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. Let’s dive right in.

Praying for a different way,

Samhita Mukhopadhyay

WHAT'S GOING ON

Ten years ago: On December 14, 2012, an armed gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and killed 26 people—a 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 aren’t 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. “Gun violence incidents” include any incident where a gun is “brandished, fired, [or] a bullet hits school property for any reason regardless of the number of victims, time of day, or day of week.” 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 “actors” 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 wouldn’t 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 we’re 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 point—and 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, “It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity—it’s inhumanity.”

For the sake of the families of Sandy Hook, let’s 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 “Know the Signs” program geared toward caring for students who exhibit violent inclinations.

 Let’s fight for a better future—together.

AND: 

• This afternoon, in 2022, President Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, which grants federal protections to same-sex and interracial married couples. I know, it feels like an announcement we should have made long ago. But let’s not lose that loving feeling: this is still a joyous occasion.

• It’s a sad day for the BTS ARMY as the band’s oldest member, Jin, begins his mandatory service to the South Korean army. In accordance with his native country’s laws, Jin will complete basic training and 18 months of service before being able to return to the international pop star life.

• Ticketmaster has once again fucked with the wrong fan group. Mexican regulators are fining the company after over 1,600 people were turned away from a Bad Bunny concert in Mexico City despite having purchased authentic tickets on Ticketmaster. Initially, a rep for Ticketmaster claimed that all of those people must have purchased fake tickets. But regulators determined that Ticketmaster actually oversold the event. (Conejos and Swifties unite in a lawsuit???)

• Puerto Rico has become an “abortion haven” for visitors and tourists. But as is usually the case on the island, residents have not been able to reap the same benefits, largely due to cost and the fact that most insurance plans offered to residents do not cover abortion. “I have no doubt some people have stopped buying groceries for one or two weeks in order to afford [an abortion],” one doctor told The Cut.

• The body of sports journalist Grant Wahl has been returned to the United States. Wahl was in Doha, Qatar covering the World Cup when he collapsed on Friday and died shortly after. The cause of death is unknown, but he had written in his blog a few days earlier that he was being treated for symptoms similar to bronchitis. Grant Wahl was a champion for soccer in America, going beyond match recaps and player profiles to paint a full picture of the beautiful game. He was fearless in his coverage and unrelenting in his work to hold soccer’s governing bodies accountable for their actions. Personally, Wahl’s journalism inspired me to approach my own love of sports through a more critical, feminist lens. We lost one of the greats.

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Hey! Meteor readers!

*bursts through your inbox like the Kool-Aid Man*

SO MUCH IS HAPPENING! No time for banter. Let’s dive straight into it.

Typing like the wind,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Long 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 detained—but that move didn’t 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: Griner’s 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 don’t soon forget—for one thing, that professional women athletes deserve a level of pay that would allow them to do what their male peers do during their sports’ off-seasons: recover.

It’s 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 we’ll 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 “overrepresented in lower-paid industries such as service and domestic work.” But those of us with undergraduate degrees are “the most underpaid—taking home 31 percent less than White men,” 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 women’s labor, childcare, and sick leave. Did you know that 51 percent of working Latinas don’t even have access to paid sick leave?  And studies about gender-based pay gaps don’t often include undocumented workers or those who exist outside of the gender binary, leaving those populations’ needs largely unknown and unaddressed.

I guess you could say there’s a lot of work ahead if we want to feel better about…work.

AND: 

• If you ever need a reminder that it’s worth it to bet on yourself, here’s one. This week New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge signed a nine-year, $360 million contract to stay with the team. Last year Judge turned down a lower offer from the Yankees opting for free agency. He received another offer from the Giants and still said no believing he was worth more and lo and behold he now has 360 million reasons to stay dressed in those iconic (and booty-enhancing) pinstripes. ENERGY!!! Now go forth and be the Aaron Judge of your own career.

• A new lawsuit has been filed against Bill Cosby, accusing him—again—of sexual assault, battery, and false imprisonment.

• According to medical professionals who spoke to The Guardian, Iranian security forces have been aiming at women’s faces and genitals when shooting pellets into crowds during protests. One physician told the outlet, “I treated a woman in her early 20s who was shot in her genitals by two pellets. Ten other pellets were lodged in her inner thigh. These 10 pellets were easily removed, but those two pellets were…wedged in between her urethra and vaginal opening…She said she was protesting when a group of about 10 security agents circled around and shot her in her genitals and thighs.”

• On Tuesday evening, Raphael Warnock won the runoff election in Georgia, giving the Democrats a majority in the Senate. So a question for Democrats…what are y’all going to do with all this power?

• In a 258-169 vote, the House has approved legislation that would protect same-sex marriages across the country. If you want to know how your elected representative voted in this matter—so you can send them either spite or support—you can find that info here.

• Looking for something new to listen to while you clean this weekend? Check out ESPN’s latest 30 for 30 installment Pink Card, which tells the story of Iranian women fighting for the right to watch soccer matches in an actual stadium.

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Evenin’ Meteor readers,

Today we’re anxiously awaiting the results of the Georgia Senate run-off election which will decide if Herschel “what even is a pronoun” Walker or incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock will win the seat. We have reason to be optimistic—but there have already been documented instances of voter suppression and people struggling to get their absentee ballots, changing deadlines and more.

In today’s 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 ON

Seriously, what is going on in Iran: Over the weekend, The New York Times sent out a breaking news alert announcing that Iran’s “Gasht-e Irshad,” commonly referred to as the “morality police,” had been abolished. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News repeated the headline as well.

But that’s not exactly what happened. It didn’t take long for Iranian journalists and those familiar with the situation to chime in with much-needed clarifications.

“This is at best a very unclear and inconclusive remark uttered in the middle of a presser,” wrote Arash Aziz on Twitter. Aziz, an author and NYU PhD candidate, explains what he saw in the press conference: Iran’s 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.

It’s not about a single misleading headline. The reality is that oppressive governments thrive on sowing seeds of confusion—and 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, Iran’s 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, “I 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 system—not just the morality police.”

But here’s 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: 

• The prophetess Taylor Swift once said, “There is nothing I do better than revenge.” And on Monday, her followers cleaved to this sacred portion of Swifture by filing a lawsuit against Ticketmaster for violating California’s antitrust and unfair competition laws. If you missed that particular debacle, there was an absolute excrement escapade during the pre-sale for tickets of Swift’s upcoming Eras tour. As a certified red-scarf-carrying Swiftie, I will be watching this case like a daughter-in-law waiting to kill you for the money.

• Anderson Lee Aldrich, the suspect arrested in connection with the Club Q shooting, has been formally charged with murder, hate crimes, and assault.

• Afghanistan’s national women’s soccer team, which fled to New Zealand when the Taliban returned to power last year, is no longer recognized as an official team by FIFA —meaning they may not be able to compete, let alone qualify, in the Women’s World Cup. It’s another devastating blow to a team without a home.

• Sixteen municipalities in Puerto Rico are suing a group of oil companies including Shell and Exxon for “downplaying the risks of their fossil-fuel products on climate change,” Latino Rebels reports. The plaintiffs are asking that the companies be held financially responsible for the 2017 hurricane season, which was worsened by climate change and particularly devastating for the island.

• The rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric—and in particular, the backlash against drag queens—has changed how venues prepare for family-friendly drag events. Even children’s bookstores, like this one in Virginia, had to decide between hiring a security presence or canceling their Drag Queen Story Hour. (They opted to hold the event and remain vigilant.)

• Amber Heard plans to appeal the verdict in the trial between her and ex Johnny Depp, which came to a close in June and found Heard guilty of defamation.

• News network Al-Jazeera has submitted new evidence in the investigation of the May killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Palestine. In a formal filing with The Hague, the network turned over video footage showing that, in their words, “Shireen and her colleagues were directly fired at by the [IDF]” and “confirms, without any doubt, that there was no firing in the area where Shireen was, other than the [IDF] shooting directly at her.” This is in direct opposition to the IDF’s initial statement that Abu Akleh was accidentally killed in a crossfire between Palestinian militants and IDF soldiers.

• Congratulations to Canada for finally starting its very own professional women’s soccer league!!

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Hola, Meteor readers,

Anyone else feel like time is moving at lightning speed and a snail’s 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 today’s 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 “HOW IS IT DECEMBER?!”,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Se 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 Rico’s Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has chosen to extend Luma’s private contract with the island, giving the company control of the power system for an indefinite amount of time. According to AP, “Luma’s contract is expected to remain in place until the bankruptcy of Puerto Rico’s power company, which holds some $9 billion in debt, is resolved.”

What does this mean for all the American citizens living in Puerto Rico with no or unreliable access to electricity? I’ll 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, “Se pueden joder,” which loosely translates to they can go fuck themselves. During a news conference, Pierluisi said “canceling the contract makes no sense right now” 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 what’s happening and how it’s affecting citizens, consider watching the latest report on the power outages from independent reporter Bianca Graulau:

AND: 

• Almost a full three months after the collapse of the water system in Jackson, Mississippi, a judge has approved federal intervention to fix the problem and begin the process of restoring clean water to the city’s over 100,000 residents.

• Yesterday, music industry legend Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac died at home surrounded by her family. She was 79 years old. McVie was a beautiful, underappreciated vocalist and wrote, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs of all time:

   

• Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShaun Watson—who, if you’ve forgotten, was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women last year—is set to return to his day job this Sunday now that his measly 11-game suspension is complete. Ten of Watson’s accusers will be at the game, a move their attorney says is “a reminder that they are still here and they still matter.”

• A new ray of hope in the climate crisis: The Washington Post pinpointed 11 challenging but effective paths governments and corporations can take to prevent the globe from warming more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above current temps—which is the number we need to avoid if we want to continue, you know, living on this planet.

• A reparations task force in California is set to present state-level recommendations next year, and it could be the proof needed for the viability of a federal program. “We are looking at reparations on a scale that is the largest since Reconstruction,” Professor Jovan Scott Lewis, a member of the task force, told The New York Times.

• Matthew McConaughey is now Professor McConaughey at the University of Texas, teaching a course on commercials. *resists the feminine urge to close this out with alrightalrightalright*

• Ever wonder who the GOP is talking about when they rail against abortion patients seeking late-term abortions? As Meteor collective member Jessica Valenti explains, they’re literally attacking children.

• Be honest: How many times have you watched the trailer for Harry and Meghan’s new Netflix docuseries? Let’s do it one more time.

• Christian Pulisic wants everyone to know he did NOT get hit in the nads during the Iran match, so please stop asking his teammates how his penis is doing.

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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 movement—and 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. “We don’t heal alone,” Burke
said—with such authority and love you could feel it in the room.

If you weren’t able to join us in Brooklyn, no worries! In today’s newsletter, we’re 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 week’s news from my colleague Bailey Wayne Hundl. Let’s get into it.

Eagerly meeting all the moments,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

End 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 House’s highest-ranking and most powerful role, but she held that job for two whole decades—an era which, especially recently, has not been easy for visible political leaders. (Consider the recent assassination attempt on her husband: The attacker was yelling “Where is Nancy?”—just as the January 6 insurrectionists did when they chanted “Naaaancy, oh Naaaancy.”) As she passed the torch to the next generation today—including her likely successor, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)—she said, “I 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.”

“Don’t expect much of anything”: As you may recall, exactly nine days ago, young people went to the polls at near-record levels—many 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: “I don’t think they can expect much of anything.” Inspiring, right? Biden’s point may have been that Republicans will soon take control of the House (which, unfortunately, was correct), but there are still things Congress can do—and 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 Swift’s Eras tour went live on
Ticketmaster—and almost immediately, the site crashed. When it went back up, people were met with countless error messages, paused queue times, and an inability to purchase wheelchair-accessible tickets. (As our friend Emily Ladau tweeted, “Hi Ticketmaster. You’re the problem. It’s you.”) Because of this, thousands of fans were kicked out of their place in line and unable to secure tickets until the next day on resale…for about $20,000. This may seem like a pretty inside-fandom problem, BUT I’d just like to remind everyone that Ticketmaster has a monopoly on their industry due to their 2010 merger with LiveNation. But who knows? The power of legions of angered Swifties combined with pressure from the Senate’s antitrust committee might be enough to make them break up—and never, ever, ever get back together (like, ever).

More deaths in Iran: The violence against Iranian citizens protesting in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s 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 Pirfalak’s 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: 

• Mitch McConnell (who I deeply regret to inform you will once again be the Senate minority leader) has decided to vote against the Respect for Marriage Act. Somewhat unsurprising, given his general disdain for LGBTQ+ people, but you’d think the guy in an interracial marriage might vote yes on a bill that, in addition to safeguarding same-sex marriage, also protects interracial unions! Gotta love the logic.

• The Grammy nominations are in. As a queer person, a Houstonian, and a human with taste, I would like to go on record saying that if Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE doesn’t win Album of the Year, I will become absolutely insufferable. Consider this fair warning.

• In protest of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams got her crowd chanting “Gay! Gay! Gay!” at a St. Augustine concert Wednesday night. And of course, since it’s Hayley Williams, she started singing it in falsetto. It’s my ringtone now and why isn’t it yours?

• Meanwhile, if you haven’t yet heard of The 2022 U.S. Trans Survey, I strongly recommend you go check it out—and if you’re trans, fill it out. Organized by the National Center for Transgender Equality, the study intends to be the largest population survey of transgender Americans in history. The data gathered here can be used for all sorts of advocacy work, so please don’t sleep on it! (I’m doing mine right after my estradiol shot so I don’t forget.)

MEET THE MOMENT

We’re Already Living In the Climate Disaster

But this insight from climate activists is keeping me going

BY 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; it’s not personal.)  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, “This is what I’ll be thinking about the entire ride home.”

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. “I’m not even gonna lie to y’all,” she said, “It’s already too late to stop climate disaster because it’s already here. People are already dying and it’s very insulting to people who have already lost everything to be like, ‘Someday, climate change is gonna happen.’”

During the conversation, Margolin’s co-panelist Thanu Yakupitiyage asked her why we’re 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 I’d never heard: It isn't just that younger generations have the most to lose as this disaster progresses; it’s that society (and media) are so obsessed with youth that the elders on the frontlines who started this movement simply get ignored. “The elders are standing right there with us,” but get pushed out of the frame, she says. And when they’re not ignored, they’re used as scapegoats for why the climate crisis is so bad in the first place.

As an example, Margolin mentioned her grandmother, who doesn’t 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 “campesina,” a phrase I’ve 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 didn’t 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 color—and 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?

Margolin’s answer: colonialism (which destroys native lands and land-caring traditions by eliminating entire cultures) and capitalism—two 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 don’t feel hopeless, and they shared that warrior energy with every person in the room. “Everyone thinks activism only means being out on the street protesting, but there are other ways to engage your community,” Margolin explained. She and Yakupitiyage delved into how we can use our own skills as individuals—whether we’re writers, artists, or office workers—to “target the big fish.” They also put an emphasis on the fact that there’s 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. There’s 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. There’s still time to vote for political leaders who believe in immigration policies that take into account climate refugees—and who don’t think shipping them away on a bus to the Vice President’s house is an appropriate response. While there is breath in our bodies, there’s still time to make sure the Generation Alpha isn’t 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.

PRESENTED BY 

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Ba'ax ka wa'alik, Meteor readers,

Why am I greeting you in Yucatec Maya, you ask? Well if you watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, you know the answer. I’m not going to give anything away, but I will tip my hat to all involved in bringing Namor and the people of Talokan to life with such artistry and reverence for Mesoamerican culture. Some superhero movies are just superhero movies, but this one truly felt like a celebration of cultures.

Today, The Meteor crew is still recovering from our live summit Meet the Moment—which, thanks to our speakers, performers, and all of you who were there, was a wonderful day of conversation and healing. (More on that in Thursday’s newsletter, so be sure to stick around.) And by recovering, I mean my boss Samhita is gone and my coworkers and I are plotting rebellion:

So while Bailey and I whittle our pages down to a tight 45, we hope you enjoy a tour through this week’s news, including strange happenings at Amazon and an update on the important investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.

Ka ka’at,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Hunt for the truth: The United States has launched an official investigation into the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot in the head while wearing bulletproof press gear in the West Bank in May. Despite the Israeli Defense Forces initially denying involvement, the IDF admitted later that there was a “high possibility” that it had shot at Abu Akleh—yet the government failed to file any charges and instead offered lip service on “internal investigations.” But on Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would be launching an investigation into the killing. Israel vehemently refuses to cooperate, but this move from the DOJ is a long overdue reminder that journalists, including Palestinian ones, cannot be killed with abandon.

Lives on the line: The Iranian government has sentenced a man to death after he was arrested for participating in anti-government protests in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, the young woman killed while in police custody in September. The protestor was found guilty of “enmity against God” after allegedly setting a government building on fire, the BBC reports. Meanwhile, hundreds of other protestors currently under arrest await their fate, and Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) has found that at least 20 of them are facing charges punishable by death. Exactly how many protestors are at risk in Iran right now? Because of the Iranian government’s withheld or misleading information, it’s been hard for independent sources like IHRNGO to confirm exact numbers—but what we do know is that the average age of protestors being arrested is 15. And the Iranian government has already carried out two juvenile executions this year.

AND: 

• Yesterday, Jeff Bezos said he plans to give away a considerable amount of his over $100 billion fortune. Normally I’d make a joke and ask to hold a couple thousand for him, but the suspiciously timed announcement comes on the heels of a more serious one: Just one month before the largest shopping season of the year, Amazon plans to lay off about 10,000 employees. Charity starts at home, Jeffrey.

• Apparently, all of the cool kids are ditching Twitter and moving over to Mastodon in response to Elon Musk ruining everything. (So we’re not going back to Tumblr, then?)

• A CBS analysis of a Department of Education report found that more than 700 elementary school children were arrested in school during the 2017-2018 school year. Many of the arrests were carried out violently—with one child being pinned to the floor for over half an hour—and disproportionately affected children of color and children with autism. “[Black children] made up nearly half of all arrests” during the 2017-2018 school year, CBS reports, despite comprising only 15% of the student population.

• U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeper and queer icon Ashlyn Harris has announced her retirement from professional soccer. I’m not crying; you’re crying.

• Speaking of soccer, the men’s World Cup continues to be a hotbed of political turmoil. The TL;DR is that the tournament will be hosted in Qatar this year, a move many in the soccer world were strongly opposed to, due to the country’s human rights abuses and demonstrated disdain for LGBTQ+ people. But money talks, so the tournament will go on as scheduled. In a small show of solidarity with its fan base, the U.S. Men’s National Team changed the team crest in its training center to include the colors of the Pride flag. They also plan to display the Pride flag during pre-match games—which may sound like a small thing but could have big consequences in Qatar.

• We could all use a laugh, right? So let’s collectively point and giggle at Fox anchor Sean Hannity, who was so befuddled by election denier Kari Lake’s loss in the Arizona gubernatorial election that he could hardly bring himself to announce the results on his own show. And a hearty, wholly sincere congratulations to governor-elect Katie Hobbs!

• Hearty congratulations to Beyoncé, who racked up four Grammy nominations this year and is now tied with her own husband for most nominations of all time.

• Michelle Obama has a new memoir out, The Light We Carry, and I’m pleased to report that it has a whole chapter on knitting! Really can't ask for more. (It’s got plenty on Barack, speaking with authenticity, and that famous “we go high” line too.) The Meteor’s own Rebecca Carroll reviewed it for the LA Times. Get out and grab your copy.

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‘Twas the night before elections, and all through the House, every creature was stirring, even that guy that looks like a mouse.

I could keep going, but I dropped out of my poetry elective in college for a reason. So let’s talk turkey, folks. Tomorrow is the big day. (Here at The Meteor, our offices will be closed.)

So tonight, we’ve got some last-minute treats: an interview with Supermajority’s Amanda Brown Lierman on why women could literally change the outcome of tomorrow’s election—and voter guides to help you do it.

Running out of rhymes,

Shannon Melero

WHAT TO KNOW

Who’s who: Still unsure who to choose in your state’s local election? This handy tool from Vote411 allows you to select your state and search for candidates, ballot measures, eligibility requirements, polling place locators, campaign finance information, and more. If this is your first time voting, PLEASE check eligibility requirements before going to your polling place. Some states are extremely specific about acceptable forms of ID (yes, it’s a strategy) and you don’t want to get turned away. (If you do, though, STAY in line and call the Election Protection Hotline.)

Voting the issues: So you know who you’re voting for—but are you certain about what you’re voting for? Voting for the first Democrat you see on the ballot by default may have worked in the past, but with so many of our rights on the line, it’s time to read the fine print. Here are some guides curated by groups we know and trust: 

• Planned Parenthood’s guide to voting pro-abortion in California (They even included suggestions for school-board elections!)

• The ACLU’s guide to abortion measures on the ballot in Kentucky, Michigan, and Vermont. You can also find more information on racial justice measures, voting rights, and action items that could directly affect LGBTQ+ voters in the future.

• Climate: the biggest issue facing every person on the planet. These guides from the NAACP, California Environmental Voters, League of Women Voters, and Sierra Club Independent Action can point you in the direction of candidates who (a) actually believe in climate change and (b) have promised to do something about it.

FROM THE EXPERT

“Our Oppressors Win When We Divide Ourselves”

Amanda Brown Lierman talks to us about creating the most powerful voting bloc possible.

BY SAMHITA MUKHOPADHYAY

LOOK HOW HAPPY WE COULD ALL BE IF WE VOTED! (IMAGE BY JEMAL COUNTESS VIA GETTY IMAGES) 

You already know you have to vote (and we trust that you will.) But how much difference will your vote make? And what is likely to happen tomorrow? For a view from the front lines, I turned to the executive director of Supermajority (an organization working to build national political power for women), Amanda Brown Lierman.

Amanda has been working in the voting rights space for years: she used to work at Rock the Vote and was the organizing director at the Democratic National Committee. We’re also good friends and former colleagues. I wanted to hear from her what exactly is at stake tomorrow…and what’s giving her hope.

Samhita Mukhopadhyay: How are you feeling about the midterms right now? 

Amanda Brown Lierman: I feel like the only thing I can do is hold hope. It is just amazing to see the commitment of women [at Supermajority] who are freaking tired and have every reason to be too tired to do this work. But they're showing up and they're showing out when it really does matter. Of course, I feel anxious because there's also so much at stake and so much on the line.

Usually at this point in an election cycle, you spend a lot of time talking about why it's so important to vote for somebody. And there are incredible pro-women champions and pro-women leaders who are running for office. But there are also names on that ballot of people who don't deserve to be sitting in those seats of power. And in many cases, they are power-hungry white men who are not serving women, not serving the people who put them in office, and they need to be kicked out of those seats.

Can you spell out a little bit what’s at stake?

The president has made a couple promises about what he can and will do if we get him two more Democratic senators [giving Democrats a majority irrelevant of how Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia vote]. And there are some really incredible women who are running for Senate. If we could deliver those two new Democratic senators, then we can actually make progress in some of those national policy conversations around childcare access, around paid leave, and other care economy issues that were cut out of Build Back Better. We could codify Roe at the national level.

The gubernatorial races are going to be very important too. Gretchen Whitmer has been the number-one defender of women's rights in Michigan since she was elected in 2018.

There’s also that ballot initiative in Michigan which intends to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right in the state.

In Michigan—this is actually incredible, Samhita—in order to get an initiative on the ballot, you have to have something like 400,000 signatures. And they had 750,000 signatures for this ballot initiative in Michigan—double what was necessary, double what people thought was impossible to get done.

PROTESTORS IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN SHOWING UP AND SHOWING OUT FOR ABORTION RIGHTS. (IMAGE BY MATTHEW HATCHER VIA GETTY IMAGES)

We saw something similar in Kansas in August, where voters voted to protect abortion rights. What are you seeing in the post-Roe political landscape?

For so long, people have run away from having conversations about abortion, and abortion [historically] has been more of a polarizing issue than it has been a mobilizing issue. And what I think we're seeing in this landscape is abortion right now is not polarizing. It's actually created the opportunity for us to build coalitions in a way that we have never done before. And Kansas is such a great example of that. You have folks in Kansas, women in particular, who voted no on that amendment to make sure that we did not advance abortion bans in that state.

Organizing is all about having conversations. It's all about connecting with somebody over a shared set of values. Women might not [all] have the same experience; they might not be motivated by the same issue. But I feel like we have been able to build connections, build coalitions around this value that our bodies should be respected and that women should be able to make a decision about their bodies—instead of power-hungry men who are sitting in a political seat. That's what gives me hope: the ability to think about abortion as a coalition-building issue, which is a new phenomenon for us.

Oh, I love that.

We want to make sure that women recognize their power as individuals, as voters, but also claim the power that we have as a collective. And our coalition, hopefully, is a voting bloc that is respected, is revered, and is... also, if I'm being honest, a little bit feared. I want politicians to be afraid of a whole lot of women voting because they have to be accountable to the very people that put them in office. Our oppressors win when the walls go up, and we divide ourselves.

There are some signs that there could be record turnout. I voted in upstate New York, and it was a 45-minute wait to vote a week before Election Day.

 Wow.

But the fact that the Zeldin/Hochul race feels so close in New York is not a great sign to me. I know you've worked in the voter space for a long time. What can we actually expect tomorrow? 

I think that there are people (notably Democrats) who have been dismissing this election for the last year with a sort of despair and just [resigning] to loss. So I do refuse to sort of give into that, and think it is our job to make sure that we do the work because change happens with one conversation, one voter. And that commitment to organizing, I think, is the only thing that has always worked, and has always saved us.

But to your point: These elections are fucking close. And I think many of them will come down to field margins. And there's a reason why we have to give it our all, because some of these elections will be won or lost by two votes, by a hundred votes. And so this idea of giving in just makes me sick to my stomach and so angry. Because literally, if we each spent the time talking to—I mean, honestly, two to three people in the next couple of days and got them to the polls, it wouldn't be close.

I think voting is an expression, and Election Day will be an expression of the collective as women flexing our political muscle and making sure that our voices are heard and demanding that of our elected leaders. I've been saying this a lot: They can ignore our primal screams, but they cannot ignore our votes.

THANK A POLL WORKER

Today is Election Hero Day, a day to recognize and thank all the folks who make it possible for us to show up and cast our votes. That includes your state directors, local clerks, staff, and (everyone’s favorite) the volunteers that hand out the “I Voted!” stickers. And they need support: They’re short-staffed, and too often under attack. Spread the love by sharing the image below from @electionheroday or kick it old school and thank an election worker face-to-face. (But keep a respectable distance; we are still in a pandemic.)

(SCREEN SHOT VIA INSTAGRAM)

Remember, Election Day is a marathon, so drink water, be patient, be kind—and above all, be there! We’ll see you on the other side.

Speaking of marathons, did you run the New York City Marathon this weekend? Let us hype you up! Send your marathon pics to [email protected] and we'll include them in a future newsletter. 

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