean water. Some had family members who had been picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some had lost loved ones to Covid. As Ms. Lai walked past people drinking and … [Read more...] about How Quitting a Job Changed My Work-Life Balance

LONDON — It was my second time here, and I kept trying to remember if I had felt as conspicuous during my first visit. I could count the number of other Black women I spotted during my five days here: the hotel receptionist with the French braid, whom I spoke with when I stopped in to ask to use the bathroom, the long-haired woman at my own hotel’s front desk, the woman talking rapidly into her cellphone outside a Starbucks, the two women (clearly tourists) with matching backpacks near the British Museum, and the young woman with the short, relaxed hair, who was clutching a shopping bag as she walked briskly down the street. That list isn’t comprehensive. But it’s not far off. So when the eyes of a white person linger on me, as they did numerous times during this trip, my imagination tricks me into thinking every glance is a rebuke — whether because of my obvious Americanness; or because of my race, my tattoos or my pink hair. I don’t know how to sit with my discomfort in these … [Read more...] about In Two London Plays, Being Black Means Looking From the Outside In

A previous version of this story ran in May. Washington (CNN) Former President Donald Trump is reportedly nearing a decision on when to announce a 2024 bid to return to the White House, but his legal troubles continue to build -- not just with the recent FBI search at Mar-a-Lago . Multiple federal and state investigations are ongoing regarding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, his handling of confidential documents and his family business. Civil lawsuits accusing Trump of defamation and spurring on US Capitol rioters also remain on the docket. Here's an updated list of notable investigations and lawsuits: White House documents: Did Trump mishandle classified material? Read More The search warrant executed at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday sent shockwaves through the legal and political worlds and shows the Justice Department's criminal … [Read more...] about What’s up with the investigations of and lawsuits against Donald Trump