In the Blog
Mid-Week Round Up: June 24
Illustration: Erin McPhee
As we noted last week, nine people attending Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Church, a historically Black congregation in Charleston, South Carolina were shot and killed by a white supremacist. The suspected shooter, Dylann Roof, has been arrested. The victims were Sharonda Coleman-Singleton; Rev. Clementa Pinckney; Cynthia Hurd; Tywanza Sanders; Myra Thompson; Ethel Lee Lance; Rev. Daniel L. Simmons; Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor; and Susie Jackson. Some essential readings and reflections on the mass shooting:
- Know Their Names: Artist Sarah Green’s portraits of the nine victims.
- Charleston and White Supremacy: A Reading List
- #Charlestonsyllabus: An extremely comprehensive list of readings that comment on the Charleston shooting as well as put it into historical context.
- South Carolina governor Nikki Haley calls for removal of Confederate battle flag from the state capitol
Sixteen-year-old Melissa Mayeux has made baseball history, becoming the first woman ball player to be added to Major League Baseball’s international registration list. This means she will be eligible to be signed by a professional baseball club. A shortstop, Mayeux says she’d “like to stay in baseball as long as possible.”
The US Treasury announced last week that the new $10 bill will feature a woman. By federal law, any figure represented on currency must be deceased and have played a major role in US democracy. The treasury has not decided on which historical figure will appear — the public is encouraged to provide suggestions using the hashtag #TheNew10. Writing on the announcement for Rolling Stone Suzy Exposito notes that having a woman on the face of a bill won’t change income inequality women and women of colour face:
“Given the current state of the gender wage gap, will this lady-faced $10 bill be worth a mere $7.80? Or would it be worth even less if the face of the bill is a woman of color?”
In the piece Exposito offers a list of “10 best possibilities for the next powerful woman to grace federal currency” including Shirley Chisolm the first Black woman to run for presidency under the Democratic party, Wilma Mankiller the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, and legendary abolitionist Harriett Tubman.
Google has announced that it will begin removing “revenge porn” from its search results upon request. (Revenge porn is when sexually explicit or nude images are shared online without the photo subject’s consent.)
Pride Toronto kicked off on Friday, June 19. Among many events across the city, Pride will feature the Trans* March on June 26, the Dyke March on June 27, and the Pride Parade on June 28.
A reminder: Shameless Youth Advisory Board applications are due July 6.
