Here’s your week in review, in haiku.
1.
It keeps on rainin‘,
and risin’, and blowin’ hard:
2.
I wanted to read
the new Jussie papers, but
I was just too sad
3.
I did, however,
read the R. Kelly news…I
think I’ll have it framed
4.
I once thought planning
a summit was stressful work!
I was so, so wrong.
5.
We will remember
those who returned women to
back alleys to die.
Wishing you a sunny and calm weekend.
On Point
| Ava DuVernay’s “When They See Us” has dropped on Netflix |
| I got up early to begin my own journey, and it is everything you would expect from a visionary artist bent on correcting a deeply disturbing record…and yet so much more. All four episodes are available now, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. To deepen your understanding between episodes, enjoy this extraordinary interview between the actual men and the actors who played them, and then this piece with the filmmaker which helps explain why this re-telling is so essential: First the system destroys you, then it dictates how the story gets told. |
| Netflix |
| Yale elects its first-ever African American student body president |
| Kahil Green is a junior, an economics/political science major, and is ready to lead. “I feel like I wanted to kind of amplify the voices of the underserved communities on campus, especially students of color,” Green told Fox 5 news, the local DC affiliate that is proudly claiming the Montgomery County native. “So being the first black president, I feel like I’m in a position where I can really do that.” The Root’s Monique Judge puts the moment into perspective. Yale, founded in 1701 is the third oldest university in the country, and one of the nine Colonial Colleges, founded prior to the United States becoming a sovereign nation following the American Revolution.” That’s 318 chances to let a black student lead. “It still boggles the mind that we continue to experience these ‘firsts’ in the 21st century, but there is a certain amount of pride tied to seeing a black man do this,” she writes. |
| The Root |
| Milwaukee to America: Racism is a public health crisis |
| Milwaukee needs to lead the way; it was determined to be the most segregated city in the U.S. By the census bureau in 2017, it’s home to the neighborhood with the highest number of incarcerated people, and has been a safe harbor for decades of racist redlining and lending practices. Dr. David Pate, chair of social work at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee broke it down on CBS News. “What the city of Milwaukee…is saying that we have to attend to the historical issues that have plagued the city of Milwaukee for a long time,” he says, citing dangerously substandard education, employment, housing, and health care. Pate says the new framing turns the issue into a public policy conversation about structural racism and the cost of inequity. Folks from the Harvard School of Public Health and the American Public Health Association are applauding somewhere. |
| CBS News |
On Background
| Humans who identify as men: Get up, stand up |
| Inclusion expert and raceAhead treasure Paolo Guadiano wants men to be very, very concerned about any resistance to the cause of gender equality. Women already bear the brunt of sexual violence, they are treated unequally in the workplace and they are underrepresented in political and corporate power structures,” he begins, pointing out how much more serious it is for non-majority culture white, non-disabled women. And he is not here for managers sliding out of their mentoring duties for fear of being caught up in an imaginary #TimesUp snare. “There is no doubt in my mind that the current backlash against women will be followed by an even more dramatic push toward gender equality,” says, bringing the optimism. “However, achieving equality will take too long if women have to face these assaults on their own.” |
| Forbes |
| It’s been thirty years since “Stand and Deliver” |
| The film was a revelation, back in the day, written and directed by Cuban-American filmmaker Ramón Menéndez and starring Edward James Olmos. Writer Carlos Aguilar correctly notes that Olmos, an East Los Angeleno, has been a tireless voice for better Latinx representation in the media, and “there has never been stronger synergy between his off-screen efforts and a character he’s embodied than in the 1988 classic Stand and Deliver.” The film is based on the true story of Bolivian teacher Jaime Escalante, who made headlines for helping low-income Latino students to pass the challenging AP Calculus test. It was screened at this year’s Panama International Film Festival (IFF Panama); watching it moved Olmos to tears. Click through for an extraordinary interview.“Watching my performance, I realized what he gave us, it was like catching lightning in a bottle and we did it,” he said. Olmos remains the only US-born Latino to ever earn a Best Actor nod. |
| Remezcla |
| Meet some of the women of color who are fighting for abortion rights in Georgia |
| This story highlights five, Georgia state representatives Dar'shun Kendrick, Park Cannon, Renitta Shannon, Sandra Scott, and Erica Thomas, who have spent the last few months trying to fight against Republican-led attempts to eliminate access to essential health care services for women. While the newly signed abortion restriction law might be considered a setback, it certainly disproportionately impacts black women, the women are energized by a clear path forward. What’s most instructive about this story is their unapologetic authenticity. There has been no agonizing about a lack of trailblazers, no attempt to assimilate. “I made it really clear in our campaign who we were,” Cannon tells Refinery 29.“That I was raised in a household with domestic violence, that I was openly part of the queer community, that I wasn’t afraid to be pro-choice and to shout my abortion story.” Turns out, the community could handle it. |
| Refinery 29 |
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