Aunty Lee’s memory is a bit cloudy regarding whether the first time she cast her ballot was in an election for local politicians or a presidential race, but one thing she knows for sure is her pastor at the time inspired her to exercise her constitutional rights and fulfill her civic duties. He said, “When it’s time to vote, make sure you vote. When it’s time to do grand jury, make sure you go.”
At age 20, Aunty Lee understood the magnitude of her pastor’s advice, given the disenfranchisement of Black folks that she witnessed growing up in Millers Ferry — including poll taxes, literacy tests, and outright violence and intimidation that prevented Black people from voting. To be a Black citizen in America but denied full citizenship rights epitomizes the hypocrisy of American democracy. This is a sad truth that I repeat like a blues refrain to my students.
Ohio State’s Suspension Of Urban Meyer Is Par For The Course
On Wednesday night, Ohio State announced that Meyer will be suspended for the first three games of the football season. At the press conference that followed, viewers got what anyone with a tinfoil hat and internet access could have predicted: a lot of talk about football, even more talk about how all parties involved respect women, the bare minimum in punishment, and almost no mention of Courtney Smith. Her name wasn’t even mentioned by any of the men who took to the podium until one of the questions near the end when ESPN producer Greg Amante asked Meyer what he would say to Courtney Smith. Meyer gave this pithy answer: “Well, I have a message for everyone involved in this. I’m sorry we’re in this situation. And, um … I’m just sorry we’re in this situation.” He couldn’t even be bothered to say her name.
via Ohio State’s Suspension Of Urban Meyer Is Par For The Course
Brianna Wu, Kim Weaver Talk About Harassment on Campaign Trail
While we celebrate that a record number of women are running for office, it’s worth considering the shit they put up with just to be heard. A group of current and former candidates talked to the New York Times about the harassment they’ve dealt with while campaigning. Their stories are depressing and sometimes frightening, the harassment predictable.
From Mya Whitaker, a Democrat running for City Council in Oakland, California:
“Being a black woman and existing, in some cases, is enough to piss people off.”
And Kim Weaver, an Iowa Democrat who dropped out of a race against white supremacist Rep. Steve King in 2017 in part because of the threats against her and her family:
via Brianna Wu, Kim Weaver Talk About Harassment on Campaign Trail
Forbes highest-paid actor: The Rock nearly doubles 2017 earnings – BBC News
Scarlett Johannson was revealed as the highest paid actress last week, earning $40.5m (£31.9m).
That would have placed the Black Widow star as seventh in the male rankings.
This is a departure from last year’s Forbes list, which saw highest paid actress Emma Stone fail to score in the top 10 male earnings.
via Forbes highest-paid actor: The Rock nearly doubles 2017 earnings – BBC News
The online platform that empowers survivors of campus sexual assaults |
Outraged at the incidence of sex crimes at colleges, activist Jess Ladd got mad — and then she got to building. Here’s how she developed a secure and sensitive reporting system that’s in use on 13 campuses.
The statistics on campus sex crimes in the US are sad and sobering. On average, it’s estimated that one in five women is assaulted during her college years, as well as 7 percent of men and 24 percent of transgender and gender non-conforming students.
And what occurs after an attack is also disturbing. Most assaults go unreported, and when people do go to the authorities, too often they’re subjected to a series of traumatic experiences: insensitive questioning, skepticism or outright disbelief about their experience, and an opaque investigatory process that places a greater emphasis on preserving the college’s public image than on prosecuting crimes.
via The online platform that empowers survivors of campus sexual assaults |
‘Sexist’ Tui Airways crew gave different badges to girls and boys | World news | The Guardian
Tui Airways is at the centre of a sexism row after flight attendants were accused of handing out stickers to children that encouraged girls to be cabin crew and boys to be pilots.
A passenger on board a flight from Cyprus to Bristol said stickers were handed to boys that read “future pilot” while girls were given ones that read “future cabin crew”.
via ‘Sexist’ Tui Airways crew gave different badges to girls and boys | World news | The Guardian
The Empowering Internet Safety Guide for Women | vpnMentor
Have you ever been harassed in the street? Received a crass message on a dating app? Had a coworker make a comment about your appearance that just didn’t sit right?
You’re not alone.
With the #MeToo movement, it’s easy to log onto Twitter or Facebook and see just how many women are victims of sexual harassment. Whether in person or online, women everywhere have experienced it in one way or another. And with all the new ways the internet has opened avenues of communication, online harassment is more prevalent than ever.
According to a study by the Pew Research Center, most online abuse takes place on social media. Although men are also subject to online harassment – which includes name calling, derision, and physical threats – the study found that online, women are more than twice as likely as men to experience sexual harassment.
via The Empowering Internet Safety Guide for Women | vpnMentor
School Closes After Parents Obscenely Threaten Transgender 12-Year-Old Via Facebook
Yesterday morning, parents responded to the threats against the seventh grader—who is pseudonymously identified as “Maddie”—by staging a small silent rally in support of the girl outside of the school. In response, law enforcement officials reportedly asked the school to shut down for the day out of fear of a counter protest.
Outstream Video
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00:00Maddie has publicly identified as a girl for the past two years. Previously, she used a staff bathroom “to avoid being harassed,” as Think Progress reports. After the school was recently renovated, though, she had a difficult time finding the staff bathroom. On one single occasion, according to Maddie’s mother, she used the girls’ restroom.
via School Closes After Parents Obscenely Threaten Transgender 12-Year-Old Via Facebook
Equality and Gender Infographic
Very useful infographic, courtesy of https://carvakasextoys.co.uk/
State Dept. Retroactively Revokes Transgender Women’s Passports
In what may turn out to be yet another front of the Trump administration’s war on transgender rights, some transgender U.S. passport holders are claiming that the State Department has denied renewal requests even after the applicants already listed their gender as female on previously approved passports.
Two cases of this happening recently were reported by Them’s Mary Emily O’Hara.
In late June, Danni Askini, executive director of the Seattle-based advocacy group Gender Justice League, tweeted that she had been denied a U.S. passport renewal and was being asked to “prove” her U.S. citizenship, along with providing proof of gender transition. This was despite the fact that for 20 years, she had a passport that said she’s female, O’Hara reported. Askini transitioned in 1998 at the age of 16.
via State Dept. Retroactively Revokes Transgender Women’s Passports