Dear John,
President Fran Drescher of SAG-AFTRA represents our feelings best this week: THE JIG IS UP. In our conditions of work, in our conditions of safety, in the midst of the climate catastrophes that are unrolling across the planet. This week’s News Digest centers folks taking action against these conditions. And sports!
Here’s what we’re reading, watching, and listening to this week:
1. The biggest Hollywood walkout
“Because at some point, the jig is up. You cannot continue being dwindled and marginalized and disrespected and dishonored,” Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA president shares about the recent decision to strike. Watch her powerful words and learn more about the actors' strike in this New York Times piece.
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2. The temperatures are too damn high
While planes are delayed during extreme heat because the tarmac may melt, Amazon delivery drivers have had to continue working despite 135-degree temperatures in the back of the trucks. This week, delivery drivers went on their first-ever strike, demanding safer conditions.
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3. The rent is too damn high
“The government is in business with our landlords, and we need the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the chief regulator of their industry, to take tenants’ expertise seriously, to weigh it against these profiteering lobbyists, and to enact the tenant protections we need,” shares Tara Raghuveer, the Homes Guarantee Campaign Director with the People’s Action national network. Read more about tenant organizing efforts putting pressure on the Biden Administration to push for rent control.
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4. White liberals and MPD
"What really comes through in the DOJ report is a sense of impunity, the belief that rules don’t apply to MPD like they do to everyone else. Probably because no one has ever forced them to abide by those rules,” writes journalist J. Patrick Coolican of the Minnesota Reformer about the DOJ’s recent report on MPD’s unlawful behavior.
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5. Life (no longer) without parole
A sentence to life without parole was abolished for juveniles in Minnesota this past year, supported by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. Most kids who spend their life in prison come from Ramsey and Hennepin Counties and are disproportionately Black and Latine. Now dozens of people have the chance to come home.
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6. Megan Rapinoe
I (Jessica) have been a fan of #Pinoe, and not just because of her soccer skills and cool hair styles. She’s been a powerful voice for equal pay. This week she announced her retirement from the U.S. women’s soccer team, and she's using the opportunity to (of course) make a statement.
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7. Trans and nonbinary changemakers
We shared the June 14th MPR Changemaker profile on Seal Dwyer of St. Cloud last month, but really, the whole series featuring trans and nonbinary people transforming Minnesota is inspiring. Make sure you know these 13 Changemakers’ names.
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8. Le Tour de France
I (Katie) have become a regular July fan of the Tour de France bike race after learning about how it’s a team sport… and an individual sport… and kind of 5 different competitions all in one. Check out one of the epic mountain stages this weekend - and *please* reply to the Digest if you’re also a Tour fan because Katie needs more people to text about the drama!
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9. Pickle lemonade
It’s just one of the culinary delights you’ll be able to sample at the State Fair this year, and as a fan of the fermented, I (Jessica) am stoked to give it a try. MPR shares more about the 34 new foods featured at the fair this year.
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10. Birds: 1, Humans: 0
Birds are building nests with anti-bird-nest-wire (!!!), reports the New York Times.
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And that’s a wrap!
Send us what you’re reading, watching and listening to.
Until next time,
Katie Blanchard (she/her)
Basebuilding Director
Jessica Zimmerman (she/her)
Development Director
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