Ron DeSantis Bans Climate Change
  May 16, 2024 Evening, Meteor readers, Hoping everyone is having a blessed week except for this man right here. In today’s newsletter, we check in on Florida, salute teenage activists in Ecuador, and share our weekend reading list. Kickin’ it, Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ONFlorida!!!: Ron DeSantis never ceases to amaze me with his insistence on pretending the things he dislikes simply do not exist. First, it was his war on Black history, then it was “Don’t Say Gay”, and now Ronnie is disappearing his latest enemy: climate change. Yesterday, the Florida governor signed new legislation that, according to The Washington Post, “removes most references to climate change in state law” and deprioritizes the issue in policy decisions. DeSantis’s explanation for this new legislation, which goes into effect this summer? “[This will] keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state…We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots,” he told a local Florida outlet. (It’s worth mentioning here that there are no wind turbines on the beaches, nor is Florida even windy enough to warrant them. The state is better suited to solar power.)  A RECREATION OF ONE OF RON DESANTIS'S NIGHTMARES. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) So why is the failed presidential candidate railing about “green zealots” and imaginary wind turbines, despite the fact that his constituents are some of the most vulnerable in the country to the effects of climate change? The same reason my kid throws her dino nuggets on the floor: to get attention. DeSantis clearly aspires to be more than a governor, and in order to endear himself to the GOP base, he’s got to prove he is willing to defy things like science and logic. According to the Post, “environmentalists said the new law is the latest example of DeSantis’s eagerness to use climate change as a culture war issue such as abortion and transgender rights to bring national attention to himself and hit the right notes with right-wing voters.” But here’s the saving grace: A majority of Floridians agree that climate change is happening, and they want state and federal governments to do something about it. With that in mind, here is a list of offices up for election this year in the state. Vote like your planet depends on it (because it does). AND:
 (SCREENSHOT VIA INSTAGRAM)  WEEKEND READING 📚On history repeating itself: Twenty years ago, thousands of people across the globe came together under the slogan of Save Darfur. Now, Darfur is facing a new genocide and the West is responding with “indifference.” (The New York Times) On something bigger: Three journalists dig deeper into the “meaning of Caitlin Clark.” (The Washington Post) On the brain: Student loan debt isn’t just a financial burden; it’s now becoming a mental health burden. (Teen Vogue) On implosions: Something strange is happening at Miss USA and it’s causing queens to quit. (Slate) On Baby Reindeer: Is the Netflix hit a much-needed exploration of trauma, or kinda weird about queerness? Spoilers if you click. (NPR)  FOLLOW THE METEOR     Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend?
|
IVF Is Back in the Legal Spotlight
  May 14, 2024 Greetings, Meteor readers, I never say this on a Tuesday, but we’ve made it to the best day of the week: Tonight marks the start of the WNBA regular season, and I am thrilled. Tonight’s schedule is jam-packed with games, including the New York Liberty vs. the Washington Mystics and the much-anticipated Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun. Make this the year you get super into women’s basketball, friends.  In today’s newsletter, we look at a confounding IVF case in Texas and ponder Katie Britt’s definition of success. And 1, Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ONIVF back in court? Potentially!: You may recall that back in February, the Alabama high court ruled that embryos produced during IVF were “extrauterine children.” The implication that those embryos had the same rights as actual children briefly shut down the state’s fertility clinics till the legislature (seeing the wild unpopularity of this bonkers situation) intervened to allow IVF to resume. Settled? Not quite. While IVF clinics and doctors are safe from criminal prosecution in Alabama, the fetal personhood court ruling still stands, leaving patients uncertain about what they are liable for if anything happens to their embryos. And now, thanks to a messy divorce, IVF is back in the legal spotlight in another state: Texas. Briefly: A couple in Denton, Texas, Gaby and Caroline Antoun, underwent IVF treatment and signed a contract agreeing that in the case of divorce, Gaby (the husband) would keep any leftover frozen embryos. In 2022, they did get divorced, and the court awarded Gaby the embryos because they were considered property and thus subject to basic contract law. But then Roe was overturned and everything changed. Caroline and her lawyers appealed the original decision, arguing that Texas abortion law now suggests that embryos should be treated as children—making the contract she signed null and void, and meaning that the only way to settle the question is to go to trial for custody. The jokes for this situation write themselves: Who gets the embryos on Saturday? Where will they go for Christmas? But the consequences are real and decidedly unfunny: Caroline wants to take this to the Texas Supreme Court, which is allowing both sides to brief them on the case before deciding whether or not to take on the issue. In an amicus brief presented to the court, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine wrote, “Recognizing ‘personhood’ status for a frozen embryo…would upend IVF in Texas…[and] inject untenable uncertainty into whether and on what terms IVF clinics can continue to operate in Texas.” AND:
 FOLLOW THE METEOR     Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend?
|
From Porn Star to Star Witness
  May 9, 2024 Darling Meteor readers, Mother’s Day weekend will soon be upon us, and whether you are a mom, have a mom, have lost a mom, or anything along the spectrum—my wish is that you find at least one moment of peace and a reason to smile this weekend. In today’s newsletter, we size up the impact of Stormy Daniels’ eight-hour testimony, bask in women’s basketball, and, as always, share a weekend reading list. With love, Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ONThe eye of the storm: The list of charges Donald Trump hopes will vanish as he attempts to retake the White House runs long. But this week, all eyes have been focused on the 34 felony counts of falsifying business records he faces in New York City, accrued while trying to cover up stories that could have ruined his 2016 run. Allegedly, allegedly. What makes this case unique is first and foremost this: It may very well be the only criminal case against Trump to reach a verdict before the election. But it is also unique because of the testimony of Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress and producer, who says that Trump offered her $130,000 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter they had in 2006. Despite Trump’s lawyer’s best attempts to discredit Daniels (“you made all this up, right?” one asked her), the trial isn’t about whether or not she had sex with the former president. The question is simply whether or not he paid her to keep quiet about it and then disguised that financial record as a “legal expense” paid out to his former fixer, Michael Cohen (who is also set to testify for the prosecution). Doing so would amount to falsifying business records—a crime in the state of New York.
 STORMY DANIELS EXITING A MANHATTAN COURTHOUSE AFTER CONCLUDING HER TESTIMONY. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) If, when all is said and done, a jury finds Trump guilty, he could face prison time. But to be clear, a conviction wouldn’t actually prevent him from continuing to run for president. Technically, convicted felons can run for office—which is odd, since in most states they lose the right to vote. Even being imprisoned might not be enough to keep him from being legally elected; experts are split on that since, as one scholar put it to the Times, “I don’t think that the framers ever thought we were going to be in this situation.” But should this be the one case that brings down Teflon Don—who’s been twice impeached and is somehow still the Republican frontrunner—it will be in no small part thanks to Daniels’ willingness to tell her story, even to her own detriment. There’s something poetic about the fact that our hopes to see a shred of justice hang on how credible 12 jurors find a porn star—the kind of person “upstanding” citizens often ignore during the day but pay great attention to at night with the volume turned down. If Daniels delivers the most desired prison sentence in history, she will be a hero. Which will be quite a change of pace from the derision she’s been met with and could, in a perfect world, create a path for her fellow workers in the porn and sex industries to be treated like human beings in their workplace. AND:
 THE INDIANA FEVER DURING THEIR PRESEASON GAME AGAINST THE WINGS. WHICH WAS SOLD OUT. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)  WEEKEND READING 📚On our Ozempified world: What is the real value of the body positivity movement? The Meteor’s own Samhita Mukhopadhyay investigates, brilliantly. (The Cut) On #MeToo: Harvey Weinstein’s overturned conviction could shape the future of sexual assault trials, and perhaps not for the better. (The Marshall Project) On what makes a murderer: Sarah Stillman’s riveting 2023 story about a charge known as “felony murder” won a Pulitzer Prize this week. (The New Yorker)  FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend?
|
The Dark Menergy of the Kendrick/Drake Feud
 May 7, 2024 Dear Meteor readers, We’ve only reached the first Tuesday in May, and it’s already been a busy month. Not only did half the Meteor staff celebrate birthdays, but we also kicked off Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, watched the Met Gala, and began another Trump trial, all while trying to navigate an extremely wild rap beef. On that note, we have a special treat in today’s newsletter: Long-time music journalist and friend of The Meteor, Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, digs into what’s missing from the broader conversation about Drake and Kendrick Lamar's current feud. Plus: a few thoughts on the Met (we had to do it) and a brutal report from the UN about women and girls in Gaza. So many feelings, Samhita Mukhopadhyay  WHAT'S GOING ONThe First Monday in May: Yesterday was the Met Gala, and while it feels like a dreadful time to engage in the time-honored tradition of gawking at celebrities, it was a nice respite from the news. Celebrating the Costume Institute’s new exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this year’s dress code was “The Garden of Time”—and, as usual, it remains unclear whether or not anyone really understood it. But who cares! Our personal favorites, since you’re asking, include Lily Gladstone’s gorgeous tribute to her indigenous ancestors, Tory Burch re-wearing her wedding dress, Amanda Seyfried’s nod to sustainable fashion, and Zendaya’s expression.  THIS IS HOW I'M ABOUT TO START SHOWING UP TO STAFF MEETINGS. (PHOTO BY GOTHAM/GETTY IMAGES) "Unimaginable risk": In a report released yesterday, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights detailed just how badly the aggressive military campaign in Gaza is hurting women and girls there. The officials wrote that they were “horrified” by the findings, including 390 bodies of women and children discovered at Al Shifa and Nasser hospitals “with many reportedly showing signs of torture and summary executions, and potential instances of people buried alive.” They also noted that as of last Monday, 34,488 Palestinians have been killed—including 14,500 children and 9,500 women—and that the risks are especially high for pregnant women: “Over 183 women per day are giving birth without pain relief, while hundreds of babies have died because of a lack of electricity to power incubators,” officials wrote. You can read the full report here. AND:
 WOMEN AS PAWNS, AGAINEveryone is Having Fun Talking About Drake and Kendrick LamarA long-time music critic tackles a darker truth at the core of their beef: the expendability of women’s trauma. BY JULIANNE ESCOBEDO SHEPHERD  PHOTO BY JASON KOERNER/GETTY IMAGES Kendrick Lamar and Drake have spent the better part of the past month in a rap beef, which you might already know if you spend time on social media, where they've been trending for days. The origin of their acrimony is vague—the former collaborators turned on each other around 2013—but this recent round was kicked off in late March with a song called "Like That" from Future and Metro Boomin's latest album, We Don't Trust You, on which Kendrick, guest-rapping, essentially called Drake a poseur and a chicken. That provoked some peripheral fallout, including a Drake diss by Rick Ross coming from the sidelines and a very weak response track by J. Cole, which he later walked back, apologizing to a stadium full of his own fans. Confused? There is a lot of minutiae here and even more menergy; all of this feels like a desperate display of testosterone in an era when women rappers are finally flourishing. But there are larger issues here that go beyond which rapper has the better flow, and it might not surprise you that women have ended up as collateral damage.  PHOTO BY PRINCE WILLIAMS/WIREIMAGE Rap beef is rooted in the Dozens, a traditionally African American game of insults. The Dozens, in turn, influenced the freestyle battles that have flourished since hip-hop's inception, in which two rappers diss each other to flex their superior lyrical talents, not unlike a verbal boxing match. In the Drake versus Kendrick battle, Kendrick is obviously superior; he has a better grasp of the language overall—a skill for which he once won a Pulitzer—and is more capable of varying his writing style. There is a comfortable consensus, too, that he's winning the battle due to how deeply his insults cut, to the point that I keep imagining him as the X-Men character Psylocke, wielding a particularly sharpened psychic knife. But as far as rap beefs go, this one feels increasingly gnarly. When Kendrick first asserted on "Like That" that respect is better than money or power, implying that Drake had the latter but not the former, it was fairly standard fare. Drake responded with "Push Ups," which dissed Kendrick's star power, and also with "Taylor Made Freestyle," which claimed that Kendrick's releases were being controlled by Taylor Swift. The idea that a man is in servitude to a woman is a pretty standard insult—but in retrospect, it was also an indicator of where this was all going. Over the course of four more Kendrick songs and two more Drake songs, all released in the short span of seven days, the rappers hit one another with an escalating series of basically criminal accusations. (On Monday evening, a security guard outside Drake's Toronto mansion was shot, though authorities are currently investigating.) Drake accused Kendrick of hiring "a crisis management team to clean up the fact that you beat up your queen." My stomach fell upon hearing it—it's a shocking accusation, especially when it’s brought up so lightly in a rhyme. But even worse was the fact that Kendrick's response was released only 30 minutes later, and so the accusation of violence barely seemed to register. Besides, Kendrick's barbs were just as nasty: that Drake is a pedophile, has a sick interest in underage girls, and that his record label might, in fact, be a ring of pedophiles. Kendrick suggested that Drake should be locked up alongside Harvey Weinstein, who at this moment is awaiting a new trial after a New York court overturned his rape conviction. Obviously, rapping it doesn’t make it true: As a written art form, a lot of rap lyrics are fantasy or narrative construction—that's part of why it's an infringement of First Amendment rights when those lyrics are used as evidence in trials. But does assuming that these allegations are simply lyrical shivs make them any better? Actually, the idea that women and girls are simply pawns in a brawl implies that neither artist cares too much about their well-being—unless they can be used as a weapon. And if these accusations have even a kernel of truth to them, they reflect the way the entertainment industry keeps secrets to protect its own (and the way the #MeToo movement barely touched the music industry.) I keep thinking about Megan Thee Stallion, one of the most talented rappers in the U.S., who spent two full years being excoriated by male musicians and internet trolls after she accused Tory Lanez of shooting her in the foot; she was in a desperate enough place that she later rapped about her thoughts of suicide. Before Lanez was convicted in December 2022, even 50 Cent was forced to apologize for his ill-treatment of Megan. But throughout the case, Drake was one of the worst offenders against Megan, rapping, "This bitch lie 'bout gettin' shots but she still a stallion," one line in a trilogy of Drake albums that seemed to trace his further descent in the darkest crevices of misogyny. (His latest, For All the Dogs, seems at times to just be a list of grievances against women.) As Vulture's Craig Jenkins wrote in a wide-ranging piece about the violence and sex trafficking allegations against superproducer Diddy, "We can’t keep picking and choosing whose abuse we’re willing to buy, turning support for survivors into a contest of whose abusers made the most beloved songs. We can’t let wealthy men treat everyone in the vicinity like chattel."  PHOTO BY MARLEEN MOISE/WIREIMAGE Megan eventually was able to bite back—her January 2024 diss track "Hiss," which in part takes aim at Drake, is the most listenable of all the songs in this rap beef—but the scars are right there on her album, called Traumazine. The unnamed women in Drake and Kendrick Lamar's beef tracks surely have their own scars, too. While hip-hop battles can sometimes feel like a sport, this one has become increasingly nihilistic. One wonders if either of these men is invested in what they’re saying or can even fathom what’s at stake for the lives of the people they are talking about, real or fictional.  FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend?
|
The Methodists Overturn Long-Standing Homophobic Rules
 May 2, 2024 Salutations, Meteor readers, What a great newsletter we have for you tonight. My colleague Bailey Wayne Hundl explains the implications of the United Methodist Church’s recent decision to allow LGBTQ+ people to be ordained, a journey with which Bailey is personally familiar. She’s lived many lives! We’re also discussing new proposed legislation—backed by Halle Berry—for people experiencing menopause and, as always, offering some weekend reading. With love, Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ONHalle yes: Today, a bipartisan group of women senators proposed a new bill that would devote $275 million to menopause research and care. And the woman largely behind it? Halle Berry, whose own experience with menopause was met with an enraging and uninformed misdiagnosis of herpes. “I have this great sex. I wake up in the morning, I go to the bathroom, and guess what? I feel like I have razor blades in my vagina,” Berry says of the moment that sent her to the doctor’s office and ultimately resulted in discovering she was perimenopausal. Inspired by her experience to “do something about it,” Berry is now the poster woman for the Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women's Health Act. During a press conference announcing the proposal, one of the senators co-sponsoring the bill noted, “Menopause is not a bad word. It's not something to be ashamed of. And it is not something Congress or the federal government should ignore. There is no excuse for shortchanging this issue when it comes to federal dollars.” AND:
 AN OFFICER WITH THE CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL DETAINS A PROTESTOR AS THE UCLA ENCAMPMENT IS CLEARED OUT. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)
 LOVE THY NEIGHBOR“I Did Not Think This Change Would Come in My Lifetime”A seminary dropout on the latest decision from the United Methodist Church BY BAILEY WAYNE HUNDL  THE CULMINATION OF YEARS OF WORK. (VIA AP IMAGES) For the last 25 years, pastors in the United Methodist Church (UMC) have faced losing their jobs and having their ordination revoked for officiating same-sex weddings—even when doing so for their own children. The UMC bylaws have also prohibited “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained as ministers—or appointed to serve in any capacity—since 1984. All of that changed on Wednesday. With an overwhelming majority and no debate, the denomination’s highest legislative body voted to overturn these policies. For me, this is personal. For the better part of a decade, I was one of those pesky “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” causing trouble in the UMC. (That link has my deadname, but I’ll be cool about it if you will.) While I was in seminary, I even sought ordination through the UMC—though admittedly, I didn’t make it very far. And when I think about all the shit I’ve seen, I have to be honest: I did not think this change would come in my lifetime. When I was 19 years old, I interviewed for an internship with a youth pastor at a UMC church. It went phenomenally (mainly on account of me being awesome and a Capricorn rising). The youth pastor even told me, “I have other people to interview, but if I’m being honest, you’re perfect for this and this is perfect for you.” I said that that was great, but that before we finished, there was one last thing he should know about me; I told him I was gay. And he asked me to leave. I went home fuming but undeterred, a feeling that, over the years, became all too familiar. When I was 20, I attended a UMC legislative session reviewing the church’s restrictive bylaws against gay people. Before the vote, anyone could come to the mic and speak for or against the issue—and the lines for both were long. I remember the burning of my ears and the tight grip of my friend’s hand in mine as one woman droned on about the dangers of the “demon” of homosexuality and how we must do anything in our power to stop it. In that same room two years later, at a conference for queer Christians, I watched my friend break down in tears as he described being exorcized by his foster parents, who later disowned him. I carry too much pain from these experiences to expel in one short article. Do I mention my first pastoral internship, the one I accepted before I came out, where I waited for my host family to fall asleep so I could whisper over the phone to my boyfriend that I loved him? The otherwise progressive church who kicked a gender-nonconforming member out of their choir for being “too distracting”? Or hell, what about the responses I received just yesterday when I tweeted in celebration?  WWJD? NOT THIS. (SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF BAILEY WAYNE HUNDL) For years, I grew more and more battle-hardened, staying in the fight (and the church) for three reasons: my love for the faith, my love for queer people, and the notion that somebody had to clean up this mess. Eventually, I made the choice so many have: I left for my own sanity. I know that for many people, this seems like the obvious choice. “If the church is homophobic, why don’t you just leave?” But when we buy into the false dichotomy of Religious vs. Queer (a dichotomy invented by homophobes, mind you), we force queer people to sever themselves from a crucial aspect of themselves, something that gives their life meaning, community, and hope. And I’ve watched too many people—people I love, people I miss—pick the former. But now, thanks to this monumental decision brought about by the stubborn hopefulness of queer Methodists and their allies, fewer of my family will be forced to leave themselves behind. It’s a good day.  WEEKEND READING 📚On parenting: The one place in the world where it’s the hardest to care for your children? Gaza. (The Washington Post) On incarceration: “Less than two years ago, [Brittney] Griner was starting her nine-year sentence in a penal colony in Russia, sewing uniforms for the Russian military and subsisting on spoiled food.” Now, Griner is ready to share her story. (The New York Times Magazine) On the history of student protests: One day in 1970, everything changed for on-campus protests in America. (Teen Vogue) On women’s health: Yes, women live longer. But they also are more likely to be ill in those years. (The Guardian)  A quick PS from Shannon: Wishing a happy early birthday to my father, a true Taurus, gone too soon. Miss you every day old man. FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend?
|
Remembering Hind Rajab
 April 30, 2024 Hola, Meteor readers, I have to apologize to everyone reading this because I failed to acknowledge the start of a very important season in the celestial calendar. Happy Taurus season, baabyyyyyyy!!! Enjoy the grounding and reliable energy of this season while it lasts.  In today’s newsletter, we revisit the story of Hind Rajab, a tragedy you may have missed. Plus, a spot of joy for trans people in North Carolina and West Virginia. Shannon ♉Melero  WHAT'S GOING ONWho is Hind?: On Monday night, protestors at Columbia University overtook Hamilton Hall, a building on campus, and unfurled a banner renaming it Hind’s Hall. The action came hours after the university made good on a threat to begin suspending students if they did not leave the growing encampment. In an Instagram statement, the students occupying Hind’s Hall say they plan to remain there until Columbia completely divests from Israel. (Columbia’s president said that the university would not do so, but “would develop an expedited timeline for review of new proposals from the students by the Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing, the body that considers divestment matters.”) While pundits debate the validity of the takeover—which has happened in this building before—we are answering a different question: Who is Hind?  HIND RAJAB, A BEAUTIFUL LIGHT SNUFFED OUT BY VIOLENCE (VIA INSTAGRAM) In January, a six-year-old girl named Hind Rajab, members of her family, and two paramedics were killed by what would later be confirmed as Israeli gunfire just outside of Gaza City. The family had been attempting to exit an evacuation zone and return to their home in northern Gaza City when their vehicle was surrounded by the Israeli army, which then opened fire. The initial gunshots killed five of the seven people in the car—leaving Hind and her cousin, 15-year-old Layan, the only two alive. Layan called for help; in an audio clip published by The Washington Post, she can be heard explaining the situation and breaking off into screams as gunfire drowns out her voice. The call drops. Emergency services called the number back, and Hind answered. Layan had been killed. Badly injured and the last person alive in the car, Hind described to the dispatcher the Israeli tank that was closing in on her. Dispatchers stayed on the phone with Hind for over an hour, at one point patching in her mother—who had not traveled with the family—as they tried desperately to keep her conscious. She just needed to wait for an ambulance that was getting permission from the Israeli military to travel to her position. But that ambulance would never arrive. Despite having permission to travel on a specific road, displaying lights, and sounding its siren, the ambulance also came under Israeli fire; the paramedics inside were killed. It would be nearly two weeks before Hind’s uncle could recover the bodies of his loved ones from the bullet-riddled vehicle. The Post describes the moment: “We were only able to deduce their identities,” he recalled. The student protests at colleges and universities around the country have sparked a furious discussion in part because, as Lydia Polgreen writes in The New York Times, “the way you understand these protests depends on your perception of what they are protesting.” But the banner hanging from Hind’s Hall should remind us of where our attention needs to be focused: on the lives we’ve lost and the horrific ways we’ve lost them.  AND:
  CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO GET YOUR UNIQUE SHARE CODE TO SEND TO A FEW FRIENDS. IF FIVE OF THEM SIGN UP FOR THIS NEWSLETTER, YOU GET A METEOR TOTE! ALREADY HAVE A CODE BUT CAN'T FIND IT? NO WORRIES, IT'S WAITING FOR YOU DOWN BELOW ⬇️
 FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? Subscribe using their share code or sign up for your own copy, sent Tuesdays, Thursdays, and some Saturdays. |
The Inside Woman at the Obama White House
Social secretary Deesha Dyer is sharing her real life behind the scenes—her imposter syndrome, her abortion, and what she wants young Black women to know.
BY REBECCA CARROLL
Back in 2009, as a 31-year-old part-time community college student inspired by the election of America’s first Black president, Deesha Dyer applied on a whim for a White House internship. Much to her astonishment, she got it. She went on to become the White House social secretary during the last two Obama years, curating large-scale events, meeting royalty, the Pope, and her hip-hop heroes. She managed her spectacular successes while fighting off a severe case of imposter syndrome and dealing with the daily microaggressions a Black woman faces in the historically whitest of houses. Dyer tells her extraordinary story in her new memoir, Undiplomatic: How My Attitude Created the Best Kind of Trouble, and we sat down to talk about all of it.
Rebecca Carroll: For many people, but especially for Black folks, the Obama years were not just an eight-year presidency; they were an era, like the Harlem Renaissance or the Black Arts Movement. It was a collective glory. What was it like to be such an integral part of that?
Deesha Dyer: What made it so wonderful for me is that I wasn't in this world before, so I had no preconceived notion. The same wonder I had when I started encountering [Barack Obama] on my television in 2007 was the same way I was for eight years.
Yes, they were President and First Lady, but also they were Barack and Michelle Obama—community activists, Black folks who had student loans at some point. It was an everyday tussle in my head of being like, “Remember, they're President and First Lady; they're not just Barack and Michelle.” I wanted to look at them as regular people, but I had a job to serve them. And they are people that I respect and revere. To this day, sometimes Barack Obama will joke with me, and in my head, I'm like, “Oh my God, I’m living this moment, I'm a witness to this,” and it's just a joy.
In your book you write that you identified with President Obama’s non-traditional family background. Can you talk a little bit about why that is?
Number one, we always saw white presidents—but also, when I got to know Barack Obama's background, it was just like, “He didn't have a mom and dad both in the home; he lived with his sister, and he lived in Hawaii. He moved around, so it wasn't like this cookie-cutter background.” [Dyer spent most of her childhood away from her parents while she attended a boarding school for low-income students.] And I had that excitement like, “He understands what some of us go through…This person will maybe get some things that are not traditional.”
One of the very real joys of your book is its realness and humor. When you write about your interview with Mrs. Obama for the job of social secretary, and she asks you how you’re doing—I mean, you were all of us when you said in your head: “I am out here fighting for my life!”
I’m fighting for my fucking life! Like, “What do you mean how am I? How would you be sitting here for an interview with Michelle Obama?! How would you be sitting with yourself? Clearly, I'm not okay.” I can see it like it was yesterday.
Were there other instances with Mrs. Obama that you left out of the book and might want to share?
Oh, there were millions. But [she] would always tell me to tell my story. One time, we were in Miami, and I was working, so I wasn't at the dinner table. She said, “Deesha, come over here, sit down, and tell them your story.” And I'm like, “Erm.” I knew her friends, but I held a very clear distinction: If I'm working, I ain't drinking. I'm over here. When y'all leave, that's when I'll eat and drink, right?
We had a lot of just small moments, fun moments, laughing moments. She's a human being, but she's also one of these people that—you prepare for a meeting with and think you’ve thought of everything, and she asks the one thing you didn't think of.
You write very candidly about having had two abortions, one while you were working at the White House—ironically, you wrote, just after you met the Pope. You say that that second abortion ended up being kind of a breakthrough in your life. Did that surprise you?
It really did, because I was still very thick in the imposter syndrome: “I'm a fraud, blah, blah, blah.” When I had the abortion, there were no regrets. I've always been on the side of reproductive rights. I had a medical abortion, so I did it at home. But I went back to work when I was still bleeding and wearing Depends. And I was just like, “What the literal fuck am I doing here with a fucking diaper on? This is crazy.” That breakthrough for me was huge because I just couldn't believe that I thought I had to go back to work wearing a diaper after an abortion.
Because if you didn't, it would further fuel your sense of fraudulence?
One hundred percent. The culture of work is different now than it was then, and I think I was afraid somebody would be like, “Why is she taking [time] off?” And so, I was like, “I'm going to go back just to prove I can do it.” Because when you're in your fraudulence, you do anything to prove that you can handle it. Which is why we see Black women in the workplace with hair loss, diabetes, high blood pressure, and strokes: because we're trying to prove that we're not a fraud, that we're supposed to be there, that we can handle it.
It's the way in which imposter syndrome is so symbiotic with the historical stereotypes that have been put upon us.
Say that! I know that we've come very far with mental health and workplace culture, but please. If a Black woman is like, “I'm going to take some time off,” when you come back, it’s like, “Are you okay?” Treating me like I'm a child. I never really [encountered] anybody who did that in the White House, but it still was the White House. It was still people [who did not believe] I could do the job. And so, I thank goodness something didn't happen to me because I would’ve probably died for that job. For what? Now, I'm like, “No.”
We were talking earlier about your abortion—how surreal is it now to think about having had an abortion while at the White House, which is two miles from the Supreme Court where Roe was overturned?
I'm not surprised, especially given the last President [and his] Supreme Court justice [appointees], but I would say I'm angry. I'm angry in a way that makes me have to watch my wellness. As somebody who's had abortions and somebody who has a fucking vagina and ovaries and everything else, it's kind of just like, “How are we so discounted that we can't make our own decisions?” It's the reason why I talk about [my abortion] in the book: I want people to understand that abortion is a normal thing. We have sex, and [if] we don't want to have children, we have abortions. Let's move on.
But did I think we would ever be here? I don't think I did. But when Trump came, I knew it was a possibility. I remember running to my OBGYN and getting my IUD because I knew what was going to happen. I got it in February 2017 before I lost my federal health insurance, and I was like, “Let me get the real good one, the one that will last through his presidency.”
By the way—and I don’t know if this is a spoiler or not—but I didn’t realize that the whole Melania Trump bringing a gift for Mrs. Obama on the “transition of presidential power” day was an act of defiance. Everybody saw Melania step out of the car holding a blue Tiffany’s box, and that it was immediately awkward when she handed it to Mrs. Obama, but you write that you had actually confirmed with Trump’s team that there wasn’t going to be a gift exchange.
Yeah, we confirmed that there were no gifts coming. Otherwise, we would've planned for me to be right there so she got it. But you could see on Mrs. Obama's face like, “Damn.” Legit like, “What's happening? What are we doing here?” I think that was [the moment] for me when I was like, “I'm done. This is it for me. These people have lost their everlasting fucking minds.” How do you come up here with a fucking Tiffany's box? Are we sponsored by Tiffany’s? But it was also so on-brand for them.
I understand what you mean by on-brand, but even so, why do you think [Melania Trump] would do that?
I'm going to be for real. I don’t think Mrs. Trump had a clue. I honestly think she had no idea about the protocol. I think she was shocked to be there. I think they were both shocked to be there for all four years. I think maybe they knew where the White House was, but that's about it. I don't think that they had any idea [about protocol], but their team should have known.
In keeping with our idea of fighting and wellness, your story includes a lot about your “unexpected path,” and I wondered how your definition of an expected path has changed since you worked in the White House.
My definition has changed in the sense that I don't have one anymore. But I think that the world's definition is still the same. There aren't a lot of companies that are going to hire somebody with great experience and no college degree [as the Obamas did with me].
Just to bring it full circle: Towards the end of the book, you write about an experience you had after the White House where you thought you had this new gig you’d applied for in the bag, but you didn’t get it. You were very hard on yourself about that, and I thought you could have been kinder.
The first thing I did [when I didn’t get the job] was go back to the comfortable place of, “You did that all wrong.” [That experience] did knock me down, but it didn't keep me down. Before, I would be like Eeyore; I would just wallow in it. But [this time], I was like, “Okay, let me wallow. All right, let's go get a drink.” I want to be real with people; I'm not going to pretend that I don't still have these [feelings of doubt] that come and go. But I know how to manage it better, and I think that I am more kind to myself.
But this also goes back to the whole notion that Black women are only recognized if we’re Beyoncé or Breonna Taylor— either a superwoman or a statistic. It's like, can we have some middle ground?
Can we just exist? And in any which way we want to? Sometimes we want to be a superhero, and then sometimes we're like, “No, I want to sit at home and watch movies all day.” For so long, I thought [that desire] was me being lazy or wrong. No, fuck that. Now I'm laying in this bed, child.
Rebecca Carroll is a writer, cultural critic, and podcast creator/host. Her writing has been published widely, and she is the author of several books, including her recent memoir, Surviving the White Gaze. Rebecca is Editor at Large for The Meteor.
How Harvey Weinstein's NY Conviction Was Overturned
  April 25, 2024 Evening, Meteor readers, What. A. Day. In today’s newsletter, we look at Harvey Weinstein’s overturned conviction and how it happened. Plus, SCOTUS’s latest post-Dobbs case, a heartwarming story from across the pond, and our weekend reading list. Literally appalled, Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ON“Not a fair trial:” I bet no one had this on their 2024 Bingo card: The New York Court of Appeals has overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for felony sex crimes. The key factor? That jurors in the case heard testimony from women who had accused Weinstein of sexual assault, but who were not named in the specific case being tried. (More than 100 women have charged that Weinstein abused them, but the case itself involved only two women.) Jan Ransom of the New York Times explains that the additional witnesses “testified about their encounters with Weinstein under a state law that allows testimony about ‘prior bad acts’ to demonstrate a pattern of behavior. But the [appeals] court in its decision on Thursday said that ‘under our system of justice, the accused has a right to be held to account only for the crime charged.’”  THE "SILENCE BREAKERS" IN LOS ANGELES AFTER WEINSTEIN'S GUILTY VERDICT IN 2020. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: CAITLIN DULANY, ROSANNA ARQUETTE, JESSICA BARTH, LAUREN SIVAN, SARAH ANNE MASSE, LAURA O'CONNOR, LOUISE GODBOLD, AND LOUISETTE GEISS. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) Advocates and lawyers argue that establishing a pattern of how predators operate has become common in assault cases. And for good reason: It’s helped overcome the longtime tendency of juries and the public to think that survivors are making it all up. This wasn’t the first case to use additional testimony to show that an accused abuser had a pattern of abusing; prosecutors successfully marshaled additional survivor witnesses in the Bill Cosby and Donald Trump assault cases, among others. The 4-3 decision in favor of Weinstein was determined by a panel of judges, the majority of whom were women—though two senior judges, Shirley Troutman and Caitlin Halligan, recused themselves from the case over the winter and were replaced. But Weinstein is not walking free: His 2022 rape conviction and 16-year prison sentence in the state of California still stands. While lawyers determine whether or not the New York case will be retried, Weinstein will be moved from upstate New York to California to serve his time there. No matter what happens next, this overturn has reopened a wound for sexual assault survivors everywhere. As one of Weinstein’s accusers, Katherine Kendall, told the Times, “It’s a terrible reminder that victims of sexual assault just don’t get justice.” Where lawyers play doctor: Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard its first round of oral arguments determining whether the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, is still applicable in states with abortion bans. If you want a concise and spicy explainer on that, my third-favorite co-worker, Mik, has you covered. TL;DR: EMTALA dictates that anyone, regardless of their condition or ability to pay, is entitled to life-saving medical treatment in an emergency room. The Biden administration clarified right after Dobbs that this treatment includes abortion care—often crucial in cases where pregnant people are bleeding out or experiencing other complications. But some states, like Idaho, are being all, “Not in our house!” So now, the Supreme Court is being asked just how close to death a pregnant person has to be before a doctor can step in and save their life. The good news—which shockingly exists—is that so far, SCOTUS does appear to be seeing some reason in this case. US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued that “It would be no different if the state had come out and decided to ban epinephrine,” a necessary medication for severe allergic reactions. Even conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett was skeptical, suggesting “that Idaho had little reason to challenge the federal government’s EMTALA enforcement,” The 19th reports. (Broken clocks….) The decision will come down in early summer. In the meantime, check your voter registration and read up on which state legislators you can vote out of office. AND:
 THE UNDEFEATED, "INVINCIBLE" MEMBERS OF QUEENS PARK LADIES! (VIA INSTAGRAM)   CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO GET YOUR UNIQUE SHARE CODE TO SEND TO A FEW FRIENDS. IF FIVE OF THEM SIGN UP FOR THIS NEWSLETTER, YOU GET A METEOR TOTE! ALREADY HAVE A CODE BUT CAN'T FIND IT? NO WORRIES, IT'S WAITING FOR YOU DOWN BELOW ⬇️
 WEEKEND READING 📚On heartbreak: Over 25,000 children in Gaza have been killed or injured since October. “That’s one child every 10 minutes,” NPR reports. Nimer Saddy al-Nimer, a 12-year-old boy shot while looking for food, shares his story. (NPR) On the meaning of words: What is everyone getting wrong when it comes to the conversation around famine? An expert weighs in. (Slate) On the dollar: There’s a larger uncomfortable truth behind Caitlin Clark’s historic $28 million Nike deal. And it isn’t just about money. (The Washington Post)  FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? Subscribe using their share code or sign up for your own copy, sent Tuesdays, Thursdays, and some Saturdays. |
What the Columbia Protests Teach Us
  April 23, 2024 Shalom, Meteor readers, Happy Passover to those who celebrate and a felicitous Tuesday evening to those who don’t. Religious fun fact for you! There probably wouldn't be a Passover were it not for two very smart and brave women: Jochebed and Miriam, mother and sister of Moses. They really don’t get enough credit for saving Moses’ life, ya know. In today’s newsletter, we take a look at the student-led protests across college campuses and find out what stay-at-home parents are really ✌️worth ✌️. Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ONTents on campus: Over the last week, an increasing number of student groups on college campuses across the country have staged major protests calling attention to the ongoing attacks on Gaza and demanding the schools’ administrations divest from Israel. Students at Yale, NYU, MIT, and Columbia have been arrested; at Columbia, where over 100 students were arrested—some temporarily evicted from their dorms—faculty walked out, objecting to the fact that the university president had called the NYPD.  STUDENTS WITH THEIR TENTS AT THE COLUMBIA ENCAMPMENT (VIA GETTY IMAGES) A lecturer from the law school told the Guardian that the police presence felt “completely unnecessary” and that “this was by all accounts a non-violent protest.” Not all students (from various campuses) agree: One student from the University of Michigan told CBS, “It's scary, it's terrifying. The sign says, 'Long Live the Intifada' ... not a comfortable feeling.” But student organizers at Columbia released a statement saying, “We firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry and stand vigilant against non-students attempting to disrupt the solidarity being forged among students—Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Black, and pro-Palestinian classmates and colleagues who represent the full diversity of our country.” (It’s also worth noting that Columbia’s own Human Rights Institute released a statement confirming that the protests were non-violent.) If like the students at the Columbia encampment last night you find yourself marking Passover at a protest or at home with family or friends it is a unique time to be doing so, considering the holiday’s deep roots in the struggle for liberation and lessons on mercy to outcast peoples. One Passover tale involves flinging the door open and declaring “All who are hungry come and eat!”—poignant words in the face of Gazans’ forced starvation. As Rabbi Elliot Kula wrote in TIME, “Solidarity is not just a pretty word, but a powerful tool we need to leverage in this time.” AND:
  CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO GET YOUR UNIQUE SHARE CODE TO SEND TO A FEW FRIENDS. IF FIVE OF THEM SIGN UP FOR THIS NEWSLETTER, YOU GET A METEOR TOTE!
 FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend? Subscribe using their share code or sign up for your own copy, sent Tuesdays, Thursdays, and some Saturdays. |
Slut-shamed In a Courtroom
  April 18, 2024 Evening, Meteor readers, Tomorrow is a big day for a large portion of the population. Of course, I am talking about the release of Taylor Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department.” To prepare, I have broken up with my husband so I can really feel all of the feelings Taylor wants me to feel. It’s going to be great.  In today’s newsletter, Neda Semnani examines the “slut puppy” case the Supreme Court is deciding whether to take. Plus the pro-Palestinian protestors who just lost their jobs and some recommendations for your weekend. “All’s fair in love and poetry,” Shannon Melero  WHAT'S GOING ON
  THIS WEEK AT SCOTUSNow Brenda Andrew is on death row, and the Supreme Court could weigh inBY NEDA TOLOUI-SEMNANI  A PORTRAIT OF BRENDA ANDREW PAINTED BY EMILY DAVIS ADAMS The U.S. Supreme Court will decide this Friday if it will hear the case of Brenda Andrew, the only woman currently on death row in Oklahoma. The Andrew case is the second Oklahoma capital punishment case vying for the court’s attention this term, and it has potentially far-reaching ramifications—not just for the state, but for the rights of women and queer people everywhere. The background on the case is this: Andrew, along with James Pavatt, her former partner, were found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2001 shooting death of Andrew’s estranged husband, Rob, but the jury rejected the state’s charge that Andrew would be a “continuing threat to society.” Nonetheless, both Andrew and Pavatt were sentenced to death. Throughout Andrew’s 2004 trial, her sexuality, her dress, her demeanor, and, ultimately, her behavior as a wife, mother, and Christian were dissected and condemned. In an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court, a former federal judge, 17 law professors, and four domestic violence advocates argue that the Andrew case was rife with gender bias that unfairly prejudiced the jury against her. “At a time when women’s rights generally are on the chopping block—also the rights of queer people and civil rights of minority communities—we've got a case that's at the extreme end of what it means when we dehumanize these communities when we strip people of their humanity,” says Nathalie Greenfield, a lawyer with the non-profit firm Phillips Black, which filed the writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court on Andrew’s behalf. She argues that if the Supreme Court does not review the case, the justices would sanction using “assumptions, stereotypes, and tropes about people who dare to transgress perceived norms,” especially when it comes to gender, race, and identity.  BRENDA ANDREW AS A YOUNG WOMAN (IMAGE COURTESY OF PHILLIPS BLACK) The trial transcript, for example, reveals that witnesses were encouraged to describe Andrew's appearance in detail, from her dresses (“very tight, very short, with a lot of cleavage,” said one) to her make-up choices (“gothic”), and also to say whether they thought those choices were appropriate. Prosecutors also waved Andrew’s underwear in front of the jury and called her a “slut puppy,” one of the last things members of the jury heard before they began to deliberate. “There [were] just so many recorded instances of gendered evidence being presented every single day [of the Andrew trial],” says Greenfield. “And a lot of this was about her appearance and her extramarital affairs. The focus was on the fact that this was a woman who was transgressing gender norms by not being this chaste Christian wife.” Oklahoma is a particularly deadly state: It has executed 124 people since 1976, when the U.S. lifted its moratorium on capital punishment. (Only Texas has killed more people.) Of these, just three were women—two of whom were prosecuted by district attorney Bob Macy, who is considered the second deadliest prosecutor in United States history. He’s responsible for 54 death sentences—more than any other prosecutor who was practicing law between 1980 and 2001. He resigned in 2001 after evidence of prosecutorial misconduct was found in 18 of those 54 cases, resulting in three exonerations. However, his shadow still stretches over Oklahoma’s justice system—and Macy’s assistant district attorney and protege, Fern Smith, was a prosecutor in the Andrew case. According to transcripts, Smith repeatedly asked witnesses to describe Andrew’s dress, opine over Andrew’s behavior, and state whether or not Andrew was, in Smith’s words, a “good mother.” This isn’t the first time a case Smith has prosecuted has been challenged. She has been repeatedly accused of failing to disclose exculpatory evidence—evidence that could be favorable to the defendant—and even of destroying evidence. In fact, she was accused of prosecutorial misconduct by name in the case of Richard Glossip, the other Oklahoma capital punishment case that will be in front of the U.S. Supreme Court this year. The Supreme Court has already delayed deciding whether to hear Andrew’s case twice. Tomorrow, they could do one of three things: agree to hear it, decline to hear it, or “vacate and remand,” which means the Supreme Court could return her case to the appellate court to reconsider without hearing an oral argument. Since Andrew was sentenced, she has been the sole woman on death row; consequently, she has served the majority of her sentence—more than 16 years—in solitary confinement. According to the United Nations, prolonged solitary confinement, or more than 15 days without meaningful human contact, is defined as torture. In February 2020, Andrew was moved to the general population, where, according to her lawyers, she thrived. She got a job and joined a quilting circle. In January, two days after her attorneys filed the writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court, Andrew was returned to solitary. She wasn’t given a reason.  BRENDA ANDREW, SECOND FROM LEFT, AND MEMBERS OF HER QUILTING CIRCLE (IMAGE COURTESY OF PHILLIPS BLACK) “The gender bias is just so finely woven into the trial that you can't extricate it,” argues Jessica Sutton, another attorney with Phillips Black. “It's unique in that way. However, the real issue implicates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. We have to ensure that trials are fundamentally fair. We want to make sure that, for the ultimate punishment, we have a reliable trial, a reliable process, a reliable conviction, and sentencing. What the prosecution did is undermine every aspect of the entire trial.”  Neda Toloui-Semnani is an Emmy-winning journalist and the author of They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents.  FOLLOW THE METEOR Thank you for reading The Meteor! Got this from a friend?
|
