Dearest Meteor readers,

Ahead of Presidents Day, we’ve decided to give you a break from all things presidential. (That means we won’t be covering the Linda McMahon confirmation hearings today or her terrifying education agenda, but don’t forget to call your senators.) Enjoy this reprieve while it lasts!

Also, you heard it here first: Our annual Meet the Moment event is coming up on International Women’s Day, March 8! It’s a day of intergenerational conversations and performances with women and nonbinary people of all ages—past speakers include everyone from Jane Goodall to America Ferrera, so get ready!! And grab your tickets now.

Today, we dig into some ‘70s feminist history, offer a bit of good news out of Kansas, and ask author Haley Mlotek three questions about divorce.

Saging the space (for now),

Nona Willis Aronowitz

WHAT'S GOING ON

Three Marias, full of grace: Maria Teresa Horta, a Portuguese folk hero who helped spark a feminist movement in her country, died last week at the age of 87. She was the last surviving member of a trio known internationally as the Three Marias, who in 1972 published Novas Cartas Portuguesas (New Portuguese Letters). The book was a ragtag compendium that told the story of women’s oppression under dictatorship in Portugal.

Their backstory: In 1971, Horta, Maria Isabel Barreno, and Maria Velho da Costa—all well-established writers in their thirties—started meeting weekly for consciousness-raising sessions and bringing notes, fantasies, and letters to one another. Apparently inspired by the 17th century classic “Letters of a Portuguese Nun,” these dispatches discussed everything from rape and domestic violence to abortion and forbidden orgasms. The three women eventually published a collection of these musings, vowing never to reveal which of them had written each fragment.

AN EXTREMELY DOPE MURAL OF THE THREE MARIAS BY ELTON HIPOLITO IN VILA NOVA DE CERVEIRA, PORTUGAL

It was a juicy, racy, defiant text that flew in the face of everything Prime Minister’s Marcelo Caetano’s authoritarian regime stood for. It was also a direct challenge to the censors, who had recently banned one of Horta’s volumes of poetry. “Let us put an end to mystifications and false modesty, let us cleave from top to bottom the waters we are drowning in without being able to draw a single breath,” they wrote. “Hasn’t the time come to share with each other, for example, the truths we know about our pleasures in bed?” They weren’t kidding: Throughout, there was straight-up erotica, about “tumescent fruit” and “silk buttocks” and “fingernails scraping your skin.”

As expected, the book was banned—but not before it had become an overnight sensation and sold out almost every copy. The Three Marias were swiftly arrested and imprisoned, charged with "abuse of the freedom of the press" and "outrage to public decency.” Caetano declared them three women "who aren't worthy of being Portuguese." The dustup, of course, helped them become internationally famous, garnering the support of icons like Simone de Beauvoir and Adrienne Rich. They were eventually acquitted in 1974 on the heels of the dictatorship’s demise.

The Three Marias’ legacies are a reminder that desire for sex and liberation can pierce through even the most repressive governments. Looking back in 2014, Horta recalled that their meetings were her oxygen during an extremely dark time. It “was the most interesting thing of my life,” she said. “It is a book that grabs you because it is a book of political struggle.”

 AND:

• Rep. Nancy Mace’s advocacy for sexual and domestic violence victims isn’t off to a great start. During her testimony on Monday, in which she accused four men (including her ex-fiancé) of sexual assault, she advertised a “victim hotline” for anybody experiencing domestic or sexual violence. Now Mother Jones is reporting that the “hotline” is more like a glorified voicemail, with no live assistance, and that advocates in Mace’s home state of South Carolina are directing victims to other hotlines that will guarantee confidentiality and connect them with actual resources. Laura Hudson, executive director of the nonprofit South Carolina Victim Assistance Network, said Mace “set us back about 25 years” by “giving false hope to a very vulnerable population.” (Reminder: the National Domestic Violence Hotline is always there.)
• The number of new marriages in China plunged by more than 20 percent in 2024—despite sometimes invasive efforts to encourage couples to wed and procreate. Meanwhile, divorces have risen, even in the face of China’s new 30-day “cooling-off period,” which critics say makes it harder for women to leave abusive marriages. Kinda nice to know that people will do what they wish with their love lives, even while drowning in pro-natalist propaganda.
• Some heartening news: Democratic Kansas governor Laura Kelly gave her third annual veto of a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. “As I’ve said before, it is not the job of politicians to stand between a parent and a child who needs medical care of any kind,” she said in a statement. (You can practically feel her eyeroll through the press release.) Given that the Supreme Court is poised to uphold similar laws in more than 20 states, trans youth need any refuge they can get.

KANSAS GOV. LAURA KELLY MEANS BUSINESS. (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

• Two new studies published today show a grim picture for infant health in red states. They found that, in the 18 months after Roe v. Wade was overturned, infant mortality rates increased by an average of 6 percent in states that implemented abortion bans—and among non-Hispanic Black babies, mortality was 11 percent higher. Researcher Caitlin Meyers points to two reasons for the jump: Women who were not allowed to end pregnancies because of fetal anomalies gave birth to babies who died shortly after birth, and people who are denied abortions tend to be more low-income or of color, both factors that raise the risk of infant complications and mortality.
• Two lawmakers in Ohio—one a woman, one an impressively game man—took a cue from a Mississippi Democrat and introduced their own “Conception Begins at Erection Act,” which would make it a felony for men to “discharge semen without the intent to fertilize.” (Shades of Elle Woods’ triumphant rebuttal to a case involving a disgruntled sperm donor.) “It’s beyond ridiculous what’s going on here,” Republican activist Austin Beigel said. State house reps Anita Somani and Tristan Rader agreed. “If you think it’s absurd to regulate men, then you should think it’s equally absurd to regulate women,” Somani replied.

Three Questions About…Divorce

Author Haley Mlotek’s new book is a tender meditation on the transformative nature of dissolution.

The “divorce narrative” has dominated lately, from Leslie Jamison’s Splinters to Lyz Lenz’s This American Ex-Wife to Miranda July’s All Fours, all of which focus primarily on the author’s individual liberation. But writer Haley Mlotek’s new book, No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce, stands out because it situates her personal story within the complex, painful and sometimes beautiful social history of divorce. Mlotek—a divorced writer with divorced parents, one of whom is a certified divorce mediator—excavates how the dissolution of marriage shaped the last century, and all the unique little heartbreaks and triumphs each divorce leaves in its wake. I spoke with her about divorce’s gravity, its role in this political moment, and how it intertwines with romance.

Nona Willis Aronowitz: For me, being divorced is a badge of honor; it was proof I actually did something about my unhappiness. In the last pages of your book, you also admit to feeling kind of attached to your divorced status. In what ways do you think your divorce has shaped you and your desires?

Haley Mlotek: There was a slight and almost morbid comedy to saying that I was divorced in the immediate aftermath — I had been married so briefly…and among my friends I was certainly one of the youngest people anyone knew who was going through a divorce. It was easy to turn this moment from my recent past into a joke, or a fun fact, or an easy anecdote in those days. Later, as more people in my life experienced some of the same things I had in my breakup and divorce, I thought more deeply about what that status actually meant to my present moment and my future. There’s a gravity to the status that’s not so easily explained, which I think has actually served me well — rather than relying on easy answers or quips, I had to think carefully about what I actually wanted to share, and most of that was some variation of …"I don't know, and maybe I never will."

NWA: Besides your personal story, you lay out the fascinating history of divorce itself, and by extension, marriage—including how both intertwined with feminist movements. What role do you think divorce plays (or should play) in discussions of gender and feminism during this regressive political moment?

HM: Historically, [marriage and divorce] have always been an arena that fascists have turned to to exert control over people, and as we see every day, neo-conservative and neo-liberal politicians alike are also quick to use their own ideals of the family to their own political ends. The book Family Values by Melinda Cooper is an excellent study of this, as is Making Marriage Work by Kristen Celello.

More than that, this threat of the extreme right turn across the world is an emergency reminder that no struggle is separate from another — the attacks on trans people, undocumented people, and the families of Gaza and Palestine are all part of the same destructive agenda that seeks to dehumanize anyone that stands in the way of a cancerous spread of power. As many of the people I cite in my book note, the family and the couple are the smallest political unit that most people are a part of, which makes it an essential part of how we show up to protect ourselves and our loved ones. The ability to choose how we build our relationships and who we build them with is not limited to marriage, nor is the decision to leave those partnerships limited to divorce, but it is a part of a structure that can build support in the fight against the current regressive political moment and its future implications.

NWA: Obligatory Valentine's Day question: What is the most romantic thing about divorce—or is it, by its nature, just inherently anti-romantic?

HM: The concept that marriage is something that can be tried more than once suggests a belief that nothing matters more than the pursuit of love. There’s also the fact that romance needs a little bit of tragedy to give it that sense of risk and gravity; the feeling that it can be lost or left is, to me, quite romantic. But that says more about me than it does about Valentine’s Day.

WEEKEND READING📚

On enablers: The corporate owner of more than a dozen dating apps has known for years about abusive and violent users on its platforms—but, a new investigation charges, it has been loath to take action or inform users.
(The Markup/The Guardian/The 19th)

On principles: Behind New York City mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case was Danielle Sassoon, a deeply conservative and ambitious prosecutor who resigned today in protest. (New York Times)

On cannibal teens: Yellowjackets is back, baby! In honor of the Season Three premiere tomorrow, kindly enjoy this profile of Sophie Thatcher, who plays the show’s inimitable goth, Natalie. (The Cut)

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Hey there, Meteor readers,

The U.S. has now officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Given everything else going on, this may seem like a small and petty thing. But, for me at least, the stench of colonialism on this move is so strong it’s smothering. Erasure is erasure is erasure, no matter how big or small.

In today’s newsletter, we look at what states have been doing on abortion while we’ve all been distracted with the White House. Plus, mark your calendars: There’s a mass boycott coming this month.

Names mean something,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Look over there: The new administration has been generating record levels of news and destruction on the federal level. But while we’ve all been untangling the mess that the president is making of our lives, some states have been rolling out extreme anti-abortion measures—with less media attention than you might expect in more normal times. Luckily, Abortion Every Day founder Jessica Valenti has been neatly gathering all of these legislative measures in one place.

So what are states up to?

South Carolina is trying to criminalize everything: Valenti describes the state’s latest anti-abortion bill, The Unborn Child Protection Act (SB 323), as a blueprint for “the future [Republicans] want for American women.” SB 323 is aggressive in its cruelty: It removes exceptions (including for incest) from the state’s existing abortion ban; it makes IUDs and morning-after pills illegal; and it proposes criminal charges against anyone who receives an abortion.

Missouri is trying to wish away its abortion-rights vote: Last fall, a majority of voters moved to enshrine abortion rights in Missouri’s constitution. But now, a state House committee is blatantly seeking a do-over by putting the issue back on the ballot, but with much stricter terms: The next ballot initiative would ban abortion after 12 weeks, and limit it severely before that. The people of Missouri haven’t changed their minds: The proposal was met with fierce opposition. Still, the new amendment only has to be approved by lawmakers; it doesn’t need petition signatures to get on the ballot.

And Idaho is trying to charge people who have abortions with murder: First, the state introduced a bill that would add mifepristone and misoprostol to the state’s controlled substance list, making it a felony to possess or distribute these common, safe methods. (This move mirrors what’s already happening in Louisiana, Texas, and Indiana.) And then, last week, a state senator introduced a separate bill that would re-classify abortion as homicide—making Idaho the sixth state to consider such a bill.

The fact that six states have introduced legislation that would classify one in four American women as a murderer is, it’s safe to say, big news. Let’s keep treating it that way. And stay vigilant: What is your state doing—or not doing—to protect abortion rights?

  AND:

• This year’s Super Bowl gave us lots to talk about. But what didn’t make it into the broadcast was a one-man protest during Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance. During one song, a man named Zül-Qarnaįn Nantambu, who was among the hundreds of performers on stage, stood on top of a car and raised the flags of Palestine and Sudan. He was removed by stadium security and arrested but has since been released without charges. When asked about his motives for the protest by Al Jazeera English, Nantambu replied that his Muslim faith obligated him to speak out against injustice when given the opportunity to do so. The NFL says Nantambu will be banned for life from all stadiums and events for his protest.

(PHOTO BY EMILEE CHINN/GETTY IMAGES)

• Yesterday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC)—who has introduced a bill banning trans women from Capitol Hill women’s bathrooms, who regularly gives slurred-filled defenses of anti-trans policies, and who vehemently defended accused rapist Pete Hegseth during his confirmation hearings—made an alarming speech from the House floor. In it, she shared that four men, one of whom is her ex-fiancé, had once drugged and raped her as well as several other women and girls. She also alleges that in 2023 she found these assaults had been filmed—and that her state’s attorney general, fellow Republican Alan Wilson, has been a “do-nothing attorney general” who treats assault survivors like criminals. A reminder: Every person who has endured sexual assault is deserving of justice, of resources, and of safety. Every single one.

• Last week, employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were asked to flag any grants that could be “potentially impacted” by Donald Trump’s executive orders on climate change. Just as at the NSF, staffers at the NOAA were given specific terms to look for, including “climate science,” “climate crisis,” “clean energy,” “environmental quality” and “pollution.” It has not been made clear to the NOAA if grants or programs dealing with these topics will be immediately cut, but current and former staffers are worried about impending “threats to important programs aimed at protecting communities from extreme weather and other climate-related disasters,” as one former NOAA head told The New York Times.

• A mass economic boycott is planned for February 28—intended to “disrupt the economy for just one day” to show the power of Black consumers. First suggested by a Black theater director named Anthony Mapp, the boycott asks participants not to shop in person or online at any major retailer (especially not ones that have rolled back DEI like Amazon and Walmart).

• Former Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has announced she will be running for governor of New Mexico. If elected, the self-described “35th generation New Mexican” would be the first Native American woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state. Haaland’s Department of the Interior put out a series of reports detailing the horrors of government-led boarding schools for Native children, prompting a formal apology from Joe Biden last fall.

• According to two new studies, women achieved gender parity in the top-grossing films last year. For the first time ever, there were just as many women in lead roles as men, thanks to films like Wicked and The Substance. In worse news, only 25% of these films were led by a person of color, compared to 37% the previous year.

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Salutations, Meteor readers,

As we head into Super Bowl weekend, I want to lay out what would be the best, most chaotic but still entirely possible timeline of events. First, Kendrick Lamar does a duet with Taylor Swift during halftime. It would look like this. Then Travis Kelce scores the first touchdown of the second half, looks directly into the camera, and says, “Are you ready for it?” The Swifties go feral. The Eagles comeback in the final minutes to win it all. Jason Kelce rushes the field, rips off his shirt, and written across his stomach is the release date for Reputation (Taylor’s Version).

In today’s newsletter, we return to reality with federal censorship. Plus, your weekend reading list.

Ready for whatever,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Bad words: Trump’s war on DEI has taken an absurdist turn that’s ultimately quite serious. The National Science Foundation has been ordered to pull down or halt any research that contains certain forbidden words related to diversity and inclusion. According to reports, the list of banned words given to the NSF and other federal agencies casts an incredibly wide net and includes heinous phrases like “pregnant person,” “BIPOC”, “Black,” “Latinx,” “cultural differences,” “disability,” “diverse group,” “equality,” “gender,” “female,” “historically,” “inclusive,” “LGBT,” “racism,” “trauma,” and “women.” Just to name a few!

Notably missing from the list is “male,” “man,” or “white.”

SOME MORE BAD, AWFUL, TERRIBLE WORDS (VIA INSTAGRAM)

Now, if the word does appear in a research paper, the corresponding project will not be immediately thrown out the window. Instead, it will have to be manually reviewed to determine whether or not it violates the executive orders on DEI. Nonetheless, let’s be extremely clear: This is censorship throughout multiple federal agencies, and a blatant attack on scientific progress. Darby Saxbe, a professor at USC, also shared a “decision tree” that was included in an email to NSF staffers, laying out how to flag research for further review. “You can't design a study of humans without using at least one of these terms,” she noted, “which means that biomedical, brain, social science research is now on ice in the USA.”

Let’s pause for a moment here. Sometimes it’s easy to imagine that fascism or authoritarianism is just the Big Actions, like putting people in prison without due process (already happened) or suppressing the media (in the process of happening). So censorship of this kind may be concerning but still fall short of setting off the big F alarm bell. But please know that I am standing in front of you, clanging a cowbell with all my might because censorship is a cornerstone of fascist government. It is the base Lego piece that holds everything else together and historians argue that we’re watching it happen right now.

To demonstrate just how absurd a word ban like this is, the rest of this newsletter will censor all words on the list and mentions of any women in leadership positions.

AND:

• A judge has moved the deadline for federal employees to decide whether to resign from their posts and accept a vague and possibly illegal buyout from the administration. The “Fork in the Road” plan was introduced to employees two weeks ago and was followed by a series of emails (and tweets) that were thinly veiled threats from Elon Musk, encouraging as many workers as possible to resign. The labor unions filed a request for a temporary restraining order claiming, among other things, that Fork was a “pretext for removing and replacing government workers on an ideological basis.” A hearing has been scheduled for Monday to hear arguments on whether the plan can go forward. Sheria Smith, union president at the Transport Workers Union, Local 252, said of the buyout offer, “It was really, really insulting, frankly. It insulted our work ethic and insulted our commitment to our jobs.”

• On Tuesday, Donald Trump went on an apparently unscripted ramble about “owning” the Gaza Strip, leveling it, and turning it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” This is, on every level, pure nonsense because the United States can’t just walk into an occupied land and say “we own this.” (Except for that one time. And that other time. And the other other time.) A plan like that, of course, has historically been considered ethnic cleansing and a violation of international law. Trump also teased that in four weeks he would have an announcement regarding the West Bank, which is currently being bombarded with raids by the Israeli military.  So: When Trump said “we” will own Gaza, was he really just referring to him and his friend Benjamin Netanyahu? We’ll find out.

• Yesterday, the National Women’s Soccer League reached a settlement with players to the tune of $5 million. Three years ago the league came to a screeching halt when allegations of widespread misconduct including abuse, racism, and sexual coercion went public ahead of the now-infamous Yates Report, named for former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates who led the investigation. The settlement money will be placed into a victims’ fund for current and former players.

SINEAD FARRELLY, ONE OF THE WOMEN NAMED IN THE YATES REPORT WHO CAME FORWARD TO EXPOSE THE DEPTH OF ABUSE IN THE LEAGUE. FARRELLY RETIRED FROM PROFESSIONAL SOCCER LAST SUMMER. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) 

• Feminists in Kenya composed a letter to feminists of the world who are in the fight against fascism (that’s you, sis), urging them to “not become passive to oppression.” You can read the full letter here, but if you need a boost to get through the evening, here is my favorite bit: “The current state of the world is not new…This is the world we have lived in. But as we have learned from our ancestors and the feminists that have come before us: we do not bow. We do not shrink. We do not retreat.”

WEEKEND READING 📚

On those old tweets: Some people aren’t exactly surprised by Karla Sofia Gascón’s history of racism and Islamophobia. (Remezcla)

On fire: An incarcerated firefighter in California shares what it’s like to do an impossible job. (Teen Vogue)

On law and order: Is anything Elon Musk doing legal? A law professor breaks it down. (Vox)

On making a comeback: So-called “natural” birth control isn’t new. But femtech apps are pushing a hard rebrand that has drawn in thousands of more women to a “new” way of family planning. (Mother Jones)

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Greetings, Meteor readers,

We want to kick off this Black History Month by shouting out our favorite Black-led, independent newsroom, Capital B News. One of the most important things to remember about Black history is that it isn’t just the past—it’s happening right now. So check them out! We already know you love newsletters, so it’s a perfect fit.

In today’s newsletter, abortion telemedicine faces another major test, and Rebecca Carroll speaks with author Renée Watson about how we can all work through loss.

Xoxo,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

The fight over telemedicine: Margaret Carpenter, M.D., is once again in the crosshairs of anti-abortion lawmakers. In December of last year, the New York-based doctor was sued by the state of Texas for mailing abortion pills to a patient who lived there. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton brought a civil suit against Dr. Carpenter, arguing that she broke the law both by violating the state’s abortion ban and by practicing medicine in Texas without a license.

But because Dr. Carpenter is based in New York, she had some protections under that state’s “shield law.” The Texas suit, advocates argue, was intended to attack shield laws—and now, a second attack has emerged as well. Last Friday, Dr. Carpenter was indicted in Louisiana for allegedly mailing abortion pills to a resident of the state, violating Louisiana’s abortion ban. Reportedly, the pills were sent to a minor whose mother was also indicted for her role in acquiring them.

Complicating the case is the matter of which state’s law supersedes the other. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has already said she will not comply with any requests from Louisiana for the extradition of doctors, and just yesterday, she signed legislation strengthening protections for abortion medication prescribers.

So who will prevail? “This might be an issue that ends up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court,” one legal expert told Reuters. And if that does happen, advocates worry that the current right-leaning court could end up limiting telemedicine in ways that go beyond abortion access.

Meantime, two things are clear: First, abortion pills (and the telemedicine used to prescribe them) are widely used; over five million people have taken mifepristone in the last 20 years, and curtailing the method’s availability would even further limit pregnant people’s healthcare options. Second, medication abortion is safe. As one of the original researchers who worked on mifepristone told The Meteor’s Samhita Mukhopadhyay last year, “Every single thing was done with three times or more rigor than any other drug I've ever heard of. But that's okay because the drug is very good and very safe.”

  AND:

• Remember when we warned everyone about Project 2025’s plans for the Department of Education? Well, here we go.  The Trump administration will soon be rolling out an initiative to “dismantle” the DOE via executive orders and budget cuts. There is good news and bad news here. The good news is that it would take an act of Congress to actually close the DOE, and given how unpopular that idea is even with Republican voters, it has little chance of passing. The bad news is that Trump can cut education spending at his discretion with the help of the education secretary (Linda McMahon is up for the job) and has already put a number of DOE employees on administrative leave. You should have your Senator on speed dial by now, beloved, but if not: here you go.

• So, you’ve been spending the weekend googling tariffs. Who hasn’t? Mexico and Canada both struck last-minute deals with the Trump administration to delay tariffs for 30 days, but new tariffs will still apply to Chinese products. What does an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods mean for the average American? Costs across a number of sectors are going to rise. As one writer laid out in Time, “Some of that stuff you’re buying on the Internet, from clothes and cheap electronics to furniture, is likely to become a little more expensive soon.”

• Yesterday, thousands observed A Day Without Immigrants, a call to action that resulted in businesses shutting down as their immigrant workforce remained home. In Los Angeles, the streets were flooded with protesters speaking out against the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies and the sharp increase in ICE raids in the area.

PROTESTERS IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (VIA GETTY IMAGES)

• Hope Solo, arguably the most prolific goalkeeper in American soccer, is returning to the pitch. Solo will be assembling and playing on her own team, named Solo FC, at this year’s The Soccer Tournament, which will be held in June. Solo has not played competitively since 2016 and at TST she will be up against some of her former teammates, including Carli Lloyd and Ali Krieger. It’s going to be an exciting summer.

• Speaking of soccer, in 2023 I obsessively covered the case of Jenni Hermoso and Luis Rubiales. ICYMI: Rubiales was the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) who forcibly kissed Hermoso, captain of Spain’s soccer team,  in front of a global audience during the trophy ceremony at the World Cup. Yesterday, the trial began for Rubiales, who has been charged with assault and coercion, and for three RFEF employees who allegedly worked to squash the story. Hermoso took to the stand to recount her experience, saying, “I think it was a moment that tainted one of the happiest days of my life.” Rubiales is facing a two-year sentence if convicted.

Quick Meteor recommendation: For those of you who’d like to call your representatives (about the things you read about here, or any other issue) but feel overwhelmed or don’t know what to say, may I suggest 5calls.org? It’s a site that not only provides lawmakers’ numbers but also gives you a customizable script for each issue that can help distill anger into actionable demands. I used it yesterday when I was pissed about Elon Musk’s government takeover, but didn’t quite know what to ask for. 5Calls nicely filled in the gaps.
—Nona Willis Aronowitz

Three Questions About...Loss 

BY REBECCA CARROLL

COURTESY OF RENÉE WATSON 

For more than a decade, award-winning author Renée Watson has written beloved young adult novels that capture the emotionally complex narratives of Black girls in America, including the New York Times bestseller Pieces of Me, and Ways to Make Sunshine. While her target audience is Black youth, the themes in her books are universal, and she has plenty of adult fans (including me). In All the Blues in the Sky, out today, the main character Sage loses her best friend on her 13th birthday, and readers go along with her as she navigates grief, fear, and loss. I sat down with Watson to talk about those things in the context of our socio-political landscape—and also to hear what her second mother, the late poet Nikki Giovanni, taught her about love.

Rebecca Carroll: The book is about the personal grief of a young person, but for so many of us right now, it is a poignant time to be writing and talking about grief. When you wrote the book, did you imagine that it might reach an audience that is grappling with grief on such a broad generational scale?

Renée Watson: Yes and no. I wrote the book shortly after we were out of quarantine, and people were getting back to their everyday lives. I thought about the loss, not just of people, but of our way of life and all the transitions that young people had to endure and go through—to not have their graduations or go to prom, to watch their parents be stressed. No one was talking to our young people about grief and how to move past that. But then our neighborhood community, our nation [went through] the Black Lives Matter movement, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor. And I feel like we still need to process all of that. But of course life is life, and so more things have happened. I'm glad that [the book] is timely, but it also makes me sad that it's so timely, and that there's just more and more grief on top of grief.

Speaking of Black Lives Matter, in some ways I feel like Black folks are uniquely poised as a people to experience and process grief. Do you agree, and if so, do you think there is value to that? 

I do. One of the reasons why I wanted to write this book was because I am trying to encourage young Black girls to take up space and find their voices and be bold and brave, but I also want them to be okay with being quiet and being sad and sitting in that. I do think that we as a people have had to endure so much that we are familiar with grief. It is as familiar as a coat you always wear, or an old pair of shoes. It fits in a way that could make us angry, but I also think there's something that brings peace about knowing, “I have survived other things, and I will survive this.”

I think we also understand joy, and we understand that you can be going through the worst things and not let those things drown you—that you can still have happiness and love and laughter. I think of how our people would sing and dance through the worst atrocities and how even in these times now, my personal loss[es] that I've gone through in the last few years [her mother, several friends, and her “second mother” Nikki Giovanni], how my friends and my sisters have just come around me to love on me and hold me and have meals together and pray together and laugh and cry.

There’s an emphasis in the book on the importance of practicing self-care, which Black folks have done collectively forever. Do you think we will continue to publicly practice self-care at a time when there’s real danger in being visibly vulnerable?

I think it's important to keep doing the practices inwardly. It doesn't have to be outward things like posting [on social media] about self-care as a thing we do. But what are your everyday practices of taking care of self? How did our mothers and grandmothers do that? How did they show us in these really small, practical ways that they loved us and how do women especially come together and heal each other? By feeding us and asking us how we were doing, and leaving the night light on.

I think about my mother and some of my aunts and all that they went through, and how they sat on the front porch and talked, and gave each other advice and listened and pushed each other to be their best selves, and to make some hard decisions about leaving that man, or getting new skills to get the job. … When my mother died, [poet and writer] Nikki [Giovanni] called me every day for the first 30 days. Every single day. She showed me that love is about what we do, not what we say. She taught me how to show up for my people.

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Greetings, Meteor readers,

Too much is happening at once.

In today’s newsletter, we take a close look at the many anti-DEI actions Trump has put in motion, and what they mean in real life. Plus, what to expect at this year’s Grammys.

Resting my eyes,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

The ripple effects of the DEI crackdown: The morning after the aircraft collision over the Potomac River on Wednesday night, Trump was busy blaming the DEI policies of Biden and Obama for the crash. “Their policy was horrible,” he said, “and their politics was [sic] even worse.” His evidence-free rant is just the latest move of his administration’s obsessive, all-out assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. So what do Trump’s slew of executive orders, freezes, and attacks on programs that help people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ people thrive actually mean?

Before we parse out what we should expect, let’s first review what’s happened. On his very first day, Trump overturned Biden’s executive order on DEI, which, among other things, ordered all federal agencies to come up with equity action plans, which address discrimination in the workplace. The second Trump executive order, handed down the same day, went further, ending any DEI activities in the federal government and reversing core policies that have been around for decades, including a Lyndon B. Johnson-era order that required any workplace taking federal dollars to implement equal opportunity measures. The Trump administration made clear just how much they mean it: Tens of thousands of federal employees got an email directing them to report any colleagues trying to “disguise” DEI “by using coded or imprecise language” and promising that they’d face “adverse consequences” if they didn’t.

This effort extends throughout the government. The Department of Justice was ordered to halt ongoing cases in its civil rights division, including police reform agreements negotiated in the final days of the Biden administration. The Department of Education removed more than 200 web pages with guidance for schools on how to implement DEI policies and create welcoming campus environments. And just last night, Trump issued an order that threatened to remove federal funding from schools teaching about things like transgender identity, white privilege, and unconscious bias (though it’s unclear how much of this will actually happen, given how difficult it is for the federal government to dictate curricula.)

So, are you ready for the hopeful part?

“These executive orders cannot change civil rights law,” says Amalea Smirniotopoulos, senior policy counsel at the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. “You can’t rewrite a statute with a Sharpie.” That means that hiring, say, only white people is still illegal. Denying a woman a promotion just because of her gender is still illegal. Firing someone for being gay is still illegal, even according to the rightwing Supreme Court.

Which also means that if any federal employee experiences discrimination or workplace harassment, they still have rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and can file a lawsuit against the federal government. And despite the administration’s attempt to frame DEI programs as “illegal and immoral,” the programs it’s ending “are lawful and have been upheld by courts in many cases,” says Smirniotopoulos, pointing to the NAACP’s success in winning an injunction to stop an anti-DEI executive order issued by Trump during his first term. She predicts these newer orders will face challenges, too.

But that doesn’t mean this crackdown won’t have far-reaching effects. There’s the law, and then there’s enforcement. “The reason DEI programs exist in the first place is to help with compliance of civil rights laws,” Smirniotopoulos says. “If we see the federal government roll them back, there is a risk that they’ll allow discrimination to fester among their own workforce.” In other words, you’re still free to file a lawsuit alleging discrimination—but the guardrails and systems that might discourage discrimination to begin with may be deteriorating. This deterioration could be widespread, given how the current administration is “encouraging” the private sector to roll back DEI. Since the election, many private companies—from Walmart to McDonald’s to Amazon—already have.

Anti-DEI efforts will also rob federal employees of things like volunteer affinity groups. “Employees are feeling that the loss of these programs [will deprive] them of community and the social network that’s essential in any workplace,” Smirniotopoulos says. “Your ability to succeed in your workplace isn’t just about your raw intelligence, it’s also about knowing how to navigate workplace dynamics, knowing the culture and norms. Those social factors can play just as much of a role in whether someone can thrive or get promoted.”

For the federal government, the ultimate effect may be a working environment where swaths of the population feel unwelcome—which will hurt hiring and retention for government positions. (Many suspect this is part of the point; the president of the American Federation of Government Employees called the anti-DEI orders “a smokescreen for firing civil servants.”) A diminished federal workforce affects everything from getting through airport security quickly to making sure we have clean water. “When the federal government works well, it’s invisible,” Smirniotopoulos says. “When the federal workforce is attacked, that ultimately hurts all of us.”

If you’re experiencing workplace discrimination or harassment: The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission technically still exists, but to be safe, we recommend contacting independent organizations like the ACLU, NAACP, or National Women’s Law Center to get advice on how to proceed.

—Nona Willis Aronowitz

AND:

• Yesterday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing was as lie-riddled as expected. Today he had a second hearing with the Senate Health Committee where senators dissected his contradictory statements on vaccines. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) chastised, “Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me. I have constituents who partly credit you for their decision to not vaccinate their child.” RFK Jr. did state on the record that all of his children are vaccinated.

• It may be difficult to keep up with all of these confirmation hearings;  Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard also had their grillings today. But one holding my attention is that of known anti-Black former WNBA team owner and millionaire Kelly Loeffler, who was tapped to be head of the Small Business Association and faced her hearing yesterday. Loeffler praised Trump’s shuttering of DEI programs, noting, “This will allow us to reduce the burdens on small businesses for costly implementation of needless programs.” One of those needless programs? Funding and certifications for women-owned businesses.

• On the heels of an anti-trans executive order that ordered federal facilities to ensure that “males are not detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention centers,” The Intercept reports that trans women are being transferred to all-male units. The lawyer of one of those trans women is “exceptionally worried,” telling the Intercept, “She doesn’t know whether she will be held with men. She doesn’t know if she will receive her hormones as scheduled. Everything is uncertain.”

• Have you been getting a lot of pop-ups in your Google workspace from their AI program, Gemini? Don’t remember opting into those? Yeah. Neither did anyone else. There is an (arduous) way out.

Two Pop Stars, Both Alike in Dignity

Beyoncé and Taylor Swift face off at the Grammys

BY SCARLETT HARRIS

IN FAIR LOS ANGELES WHERE WE LAY OUR SCENE, FROM ANCIENT GRUDGE BREAK TO NEW MUTINY. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) 

It’s been an incredible year for women in pop, and this weekend at the 67th Grammy Awards the race for the highly coveted Album of the Year award is stacked with the gals who ruled the summer. Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Charlie XCX are among the nominees. And while each of these women has a strong chance of taking home the gold, the real competition is between two titans of the industry—Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, who have 157 nominations and 46 wins between them.

This weekend promises to be a kind of referendum on the notoriously racist and old-fashioned music establishment. All eyes will be on whether Bey, with “Cowboy Carter,” can finally clinch the Album of the Year award that has eluded her her entire career—or whether Grammy darling, Swift, will add to her already record-breaking tally of four AOTY golden gramophones with “The Tortured Poets Department.”

The last time they were pitted against each other in this category was at the 2010 Grammys, for “I Am… Sasha Fierce” and “Fearless,” respectively, which Swift went on to win. This followed Kanye West’s infamous “I’mma let you finish” screed at the MTV Video Music Awards the year prior, in which he interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video for “You Belong With Me,” asserting that Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time and should have won for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” (He wasn’t wrong.) Ever the consummate professional, Bey had invited a deer-in-the-headlights, 19-year-old Swift back on stage during her own acceptance for Video of the Year so she could give the speech truncated by West.

WEEKEND READING 📚

On stoking division: Anti-immigration policies are creating a wider divide in already fragile Latine communities. One Mexican/Puerto Rican writer shares what that looks like for her family. (New York Times) 

On letting the dead rest: A new documentary about Selena Quintanilla called Selena y Los Dinos has some wondering where to draw the line between honoring late artists and profiting off their tragic stories. (Refinery 29)

On sex and other cities: A new character has emerged from the manosphere: the “passport bro.” While that may sound like a cool name for travel buddies, it’s just the latest depraved rebrand of sex tourism. (The Baffler)

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Happy Tuesday, Meteor readers,

Before we get into the news of the day, one important question: Have you filled out our survey yet? It’s the best way to take our relationship to the next level. Think of it like calling your senator, but more fun!

In today’s newsletter, it’s confirmation time again, and we’re at the edge of our seats. Plus, some pardons you may have missed.

Serving surveys,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Maybe say no this time?: Tomorrow the Senate confirmation hearings begin for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is in line to become the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. This guy is a sack of contradictions: Before he became a Trump loyalist, RFK, Jr. was an environmentalist warning consumers about the dangers of pesticides and a co-founder of the Waterkeeper Alliance. Cool. But he also led an anti-vaccine advocacy group and has repeatedly spouted theories that go against longstanding science and medical research. His greatest hits include: Wi-Fi causes cancer, chemicals in water cause “sexual dysphoria” in children, and HIV is not the sole cause of AIDS. (Tell that to this French virologist.) So he’s not exactly suited for any job at Health and Human Services, let alone the top one.

Of course, he wouldn’t be a Trump nominee if there wasn’t also an allegation of sexual assault dangling over his head. During RFK, Jr.’s bid for president, as we’ve reported before, his family’s former nanny Eliza Cooney alleged that he groped her multiple times in the late 1990s. The Washington Post also reported today that RFK Jr.’s cousin, Caroline Kennedy, spoke out against his nomination, calling him a “predator” who targeted parents of sick children. In a letter to lawmakers denouncing her cousin, Kennedy added that HHS employees “deserve a stable, moral, and ethical person at the helm of this crucial agency. They deserve better than Bobby Kennedy—and so do the rest of us.”

In other words, senators will yet again be sitting down with an unqualified and potentially dangerous white man to assess whether or not he is fit to have a job that the average American and 24,000 physicians can plainly see he cannot do. But there is still some hope here.

Last week’s confirmation of alleged abuser Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense was a 50/50 vote, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaker. If every Democrat and even a small handful of Republican senators vote no on Kennedy, then the confirmation won’t pass. (Here are all the members of the Senate Finance Committee, if you’re wondering who to call.) A report from the Wall Street Journal has already identified two GOP senators who could go either way on the vote: pro-vaccine senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and James Lankford (R-OK), an anti-abortion senator who’s wary of RFK, Jr.’s previously pro-choice stance. Polio survivor Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has also warned that any nominee should “steer clear” of undermining the polio vaccine and reportedly refused to meet with RFK, Jr. Even Mike Pence is opposed to this appointment, and it’s infuriating that any of us have to agree with Mike Pence on anything.

To those senators still on the fence, I also have to ask: Is approving this man worth the message it sends to the millions of women like Eliza Cooney who have to sit and watch their abusers continue to rise? As Cooney put it: “We can do better.”

AND:

• Since we’re on the topic of not giving men jobs they shouldn’t have, let’s talk about the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. This April, a seat will be opening up on the bench in the cheese state, and two judges are in the running. The first is Susan Crawford, a circuit court judge who, during her time as an attorney, represented Planned Parenthood in the fight for abortion access in the state. On the other hand, there’s Brad Schimel, a “tough on crime” candidate who is in favor of enforcing Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban, which is currently on hold until the state high court can weigh in. Wisconsinites, you literally have all the power here, so mark it on your calendars right now: Election Day is April 1.

• The situation is growing increasingly grim for immigrants in the United States. In the last week, ICE has carried out a number of raids across the country, including in Puerto Rico,  resulting in around 2,000 arrests. At least one of these raids was reportedly conducted without a warrant. Adding to the fear many immigrant communities are facing is the end of humanitarian parole programs, which allowed temporary legal status to anyone fleeing violence in their home countries, some of whom had sponsors in the U.S. Overnight, those who held humanitarian visas were recategorized as “undocumented” and are now vulnerable to detention and deportation.

• As the legal fight over birthright citizenship takes shape, pregnant women are increasingly at the forefront. Women in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington are suing the Trump administration for its attempts to render their children “a citizen of nothing,” as one plaintiff, a pregnant woman from Venezuela named Monica, put it. As of today, the executive order that could undo birthright citizenship is being temporarily blocked by several state AGs who also filed lawsuits.

• Last week, during the maelstrom of executive orders and proclamations, you may have missed that Donald Trump also pardoned 23 people who were found guilty of harassing and attacking patients outside of abortion clinics. One of those people was Lauren Handy, who was sentenced to five years in prison for blockading a Washington abortion clinic in 2020 and who was notoriously caught hoarding multiple fetuses in her refrigerator.

• If you, like me, keep forgetting what day it is, then boy, do I have some amazing news for you. Tonight is the first installment of Real Housewives of New York’s two-part reunion, where we get to witness franchise history as Jenna Fuckin’ Lyons shows up to the reunion in a literal bathrobe and hair towel. This is the only thing keeping me going right now.

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Salutations, Meteor readers,

I love Ben Shelton more than I ever have. Ben, if you’re reading this, I want you to know that I will personally go to Australia and yell at all the broadcasters who are trying you this week. Save your energy, I got you.

In today’s newsletter, we go over a bill speeding toward Donald Trump’s desk. Plus: an emergency contraceptive newsbrief, an update on the “slut puppy” court case, and your weekend reading list.

See you at the semis,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

Due process for some: Congress has passed the Laken Riley Act, named for a young woman in Georgia who was killed by a Venezuelan undocumented immigrant, and will be sending it to #47 to be signed. It will be among the first laws passed by his administration (although his hand must be tired from the other stuff he’s been signing) and it is ominously fitting that the first piece of legislation he executes is an anti-immigration bill.

So what’s in the bill? The top line item is that any undocumented immigrant accused of non-violent crimes like theft, either in the U.S. or their home country, will now be subject to mandatory indefinite detention by ICE. They will not be allowed bond hearings in their criminal case and, once in ICE custody, can be held until deportation, which will be the most likely outcome if they’re unable to leave the detention center for preliminary trial hearings. The bill also allows for state attorneys general to sue the federal government on behalf of residents who believe they’ve been harmed by immigration policies.

To be clear, there are already policies in place for detaining and deporting convicted violent offenders. But this bill expands those policies to include anyone arrested or charged with “theft, larceny, burglary, shoplifting” or assault against a law enforcement officer, regardless of any conviction or lack thereof. “What's dangerous about this bill is that it takes away some of the basic fundamental due process tenets of our legal system," one legal expert told NPR.

This bill is a direct response to the particulars of Laken Riley’s case: The man who murdered her had previously been charged with shoplifting, and supporters of the bill argue that had he been deported after that minor crime, Laken Riley would still be alive. That is possible—but overriding the Fifth Amendment for a vast number of people is not a sensible way to protect women from being murdered. (Riley was one of the roughly 2000 women killed by men in this country every year. Fortunately, in response to these crimes, two years ago, the White House formed the first-ever government plan to end gender-based violence… Oh, wait.)

The Laken Riley bill isn’t just a GOP favorite; 12 Democrats voted for it, too—see which here—which shows just how many people believe that immigrants to the U.S. commit more crimes than its citizens. (Which, of course, is demonstrably false.) Immigrants have long been used by the GOP as boogeyman responsible for America’s troubles, and now they’ve got the tools they need to disappear as many as possible.

AND:

• Researchers have found that ulipristal acetate, an alternative to mifepristone, has a 97% completion rate for abortion. In a normal world, this would be good news, but in the context of an anti-abortion movement eager to demonize contraception, the news is complicated: Ulipristal acetate is also found in an emergency contraceptive called Ella. “It’s going to put wind in the sails of abortion opponents who have been saying things like contraceptives can be abortifacients,” an abortion expert at UC-Davis told the New York Times. Regardless: Stock up on Ella!

• Last year we shared the story of Brenda Andrew, the only woman on death row in Oklahoma. Andrew, who was convicted of murdering her estranged husband in 2004, had been subject to a misogynist trial; prosecutors called her a “slut puppy” and showed her underwear to jurors as evidence of her character. Her lawyers argued that the jury had been unfairly influenced by irrelevant anecdotes about her sexual history. This week, the Supreme Court sided with Andrew, ruling that the lower courts must now revisit her case and determine whether that evidence biased the trial. One lower court judge, who believed Andrew was entitled to a resentencing after hearing her appeal in 2007, wrote at the time: “I find it impossible to say with confidence that the death penalty here was not imposed as a consequence of improper evidence and argument.”

• On January 6, 2021, Pamela Hemphill, once nicknamed the “MAGA granny,” was at the Capitol filming her fellow rioters. As a result of her choices on that day, she was convicted and sentenced to two months in prison and three years probation. But this week, when Trump’s pardons rolled out, Hemphill rejected hers, saying, “I don’t want to be part of their trying to rewrite what happened that day.” The rejection is largely symbolic—it isn’t even clear if there’s a legal way to formally reject a pardon—but Hemphill admits that she “lost [her] critical thinking” and understands she had been lied to and gaslit by the “Stop the Steal” movement. I mean...I hate to say it but...

• In more first-week-of-Trump news: The move to restrict online information has been swift. Instagram accounts like that of Hey Jane and Aid Access, organizations that help American women obtain abortion pills, have been shadow-banned with their content blurred out. (Meanwhile, you may have noticed that Meta is suddenly suggesting you follow Trump.) Official government resources like the Biden-era reproductive rights page have been 404’d. If you need an example of the kind of do-something energy we’ll need to deal with all this: The two cofounders of the newsletter The Skimm went ahead and bought reproductiverightsdotgov.com and transferred all the defunct page’s information there instead.

WEEKEND READING 📚

On what’s next: Could having an accused rapist returning to the White House be a death knell for the #MeToo movement? That’s the MAGA movement’s hope. (The 19th)

On a bad start: Puerto Rico’s new Trump-supporting governor has been at work for nearly a month. Things haven’t been going well. (The Latino Newsletter)

On film: The “worst movie of the year” just got nominated for 13 Oscars including Best Picture. (Slate)

On the inauguration: This week on our own UNDISTRACTED, Brittany Packnett Cunningham assembles her group chat to break down the excruciating spectacle of Martin Luther King Day coinciding with the inauguration. It’s a conversation about the price the country has paid for the success of Barack Obama, Trump’s demonizing of DEI programs and his ironic love of meritocracy. Or, as Dr. Brittney Cooper puts it, “The idea that America is a meritocracy when Donald Trump is the president is a white boy’s wet dream.” You can catch the full episode here.

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Fair Monduesday, Meteor readers,

I spent most of my day yesterday guiding my child around the Liberty Science Center along with what felt like every other kid in New Jersey. What did I miss?

If you, too, pulled a Michelle Obama and sat out the day’s events, we’ll catch you up: In today’s newsletter, we wrap our heads around the sweeping pardons granted to January 6 insurrectionists. Plus: what Cecile Richards would want us to do.

♥️ ✊🏼,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

The longest Day One ever: Yesterday, shortly after he was sworn into office (with his hand not on the Bible), Donald Trump grabbed his favorite sharpie and started signing a flurry of executive orders, including reinstating the death penalty, declaring that there are only “two sexes,” laying the groundwork for more oil drilling in Alaska, and mass pardoning nearly every January 6 rioter. (Even this guy). And we haven’t even gotten to his attempt to rewrite the Constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship. (States are already suing over this.)

While you can point to nearly every order signed and find something frightening, let’s focus for a moment on the January 6 move—which wipes out more than 1200 convictions, dismisses over 300 pending cases, and commutes the sentences of 14 violent, racist, and seditious rioters who sought to overturn an election with which they disagreed.

That means that every person currently serving a prison sentence will be released, including the leader of a self-described anti-government militia. The pardons and commutations also mean that anyone convicted of a felony will have their full legal rights restored. Do you know what felons can’t do after a conviction? Legally purchase guns. But these people now can do that, and they are thrilled.

This isn’t just an incidental ripple effect of the pardons. Rather, with the stroke of a marker, Trump has signaled, as several counterterrorism experts voiced to reporters at NPR, an “endorsement of political violence…as long as that violence is against Trump's opponents.”

For followers of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, this is very good news: Their ally in the White House has greenlit whatever they might do and the guns with which to do it. But for the rest of us, it raises real, unsettling questions: What does the future of political protest look like when the opposition has become so emboldened?

For me personally—a Puerto Rican Muslim—the prospect of a rejuvenated and protected modern-day KKK fills me with dread and fuels a deep-rooted mistrust I’ve had for years. There’s a pit in my stomach any time I go to the “good” grocery store and see white men walking the aisles. Is he one of them? Am I safe here? I have renewed doubts about the white people in my life. Would they stand up for me? Would they even know they needed to? With Trump rolling out all of the horrible things he’s promised,  I am mentally exhausted and emotionally drained—and it’s only been a day and a half.

But all of that is the point.

Fear is paralytic. It is divisive. It is distracting. It is the master’s tool. And when we think about what it will take to live through a second Trump presidency, the first unavoidable step is learning how to operate beyond fear. I don’t say that lightly; I say this as someone who is in the pit with you.

Surviving this administration will demand an enormous amount of work from every single one of us. And that work has to be based in community, or it will not survive the years ahead. Maybe that’s joining a PTA or neighborhood association, or running for school board. It could be working against gun violence. It could be running for city council or county commissioners office. It could be volunteer work or handing out supply kits to the unhoused or donating to local drives.

I also suggest engaging in the simplest act of defiance there is: reading. Go to your library and learn from those who fought these rights before we even got here. Read Audre Lorde. Read James Baldwin. Read Iris Morales. Read Angela Davis. Read Grace Lee Bogs. Read bell hooks and keep reading until you read yourself out of fear and into readiness.

There is no white hood, no “Roman Salute,” and no executive order stronger than what we can do together.

AND:

• One more note on executive orders: As you may have heard, Donald Trump is looking to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali. (Watch Hillary Clinton react to the new “Gulf of America” here.) Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) had what is the only appropriate response to Trump’s proposal to remove Denali’s Native name and reinstate its old title, Mt. McKinley, after President William McKinley: “Our nation’s tallest mountain, which has been called Denali for thousands of years,” she said, “must continue to be known by the rightful name bestowed by Alaska’s Koyukon Athabascans, who have stewarded the land since time immemorial.” My own proposal? If Donald Trump can locate Denali on a map of the United States, then he can change the name.

• Resistance can be beautiful. Yesterday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wore a collar and earrings made of cowrie shells to the inauguration. Cowries have many meanings—including as symbols of protection, womanhood, and, as Hannah Jackson  pointed out in Vogue, “a totem used to resist enslavement.”

DIVINE. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) 

• ICYMI: The anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life is actively searching for men whose partners have had abortions; the organization hopes to file lawsuits on behalf of these men and impose outrageous fines on abortion seekers and providers. This move is all kinds of awful, but it’s particularly dangerous for those in abusive relationships. Farah Diaz-Tello of If/When/How explained to Jezebel that these lawsuits will “[force] survivors to weigh the risks of their abusive relationships against their access to abortion.” Whose right to life are we talking about here?

• On Sunday, after 15 months of violence, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect. Prisoner swaps have begun, and as of Monday, the UN reports that more than 900 aid trucks have entered Palestine with food, fuel, and medical supplies.

CECILE RICHARDS FOREVER  

Yesterday morning, hours before we inaugurated a president who campaigned on his disdain for women and for democracy, we lost a woman who crusaded for both those things. Cecile Richards was probably our country’s best-known abortion-rights advocate; she led Planned Parenthood for a decade, testified for 12 hours before a hostile Congress, and helped launch Supermajority, Charley, and Abortion in America. She was also funny, determined, and cheerfully relentless; she gave spot-on advice, sized people up perfectly, and adored her brand-new grandson Teddy (when I typed her name just now, her contact auto populated and a picture of him in a little red onesie popped up on my screen). She was a mentor and a hero, to those of us she knew and to plenty she didn’t; if you had lunch with her, women would approach with tears in their eyes and a story you could tell they wanted to share. And she is gone far too soon: at 67, of a brain cancer that could not stop her from speaking on behalf of Kamala Harris at the convention last summer.

The daughter of Texas governor Ann Richards, Cecile understood organizing (and the strength of women) on a cellular level. Those are two things we need more than ever right now. We need Cecile, to be honest, but in her absence, we need each other. And as her family wrote yesterday, “We’ll leave you with a question she posed a lot over the last year: It’s not hard to imagine future generations one day asking: ‘When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do?’” And she said, of course, that there was only one answer: “Everything we could.”

—Cindi Leive

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Greetings, Meteor readers,

There’s a whole bunch going on ahead of Monday’s inauguration, so let’s get straight to it.

In today’s newsletter, Nona Willis Aronowitz examines the more than 100 executive orders Donald Trump reportedly plans to sign during his first days in office. Plus, a little news, and your weekend reading list.

Running on coffee and optimism,

Shannon Melero

WHAT'S GOING ON

How Trump plans to “flood the zone” on Day One: We’re only a few days from the beginning of Trump 2.0, and if the president-elect is to be believed, Inauguration Day will be one of “shock and awe.” That’s not because of anything you’ll see at the actual event; it’s because, as Trump told GOP senators in a private meeting last week, he’s preparing more than 100 executive orders for Day One. In case you need perspective: That’s a lot. President Biden, for example, issued just 17 orders on his first day (and 156 during his entire presidency thus far). Trump has long been planning to push the limits of his executive powers, and this first-day onslaught is an early sign that he’s serious. (Compare it with 2017, when Trump, shocked he had won, signed a grand total of one order on his first day and then basically took the weekend off.)

The EO onslaught is an example of Steve Bannon’s infamous “flood the zone” theory: Disorient the media and political establishment with so much information that they’ll be forced to prioritize only the wildest of the wild, letting the rest sail through. So what will the zone be flooded with Monday and Tuesday? Here’s what to expect.

Immigration and border restrictions

Much of Trump’s Day One will likely be focused on immigration. (Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller, one of the most notorious ghouls of the first Trump term, was present for last week’s meeting with senators.) Some initial orders may include…deep breath…reinstating the Muslim ban; declaring illegal immigration a national emergency; ordering the building of detention facilities; withholding federal funds to sanctuary cities; ending Biden’s humanitarian “parole” programs; finishing the U.S.-Mexico border wall; and even, potentially, closing the U.S.-Mexico border altogether, probably by citing a public health emergency.

ACTIVISTS AND MIGRANTS STAGED A PROTEST AGAINST TRUMP'S PROPOSED MASS DEPORTATIONS AT A U.S.-MEXICO POINT OF ENTRY LAST MONTH ON INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS DAY. (VIA GETTY IMAGES) 

Perhaps most consequential of all, Trump has repeatedly signaled that he plans to end birthright citizenship, a constitutional right that grants citizenship to any baby born on U.S. soil. “We have to end it,” he has said, calling it “ridiculous” and claiming falsely that we’re the only country that grants it. (More than 30 nations have unrestricted birthright citizenship.) It’s a blatantly unconstitutional move that would get challenged in court, but all it takes is five Supreme Court justices to find wiggle room in the 14th Amendment.

Climate and energy rollbacks

Another big Day One priority? Undoing Biden’s attempts to protect the environment. Trump says he has plans to lift various restrictions on fossil fuel production, reverse bans on offshore drilling and fracking, pull out of the Paris climate agreement (again!), and revoke waivers allowing states to strictly regulate pollution—all setbacks that would make the U.S.’s climate goals even further out of reach. He has also made a Day One promise to end what he calls the “electric vehicle mandate,” which refers to incentives and tax breaks for buying and making electric cars. The Republicans have long wanted to quash EV sales, but experts say the market and Detroit automakers may decide otherwise. (And Elon Musk may prove to be a “wild card.”)

Anti-trans moves

Trans people will be in the crosshairs on Day One, too: Trump has said he plans to reinstate and expand the policy banning them from military service, block them from competing in women’s sports, and prohibit trans minors from receiving gender-affirming care. These orders may very well be redundant, given the cruel legal and congressional efforts already underway, but perhaps not if your priority is to inflict pain on the trans community as swiftly as possible.

…and a smattering of other issues

Trump has talked early and often about pardoning January 6 prisoners, though he’s sent mixed messages about exactly who he’ll spare. He’ll probably reinstate his expanded version of the global gag rule, which prohibits NGOs from using their own, non-U.S. funds to provide abortion services or information overseas. A mainstay of his campaign stump speech was that he’d cut federal funding to public schools that have vaccine mandates (which is…literally all of them, and that’s why you don’t have polio). And he’s said he has plans to revive a 2020 executive order called Schedule F that would allow certain federal employees to be fired at will (which, although scary, might be quite hard to enforce).

OK, so: Does signing an executive order mean it’s automatically legal? Not quite. Many of these actions will be challenged in court, and in some cases subject to the (rather arcane) Federal Administrative Procedure Act. But besides determining policy, the sheer number of Trump’s Day One orders would set the tone for a more authoritarian era—and pose a test of the public’s ability to stay engaged in the face of chaos. With that in mind, some of these executive orders, especially the ones on immigration and trans rights, will have immediate impact on people’s lives. Stay tuned for more coverage next week.

—Nona Willis Aronowitz

AND:

• Yesterday, thousands took to the streets in Palestine to celebrate the announcement that an initial six-week ceasefire had been reached between Hamas and Israel. But that joy has been tempered by the fragile nature of the deal: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed a vote to approve the ceasefire, claiming Hamas had reneged on several last-minute concessions. (He did not specify which.) Israeli citizens are applying pressure on their government to settle the agreement, which would involve hostage and prisoner releases by both groups. Meanwhile, just a few hours after the ceasefire deal was announced, several Israeli military attacks in Gaza killed more than 80 people.

• The Biden administration has withdrawn a proposal that would have required health insurance companies to cover over-the-counter birth control methods. Why? The agencies responsible for creating the final regulations ran out of time to incorporate all of the feedback on the original proposal, according to a memo. Perhaps we should have centered women’s reproductive health a little earlier in the agenda? Maybe??

• Last week, more than 5,000 nurses, midwives, and doctors went on strike in Oregon across eight different hospitals and women’s health clinics. The providers are accusing Providence Health and Services, a large health care chain, of underpaying employees, understaffing hospitals, and offering unaffordable subpar health insurance. One nurse on strike told Labor Notes, “Providence used to be a nice community hospital, and now it’s venture capital with health care as a side gig.” This strike is the largest health care strike in Oregon’s history…and a similar one may be making its way to New York City.

• The 2025 WNBA season won’t start until May, but you don’t have to wait that long to watch your faves on the court. Tomorrow marks the start of the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a women’s basketball 3x3 league. Teams are fully loaded with WNBA greats like Skylar Diggins-Smith, Cameron Brink, Breanna “Welcome to Stewyork City” Stewart, Brittney Griner, Angel Reese, and DiJonai Carrington, just to name a few. You can support women’s sports by watching most Unrivaled games on TNT or streaming the entire season on Max.

WEEKEND READING 📚

On survival: For months, people in Gaza were unable to purchase one thing their lives depended on: HIV medication. (The Intercept)

On what children teach us: In this excerpt from an upcoming book she co-edited, Maya Schenwar tells the story of how motherhood changed her approach to prison abolition. (The Marshall Project)

On killing the fact-checkers: What difference did the now-defunct Facebook research team actually make? Plenty, writes former fact checker Carrie Monahan in “Bare Facebook Liar.” (Air Mail)

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