April Newsletter
In case you missed my “Five Favorites …”
I’ve taken to writing a “Five Favorites” story at the end of each month rather than sending out a newsletter, because I like the formatting choices better, and because stories place on the front page of Fourth Wave predictably, but newsletters do not. But in case you missed April’s rendition, I am going to endeavor to copy / paste it below. Let’s see how that goes…
I spent a lot of April 2025 being disturbed by the actions of the U.S. president, looking for leaders to step up and oppose him (and not finding many), and feeling anxious and depressed about the lack of humanity evident right now in the U.S and across the world.
But one place I didn’t get that feeling was here on Fourth Wave, because even when our contributors are writing about injustice, the very fact of their stories shows that some people do care and some people are working to change our societies and build a better, kinder, and more equitable world. That’s us!
So here now, without further ado, are five of my favorites that were published in April, a featured writer, and two short lists of the stories we featured ourselves and those that curators blessed with boosting last month.
Please, be my guest. Treat yourself to a few of the great reads listed below.
Okay, that top section went well! But once I start listing the stories, the links won’t go graphic, the formatting gets spoiled and I have to correct it, and the author’s names don’t turn green, meaning they won’t be notified that I included them in this newsletter.
I wish it was seamless, and I’ll ask Medium Help about that, but meanwhile, here’s what we (meaning I) can do…
- Trump Deports 2-year-old US Citizen by LGBTQ+ Pride Stories
I love the passion of this frequent contributor who channels my alarm and upset at living in Trump’s America with ferocity, wit, and personality. Another favorite by this author this month was This Undercover Journalist Dated Only Right Wing Men for a Year. Check them both out. - Buy, Buy Baby by Frances A. Chiu, PhD | writing coach | editor
I couldn’t be more annoyed by the “natalist” movement that claims we MUST have more (white) babies (while deporting brown ones) or face global collapse. This after we doubled earth’s population in the last 50 years alone, from 4 billion to 8 billion resource-hungry people, far more than Mother Earth can support. Here Frances unpacks Trump’s latest dumb idea in her intelligent, far-reaching, and entertaining way. - American Policing: By Rapists, For Rapists by Maevyn Frey
It’s true “not all policemen” just like “not all men,” but enough officers and judges protect perpetrators of violence against women to make rape a common crime. In this story, Maevyn makes the strong case that any woman who doesn’t want to report a rape shouldn’t be pressured to do so since the system will re-victimize and re-traumatize her if she does — all for the 2.5% chance that her rapist will face consequences. It’s a sick sign of a sick society, and it’s not showing signs of getting better any time soon. - Being a Feminist Among Oppressed Women is Hard by Pallabi Dey Purkayastha
The picture alone is worth the price of admission here — summing up how it feels to be a feminist in 2025. It was super hard to narrow down my choices to five stories for this piece. I ultimately chose this one since Pallabi is doing what every woman and man of conscious should be — standing up for the oppressed and speaking out against sexist and other unfair social systems. When will the world realize that women are fully human with the absolute right to run our own lives? Hopefully a bit sooner with warriors like Pallabi in our midst. - Five Reasons Why Conservative Men Hate Taylor Swift by Ana Loredo
I love getting a perspective from Mexico from this contributor, who often writes about politics. This time, though, she describes this surprisingly feminist pop star, and how and why her success is so irksome to those who want women to believe they’ll be sad and lonely if they leave the kitchen and choose instead follow their (wildly successful) dreams.
Featured writer David Lee Condrey
I was so happy when formerly homeless vet David Lee Condrey submitted his first story to Fourth Wave, in part because it meant he understood the intersectional nature of our mission — how you don’t have to be a woman to belong here; you just have to care about humanity and social justice — and in part because he’s a damn good writer who regularly rips my heart out with his descriptions of life on the edge.
His very first contribution made me a convert. And the hits have kept coming since then. My favorite was this piece about homelessness and addiction, terrible conditions which have afflicted many people in the U.S., including my own adult son.
It Wasn’t the Rain, Cold or Hunger that Got to Me — It Was the Smell
I asked David to share a little about why he writes on Medium; this is what he sent.
When I was young, I dreamed about being a writer. But I couldn’t take the easy path through literature programs and writing workshops. What stories would I have to tell? What insights could I offer from a sheltered academic existence? I needed to live first — to gather experiences worth putting on paper.
That decision set me on a 44-year journey down roads most people only glimpse from their car windows. Marine. Homeless. Addict. Survival became my education. The streets my classroom. Pain my most thorough teacher.
My perspective comes from being the homeless man that readers drive by every day on their way to work. The junky they cross the street to avoid. The criminal sitting in jail for petty theft. The face they turn away from, the story they think they know without hearing a single word.
I’ve slept behind dumpsters on moldy foam scavenged from trash. Stood in formation in foreign deserts holding a rifle I wasn’t sure I could use. Learned I was HIV-positive from a jail nurse while wearing orange. Been the one who twisted love until it cut deeper than it healed. Given coins to a child selling Chiclets in Tijuana when my own pockets echoed empty.
These moments aren’t badges of honor or misery poker chips. They’re just pieces of a life that didn’t follow the expected path.
Medium gives me space to share these experiences with one simple hope: reaching just one person. Changing one mind. Improving one life. Helping someone love themselves. Showing someone they can overcome whatever they’re facing. Preventing one mistake like mine.
Society loves binaries: good versus bad, worthy versus unworthy, us versus them. But these categories miss the messy complexity of human frailty and resilience. They ignore how systemic injustices shape individual choices, how trauma ripples through lives like an unending curse.
My words stand against moral absolutism — that disease of the intellectually lazy. It’s too easy to nestle into self-righteousness, too simple to judge others while excusing our own ethical misdemeanors as mere “mistakes.”
The stories I share come from uncomfortable spaces between breaking and healing. Not to shock, but to build understanding. Not for pity or neat redemption arcs, but to whisper: you’re not alone, and there is a way forward. They’re conversations with whoever needs them. When I write about standing in the rain homeless, questioning purpose in a Marine convoy, or giving everything when I had nothing, I’m trying to create a moment of recognition for someone who feels alone.
Recovery isn’t marked by celebrations. It’s a map with more erasures than lines. It’s holding on when every instinct screams to let go. It’s showing up, even when every failure reminds you that staying isn’t enough, but it’s all you have.
Through challenging biases, offering new perspectives, playing devil’s advocate, my writing acknowledges that life isn’t a neatly packaged idea you can stamp with a label. It’s a raw, sprawling mess tangled with the threads of real lives unraveled and frayed at the ends.
And perhaps the most important lesson I’m still learning: there are kind people in this world; if you can’t find one, be one.
Here is a small selection of his work:
- I Was a Good Soldier: Then I Was Nothing
- Performing Masculinity in the U.S. Marines
- The Price of a Smile in Tijuana
- Gender Wars in a Broken System
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience with us, David. And may the path ahead of you be a little easier than the one behind.
Stories we proudly featured in April
Stories that were happily boosted by curators in April
- At the Intersection of Sex Shamed and Smut by Alyssa Mullett
- Remembering My First Feminist, My Ferocious Latina “Brava” by Erick Sierra
- Hair Politics: Why Can’t I Go to Work With My Natural Hair? by Esther Uwanah Edet
- Remembering a Forgotten Matriarch of the Televised Revolution by Osi I.
- The Night Amina Was Traded by MunibaKasi
- Introverts Unite: The Subtle Stirrings of a Peaceful Protest by Amy Lee Wheeler
- Not Qualified to Live by David Lee Condrey
- Adolescence Is Powerful Drama But It Ignored The Real Why Of Male Rage by Linda Caroll
- The Blue Origin Space Flight Only Showcased Commodity Feminism by Anne Spollen
And in case you missed last month’s “Five Favorites” story, it’s here:
Five Favorite Stories from March and A Featured Writer
Happy reading, everyone!
Until next month.
Yours truly,
Patsy Fergusson
Publisher & Editor in Chief
Fourth Wave
For more stories about intersectional feminism, social justice, and human rights worldwide, follow Fourth Wave. Have you got a story or poem that focuses on women or other targeted groups? Submit to the Wave!
