Say It, I'm Worth It
VOL 18 - THURSDAY, JULY 2
Hey Notees! Checking in: How are you feeling these days? Do you need a power shot? Check out Dena Crowder's five minute power shots which are breathing sessions to help you get through.
We meet again during another important time of our history. Sunday, June 28, marked the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York. Last month, we watched "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson" - one of the prominent figures of the Stonewall Uprising. The documentary focuses on the suspicious death of Marsha, which was classified as a suicide despite clear evidence of foul play, and Victoria Cruz, a queer trans woman and activist, and others close to Marsha attempt to close a very cold case (Monday will be the 28th anniversary of Marsha's death). Over the last five years, an average of more than 20 transgender or gender non-conforming people are victims of fatal violence. Last year, we lost 26 lives, with 91% being Black trans women. In just the first six months of this year, we've lost 15, three of whom were Black trans women.
For so many and too often like Marsha, cases for Trans people are not reported, misreported and go cold leaving justice unserved. The legacies of Trans women of color are important after their death, but we must realize the stories like Victoria, Daniella Carter, Nala Toussaint, Raquel Willis, Tonie Michele and Hope Giselle are important while they are still alive. They are leading activism for the Black community, the GBL community, AND for Trans women of color too. They deserve to have more stories, narratives and personas, where the importance of sex work and the ballroom community is depicted, but also showcase women as first time generation college graduates, writers, activists and business owners. The film "Disclosure" discusses the depiction and representation of Trans people in film and television, the misrepresentation of Trans women in previous television shows such as "Nip Tuck" and "Dirty Sexy Money," and the evolution of programs like "Pose" and "Orange is the New Black" that has helped create the space.
As you know, we use our platform to provide resources to our subscribers, and to encourage involvement at every level. Below are a few resources we've gathered, but please send additional organizations, campaigns, people to recognize, etc. so that we can use our platform to amplify their voices:
SNaP Co. (Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative)
Well, it's a week leading into one of the most controversial holidays (the 4th of July), but we have a packed issue to catch you up right before you nestle in for the weekend and hopefully watch some fireworks in the house or 6 ft away from others.
Enjoy and always: Stay Notedd!
Yelp is officially in partnership with My Black Receipt, an opt-in attribute on the Yelp platform that will help users easily find Black-owned businesses to support. My Black Receipt's movement to encourage consumers to spend $5 million at Black-owned businesses from Juneteenth (June 19th) is still happening through Independence Day (July 4th). Support Kezia Williams and My Black Receipt today!
In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of abortion providers in June Medical Services v. Russo, striking down a Louisiana law that would have left just one doctor able to provide abortions in the entire state. Still a long road ahead, but another huge victory last month!
NASA will rename its Washington D.C. headquarters after the agency’s first Black female engineer, Mary W. Jackson. The Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building, in Southwest DC, is situated on what is now called Hidden Figures Way - that's got a nice ring to it!
Conceptualized in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the Black Future Co-op Fund was recently created and launched to support the Black community in Washington state with over $2.5 million in committed donations from dozens of corporations, philanthropies, and individuals.
Hairstylist LaChanda Gatson’s collection, African American Princess Series, reimagines classic princesses with young Black girls to create a representation of more Black princesses in fairy tales.
What DO we mean when we SAY? Rewire.News writer and organizer K Agbebiyi shares in three brief, straight-to-the-point articles on what we mean when we say: defund the police, abolish the police and abolish prisons. Below are a couple of Q&A responses, but please check out K's articles to learn more.
Why do we want to defund? K shares that "Abolitionists understand instances of police violence and murder to be the rule, not the exception." Organizations in favor of defunding the police argue that brutality and killings are so high in their city as a result of extremely large police budgets. In addition, the institution of policing is dehumanizing and inherently violent and anti-Black, profiting off of the suffering of one class of people with no chance of being reformed.
Where do we want that money to go? Through a divest and invest strategy where police budgets are reallocated for public good and services such as education, health care and housing. Abolitionists argue that local government's priorities are investing local prison industrial complexes (which we'll get into later) and using the police as a force against the marginalized. The hope is that this re-investment will improve the communities and community members.
What does it mean to “abolish the police”? Ki shares that, "As with calls to defund the police, the movement to abolish police is just another step in our long-game goal of dismantling the entire prison industrial complex." Abolitionists believe in people’s ability to rectify harm, push back on the idea of “legality.” They recognize that although something is illegal, it is not unethical, and instead realize that the framework for criminality in the United States is steeped in anti-Blackness.
How realistic is this? "Abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore says, 'abolition is not absence, it is presence," shares Ki. "The presence I envision when organizing is not the presence of fear around police violence, it is the presence of my friends, loved ones, and comrades working to build a better world where none of us are disposable."
What do prison abolitionists want? "Abolitionists believe in accountability, but we also know that prisons do not provide that." They recognize that crime is often a result of poverty and necessity, along with the steady decline of social services. However, abolitionists challenge the system where some people are granted innocence before they’re found guilty and some are born criminalized.
Why not prison reform? Ki breaks down the difference between abolition and reform, as many, including ourselves, didn't realize they come from different schools of thought. "Reformers support legislation like mandating that police officers wear body cameras or creating civilian review boards to investigate police brutality. Reformers believe that some people should be in jail, and that the prison industrial complex can be changed to work better for everyone. Abolitionists disagree. While reformist ideas sound good in theory, abolitionists recognize that these short-term solutions have been proven to be ineffective. They also do nothing to actually end the prison industrial complex (PIC)."
Please note that this is only one source of information. We must all continue to educate ourselves because the fight for justice is an ongoing battle.
Never silence a Black woman
Alexis Johnson, Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reporter tweeted the above pointing out the annual tailgate from a Kenny Chesney concert, where the city is polluted with trash is completely fine, but images of "horrifying scenes of selfish LOOTERS" are those who don't care about the city. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette leadership stated that her tweet went against their social media policy and removed Alexis from covering the protests. She later explains that while speaking to one of her managers (who is white), he mentioned that he was reprimanded for a social media post but wasn't removed from covering the protests. Alexis discusses her journey at the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette in this interview and the overwhelming support she received from the community. We wish to say there is a silver lining at the end of this interview, but as you will see, management of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette released a letter on the recent events and here is Alexis's response.
Marilyn Booker, Morgan Stanley's Diversity Chief for 16 years was fired last December. Marilyn (who we had an amazing chance to meet a couple of years ago) is suing the company and her boss for racial discrimination and retaliation. With attempts to restructure the recruiting process to be a success, Marilyn believes she was fired because she pushed too hard to get senior executives in that division to embrace her plan to restructure a program for training black financial advisers. Since joining Morgan Stanley in 1994, Marilyn was the public face of the bank’s efforts to diversify, representing the company at a hearing in Congress on diversity at big banks. She even started Urban Markets, which sought to win more black money management clients and help black communities build wealth. Marilyn's lawsuit joins other black employees who sued Morgan Stanley in the past, saying they were marginalized and isolated while trying to do their jobs, then pushed out after they spoke up. We will be staying tuned on how things proceed with this lawsuit.
Khalea Underwood, a former Refinery29 beauty writer came forward and shared the racial discrimination and microaggressions she and other former employees experienced while working at the company. Khalea recounts experiences where her work was re-written by white editors to remove any colloquial language and how she was pigeonholed into writing about only Black hair, beauty and makeup. There is a silver lining where Khalea is now the Beauty editor for The Zoe Report, running AND leading the whole damn beauty vertical. We love to see it!
We completely support all of these women and the others who have came forward to speak on the micro aggressions and racial discrimination they have faced in their workplaces. We believe their courage and bravery has since propelled others to speak - whether in predominantly white work environments or even those that are multicultural.
We have not forgotten we are still facing a pandemic: Yes, we haven't included coverage on Miss Rona for some issues now, but we wanted to keep you informed of the following:
Coronavirus in black people: We need to talk about medical racism
Black people’s health complaints are taken less seriously
Black communities are less likely to have the testing and medical supplies they need
Federal and local government has failed to gather the demographic data needed to protect these communities
Black respondents in the key 2020 states of Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are more likely than white voters to have been diagnosed with the coronavirus or know someone who has, the survey found.
Covid-19 has killed at least 21,750 black people in the U.S., according to the COVID Racial Data Tracker.
It's critically important that we continue to protect ourselves and others, from wearing masks to keeping ourselves informed on how this virus is disproportionately impacting communities of color. Remember that we are only in the first wave! We all want to get out of time out, but it's important that we stay safe until we can do so.
Check out these honorable mentions and drop us a note on your thoughts if you are able to check them out this weekend or next!
Forever Head-Lawyer-In-Charge Annalise Keating and L'Oréal Paris Global Ambassador Viola Davis gave us a word, as we watched it for the first time during this year's BET Awards. Viola calls attention to the power of self-worth and believing in yourself. She tells us,
"First, take a deep breath and let it out. And the next time you hesitate before going out for something you want, the next time you blush and brush off a compliment; the next time you doubt your place in the world, in your workplace, in your home or in your own skin. Say these words to yourself: I'M WORTH IT!"
Meet Zoe who is on a mission to "make as many new curlfriends as possible." Healthy Roots Doll Founder Yelitsa Jean-Charles created Zoe to continue to inspire little girls to love themselves. Yelitsa found it important to create a doll line where not only does she look like little Black and Brown girls, but also a doll with hair that children can wash and style. Each Zoe doll comes with a Curl Care Kit featuring products that they use together to style their hair. Coming soon, there will be hair tutorials to help little girls style their Zoe dolls hair into box braids, Havana twists and more. Learn more and purchase your Zoe doll for yourself (like we are, no shame 😊) or for your loved ones as well.
Have you also started to increase your at-home workouts or find your new uniform being athleisure wear? Well we've taken a liking to both and found this list of Black-owned athletic wear lines. Check out these four brands that Sister's from AARP featured and drop us a note if you know more:
EleVen: Sophisticated, everyday pieces great for the woman running a 5K or a few errands created by Venus Williams
CultureFit Clothing: Yoga tops, leggings and mats in traditional patterns such as Ankara and kente
Secndnture: Modern, body-conscious separates in fabrics that could take you from the health club to the dance club
Vertical Activewear: Barely there, body-conscious pieces that show off a sculpted figure
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