Your Favorite Meteor Stories of 2022
Happy (almost) New Year, dear Meteor reader,
Itâs almost our anniversaryâyours and ours. In January, Meteor founding member Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote the first feature essay of the Meteornewsletterâand itâs been a thrilling journey ever since. So much has happened this year, and who better to celebrate with than you?
First, a round of applause to Meteor collective members who had astounding years. There were books: Supreme Court commentator Dahlia Lithwick released her much-anticipated  Lady Justice; Amber Tamblynâs Listening in the Dark taught us to trust our intuition; and Julissa Natzely Arce Rayaâs latest, You Sound Like a White Girl, acted like medicine unto the bones.
And there were prizes: Rebecca Carroll snagged three Webbys for her show âBillie Was a Black Woman,â Salamishah Tillet won a Pulitzer for distinguished criticism, Dawn Porter showcased the heroes of Title IX, and our podcast âBecause of Anitaâ got a Gracie. Itâs givingâŠ
Meanwhile, in a year that came with some challenges, it meant a lot to us to tell stories that resonated with you on the issues that matter. Projects like the âMy Abortion Storyâ series, the viral Josh and Amanda Zurawski interview, Talia Kantor Lieberâs student investigation into colleges paying (or not paying) for abortion travel, and live events like 22 For â22 and Meet the Moment where we got to meet some of you, in the flesh, for the first time.
It was also an emotional year on our podcast âUNDISTRACTEDâ with some amazing episodes: the most important conversation about RENAISSANCEever, an analysis of the Great Resignation with Elaine Welteroth, and who could forget the touching dialogue between host Brittany Packnett Cunningham and her husband, Reginald, about the birth of their son, who was delivered at just 24 weeks. Some of us are still crying about that one. (Itâs me, Iâm us.)
Of course, I would be remiss if I didnât shout out the highlights of my favorite part of The Meteorverse: this newsletter right here, powered by all of you. Thank you, readers, for every open, every click, and every time youâve forwarded our stories to someone you know. It means the world to us. And if you are so inclined to continue sharing The Meteor with your friends, family, enemies, exesâanyone you want, we donât judge!âhereâs a list of our top 10 newsletters this year as decided by you, the all-powerful arbiters of interesting.
10. Muslims Are Not a MonolithÂ
9. âIf they could kill her, they could kill anyone.â
8. Queen Elizabethâs Complicated Legacy
7. How Our Data Is Used Against Us in the Post-Roe WorldÂ
6. The Best (and worst) Parts of the KBJ Hearings So FarÂ
5. The Supposed Death of #MeToo
4. When âFeministsâ Spout HateÂ
2. Puerto Ricoâs Dimming Future
The entire Meteor team wishes you a gentle and restful new year. Weâll see you here, in your inbox, in 2023. And weâll keep bringing you the news and stories you want to know about with a full serving of feminist perspectiveâand a splash of dry witâto keep things interesting.
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For auld lang syne,
Shannon Melero
"They Chose to Make History."
"THEY CHOSE TO MAKE HISTORY"
For Iranian American journalist Neda Semnani, 2022 belongs to the women and girls of Iran.
BY NEDA TOLOUI-SEMNANI
December 20, 2022
Mahsa âJinaâ Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, was on her way to the rest of her life when she was profiled, detained, and allegedly beaten to death in Tehran, Iran in September.Â
Aminiâs fate, like so many other womenâs, was decided in a split second by a man who looked at her and saw only what he wanted to see: her hijab askew. Both she and he knew that the systems and institutions of the country were created to benefit one of them over the other.Â
Perhaps if Amini had died at another moment in time, no one but her family would have known her story. But on this particular day, the young women and girls of Iran decided to reclaim her agency and their own.Â
They chose to make history.
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They flooded the streets and social media en masse to mourn Aminiâbut not only Amini. They mourned all the others who had died, who were imprisoned, who were held down by hopelessness. Iranâs women wept in public, many pulling off their state-sanctioned hijabs and cutting off their hair. And they werenât alone. Every other marginalized group in the country joined them: Kurds and Baluchs, Black and queer, Baâhai and Jewish, and so many others. Each person demanding equal rights for women. Each person taking up space and screaming for their historyâour historyâto be acknowledged, to be heard, to be integrated into the story of their country and the world at large.Â
As an Iranian American and a journalist, I have watched all of this from the safety of my New York apartment. Never have I felt as connected to my ancestral homeland and its people as I have during these long weeks, and never have I felt the distance between us so acutely.Â
Since the uprising began, Iraniansâwomen, men, and non-binary peopleâhave burned their hijabs and the Iranian flag; theyâve come together in public; theyâve made music and theater, harnessed spray paint and brushes; theyâve danced and kissed in the streets. Each nonviolent action like a ballistic missile aimed at the core of the ruthless regime and its sophisticated surveillance state.Â
And after the women and girls of Iran decided to stand together, the men who rule the country fell apart. They began clutching at power through blunt force and unimaginable brutality. Since September, the Islamic Republic has killed more than 500 people, including at least 57 children, and arrested more than 1800. They have made freedom fighters of school girls and martyrs of teenagers. Theyâve rounded up and jailed more than 58 journalists, most of whom are women. Theyâve set fire to a prison which was filled past capacity with dissidents. Theyâve used buckshot to shoot at womenâs faces and genitals; hundreds of protestors have lost their eyesight. The security forces have used ambulances to pick up demonstrators and monitored hospitals to find those who had gotten away. Theyâve raped and sexually assaulted protesters, many of whom are in their teens and early 20s. Security forces have allegedly tried to stop people from witnessing atrocities by shooting into homes where people were looking out of their windows.
Then last month, the parliament went further. It voted to make protest punishable by death, dissolving whatever trust was left in the Islamic Republic and officially pitting the government against its people.Â
Sham trials followed. Last week, in the city of Mashhad, cranes were erected, stretching high into the air. Steel trees bearing strange fruit: two young men dead, their bodies hanging above the heads of the people.Â
Their names are Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard. They may have been the first and second official execution, but they are not the first or second to die at the hands of the Islamic Republic.Â
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The point of these killings isnât to punish individuals or to protect the regime or warn off protesters; it is an attempt to obliterate hope. Yet they canât extinguish what doesnât exist. Because the simple truth is that as long as this regime is in power, the people say there is no hope in their future; their hope will be reborn when this regime is gone. So the revolution marches on and the people chant, âThousands stand behind each one killed.â In other words: âYou canât kill us all.âÂ
***
This Iranian uprising, this revolution, keeps falling in and out of the headlines, a fact that belies its global importance. Iran at this moment contains the intersection of so many issues: economics, foreign policy, technology, health, religion, sectarianism, race, and classâunderpinned, at least for now, by feminist values. It is like nothing weâve seen before, making it arguably the most important story in the world, the most important story of our time.
Weâre watching one generation rise up where others have cowered. Weâre watching the people come together to champion the rights of women. Weâre watching them reach for democratic values and ideals, not with resources or institutional support, but with their weapons of choice: speech, assembly, art, music, literature, poetry, fashion, and movement.Â
As an Iranian, an American, and a woman, Iâm devastated that for many outside Iran, this moment is, at most, a hashtag and a chance for people to push their political agendas. Women, minorities, and their allies are being attacked by their government and fighting for their very survival. It isn’t on the front page of every countryâs newspapers, but it should be.Â
![](https://wearethemeteor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-1244982568.jpg)
So what can we do, you and I, to show up and engage with this moment? We have to support these women, children, men, boys, and non-binary Iranians by going out of our way to report their stories and amplify their voices. As we see more Iranians flee their country, we must open our own borders and provide refuge.Â
Finally, we must acknowledge that in order for this revolution to succeed, many brilliant, beautiful, and brave human beings will give up their futures for someone elseâs. We must acknowledge their suffering, their fears, and most of all, the lives they wonât get to live. We must also acknowledge the people they leave behind and the pain those who will survive will carry with them. This is what it means to resist and to revolt. It means that one group will sacrifice their plans, their potential, and all their normal mornings so that perhaps, one day soon, the rest of us might revel in freedom. Â
Neda Toloui-Semnani is an Emmy-winning journalist and the author of They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents.
Photo by Nilo Tabrizy
There's Another Report on the Widespread Abuses in Women's Soccer
Hey Meteor readers, Iâm peeved this evening. Iâve been peeved all day, really. This morning, a new report detailing ongoing abuse in womenâs soccer was released and Iâve been muttering obscenities under my breath about it all day. So as you can guess, we spend some time with whatâs in it and whatâs being done about it. Weâve also got a quick cruise through todayâs news. Letâs get into it. Staring out the window, Shannon Melero ![]() WHAT'S GOING ONContinued abuse in womenâs soccer: A new joint investigation conducted by the National Womenâs Soccer League (NWSL) and the NWSL Playerâs Association confirmed widespread âsexual abuse, unwanted sexual advancesâŠemotional abuse, cronyism, racist remarksâ and retaliation against players who reported this behavior. If youâre wondering why this sounds so familiar, itâs because the Yates report, released in October of this year, arrived at a similar conclusion. The new report examines the league as a whole and provides more detail on specific misconduct allegations, including those levied against former Gotham FC general manager Alyse LaHue, who was fired in 2021 to the surprise of team supporters. (LaHue was presented as the woman who would turn Gotham, the New Jersey area team, around.) According to the unnamed player who made the allegations, not only did LaHue engage in sexual harassment, but she also practiced religious discrimination. LaHueâs lawyers deny the allegations. The report also detailed the fallout from an incident that took place last year involving the Houston Dashâs Sarah Gorden. After a match in Chicago, Gorden had shared on Twitter that she and her boyfriend had been racially profiled by security staff. No disciplinary action was takenâbut even more alarmingly, this latest report reveals that head coach James Clarkson asked Gordenâs teammates to apologize to the security staff for publicly supporting her claim. Clarkson even went so far as to hand out the phone numbers of the accused so that players could easily contact them.  But even with these two bombshell reports, there might be more to uncover. Both U.S. Soccer and some NWSL teams âdelayed providing key evidence,â citing legal privilege due to âconfidentiality or non-disparagement agreements with coaches fired for misconduct.â Additionally, both reports make it a point to get at the larger issues at play: The NWSL didnât have an anti-fraternization policy until 2018, which could have curbed the number of coaches who felt emboldened to pursue players romanticallyânor was there an anti-harassment policy until 2021. (If youâre keeping track, thatâs 30 years after Anita Hill and four years after #MeToo!) That means there was no structure for players on reporting or handling unwanted advances from coaches or other team staff. Instead, most accused coaches were quietly fired or transferred to different teams within the league to continue their careers undisturbed, as was explained both in the Yates report and this one. While the entire report is infuriating, one section, in particular, made me want to yeet my computer into the Passaic. On top of having to deal with harassment, job insecurity, and retaliation, many players reported being treated like âcharity casesâ rather than professional athletes. Imagine for a moment spending your entire adolescent life training for a job, getting scholarships for your talent, eventually being signed to a professional team, being harassed and silenced in an effort to keep your job only to have the owner of that team act as if theyâre doing you a favor. One unnamed player explained, â[The owner] made it seem like his players were his kids which, if you had the owner of the Knicks saying that to one of his players, thatâs weird.â Two investigations into rampant, widespread abuse, and all anyone has to show for it are some lukewarm apologies and belated recommendations on strengthening a one-year-old anti-harassment policy and adding in sensitivity training? We need to do better. ![]() AND:Â
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There Have Been 948 Gun Violence Incidents on K-12 Campuses Since Sandy Hook
Dear Meteor readers, Today we reflect on the 10-year anniversary of Sandy Hook, which takes place December 14. What have we learned since then, and where do we go from here? We also have some news. Letâs dive right in. Praying for a different way, Samhita Mukhopadhyay ![]() WHAT'S GOING ONTen years ago: On December 14, 2012, an armed gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and killed 26 peopleâa majority of whom were children under the age of 10. It was the deadliest mass shooting in an elementary school in U.S. history. Afterward, Americans seemed to agree: Sandy Hook needed to be a turning point. Kids should not be gunned down in their own classrooms. Yet in just a four-year span after Sandy Hook, there was Taft Union High School in California. There was Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Georgia. Sparks Middle School in Nevada. Arapahoe High School in Colorado. Berrendo Middle School in New Mexico. North Thurston High School in Washington. South Macon Elementary in North Carolina. Harrisburg High School in South Dakota. Madison High School in Ohio. Antigo High School in Wisconsin. Mueller Park Junior High School in Utah. All incidents in which teenagers were either wounded or killed. And these incidents arenât flukes. Over the ten years since Sandy Hook, incidents of school-based gun violence have increased at an alarming rate. According to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security K-12 Shooting Database, 948 gun violence incidents have taken place on K-12 campuses since December 2012. âGun violence incidentsâ include any incident where a gun is âbrandished, fired, [or] a bullet hits school property for any reason regardless of the number of victims, time of day, or day of week.â As a result, 273 people have been killed, 722 have been wounded, and thousands have been traumatized by witnessing gun violence at school. ![]() For the parents of Sandy Hook, the trauma of their loss was compounded by a new 21st-century ordeal: a mass disinformation campaign that sought to invalidate their experience. Alt-right radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones relentlessly spread lies claiming the shooting was a hoax. He called the parents âactorsâ and told his audience (who believed him) that Sandy Hook was a staged event intended to remove guns from the hands of law-abiding citizens. Courts ultimately found Jones guilty of defamation and ordered him to pay $965 million in damages to eight of the families. This reckoning wouldnât have happened without the efforts of Sandy Hook families who, in the wake of this tragedy, refused to be silent about the twin plagues of gun violence and disinformation. As for the direction weâre headed with gun violence: This year saw another series of incomprehensible mass shootings, including the murder of 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Like Sandy Hook, Uvalde was heralded as a turning pointâand many gun reform advocates believe the turning is actually beginning to happen. In June, the Senate was able to reach a deal on gun reform that, while not banning assault rifles outright, did begin to limit who can access them. But as National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman said, âIt takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isnât just insanityâitâs inhumanity.â For the sake of the families of Sandy Hook, letâs not allow this anniversary to be an occasion where we simply mourn the murder of children as an inevitable part of American life. If you take one small action today to protect children from gun violence, consider a donation to Sandy Hook Promise, which works to end violence nationwide through education, gun reform, and (most crucially) a âKnow the Signsâ program geared toward caring for students who exhibit violent inclinations. Â Letâs fight for a better futureâtogether. ![]() AND:Â
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Brittney Griner Is Coming Home
Hey! Meteor readers! *bursts through your inbox like the Kool-Aid Man* SO MUCH IS HAPPENING! No time for banter. Letâs dive straight into it. Typing like the wind, Shannon Melero ![]() WHAT'S GOING ONLong overdue homecoming: After 294 days, Brittney Griner has been released from prison and will soon be reunited with her loving wife, Cherelle. A rundown of how we got here: In February, Griner was detained in Russia after officials found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Like most WNBA players of her caliber, Griner travels overseas to play for other leagues as a way to make more money during the U.S. off-season. In May, the U.S. government officially acknowledged that Griner had been wrongfully detainedâbut that move didnât do her much good. The Russian government kept her in custody and proceeded with a drug trial in July. Griner, who maintained that she had had no intent to break the law, pleaded guilty and was handed the maximum sentence of nine years in a Russian penal colony. Early this morning, President Biden announced that Griner was being safely returned home as a result of a prisoner swap. In exchange for her freedom, the U.S. returned convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout to Russia. Unfortunately, the news is not all good: Grinerâs fellow detainee, Paul Whelan, was not included in the swap and remains imprisoned in Russia on suspicion of espionage. Whelan, a former Marine, has been in Russia since 2018. Both he and the U.S. government deny any allegations of espionage. For those of us not directly connected to the Griner family, this ordeal has opened our eyes to so many things that I hope we donât soon forgetâfor one thing, that professional women athletes deserve a level of pay that would allow them to do what their male peers do during their sportsâ off-seasons: recover. ![]() Itâs also Latina Equal Pay Day: a day where I, a working Latina who loves to write about equal pay in sports, and all of my sistren are reminded of the astonishing wage gap that still exists for many of us. This day marks the length of time a Latina would need to work to make as much money as a white guy doing the same job in the previous year. Women on average need to work an additional three months, till March, but Black women until September, Native women until the end of November, and Latina women till today. (But hey the gap for Latinas is closing and weâll be on par with white men by *counts on fingers* the year 2206.) But as Rebekah Barber and Jasmine Mithani of The 19th point out, Latinas face many other barriers which have contributed to the pay disparity. Latinas are âoverrepresented in lower-paid industries such as service and domestic work.â But those of us with undergraduate degrees are âthe most underpaidâtaking home 31 percent less than White men,â they write. Suffice it to say my student loan lender will get their money when I get mine. (Which, I repeat, could be in 2206.) Are there solutions to close the pay gap? Plenty, like passing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. But any long-term solutions also require systemic change in how we view Latina womenâs labor, childcare, and sick leave. Did you know that 51 percent of working Latinas donât even have access to paid sick leave? And studies about gender-based pay gaps donât often include undocumented workers or those who exist outside of the gender binary, leaving those populationsâ needs largely unknown and unaddressed. I guess you could say thereâs a lot of work ahead if we want to feel better aboutâŠwork. ![]() AND:Â
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Three Days of Strikes In Iran
Eveninâ Meteor readers, Today weâre anxiously awaiting the results of the Georgia Senate run-off election which will decide if Herschel âwhat even is a pronounâ Walker or incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock will win the seat. We have reason to be optimisticâbut there have already been documented instances of voter suppression and people struggling to get their absentee ballots, changing deadlines and more. In todayâs newsletter, we are sifting through the confusion of the recent headlines about the morality police in Iran, applauding some brave Swifties, and checking in on what else is going on in our world. Watching the results come in, Shannon Melero & Samhita Mukhopadhyay ![]() WHAT'S GOING ONSeriously, what is going on in Iran: Over the weekend, The New York Times sent out a breaking news alert announcing that Iranâs âGasht-e Irshad,â commonly referred to as the âmorality police,â had been abolished. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News repeated the headline as well. But thatâs not exactly what happened. It didnât take long for Iranian journalists and those familiar with the situation to chime in with much-needed clarifications. âThis is at best a very unclear and inconclusive remark uttered in the middle of a presser,â wrote Arash Aziz on Twitter. Aziz, an author and NYU PhD candidate, explains what he saw in the press conference: Iranâs Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri made an off-hand comment that was widely reported as fact. As it turns out, Montazeri has no authority to make such a sweeping declaration. Iranian state media eventually confirmed that Gasht-e Irshad has not been abolished, although citizens have reported a diminished presence of the force on the streets. Itâs not about a single misleading headline. The reality is that oppressive governments thrive on sowing seeds of confusionâand they have a strong incentive to do so, since their efforts to quiet the protests have failed. And given how fast stories spread on social media (and how much we desire good news), a misinterpreted quote or slightly inaccurate headline can quickly spiral into viral misinformation for Iranian officials to use to obscure what is happening in Iran. In this particular case, Iranâs state media can easily point to an error made by Western media and spin it into a narrative that outsiders are the ones really stoking the fires of revolution and pretend everything in Tehran is peachy. In discussing the response to the Times article, Gissou Nia, an Iranian-American human rights lawyer, told CBC News, âI think it simply underscores that the global community wants a neat resolution to this story and is not realizing that the Iranian people want a full overhaul of the systemânot just the morality police.â But hereâs what we know to be true: All of this is distracting from the bigger story. The sweeping movement in Iran continues against great odds with strikes, protests, and rallies planned for the majority of this week. The Iranian government is doing its utmost to brutally suppress these actions as well as any reporting on them. And while there may not be a ton of ways to help the women in Iran directly, we can continue to amplify the voices of the activists, agitators, and people on the ground risking their lives to fight theocratic rule and demand equal rights for all citizens. AND:Â
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Puerto Rico's Dimming Future
Hola, Meteor readers, Anyone else feel like time is moving at lightning speed and a snailâs pace all at the same time? Anyone? Just me? We are somehow approaching the end of this year, which I could have sworn just started three weeks ago. Either I've discovered time travel or Thanos has re-acquired the infinity stones again. Who knows! In todayâs newsletter: a disastrous contract extension in Puerto Rico, positive news out of Jackson, Mississippi, and a little time spent with the Harry and Meghan trailer. Screaming âHOW IS IT DECEMBER?!â, Shannon Melero ![]() WHAT'S GOING ONSe fue la luz: After Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Fiona in September, we wrote about Luma, the private power distributor behind the crumbling energy grid leaving thousands of islanders without electricity. And now, despite massive outcries from the public, the board of Puerto Ricoâs Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has chosen to extend Lumaâs private contract with the island, giving the company control of the power system for an indefinite amount of time. According to AP, âLumaâs contract is expected to remain in place until the bankruptcy of Puerto Ricoâs power company, which holds some $9 billion in debt, is resolved.â What does this mean for all the American citizens living in Puerto Rico with no or unreliable access to electricity? Iâll put it as frankly as I possibly can: The PREPA board and Governor Pedro Pierluisi basically looked Puerto Ricans right in the eye and said, âSe pueden joder,â which loosely translates to they can go fuck themselves. During a news conference, Pierluisi said âcanceling the contract makes no sense right nowâ due to how much it would cost to do so. And yet maintaining the contract, which ensures a payment of over $100 million to Luma, is the sensible option? There needs to be a plan C. For an in-depth and comprehensive explanation of whatâs happening and how itâs affecting citizens, consider watching the latest report on the power outages from independent reporter Bianca Graulau: AND:Â
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Inside China's Historic Protests
NEWS
November 29, 2022
Hey there, Meteor readers,
Did ya miss us? We missed you! We hope that you and yours had a pleasant Thanksgiving/Native American Heritage Day/Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday and that your credit card statements do not runneth over. I, for one, spent [REDACTED] dollars on yarn/knitting patterns over the weekend and will be eating wool until the next fiscal quarter. (Worth it.)
In todayâs newsletter, weâve got a breakdown of whatâs happening in China, plus a quick tour around the World (Cup). Letâs get into it!
Squishing yarn balls,
Shannon Melero
![](https://wearethemeteor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/rainbow-bar-uai-258x19.png)
WHAT’S GOING ON
The Peopleâs Republic: This week, images of protests in China have flooded the internet as citizens take a stand against their governmentâs âzero COVIDâ policy. The policy aims to bring the number of COVID cases as close to zero as possible by implementing what some feel are extreme measures, especially in contrast to the rest of the world. China has closed its borders to tourists, forced citizens reentering the country to quarantine, and sent government drones with loudspeakers circling overhead, reminding folks to wear masks or stay indoors. While this policy kept deaths down during the start of the pandemic, it also made it more difficult for those who have never been exposed to the virus to build any sort of immunity to the Omicron variant now hitting the country. Non-COVID deaths have also spiked in the country, since the strict lockdowns prevent citizens from receiving prompt emergency medical care.
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So why protests now? They began last week after 10 people died by fire in an apartment building where strict lockdown measures were in place. (In response, government officials said those who died were simply âtoo weakâ to escape the flames.) But what started out as a protest about a fire in a heavily surveilled area of China quickly evolved into what the Washington Post calls âa larger rebuke of Chinaâs zero COVID policies, government restrictions and surveillance, and, in some cases, explicit criticism of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.â
These incredibly creative protests are unlike any weâve seen in China in decades. Due to censorship laws, Chinese citizens cannot simply walk into the street and speak out against their government. To get around this, some are using blank sheets of paper which represent âeverything we want to say but cannot say,â a protestor told Reuters. One group of university students opted to use a specific physics formulaâthe Friedmann equationâas their protest sign. As activist Nathan Law explained on Twitter, âItâs the pronunciation: itâs similar to âfreeçmanâ (free man)âa spectacular and creative way to express, with intelligence.â Other Twitter users familiar with the equation, which calculates the expansion of the universe, view it as a demand to reopen the country. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that Chinese officials are actively seeking out citizens who they believe attended protests over the weekend, even though âit is unclear how police might have discovered their identities.â
AND:
- In just a few days, SCOTUS is set to hear a case that has been described by former Attorney General Eric Holder as âan existential threat to our democracy.â The Atlantic breaks down everything we need to know about Moore v. Harper.
- An investigation by The Times and Sunday Times has found âslave-likeâ conditions for workers at fashion retailer Boohoo.
- The expanded child tax credit ended last year; newly released figures show that child poverty rates have gone back up, leaving millions of families facing food insecurity.
- Early voting for the Senate run-off race between Herschel Walker and Rev. Raphael Warnock in Georgia began on Monday and over 239,000 votes were castâa new record for single-day votes collected in the state. This is the only time Iâll ever be happy to see ridiculously long lines. Keep voting, Georgia! Weâre all rooting for you.
- And over in Alaska, Mary Peltola, of Yupâik descent, became her stateâs first Native member of the house bringing the total of women U.S. Representatives to a record 124.
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AROUND THE WORLD (CUP) IN 60 SECONDS
If thereâs one thing the 2022 World Cup is proving, itâs the power of sports. Who knew a couple of guys kicking a ball around would be one of the year’s most gripping global political events? Since the complex and layered stories coming out of Qatar would take days to dissect on our own, weâre saving everyone a little time by giving you all the top beats of the week in one quick hit. Clock starts now!
- Several players have been falling ill because of the air conditioning in the newly (and controversially) built stadiums around Qatar.
- A fan who ran onto the pitch carrying a rainbow flag has been released from police custody and is now banned from attending any more games. (For non-soccer watchers: Even without the pride flag, which has been a contested issue in Qatar, it is illegal and incredibly dangerous for fans to run on the pitch at any soccer venue.)
- Iranian women attending World Cup matches in person are sharing their fear that government âspottersâ are watching their every move while in Qatar.
- Three Iranian protestors who were detained after a match for wearing âWomen Life Freedomâ t-shirts are speaking out about the experience.
- At a press conference ahead of the USA vs. Iran match today, an Iranian journalist gave United States Menâs Team captain Tyler Adams all the smoke by first telling him very firmly how to pronounce Iran and then asking him how he felt about representing a racist country after telling him very firmly how to pronounce Iran. (The ask has been widely criticized, but honestly, it was a fair question!) On the flip side, the Iranian head coach Carlos Queiroz also had to face tough political questions during his press conference, which he handled with as much grace as he could given that he knows his government is watching him. Team USA went on to win the match 1-0, with the only goal of the game being scored by Christian Pulisic. Despite the loss, Iranâs performance on offense was something to be proud of, and had they matched that energy on defense, Team USA would be on a flight back home right now. But that’s the pain and glory of the beautiful game.
The Rhetoric That Led to the Club Q Violence
NEWS
November 22, 2022
Greetings, Meteor readers,
We are in the midst of that very weird week at the end of November where thereâs too much to do and not enough time to get it done. Folks are traveling, seasoning their birds, decorating their homes, or mentally preparing for the obligatory interaction with that one uncle youâre almost certain was there on January 6th even though you canât quite prove it. Or perhaps youâre doing none of this and simply reflecting on the real history of this holiday. (If thatâs you, hereâs some extended listening to get you through the week.)
Wherever you fall on the Thanksgiving celebration spectrum, we just want to say weâre grateful for each minute youâve spent with us in your inbox. The greatest gift is community, and weâre honored to have you in ours.
In todayâs newsletter, we mourn the loss of five lives in the Colorado Springs shooting and catch up on a few other things going on in the world.
Writing from the land owned by the Lenni Lenape,
Shannon Melero
WHAT’S GOING ON
Grieving Club Q: The country is still reeling from the shooting in Colorado Springs, where a gunman opened fire inside an LGBTQ+ nightclub, killing five and injuring 18. The victims have been identified as Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, and Ashley Paugh. This tragedy shines an ugly spotlight on the many ways our culture says ânever againâ after each horrific incident while continuing to act in ways that ensure that there will be another.
Like many queer gathering spots, Club Q was described as a haven for the communityâand an especially necessary one after a year of anti-trans legislation, harmful queer-phobic rhetoric from politicians, and a targeted attack on drag shows by the right wing. (In 2022 alone, according to the Counting Crowds Consortium, there were more than 40 right-wing actions targeting drag shows and Drag Queen Story Hoursâlike the brunch Club Q was planning for the day after the shooting occurred.) Now the same politicians who so adamantly charged their constituents to rally against drag queens, transgender people, and LGBTQ+ folks in general are now sending thoughts and prayers to those affected by the shooting.
And then thereâs the second issue at hand: inadequate gun laws. Coloradoâs âred flagâ laws require civilians to report incidents of violence involving gun owners so that a red flag can be triggered and their firearms can potentially be seized. But this case shows those laws are of little use. Last June, Anderson Aldrich, the suspected Club Q shooter, was arrested for issuing a bomb threatâbut because he was not charged, and no one who knew Aldrich filed a report, he was allowed to keep (and allegedly use) his firearm. Colorado State Rep Tom Sullivan told AP, âWe need heroes beforehandâparents, co-workers, friends who are seeing someone go down this path.â But we need politicians to be heroes here and pass stronger gun laws. The firearms used at Club Q (one of which was an AR-style weapon) were legally purchased by a man who had already proven himself capable of violence; this is not a problem we should be turning to good Samaritan citizens to solve.
 AND:
- Election denier and Arizona gubernatorial election loser Kari Lake has suddenly become very concerned about voter suppression. The extremely convenient tonal shift comes amid (debunked) GOP claims that voting machines used at the polls were not up to code. The situation has become so dire that some election officials have actually gone into hiding after receiving death threats.
- Even if youâre not watching, itâs nearly impossible to get away from all the goings-on at the World Cup in Qatar. One of the few positives coming out of the tournaments (other than Messi being humbled by Saudi Arabia in a historic upset) is the act of solidarity from the Iranian national team, who refused to sing their countryâs national anthem during their opening match. One fan told Reuters, âAll of us are sad because our people are being killed in Iran, but all of us are proud of our team because they did not sing the national anthemâbecause it’s not our national (anthem), it’s only for the regime.â
- GATHER ROUND, ELDER DISNEY MILLENNIALS! I HAVE NEWS! Brandy, one of the best ever to play Cinderella on screen, will be reprising her iconic role in Disneyâs next installment of its Descendants film franchise. Make sure your pitch pipes are ready; rehearsals for the âImpossibleâ sing-a-long begin at dawn.
IN CASE YOU GET LONELY
Normally weâd see you again on Thursday but The Meteor will be closed until next Tuesday. So just in case you miss us, here are a few pieces from our archive to get you through the long days.
For anyone who has to figure out where theyâre going to college: I Asked 61 Colleges If They Would Pay for Students to Travel for an Abortion. Only Five Hinted That They Might. by Talia Kantor Lieber
If you need a reminder on the importance of shopping small: The Unsung Heroes of the Labor Movement by Esther Wang
For anyone using their downtime to binge The Crown:  Princess Dianaâs Death Is Personal for Me by Susanne RamĂrez De Arellano
To keep up with your friends who read a lot: Why âMen are Trashâ Is Not Enough by Samhita Mukhopadhyay
Looking to relax your mind? Try: The Radical Act of Rest from UNDISTRACTED with Brittany Packnett Cunningham and guest Tricia Hersey or  The Key to *Actually* Unplugging by Megan Reynolds
To support more LGBTQ+ stories: The Transgender Tripping Point by Jennifer Finney Boylan and How to Celebrate Pride in the Middle of Anti-Trans Backlash by Phillip Picardi and Raquel Willis
Pelosi's 20 long years
Dear Meteor readers, Last Saturday, we gathered together for Meet the Moment. It was such a privilege to share space with leaders in the worlds of reproductive care, climate change, the Iranian feminist movementâand many of you! Plus music, art, and even some comedy. I had tingles all over my body when Tarana Burke took to the stage to discuss survivorhood with her child Kaia Naadira, actor Anthony Rapp, writer Chanel Miller and moderator Dr. Salamishah Tillet. âWe donât heal alone,â Burke ![]() If you werenât able to join us in Brooklyn, no worries! In todayâs newsletter, weâre giving all the deets on one of my favorite talks of the day: a conversation with climate activists Thanu Yakupitiyage and Jamie Margolin. But first, this weekâs news from my colleague Bailey Wayne Hundl. Letâs get into it. Eagerly meeting all the moments, Shannon Melero ![]() WHAT'S GOING ONEnd of an era: Nancy Pelosi has just announced that she will be stepping down from her role as Speaker of the House. Not only was she the first woman ever in the Houseâs highest-ranking and most powerful role, but she held that job for two whole decadesâan era which, especially recently, has not been easy for visible political leaders. (Consider the recent assassination attempt on her husband: The attacker was yelling âWhere is Nancy?ââjust as the January 6 insurrectionists did when they chanted âNaaaancy, oh Naaaancy.â) As she passed the torch to the next generation todayâincluding her likely successor, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)âshe said, âI look forward to the unfolding story of our nation, a story of light and love, of patriotism and progress, of many becoming one. And always, an unfinished mission to make the dreams of today the reality of tomorrow.â âDonât expect much of anythingâ: As you may recall, exactly nine days ago, young people went to the polls at near-record levelsâmany motivated by the recent death of Roe v. Wade. So you might be surprised to hear that when President Biden was asked Monday what Americans should expect Congress to do on abortion after the midterms, he responded: âI donât think they can expect much of anything.â Inspiring, right? Bidenâs point may have been that Republicans will soon take control of the House (which, unfortunately, was correct), but there are still things Congress can doâand should. As abortion rights activist Renee Bracey Sherman has pointed out, Democrats could still abolish the filibuster or reverse the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funds from being used for abortions. But it has to happen in the next two months before the anti-abortion party takes charge of the House. In other words: Stop saying there's nothing we can do, Joe, and let's do the things we can! Ticketmaster tanks: A moment of silence for the Swifties, please. On Tuesday, presale tickets for Taylor Swiftâs Eras tour went live on More deaths in Iran: The violence against Iranian citizens protesting in the wake of Mahsa Aminiâs death continues to escalate. On Wednesday evening at a protest in Izeh, seven people were killed by gunmen, including two children. The youngest was nine-year-old Kian Pirfalak, who was on his way home with his family at the time. State authorities have claimed this was a terrorist attack, but sources close to Pirfalakâs family claim the boy was targeted by Iranian security forces. This news comes on the heels of an increase in death sentences for detained protestors. AND:Â
![]() MEET THE MOMENT Weâre Already Living In the Climate DisasterBut this insight from climate activists is keeping me goingBY SHANNON MELERO ![]() THANU YAKUPITIYAGE AND JAMIE MARGOLIN TALKING CLIMATE ON THE MEET THE MOMENT STAGE LAST WEEKEND. (IMAGE BY CRAIG BARRITT VIA GETTY IMAGES) Anyone who has interacted with me knows that I simply do not go to Brooklyn. (Sorry, BK readers; itâs not personal.)Â I am originally from the Bronx, so culturally (as well as MTA-illy) Brooklyn is on a different planet. But as I spent this last Saturday sitting in the Brooklyn Museum, listening while leaders and champions of gender justice bathed me in their knowledge, there was one moment in particular that made me say, âThis is what Iâll be thinking about the entire ride home.â And sure enough, I spent the entire commute back thinking about Jamie Margolin, who spoke on the youth-led climate movement and where we are in our current crisis. âIâm not even gonna lie to yâall,â she said, âItâs already too late to stop climate disaster because itâs already here. People are already dying and itâs very insulting to people who have already lost everything to be like, âSomeday, climate change is gonna happen.ââ During the conversation, Margolinâs co-panelist Thanu Yakupitiyage asked her why weâre seeing such a significant youth presence in the climate movement. Why are activists like Greta Thunberg, Xiye Bastida, Margolin, and others the most visible climate advocates? Margolin responded with a view Iâd never heard: It isn't just that younger generations have the most to lose as this disaster progresses; itâs that society (and media) are so obsessed with youth that the elders on the frontlines who started this movement simply get ignored. âThe elders are standing right there with us,â but get pushed out of the frame, she says. And when theyâre not ignored, theyâre used as scapegoats for why the climate crisis is so bad in the first place. As an example, Margolin mentioned her grandmother, who doesnât label herself a climate activist but taught Margolin everything she knows about caring for the land. This struck a deep chord with me personally, especially when Margolin called her grandmother a âcampesina,â a phrase Iâve heard in my own household. (Depending on the dialect of Spanish you use, the literal translation can mean a few different things, but it generally refers to a woman who lives off of the land, or a farmer.) I am a descendant of a long line of sugarcane and tobacco farmers. My grandmother didnât just have a green thumb; she had an entirely green upper body. She could bring back to life any plant in any condition. My family had a deep understanding of caring for the land long before I came to read about it on Instagram. And before I ever heard the word upcycle, my grandmother (maybe yours too?) was reusing old cookie and cracker tins as storage containers for anything and everything under the sun. Why buy brand new Tupperware when you can put leftover food in a cleaned out tub of Country Crock? The climate movement is in my blood and the blood of so many people of colorâand we may not have even known it. JAMIE AND THANU BACK WHEN THEY WERE (EVEN) YOUNGER CLIMATE ACTIVISTS. (IMAGE COURTESY OF PANELISTS) I felt this buried connection sparked anew as Margolin spoke about our ancestors paving the way for the modern climate movement. It provided me with newfound awe and respect for them. How did we veer so far off the path of our elders, specifically those with indigenous roots and ties to the land, that we now find ourselves trying to put out a planet-wide fire with paper straws? Margolinâs answer: colonialism (which destroys native lands and land-caring traditions by eliminating entire cultures) and capitalismâtwo concepts that are at the forefront of my mind as we approach one of the largest food-waste holidays in America. It would be so easy to dip further into climate despair as we hurtle toward the end of the year, with its holiday waste, extreme weather, and climate-fueled immigration. But Jamie Margolin and Thanu Yakupitiyage donât feel hopeless, and they shared that warrior energy with every person in the room. âEveryone thinks activism only means being out on the street protesting, but there are other ways to engage your community,â Margolin explained. She and Yakupitiyage delved into how we can use our own skills as individualsâwhether weâre writers, artists, or office workersâto âtarget the big fish.â They also put an emphasis on the fact that thereâs still time to turn our attention away from individual blame and direct it at corporations for their outsized role in filling the ocean with microplastics. Thereâs still time to quit fast fashion, to learn a little of what your grandparents might have known, to push your professional and personal communities to do more. Thereâs still time to vote for political leaders who believe in immigration policies that take into account climate refugeesâand who donât think shipping them away on a bus to the Vice Presidentâs house is an appropriate response. While there is breath in our bodies, thereâs still time to make sure the Generation Alpha isnât spending their entire youth fighting the same fights as Gen Z. Confused on how to meet this particular climate moment? Let the youth point the way.
![]() Shannon Melero is a Bronx-born writer on a mission to establish borough supremacy. She covers pop culture, religion, and sports as one of feminism's final frontiers. ![]() PRESENTED BY FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? Sign up for your own copy, sent Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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