Claire Potter

Still from Shola Lynch’s documentary Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed (2004). WHEN WE CELEBRATE a political “first,” we’re heralding the beginning—not the end—of a struggle. And yet, understanding the lives of trailblazers can instruct us in how to pursue justice in spite of institutional prejudice. Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s recent biography of

  YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, MARCH 2022, 600 PP. In a hair under fifty years, American women’s history was born, died, and is being reborn as something else. Call it the history of gender if you like, or the history of sexuality and the body. What it means to be a

Liveright, November 2021, 1024 pp. Patricia Highsmith’s novels—often psychological thrillers with queer themes—were a master class in the twisted human emotions that lurk beneath the surface of social respectability. A talented painter and illustrator, she often alerted readers to the hidden malevolence of her characters with a simple, visual detail.