Vox: All Posts by Michelle Garciahttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2019-01-17T14:07:45-05:00https://www.vox.com/authors/michelle-garcia/rss2019-01-17T14:07:45-05:002019-01-17T14:07:45-05:003 parts you don’t remember from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
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<img alt="Martin Luther King Jr., at the March on Washington in 1963, where he delivered the famous "I Have a Dream" speech." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u-wgK--dGyKZZwh-uPv-4VNs8OE=/19x0:1006x740/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48585369/GettyImages-2674125.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Martin Luther King Jr., at the March on Washington in 1963, where he delivered the famous "I Have a Dream" speech.</figcaption>
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<p>MLK’s speech highlighted the unfulfilled promise of economic freedom for black Americans — and the White House feared the aftermath.</p> <p id="eoIdk4">If you’ve attended an American elementary school in the last 30 years, you’re probably fairly familiar with Martin Luther King Jr.’s <a href="https://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf">historic speech</a>, "I Have a Dream," delivered at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.</p>
<p id="DYKOta">The march, held 100 years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, was capped by King's powerful speech, setting the tone for a national movement for Civil Rights as the country’s own identity was in flux. The march was a turning point, merging the demonstrations for racial equality concentrated in southern states, with widespread discontent in the north, to a full, national movement.</p>
<p id="OXQbJk">Interestingly, the most iconic part of the speech, which most people remember, was not exactly prepared. The resounding finale to his speech (a version of which was delivered in Detroit two months prior) was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/opinion/mahalia-jackson-and-kings-rhetorical-improvisation.html?_r=0">improvised</a> at the end of his prepared remarks about the unfulfilled promise of economic freedom for people of color. The speech breaks from the central theme of the event — economic opportunity and equality — to sketch a broader vision of a nation where people are not "judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."</p>
<p id="yrZqM5">Nevertheless, his words galvanized the 250,000 attendees and the millions of others watching from afar. Right there, King set the agenda for the next several years of activism. The sentiment behind his speech still echoes decades years later, especially as people continue to fight income inequality, police brutality, and workplace discrimination.</p>
<h3 id="HoezSS">The urgency of now</h3>
<p id="DhsJ9d">The march was a peaceful demonstration following months of unrest across the country. Earlier that summer, Alabama Gov. George Wallace <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/press-past/2013/06/11/george-wallace-stood-in-a-doorway-at-the-university-of-alabama-50-years-ago-today">fought against</a> admitting black students to the University of Alabama, civil rights activist <a href="http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-medgar-evers">Medgar Evers </a>was assassinated, and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/birmingham-erupted-chaos-1963-battle-civil-rights-exploded-south-article-1.1071793">riots</a> popped up in several cities. But even then, some (including the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/28/politics/march-on-washington-kennedy-jitters/">Kennedy</a> administration) said a march would accomplish little, and that equality would come in due time:</p>
<blockquote><p id="3XtmGd">This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.</p></blockquote>
<p id="m1XWFg">In the era that followed, King's sense of urgency not only colored the movement for racial equality, but for that of gender equality and LGBTQ rights. Waiting for the majority to come around on these issues without challenging the status quo, as King said, is a losing tactic.</p>
<h3 id="ZPO7nr">The need for allies</h3>
<p id="siweSD">Instead, King draws on the building excitement of the movement to welcome and recruit others:</p>
<blockquote><p id="qAyQhB">The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.</p></blockquote>
<p id="G52VeO">Fast forward five decades, and King's words on the importance of allies remains key to change, whether it's white allies standing up for the fair treatment of people of color, male allies for women and gender equality, or cisgender and straight allies for LGBTQ rights.</p>
<h3 id="yU6uAt">"We cannot be satisfied"</h3>
<p id="PrsCAS">King then goes deeper, giving the harsh and very real examples of what people of color were fighting against then (and in some cases, are <a href="https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports98/police/uspo17.htm">still fighting</a> against):</p>
<blockquote><p id="ulDDhG">There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."</p></blockquote>
<p id="bz1l8N">Many have said King's declaration that sweltering August afternoon was a spark, not only for the movement, but for others who sat on the sidelines watching all the protests, sit-ins, boycotts and riots for the last decade.</p>
<p id="29AOJD">And while the March on Washington was initially worrisome for the Kennedy administration, the White House embraced it. Two months before the march, President John Kennedy <a href="http://www.pbs.org/video/2365069930/">announced</a> his plans for a civil rights bill as the country bubbled in the turmoil caused by Evers' murder and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/birmingham-erupted-chaos-1963-battle-civil-rights-exploded-south-article-1.1071793">race riots </a>that ensued.</p>
<p id="MhWJBN">After King's momentous speech, followed by even broader continued activism, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/07/02/day-history-president-lyndon-b-johnson-signed-civil-rights-act-1964">1964</a> and the Voting Rights Act of <a href="http://www.justice.gov/crt/history-federal-voting-rights-laws">1965</a>.</p>
<p id="SmGGEH">Watch the full speech below:</p>
<div id="FzfbFk"><div style="left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HRIF4_WzU1w?wmode=transparent&rel=0&autohide=1&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" style="top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div></div>
https://www.vox.com/2016/1/18/10785618/martin-luther-king-dream-speechMichelle Garcia2018-09-11T12:31:28-04:002018-09-11T12:31:28-04:00A new editorial cartoon shows yet another racist depiction of Serena Williams
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<img alt="Serena Williams argues with umpire Carlos Ramos during the Women’s singles finals match against Naomi Osaka at the US Open" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qFofLwTTHXatCpH3vbxSvI4WFjY=/351x0:3159x2106/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61264565/1029468670.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Serena Williams argues with umpire Carlos Ramos during the women’s singles final match against Naomi Osaka at the US Open. | Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The depiction of Serena Williams was disappointing, but not unprecedented.</p> <p id="IzsfhM">An Australian newspaper ran a nasty editorial cartoon on Monday, attempting to capture the fallout of the contentious US Open women’s final that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/10/17837598/serena-williams-us-open-umpire-carlos-ramos">ended in controversy over the weekend</a>.</p>
<p id="8mI1DG">Herald-Sun cartoonist Mark Knight’s image shows a monstrous, hulking depiction of Serena Williams stomping her racket into the ground. A discarded pacifier lies nearby, as if Williams is a toddler throwing a tantrum. In the background, umpire Carlos Ramos asks her opponent, Naomi Osaka, “Can you just let her win?” (update: Knight’s account is now inactive)</p>
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<img alt="Screengrab: Mark Knight’s editorial cartoon" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XIjCXj9o1-5OAagrEvyN5EfCFJ8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12892069/Screen_Shot_2018_09_10_at_10.58.43_AM.png">
<cite>twitter</cite>
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<p id="xjYnIL">The women’s final ended with Osaka winning the match, after Williams got into <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/9/17837310/serena-williams-ref-violation-thief-carlos-ramos">a dispute with Ramos</a> over scoring penalties. The penalties followed an initial verbal warning that Ramos issued to Williams about receiving coaching from the sidelines. Williams first challenged Ramos over the coaching call; later, after Williams smashed her racket in frustration over losing a game, Ramos penalized her by a point for the racket abuse. </p>
<p id="7J9oXZ">After that, Williams called him a “thief,” and he ultimately penalized her by an entire game for what he said was verbal abuse. Both during and after the match, Williams called out the sexist double standards that she says colored Ramos’s calls, specifically noting that many male tennis players have not been penalized as harshly (or at all) for similar (or worse) outbursts.</p>
<h3 id="dlWVpR">The cartoon was a bad look — and it’s nothing new for Serena Williams’s detractors</h3>
<p id="V8DNM1">Whether or not you think Williams’s behavior during the match warranted the penalties that eventually cost her the game, Knight’s depiction of Williams is a jarring reminder of insidious, racist tropes that undercut black women in America. And Williams has repeatedly been a target of those tropes — despite the fact that she’s one of the most prominent, successful athletes in the world, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rogers-federer-serena-williams-greatest-tennis-player-ever-2018-5">regardless of gender</a> — throughout her storied career.</p>
<p id="0Y5G8b">(For contrast, it’s worth noting how Osaka, who is Japanese and Haitian, is depicted in the cartoon as lithe, expressionless, and, <a href="https://twitter.com/Soso_sulfur/status/1039060252744982535">as some have observed</a>, seemingly whitewashed.)</p>
<p id="oBsm1c">Knight’s cartoon is a literal illustration of the way society is quick to degrade women — and black women in particular — when they don’t fall in line with the ways women are “supposed” to act. Not only is Williams depicted as a petulant toddler for having spoken up about what she felt was a sexist call, but also as a hulking, animal-like brute. </p>
<p id="1DzDeH">As Jenée Desmond-Harris has <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/1/28/14424624/serena-williams-wins-australian-open-venus-record-racist-sexist-attacks">previously detailed for Vox</a>, Williams’s career has long been marked by racist remarks and assumptions made by tennis spectators, fellow players, and the media. After Williams won the French Open in 2015, for example, Desmond-Harris wrote:</p>
<blockquote><p id="F6s1WW">Williams was compared to an animal, likened to a man, and deemed frightening and horrifyingly unattractive. One Twitter user wrote that Williams “looks like a gorilla, and sounds like a gorilla when she grunts while hitting the ball. In conclusion, she is a gorilla.” And another described her as “so unbelievably dominant ... and manly.”</p></blockquote>
<p id="OlD3D4">Knight’s cartoon picks up these assertions and runs with them. </p>
<p id="Yk20jQ">Williams’s body, like the bodies of many other women athletes, is under constant scrutiny. But as a muscular black woman whose career is full of wins, Williams regularly becomes the subject of commentary that is simply degrading at best, and openly racist at worst. It often harks back to a time when women of color were treated like curiosities, or even worse, zoological attractions. </p>
<p id="aE0v7n">Knight’s illustration seems to equate Williams with figures like Saartjie Baartman, also known as the Hottentot Venus, an African woman who was paraded before European audiences as nothing more than a freak-show attraction. “No matter how insanely successful black women like Serena become, the legacy of the Hottentot Venus will always be ready to rear its ugly head at an opportune moment,” <a href="http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/12/15/serena-williams-the-hottentot-venus-and-accidental-racism/">Anita Little wrote in 2012</a> for Ms. Magazine. </p>
<p id="Dc5wK0">Little also described a 2012 incident where Danish tennis<strong> </strong>player Caroline Wozniacki mocked Williams’s body by stuffing her outfit with towels at an exhibition match. “If Caroline truly wanted to impersonate Serena,” Little wrote, “she could have padded her legs and arms to represent Serena’s muscled physique, but she targeted specific body parts — breasts and booty — for her little prank. The supposed hypersexuality of a black woman’s anatomy is a ceaseless trope that is always used to get a laugh. The racist undertones of Caroline’s stunt may not have been deliberate, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there.”</p>
<p id="gbtw5R">In <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/herald-sun-backs-mark-knights-cartoon-on-serena-williams/news-story/30c877e3937a510d64609d89ac521d9f">a Herald Sun article</a> responding to the fallout, Knight defended the cartoon, saying it “is about her poor behaviour on the day, not about race. The world has just gone crazy.” But of course, the cartoon does not have to be “about race” to feature racist imagery. As Noah Berlatsky, author of Wonder Woman: Bondage and Feminism in the Marston/Peter Comics, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/world/australia/serena-williams-cartoon-herald-sun-racist.html">told the New York Times,</a> racist imagery has plagued cartooning for generations. </p>
<p id="yWETlg">“The problem is that picking up racist iconography from 100 years ago in order to attack a black woman still makes you racist, even if you think you’re participating in the tradition of comics rather than in the tradition of racism,” Berlatsky said. “The tradition of comics very often has been the same as the tradition of racism, and you can choose to push back against that, or you can be racist. Knight has chosen the second option.” </p>
<p id="8QHbsV">Williams’s detractors have singled out her body as mockable, and her femininity as debatable, because of her strength and skill. She’s often been reduced to an amalgamation of hypersexual body parts or described as animal-like. But while her fellow players, media commentators, and tennis fans ridicule her body, Williams has no problem calling out this problematic double standard. Above all, though, she just keeps playing because that is simply what she does.</p>
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https://www.vox.com/2018/9/10/17841366/serena-williams-editorial-cartoon-racistMichelle Garcia2018-09-07T11:02:44-04:002018-09-07T11:02:44-04:00Serena Williams, working mom hero
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<img alt="Day Eight: The Championships - Wimbledon 2018" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VjvfFhhKesebBlQBfGiXhkl9-gM=/185x0:3205x2265/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60341799/995363246.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Michael Steele/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Being a working parent, even for someone with resources like Serena Williams, is still tough stuff.</p> <p id="fFsYn1">Tennis pro Serena Williams is heading to the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/tennis/2018/9/6/17829768/us-open-results-2018-serena-williams-naomi-osaka-final-scores">US Open women’s final</a> this weekend. </p>
<p id="4uI7Id">At age 36, just a year after giving birth to her baby girl, Williams is still playing excellent tennis. If she wins this final against 20-year-old Naomi Osaka, Williams will earn a 24th Grand Slam title, which would equal Margaret Court’s record number of title wins. As retired tennis great Chris Evert said after Williams advanced in the quarterfinal against Evgeniya Rodina at Wimbledon earlier this year, “This was as close to perfection as you can get.”</p>
<p id="X7Nch1">This “perfection” is all the more remarkable because we know it’s been hard fought. In the months since her daughter was born, Williams has been open about the effort it’s taken to recover from childbirth and return to athletic form. She’s also been honest about the time with her daughter that she’s had to miss to accommodate her training schedule.</p>
<p id="ADXlFi">So at first glance, Serena Williams is the least relatable working mother in history — she has endorsement deals, a big fancy house, a clothing line, and an incredibly storied tennis career, in addition to a successful husband and beautiful baby girl. Your typical working mother packaging food in a warehouse, or fixing patients’ teeth as a dentist, or teaching a classroom of fidgeting children probably wouldn’t see Williams and think, “Gee, she’s really just like me.”</p>
<p id="4ENfEk">But Williams’s willingness to discuss the challenges she’s faced sends an important message: being a working parent is hard. And if the greatest tennis player of all time can admit it, so should all of us.</p>
<h3 id="wI7hbB">Williams reminds all of us: physically recovering from childbirth and returning to work is hard</h3>
<p id="lKs0vr">Williams’s process of becoming a mother was nowhere close to effortless. Shortly after the birth of her daughter, Williams faced potentially fatal childbirth complications related to her history of pulmonary embolisms, <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/serena-williams-vogue-cover-interview-february-2018">she recalled in a Vogue</a> cover story. </p>
<p id="ME3LjL">As <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/1/11/16879984/serena-williams-childbirth-scare-black-women">P.R. Lockhart wrote for Vox</a> earlier this year, “Williams’s harrowing account places her among the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/12/22/572298802/nearly-dying-in-childbirth-why-preventable-complications-are-growing-in-u-s">50,000 women</a> (an estimate that researchers say could actually be on the low end) in America who deal with dangerous or life-threatening, pregnancy-related complications each year. Black women are disproportionately likely to face these complications, and they are also more likely to fall victim to America’s ongoing maternal mortality crisis, being <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pregnancy-relatedmortality.htm">three to four times</a> more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related complications.”</p>
<p id="0SWlYk">Her road back to the highest levels of tennis has not been easy. After weeks of bedrest, Williams spent months rebuilding herself to world-class athlete status. Like other mothers who have the ability to take time off from work after having children, Williams spent time healing her body, bonding with her baby, and preparing to make her own comeback as a working parent. </p>
<p id="sdqkor">Though she qualified for the Australian Open in January, <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/tennis/2018/1/4/16852214/serena-williams-australian-open-tennis-withdraws">Williams withdrew</a>, citing concerns she was not prepared to compete to the best of her ability. When she headed to the French Open in May, Williams was not seeded because she was returning from maternity leave. She was ranked 453rd, forcing her to face tougher competition earlier in the tournament, which led to a pectoral injury that made her drop out. Williams advanced to the Wimbledon final where she eventually lost to Angelique Kerber, but <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/15/tennis/serena-williams-wimbledon-mothers/index.html">dedicated</a> her performance to other mothers. Now the Women’s Tennis Association <a href="http://www.wtatennis.com/news/focus-wta-maternity-leave-policy-rankings-and-seedings">is reviewing the rules</a> about rankings after maternity leave, simply because what seemed unlikely years ago, is now becoming common: Women are returning to their athletic careers after having children. </p>
<p id="xlB1w7">Getting to this point in Williams’s career took concerted effort. Being a working mother takes effort too. Despite fathers becoming increasingly involved in childrearing, mothers statistically still take on the majority of care, on top of their jobs. In Williams’s case, it took months of training and rehabilitation to return to an elite level of play. Sure, Williams is financially loaded compared to most of us, and surely has a team of people to help her (providing cooking, and cleaning, and child care, and athletic training, and medical care, for starters). But the fact that she has hit bumps along the way in spite of all her resources shows just how challenging the transition to being a working mother is. </p>
<p id="bGtXKF">It was the opposite of how Marissa Mayer treated her return to the helm of Yahoo after having a baby in 2012. <a href="http://fortune.com/2012/10/02/marissa-mayers-brief-maternity-leave-progress-or-workaholism/">She famously took two weeks off</a>, and still worked from home during that time. Mayer has since admitted her short leave was <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2016/05/06/technology/yahoo-marissa-mayer-maternity-leave/index.html">an exception and not the rule</a>, but the message was clear: recovering from childbirth is relatively easy, and combining work and parenting is as simple as building a nursery next to your office.</p>
<p id="e22OMY">And it’s the opposite of how parenting is often portrayed on social media, especially by celebrities — smiling children, clean houses, vacations, gorgeous dinners.</p>
<h3 id="oGsS5g">And you miss stuff</h3>
<p id="Gbts7r">Working moms are dealt a double case of FOMO: fear of missing out on our careers if we don’t “lean in” (or fear of not making rent), combined with the fear of missing the childhood milestones like a baby’s first word, a kid’s first home run, or a teenager’s first heartbreak. Like other working mothers, who know all too well what this is like, Williams openly lamented missing Alexis Olympia’s first steps last week. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">She took her first steps... I was training and missed it. I cried.</p>— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) <a href="https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/1015514300490960896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2018</a>
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<p id="k0JcaL">Before that, she expressed the guilt she felt when she decided she needed to stop breastfeeding. In a <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/serena-williams-reveals-cried-bit-stopped-breastfeeding-daughter/story?id=56297442">press conference with reporters</a> before Wimbledon, no less, Williams shared the experience.</p>
<p id="HhXqY9">“I literally sat Olympia in my arms, I talked to her, we prayed about it. I told her, ‘Look, I’m going to stop. Mommy has to do this.’ I cried a little bit, not as much as I thought I was,” she said. </p>
<p id="8UITlU">And Olympia’s reaction? “She was totally fine.”</p>
<p id="J6GFuL">Williams’s experience is a reminder to other working moms that <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/7/10/17548028/trump-baby-formula-breastfeeding-mothers-health">breastfeeding</a> doesn’t always work for everyone; that your child can still grow up strong on formula; that you’ll miss some of the milestones but not all of them. Parental guilt is completely real. But maybe if we can all admit that raising children and holding down a job can be tough, more parents would spend less time feeling pressure and guilt, and more time on the things that matter most to them, whatever they may be. </p>
<p id="mGAduU"><em>Correction: World Tennis Organization has been changed to the Women’s Tennis Association. We regret the error.</em></p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/11/17561340/serena-williams-working-mom-tennis-wimbledonMichelle Garcia2018-08-31T19:20:02-04:002018-08-31T19:20:02-04:00Photos: Aretha Franklin’s funeral was absolutely fit for the Queen of Soul
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q13tkM8qJ-dDZN8wk3kqTOgUclE=/180x0:1620x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61102833/IMG_2556.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Detroit honors Aretha Franklin on August 31, 2018. | Rachel E. Thomas for Vox</figcaption>
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<p>Franklin was laid to rest in a glistening golden casket during a day-long service attended by family and friends, as well as musicians, politicians, activists, and clergy. </p> <p id="YJjU8P">The Queen of Soul has been laid to rest. </p>
<p id="Rehdfu">Fans flocked to Detroit on Friday<strong> </strong>to pay respects to legendary singer <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/8/16/17683028/aretha-franklin-obituary">Aretha Franklin, who died August 16</a> at the age of 76. The funeral service was a gathering of family and friends, as well as musicians, politicians, activists, and prominent African-American clergy, who mourned the death and celebrated the life of one of the most revered performers in American popular music. </p>
<p id="EUAnMZ">“Nothing sounded better to me than the way my grandma sings. Her voice made you feel something,” said her granddaughter, Victorie Franklin. “You felt every word, every note, every emotion in the songs she sang. Her voice brought peace.”</p>
<aside id="iSWGOp"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Aretha Franklin’s long reign as the Queen of Soul, explained in 12 performances","url":"https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/8/16/17688488/aretha-franklin-legendary-performance-queen-of-soul"}]}'></div></aside><p id="MvrE5O">The <a href="https://fremonttribune.com/entertainment/music/aretha-franklin-homegoing-also-celebration-of-black-culture/article_f3c86b29-71ca-5a2a-b33b-6c57187581c6.html">homegoing</a> service, at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple, was undoubtedly fit for royalty. Franklin lay in a glistening golden casket before thousands including dignitaries, contemporaries, and fans from her adopted hometown and beyond. Former President Bill Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder, actress Cicely Tyson, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/8/31/17806190/aretha-franklin-funeral-sharpton-trump">Rev. Al Sharpton</a>, and music executive Clive Davis were among the roster of speakers during the service. </p>
<p id="TwzESv">Also fitting for such an influential musical artist, several performers paid tribute to Franklin, including Ariana Grande, Stevie Wonder, the Clark Sisters, Faith Hill, Chaka Khan, Smokey Robinson, and a full gospel choir.</p>
<p id="49bOU0">“I’ve been watching the celebration of your life from everywhere and I’ve been doing interviews from everywhere from all over the world,” Robinson said in his sendoff to Franklin, who’d been his longtime friend. “In fact, the last one I did was from Brazil and the station that I was talking on covered all of South America. So the world is celebrating you. And the world is mourning you, and the world is going to miss you.” Robinson then sang a somber rendition of his song, “Really Gonna Miss You.” </p>
<p id="JEMnRC">Throngs of people hoping to catch a final glimpse of the star lined the streets around the site of the day-long service, which began Friday morning and continued well into the early evening. </p>
<p id="ZE35lu">Here’s a glance at Franklin’s final sendoff. </p>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uPjIEsYdTSm8lVr8IRgHVMZVwfg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12765681/GettyImages_1025501578.jpg">
<cite>Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>The casket arrives at Greater Grace Temple.</figcaption>
</figure>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CyNnpP499nAkK7I-U1CVwzjqyns=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12765683/GettyImages_1025508052.jpg">
<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Franklin’s remains arrive for her funeral service.</figcaption>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Guests arrive at the funeral.</figcaption>
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</div>
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<cite>Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Smokey Robinson (left) stands with Bishop Charles Ellis III (center), pastor of Greater Grace Temple, and the Rev. Robert Smith, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church.</figcaption>
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<img alt="Fans of soul music icon Aretha Franklin line up outside Greater Grace Temple hoping to be one of the thousand members of the general public to be allowed into the singer’s funeral." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LYjgCTPiOxlWoFD9yNWrQzdrbnE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12765689/GettyImages_1025530694.jpg">
<cite>Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</cite>
</figure>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Retired Judge Greg Mathis.</figcaption>
</figure>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Singer Faith Hill.</figcaption>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Franklin’s family members share stories of the late singer’s life.</figcaption>
</figure>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.</figcaption>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Former President Bill Clinton.</figcaption>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Singer Ariana Grande.</figcaption>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Al Sharpton</figcaption>
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<cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Singer Chaka Khan.</figcaption>
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</div>
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<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Su4u5GXkUjCvhVyvWiGzFsD3H_4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12765721/GettyImages_1025540692.jpg">
<cite>Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Media and friends of Franklin stand outside Greater Grace Temple.</figcaption>
</figure>
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<cite>Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Fans watch the singer’s funeral on a giant screen outside Greater Grace Temple.</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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<cite>Bill Pugliano/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Pink Cadillacs lined up outside Greater Grace Temple.</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
https://www.vox.com/2018/8/31/17804236/aretha-franklin-funeral-photos-detroit-homegoingMichelle Garcia2018-07-12T17:10:01-04:002018-07-12T17:10:01-04:00Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is not running for president in 2020. Good.
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<img alt="Dwayne the Rock Johnson" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xspupJPbyB4t570FXpZv6UOeVFU=/152x0:3667x2636/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60352553/944824822.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Jeff Spicer/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="irUfMk">In a world where the <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/flashback-watch-the-simpsons-predict-president-trump-in-2000-20160317">Simpsons joke</a> that Donald Trump would be our president has actually come true, it sort of makes sense that we’d consider our highest-grossing box-office hero for the job, too. </p>
<p id="uhSMwS">Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s return as the King of Summer officially begins Friday with the release of <em>Skyscraper</em>, which promises to be a true thrill ride filled with <a href="https://melmagazine.com/we-got-a-math-professor-to-calculate-whether-the-rock-dies-in-that-epic-skyscraper-movie-poster-8debb70ec8b4">physics-defying</a> stunts. In his return comes a revelation a year in the making: due to time constraints, Johnson <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/07/the-rock-dwayne-johnson-skyscraper-president-2020">will not run for president</a> — at least not in 2020. </p>
<p id="rIlJ1f">Talk of Johnson’s potential political cachet reached a fever pitch last year after an entertaining <a href="http://www.gq.com/story/dwayne-johnson-for-president-cover">GQ cover story by Caity Weaver</a>, in anticipation of <em>Baywatch</em> and the third season of his HBO series <em>Ballers</em>. With interest in Johnson seemingly higher than ever, and with politics influencing everything under the sun, the profile’s headline itself plainly proposed “Dwayne Johnson for President.” </p>
<p id="VGesNp">The central question had become whether a beloved celebrity and nearly (<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/5/26/15688668/baywatch-review-movie-efron-the-rock"><em>nearly</em></a>) infallible box-office draw could wind up in the White House. Even Johnson was <a href="https://youtu.be/8np0DiQQnP4">in on the joke</a>, as he and Tom Hanks buddied up during his Saturday Night Live monologue to announce they were running together for president. </p>
<p id="AO0UgF">Sure, at one point in time, this sounded like a ridiculous question: A hulked-out former pro-wrestler with whom America fell in love for his over-the-top action movies and laying the smackdown on his opponents in the ring, for political office? Give me a break. </p>
<p id="X5WdGV">Then again, who doesn’t like Dwayne Johnson? Literally name one person who doesn’t like him at least a little. It’s scientifically impossible. </p>
<p id="m8Ngn3">The transition from celebrity to politico is not insurmountable — actress <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/22/17144074/andrew-cuomo-cynthia-nixon-governor-new-york">Cynthia Nixon</a> is currently betting on that. And on the flip side of the political-popularity association, some politicians gain a certain level of celebrity that either catapults them into office, or keeps them there. </p>
<p id="OLedf2">Does this mean that The Rock is perfect for public office? Maybe. But he’s also one of the few entities most Americans can actually agree about. That’s because Johnson has done a fine job of keeping his more controversial political beliefs to himself — there’s nothing for half of the country to disagree with him about. </p>
<p id="0l61oQ">So why would we want to waste him on politics? </p>
<h3 id="TKth5l">The Rock has been cultivating an unwavering fan base for two decades</h3>
<p id="lK8IeP">For those of you who didn’t obsessively tune into WWE programming every night of the week in the 1990s, let me quickly catch you up. The Rock gained popularity in what’s known as the WWE’s “Attitude era,” which is where you get your Stone Colds and your Chynas. This was a time of huge personalities for pro-wrestling. </p>
<p id="TPlP0C">After his less-than-stellar introduction as a third-generation wrestler, then his turn as a heel — that’s a bad guy — The Rock emerged as a wise-cracking, endlessly entertaining, astoundingly athletic star of a golden era of pro wrestling. </p>
<p id="YiCV0T">From 1999 to 2002, the arena would erupt every time he was called to the ring. His face practically popped off every Megatron from Wooster, Massachusetts, to San Diego, as he spouted the best smack talk in the business. </p>
<p id="CT16xc">With the crack of “Can you smellllll what The Rock is cookin’!?” blaring over the loudspeaker at the beginning of his entrance music, every fan rose to their feet as though the president was entering Congress to deliver the State of the Union. In the background of every Rock match, cameras flashed from the cheap seats to ringside, hoping to catch the moment that the People’s Elbow came flying down on an opponent. </p>
<p id="YyV0LF">As he truly lived up to his label as “The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment,” Hollywood came calling. The Rock stole the show as Scorpion King in an otherwise forgettable Mummy movie, to the point where he got <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277296/reference">his own spinoff</a>. Then came <em>Saturday Night Live, </em>on which he made his fifth appearance as host in 2017. Then came more TV. More movies. Starring roles. Sequels. Franchises.</p>
<p id="QMSvVC">Eventually, people who wouldn’t be able to name a Pay-Per-View match beyond Wrestlemania knew Johnson as an action hero who used to be a wrestler. His electric personality fit in perfectly with his film characters, and once he was able to dial back the over-the-top wrestler persona, you get what we know today: a funny, humble guy who <a href="http://www.muscleandfitness.com/nutrition/meal-plans/smell-what-rock-cooking">eats like a beast</a> and works out like, well, two beasts. </p>
<p id="xQ1VHC">As Weaver notes in her profile, Johnson’s outspoken in his respect for military service members and veterans. He loves his family. He talks openly about how hard he works, whether it’s in the gym, or on a movie set, or for charity. Plus there’s no ignoring that the star sounds like a leader with a campaign slogan: “More poise, less noise,” as he <a href="https://www.maxim.com/news/the-rock-find-his-campaign-slogan-2017-5">said on the <em>Tonight Show</em></a>. </p>
<p id="cLyAKX">Minus some policy talk, you might say he’s been cultivating a version of himself that’s similar to that of an emerging politician, tweeting and Instagramming glimpses into his life that make him seem accessible — like someone you’d want to have a beer with. Aside from hammering opponents on health care, for example, isn’t that how politicians (or anyone, really) make a name for themselves now, anyway? </p>
<p id="2E4T9T">Over the years, Johnson’s earned a built-in base of millions of unwavering fans. Yet despite his life being an open book, there’s also very little we really, truly know about how he thinks. </p>
<h3 id="NHQP3l">Wait, what, exactly are The Rock’s politics?</h3>
<p id="9DnSPW">By now we know Johnson’s political stances are quite mysterious, and he admits in Weaver’s profile that he’s kept it that way for a reason. Especially with a nation so politically fractured, opening up on potentially unpopular opinions could lose him fans and potentially harm his career. And even relying on flat stereotypes to guess where he comes down politically isn’t that easy. </p>
<p id="H8lytn">Think about it, what do you really know about The Rock’s politics? He’s <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-rock-shares-feminist-goals-for-his-daughter-in-sweet-instagram_us_58f8ffd8e4b00fa7de124a08">getting acquainted with feminism</a>, has clearly stated he dislikes the Muslim travel ban, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377471/reference">played gay in a movie</a> before it was cool, so he must be somewhere on the left, right? </p>
<p id="SMnnMd">But he spoke at the 2000 Republican National Convention, he loves, loves, loves the troops, and seems, in his movies at least, comfortable with guns, so maybe<strong> </strong>he’s on the right? He opted not to endorse either presidential candidate back in 2016, and hasn’t publicly said how he voted. He is exceedingly cautious in how he criticizes Trump, which could be either because he doesn’t want to alienate Republicans, or to prevent Democrats from appropriating his statements as a rejection of the president.</p>
<p id="wZTnbe">There’s also the matter of his race — let’s face it, especially after a black man was elected president and the tumult of the 2016 election, race plays a factor in politics. Johnson is black and Samoan, and comes off as ethnically ambiguous, a blank slate upon which anyone can project whatever they see — or whatever they <em>want</em> to see. In the GQ profile, Johnson jokes that “white people often guess he is ‘… Greek?’” with Weaver going on to note, “In other words, pretty much anyone can find themselves, or a slightly tanner or paler version of themselves, in Dwayne Johnson if they look hard enough; appearance-wise, he has a hometown advantage everywhere on earth.”</p>
<p id="uqP57e">All of this is makes up Johnson’s appeal. He’s both superhuman and down to earth. He works incredibly hard and is<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2016/08/25/the-worlds-highest-paid-actors-2016-the-rock-leads-with-knockout-64-5-million-year/#1d2a1c875a91"> rewarded handsomely for it</a>. He’s sought out for political endorsements and starring roles in movies. He’s the living, breathing American dream: rich, influential, and beloved by all four quadrants of movie-goers. </p>
<p id="VyMrCZ">As David French of the National Review <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2017-05-15-0100/dwayne-johnson-the-rock-united">asserted in his cover story</a> about the star last year, Johnson is the celebrity Americans need. At a time of deep political polarization, where Facebook has become a minefield for anger, only one man can drive an upside-down, tricked-out American muscle car into the hearts of America and make us whole again.</p>
<p id="Vb1jfb">Perhaps that’s why we shouldn’t waste Johnson on politics. Yes, it all sounds fun now to have a president who was once half of the most delightfully mismatched tag-team champion duo, <a href="http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/r/rocknsock-connection/">The Rock ’n’ Sock Connection</a>. Sure, Ronald Reagan and Jesse Ventura provided blueprints for how entertainers can have second lives as politicians, while Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have used the power of celebrity to harness political influence. </p>
<p id="rY6MA0">However, there’s no avoiding the two things that would inevitably undermine a Dwayne Johnson presidency: politics and policy. We’d have to know what he really thinks, and we’d have to experience how he’d make his policies happen. Are we really ready for that? His lack of hard political experience doesn’t necessarily mean he would be bad in office. But do we really want to risk losing America’s most beloved action star — one of the few ideals most people can agree on, in such a polarized era no less — to see how he’d <em>govern</em>? </p>
<p id="IV7nCj">This isn’t to say he should never run for political office. As Johnson said, and as his longtime friend Hiram Garcia has reiterated to <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/07/the-rock-dwayne-johnson-skyscraper-president-2020">Vanity Fair</a>, the star takes this prospect very seriously. “I have so much respect for the position,” Johnson told reporters at the premiere of his film on Tuesday. “It’s something that I seriously considered. What I need is time to go out and learn.” Besides, being a good public servant doesn’t require one to enter politics. As Johnson already knows through <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rock-makes-spends-his-millions-2016-9">philanthropic efforts,</a> being a good citizen isn’t only about running for office. </p>
<p id="OQV352">Still, he’s positioned himself as the upstanding, hardworking everyman with values instead of political stances. What happens when Johnson’s luster wears away thanks to the partisan bickering inherent in a political career? All we’d be left with is another guy in a suit (perhaps with the sleeves torn off?) with likely measured political ideas. </p>
<p id="1xWvT4">So will we see Johnson-Hanks at the 2020 Whatever National Convention? Nope. But it would be a hell of a lot more entertaining to watch it play out on a movie screen than in real life.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/12/15719944/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-president-2020Michelle Garcia2018-07-09T22:34:47-04:002018-07-09T22:34:47-04:00In many states, the end of Roe v. Wade is already here
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<img alt="The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue major rulings." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EIpHf1ThE3hzLr6fFMqAgBy1hjY=/169x0:2832x1997/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60255631/543293570.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Pete Marovich/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Abortion access already hangs by a thread in some areas of the country.</p> <p id="fe1mNh">President Donald Trump announced on Monday night that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/9/17548782/brett-kavanaugh-trump-supreme-court-anthony-kennedy">Brett Kavanaugh</a>, a judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, is his choice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. With the announcement of Kennedy’s retirement and now Kavanaugh’s nomination, abortion rights watchers have been sounding the alarm that <em>Roe v. Wade</em>, the nation’s landmark 1973 abortion rights decision, is in a fragile state. </p>
<p id="GRWr3t">Over his three-decade tenure, Kennedy has<strong> </strong>been the swing vote keeping federal abortion rights mostly intact. And if the right case makes it to the Supreme Court, the Trump-nominated replacement to Kennedy and four other dependably conservative justices could overturn <em>Roe v. Wade </em>and jeopardize legal abortions in the United States.</p>
<p id="ptIX7K">Yet in many regions across the country, the end of <em>Roe</em> is essentially already here.</p>
<p id="Ym4cne">The rollback of abortion access in some states has been taking place for the better half of the last decade. After the 2010<strong> </strong>elections ushered in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/13/AR2010111302389.html?noredirect=on">a wave of conservative governors and state lawmakers</a>, more than 400 state laws have been passed to restrict abortion access in some way,<strong> </strong>according to Rachel Sussman, Planned Parenthood’s national director of state policy and advocacy. </p>
<p id="YIK7Zv">If <em>Roe v. Wade </em>is overturned, states can individually decide whether abortion will remain legal and how accessible it will be. While services in blue<strong> </strong>states like California and New York will probably remain intact, they most likely will not in states like Mississippi where abortion is already restricted. (In Mississippi, abortion is illegal after 15 weeks of a pregnancy, and only one remaining clinic offers the procedure.)</p>
<p id="Ji6MJh">And it’s not just Mississippi. Twenty-one states, including North Dakota, Georgia, and Oklahoma, adhere to a <a href="https://rewire.news/legislative-tracker/law-topic/20-week-bans/">20-week ban</a>. In some states, burdensome requirements for abortions mean extended wait periods for women seeking the procedure. Legal<strong> </strong>limitations like extended<strong> </strong>waiting periods have been<strong> </strong>placed on medication-based abortions. Certain states restrict private insurers from covering abortion, while other states require women to undergo counseling before having an abortion. </p>
<aside id="CPGSLL"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"America after Anthony Kennedy","url":"https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/25/17461318/anthony-kennedy-ideology-retirement-supreme-court"}]}'></div></aside><p id="nIUvN7">“It is certainly true with the Kennedy vacancy, access to abortion and <em>Roe v. Wade</em> are on the line,” Sussman told Vox. “And certainly losing <em>Roe</em> would make abortion access impossible in close to 20 states. But<strong> </strong>there are women today living under regimes where access to abortion is impossible.” </p>
<h3 id="Y3bFYy">Access to clinics has been on the decline for years </h3>
<p id="niubZ8"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqSvJCF0d0s">Documentaries</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/14/health/kentucky-last-abortion-clinic/index.html">news articles</a> have long chronicled the diminishing number of abortion clinics in the South and West. Six states — West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Wyoming, and Kentucky — each have only a single remaining abortion clinic. And Kentucky could very well become <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-kentucky-abortion-20170906-story.html">the first state without any abortion clinics</a> at all. The state’s conservative governor has lodged a federal lawsuit against EMW Women’s Surgical Center, Kentucky’s lone clinic because its doctors do not have admitting privileges at local hospitals should a patient require a transfer. </p>
<p id="8RSeke">Many of the restrictions on abortion are, in fact, waged against clinics and providers. Eleven states require abortion providers to have practitioners with admitting privileges, meaning they must have ties to a hospital that patients can go to in an emergency. While the requirement seems commonsense, doctors <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2014/08/10/62554324-1d88-11e4-82f9-2cd6fa8da5c4_story.html?utm_term=.275429657e21">often find it difficult</a> to maintain the minimum number of admitted patients or they live too far from the hospital to qualify. </p>
<p id="uS4U6m">Some states<strong> </strong>impose regulations on an abortion clinic’s distance from a hospital, the size of procedure rooms, and even the width of corridors inside. Strict requirements like these would have severely cut down abortion access across Texas if it weren’t for the 5-3 Supreme Court decision of 2016 in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/6/27/11713644/whole-womans-health-supreme-court-choice"><em>Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt</em></a>, which deemed such regulations an undue burden on clinics and women seeking abortions. </p>
<aside id="s2b6xw"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"10 legal experts on the future of Roe v. Wade after Kennedy","url":"https://www.vox.com/2018/7/2/17515154/kennedy-retirement-roe-wade"}]}'></div></aside><p id="mvos2K">Even states with multiple clinics leave some populations underserved. The <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(17)30158-5/fulltext">Lancet published</a> a study last year examining how far women of reproductive age needed to travel to find the nearest abortion clinic. Across the US, the median distance a woman has to travel to reach an abortion clinic is 11 miles, but that’s generally because abortion clinics (and people) are concentrated in urban areas. Still, as<strong> </strong>Vox’s Anna North <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/10/4/16405234/abortion-study-lancet-guttmacher">reported last year</a>, women in large swaths of the United States are sometimes forced to travel hundreds of miles for an abortion. </p>
<h3 id="rS1oYH">Abortion access is being incrementally scaled back </h3>
<p id="U2ViA4">Getting to a clinic, however, does not guarantee access to an abortion. Twenty-seven states require a woman seeking an abortion to wait a certain amount of time, typically 24 hours, before the procedure can take place. Some of those states require the woman to make two separate trips for the procedure. </p>
<p id="gUtDTb">Additionally, 43 states prohibit abortion after a certain number of weeks into a pregnancy. With each year comes even tighter timelines. During their past legislative sessions, Mississippi and Louisiana each banned abortion after 15 weeks. (That’s still several weeks before a fetus would be considered viable if born prematurely, according to a 2015 study published in the <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1410689">New England Journal of Medicine</a>.) While Mississippi’s law was immediately challenged in court, it lines up with Gov. Phil Bryant’s <a href="https://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/01/23/gov-bryant-my-goal-is-to-end-abortion-in-mississippi/">2014 declaration</a> that he would work “to end abortion” in his state. In Louisiana, performing an abortion for someone after 15 weeks of her pregnancy comes with a prison sentence of <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/legislature/article_fac56312-6435-11e8-b451-275614090005.html">as much as two years</a>. Kentucky, <a href="https://rewire.news/legislative-tracker/law/kentucky-11-week-abortion-ban-hb-454/">pending a legal challenge</a>, may limit the types of abortion procedures available to women who are more than 11 weeks pregnant. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/3/22/17143454/trump-iowa-heartbeat-bill-abortion-ban-mississippi-roe-v-wade">Iowa’s governor signed a bill</a> banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.</p>
<p id="ncjc5r">Dr. Jamila Perritt, a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health that advocates for contraception and abortion rights, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/05/608738116/iowa-bans-most-abortions-as-governor-signs-heartbeat-bill">outlined for NPR</a> earlier this year how such a short window of time creates a barrier for many women who seek abortions. </p>
<p id="jQRYHn">”The likelihood that an individual can miss her period, get a pregnancy test, then make an appointment to see an abortion provider, take time off of work if she’s working, find child care for her other children, get in to get her abortion and have all of that done prior to a six-week time period is absolutely unrealistic and unreasonable,” Perritt said. </p>
<p id="ZCdfh3">Abortion restrictions like these, Sussman reiterated, have a particularly high impact on people of color, undocumented people, and low-income earners, especially those with hourly wage jobs. That’s all the more jarring if you consider that, according to the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/class_gaps_unintended_pregnancy_release.pdf">Brookings Institution</a>, low-income women are “more than five times as likely than affluent women to experience an unintended pregnancy.” </p>
<h3 id="LZRyXA">But is <em>Roe</em> really in jeopardy?</h3>
<p id="kYAvYe">On the campaign trail, Trump vowed he would nominate anti-abortion judges and that <em>Roe</em> would “automatically” be overturned. With Kavanaugh on the bench, the future of <em>Roe</em> would either be safe, according to groups like the <a href="https://www.afa.net/activism/action-alerts/2018/us-supreme-court-alert-tell-senators-to-oppose-judge-kavanaugh/">American Family Association</a> who say his views are not conservative enough, or in peril, according to politicians like Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) who has already declared she would oppose his nomination to guard the potential overturn of <em>Roe.</em></p>
<p id="MF1bpF">But there are nearly a dozen cases in federal courts right now that could, if brought before the Supreme Court that includes Kavanaugh, potentially upend the precedent established by <em>Roe</em> 45 years ago, according to Planned Parenthood. Even if <em>Roe</em> isn’t overturned outright, replacing Kennedy will affect abortion rights, “not so much because it will bring about the immediate reversal of <em>Roe v. Wade</em> but because it makes it more likely that the Supreme Court will give the states more room to decide what regulatory constraints on abortion are valid,” Carol Sanger, a Columbia law professor, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/2/17515154/kennedy-retirement-roe-wade">told Vox’s Li Zhou</a> this week.</p>
<p id="yo69fn">Nonetheless, 67 percent of the US public does not want the case overturned, according to <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-reform/press-release/poll-two-thirds-of-americans-dont-want-the-supreme-court-to-overturn-roe-v-wade/">a Kaiser Family Foundation poll</a> conducted before Kennedy’s announcement. Among women of reproductive age, the figure is 74 percent.</p>
<p id="1fOhx4">Despite public opinion, states across the country have been paring back abortion access or preparing for the overturning of <em>Roe</em>. According to the Guttmacher Institute, <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/abortion-policy-absence-roe">17 states</a> have laws on the books that would rescind any remaining abortion rights if the decision is overturned. In other states with majority-Republican legislatures and conservative governors, similar restrictive laws could come quickly. </p>
<p id="DFBhYk">Nonetheless, Sussman said, “there are states out there that have declared that they’ll fight tooth and nail to ensure that access to abortion in their state is not only protected but that they’ll defend it. There are a lot of states working proactively — they’re setting up their states to codify <em>Roe’s</em> protections. This won’t be a one-sided story.”</p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/3/17526222/abortion-states-access-roe-v-wade-kennedyMichelle Garcia2018-02-05T12:09:13-05:002018-02-05T12:09:13-05:00Ram ad uses Martin Luther King’s anticapitalist sermon
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<img alt="King At Home" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aM86fX38a3q-SghtLqdxkNqPvDk=/0x0:3200x2400/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58571371/74279041.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Did they read the whole sermon?</p> <p id="mCrAwt">Martin Luther King Jr.’s words rang out on televisions across the country Sunday night — in an ad to sell pickup trucks. </p>
<p id="Qi1nm7">In a Super Bowl spot for Ram Trucks, <a href="http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_the_drum_major_instinct/">King’s “Drum Major Instinct” sermon</a> plays over shots of people hard at work: a teacher instructing children, soldiers marching, volunteers handing out food, and a family chopping wood. The message from Ram is that the trucks are built to serve. King says: </p>
<blockquote><p id="krBiGS">“If you want to be important — wonderful. If you want to be recognized —wonderful. If you want to be great — wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”</p></blockquote>
<div id="WNM29W"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SlbY1tGARUA?rel=0&" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="VQdvWl">Though his message about service remains<strong> </strong>mighty, King’s speech came 50 years ago to the day on Sunday, at a point near the end of his life when King focused even more vocally on <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/lets-not-forget-martin-luther-king-jr-was-preaching-economic-justice-too/">economic justice,</a> dignity at work, and the destructive forces of systemic poverty.</p>
<p id="3IP7SZ">In fact, economic inequality was just one of the facets of capitalism that King openly took issue with. His February 4, 1968, sermon was, in part, an examination and takedown of “a desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first,” when it comes to monetary possessions. In other words, King was not a fan of this instinct. Take, for instance, an excerpt from this same speech about advertising itself (emphasis my own): </p>
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<p id="pqREyC">And so we see it everywhere, this quest for recognition. And we join things, overjoin really, that we think that we will find that recognition in.</p>
<p id="doNXL9"><strong>Now the presence of this instinct explains why we are so often taken by advertisers. You know, those gentlemen of massive verbal persuasion. And they have a way of saying things to you that kind of gets you into buying. In order to be a man of distinction, you must drink this whiskey. In order to make your neighbors envious, you must drive this type of car.</strong> In order to be lovely to love you must wear this kind of lipstick or this kind of perfume. And you know, before you know it, you’re just buying that stuff. That’s the way the advertisers do it.</p>
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<p id="NA3TeJ">This sermon literally also discourages people from spending too much money on their cars. Yes, it really does.</p>
<p id="osaAC9">King’s sermons, which <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/mlk-intellectual-property-problems/">are not in the public domain</a>, are notoriously difficult to republish or reuse. The King family estate <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/15/54-years-later-you-still-have-to-pay-to-use-martin-luther-king-jr-s-famous-i-have-a-dream-speech/?utm_term=.9711156d7153">sued</a> USA Today and CBS for republishing or broadcasting his “I Have a Dream” speech in its entirety. A planned King biopic with Steven Spielberg on tap to direct has the right to use his speeches, meaning the 2014 film <em>Selma</em> <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-how-selma-filmmakers-made-755242">had to paraphrase and circumvent </a>use of King’s words. The nonprofit King Center, run by King’s daughter Bernice King, <a href="https://twitter.com/TheKingCenter/status/960328987955335174">announced Sunday night</a> it had nothing to do with granting Ram Trucks the rights to the speech. <a href="https://slate.com/business/2018/02/the-mlk-estate-approved-that-dodge-ram-super-bowl-ad.html">Slate’s April Glaser reports</a>, however, that Eric D. Tidwell, the managing director of Intellectual Properties Management, Inc., which manages licensing for the estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., approved the commercial. Ram <a href="http://www.adweek.com/digital/dodges-super-bowl-ad-using-martin-luther-king-jr-gets-ripped-apart-on-twitter/">later issued a statement </a>saying it was honored to work with the King estate on the ad. </p>
<p id="Kmefm8">That King’s words were used in an advertisement for pickup trucks, during a tentpole capitalistic event marking the tail-end of an NFL season in which racial protest was a key element, is an irony that cannot be understated. All the more jarring is the presumption that King’s words act here as a symbol of unity. Yet over the years King’s work, which had once divided people, now symbolizes what racial protest “should” look like. </p>
<p id="BJqa2o"><a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/2/4/16967902/nfl-protests-patriotism-race-donald-trump-super-bowl">As P.R. Lockhart pointed out for Vox this week,</a> the protests of King’s civil rights era are now juxtaposed with football players taking a knee during the national anthem; in 2018, King’s protests are now considered the “right” approach, while the players’ protests against racial injustice are considered inappropriate to modern critics. </p>
<p id="ikpFwZ">Never mind the fact that during the civil rights era, 60 percent of Americans sneered at the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/04/19/black-lives-matters-and-americas-long-history-of-resisting-civil-rights-protesters/?utm_term=.55846b09e00d">March on Washington,</a> where King gave <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/1/18/10785618/martin-luther-king-dream-speech">his most famous speech</a>, now taught in America’s classrooms every January. </p>
<p id="89fXQJ">There’s no doubt Ram Trucks aimed to bring together audiences (and potential customers) with a figure whose words, decades after his death, have stood the test of time to represent equality, unity, and yes, service. But as we approach the 50-year mark of King’s assassination during a modern era of hard conversations around race, gender, and class privilege, King’s words will undoubtedly ring true to those who truly listen.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="sjTkZc">
<p id="3vXANT"><strong>Correction:</strong> An earlier version of this story affiliated Ram Trucks with Dodge. Ram is now a separate brand under the same parent company, Fiat Chrysler.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/2/4/16972220/martin-luther-king-dodge-ram-super-bowl-adMichelle Garcia2018-01-22T12:00:02-05:002018-01-22T12:00:02-05:00Photos: the 2018 Women’s March weekend focused on power and politics
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<img alt="'Power To The Polls' Voter Registration Tour Launched In Las Vegas On Anniversary Of Women's March" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xvsaJm03sddwS36maolj1La_AP4=/276x0:2725x1837/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58409941/908544880.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Ethan Miller/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>From small towns to major international cities, throngs of people came together to march for gender equality, intersectionality, and a 2018 “blue wave.” </p> <p id="wxxkLH">Power and politics were top of mind this weekend as hundreds of thousands of people gathered in major cities and small towns around the world to march for gender equality under the banner of the Women’s March while also protesting the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. </p>
<aside id="TJylxD"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"\"We’re not going anywhere\": the 2018 women’s marches show the movement’s endurance","url":"https://www.vox.com/2018/1/20/16913586/womens-march-2018-photos-new-york"}]}'></div></aside><p id="Z3XCy4">In Las Vegas, the organizers<strong> </strong>of last year’s inaugural Women’s March<strong> </strong>held a Power to the Polls rally, kicking off a year-long push to get women into political office and to register a million new voters. But the focus on politics wasn’t just felt in Vegas — marchers in cities across the country held signs promising sweeping changes for the upcoming midterm elections and criticizing Trump administration policies such as immigration and reproductive health care access. All of this took place, of course, in the beginning of a<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/20/16910722/government-shutdown-2018-shut-down"> government shutdown</a> over the federal budget and immigration reform. </p>
<aside id="9dgdha"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"The Women’s March showed its power on a day Donald Trump’s presidency stood still","url":"https://www.vox.com/2018/1/20/16913334/womens-march-government-shutdown"}]}'></div></aside><p id="8Lx2WG">It was inevitable the march would also include a focus on the ongoing reckoning with sexual assault and harassment that has dominated the news in recent months. Actress and director Asia Argento <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/weinstein-accuser-asia-argento-speaks-abuse-power-at-rome-womens-march-1076251">received a hero’s welcome</a> at the march in Rome, after facing public derision when she came forward accusing producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault last year. </p>
<p id="SSjcIQ">Women at the Los Angeles event brandished signs declaring “Me Too,” as celebrity speakers like <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/1/21/16917130/natalie-portman-womens-march">Natalie Portman</a>, Viola Davis, and Scarlett Johansson, and others affiliated with the Time’s Up initiative to tackle gender inequality in workplaces, spoke out about their own experiences and outlined the next steps for tamping down on harassment in the entertainment industry and elsewhere. </p>
<h3 id="D6fkO0">Athens, Greece </h3>
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<h3 id="dobcKE">Bangor, Maine </h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">This weekend is the one-year anniversary of President Trump swearing in but many across the country and the state of Maine are participating in a Women’s March to mark the anniversary of last January’s Women’s March, including here in Bangor. <a href="https://twitter.com/WABI_TV5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WABI_TV5</a> <a href="https://t.co/zkId6dnejd">pic.twitter.com/zkId6dnejd</a></p>— Alyssa Thurlow (@AlyssaJThurlow) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlyssaJThurlow/status/954752691623940096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<h3 id="iduv1I">Berlin, Germany </h3>
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<h3 id="MH71oe">Bozeman, Montana </h3>
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<cite>Corbis via Getty Images</cite>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Great turnout at the Women’s March in Bozeman! <a href="https://t.co/b1ZZ03syVd">pic.twitter.com/b1ZZ03syVd</a></p>— Nicole M. R. Ritter (@rosenleaf) <a href="https://twitter.com/rosenleaf/status/954822053189701632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<h3 id="lSKswK">Chattanooga, Tennessee </h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Women's march in Chattanooga <a href="https://t.co/DCYcqosCTS">pic.twitter.com/DCYcqosCTS</a></p>— hateration (@wolfmomma17) <a href="https://twitter.com/wolfmomma17/status/954792161802940417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<h3 id="1yKXcI">Chicago, Illinois</h3>
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<h3 id="tFi4YQ">Las Vegas, Nevada</h3>
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<cite>Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images</cite>
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<h3 id="HtUaGT">London, England</h3>
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<h3 id="6wb8KL">Los Angeles, California </h3>
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<h3 id="z1in2Z">Morristown, New Jersey </h3>
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<h3 id="Y9FJPL">Nashville, Tennessee</h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">An estimated 15,000+ attended the Women's March and rally in downtown Nashville Saturday. <a href="https://t.co/pZZXC4y2lN">pic.twitter.com/pZZXC4y2lN</a></p>— Nick Caloway WKRN (@NickJCaloway) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickJCaloway/status/954850737967849472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<h3 id="t1XO2F">New York City</h3>
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<h3 id="e9ojFe">Oakland, California </h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">At <a href="https://twitter.com/LWV_Oakland?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LWV_Oakland</a> booth at Oakland Women's March. About 30,000 people, many creative signs. We are going to march to City Hall from Lake Merritt. <a href="https://t.co/aQcCX6GJ6Q">pic.twitter.com/aQcCX6GJ6Q</a></p>— John Cha (@AuthorJCha) <a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorJCha/status/954788015326416896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<h3 id="kkt6nx">Omaha, Nebraska </h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">HAPPENING NOW: Huge crowd at the Omaha Women's March at the Gene Leahy Mall. <a href="https://t.co/3YdVM2yYjZ">pic.twitter.com/3YdVM2yYjZ</a></p>— James Wilcox KETV (@JamesWilcoxKETV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesWilcoxKETV/status/954795105021460480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<h3 id="pIpcCO">Paris, France</h3>
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<cite>Corbis via Getty Images</cite>
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<h3 id="fPsRZn">Philadelphia, Pennsylvania</h3>
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<h3 id="vSLjmK">Rome, Italy</h3>
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<h3 id="OokY4l">San Francisco, California</h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Women’s March in San Francisco. May the many sentiments expressed here today rise to strategic action and real change. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/womensmarch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#womensmarch</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/womensmarchsf?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#womensmarchsf</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/womensmarch2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#womensmarch2018</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/metoo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#metoo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/resist?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#resist</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/resistance?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#resistance</a> <a href="https://t.co/QpvudgyBLX">pic.twitter.com/QpvudgyBLX</a></p>— Melinda Briana Epler (@mbrianaepler) <a href="https://twitter.com/mbrianaepler/status/954850700151803906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<h3 id="BolpZU">Seattle, Washington</h3>
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<h3 id="Gkh8CW">St. Louis, Missouri</h3>
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<h3 id="f3Xz6Q">Stockholm, Sweden</h3>
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<h3 id="nMxTf7">Washington, DC </h3>
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<cite>NurPhoto via Getty Images</cite>
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<cite>NurPhoto via Getty Images</cite>
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<h3 id="hgyHww">Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada </h3>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Women's March Whitehorse, Yukon 2018 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/womensMarch2018?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#womensMarch2018</a> <a href="https://t.co/9L2scY54b5">pic.twitter.com/9L2scY54b5</a></p>— Brenda Berezan (@BBerezan) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBerezan/status/954866543216570371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2018</a>
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https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/1/22/16917262/womens-march-photos-2018Michelle Garcia2018-01-21T18:10:01-05:002018-01-21T18:10:01-05:00Natalie Portman shares harrowing “sexual terrorism” experience at age 13
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<figcaption>Natalie Portman addresses the Women’s March in Los Angeles with fellow actresses Eva Longoria and Constance Wu. | Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Speaking out at the Women’s March in Los Angeles this weekend, the Oscar winner brings the issues of Time’s Up and #MeToo to the forefront. </p> <p id="y1qXRy">Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman told the crowd at Saturday’s Women’s March in downtown Los Angeles that she experienced what she calls “sexual terrorism” as a 13-year-old after the release of the film <em>The Professional.</em> </p>
<p id="bUCwOm">Portman described her pride and excitement in releasing the film, only to encounter sexually explicit messages both directed toward her and made about her. </p>
<p id="CtyOmu">”I excitedly opened my first fan mail to read a rape fantasy that a man had written me,” she recalled. “A countdown was started on my local radio show to my 18th birthday, euphemistically the date that I would be legal to sleep with. Movie reviewers talked about my budding breasts in reviews.”</p>
<div id="u1GzkF"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tXWHO14c88c?rel=0&" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="iC0hFv">The experience, she said, changed the way she expressed herself publicly, in order to limit the ways she could be objectified by others. </p>
<p id="o68bzp">”I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually, I would feel unsafe,” she said. “And that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort. So I quickly adjusted my behavior. I rejected any role that even had a kissing scene and talked about that choice deliberately in interviews. I emphasized how bookish I was and how serious I was. And I cultivated an elegant way of dressing. I built a reputation for basically being prudish, conservative, nerdy, serious, in an attempt to feel that my body was safe and that my voice would be listened to.”</p>
<p id="xOFXCd">Portman <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/10/6/16434750/harvey-weinstein-kevin-spacey-sexual-assault-allegations-hollywood">is one of several actresses</a> to share devastating experiences of sexual harassment and abuse in the entertainment industry in recent months. At Saturday’s event, Portman wore a Time’s Up T-shirt, representing a group of advocates and entertainers aiming to end sexual misconduct and achieve gender equality in the workplace. The group is also working with a legal initiative to help those who have been subjected to gender bias, harassment, or abuse gain justice. </p>
<p id="CI3cBU">Portman spoke at the 2018 Women’s March in Los Angeles, one of hundreds of similar events around the world marking the one-year anniversary of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/18/14310520/womens-march-washington-dc-protest">the record-setting slate of marches last year under the same banner</a>. The theme overall in 2018 was Power to the Polls, centered on voting and encouraging women to run for public office. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti <a href="http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/01/20/womens-marches-2018-bay-area/">estimated 500,000</a> people rallied there on Saturday, following months of debate and activism about sexual harassment in the entertainment industry, particularly after <a href="https://www.vox.com/a/sexual-misconduct-allegations-the-reckoning">Harvey Weinstein and dozens of other powerful men</a> have been accused of sexual misconduct. </p>
<p id="Hr0Pxn">In early January, actresses attended the Golden Globes in a protest wearing all black, to spur a conversation about sexual inequality in Hollywood and beyond, with some men wearing black and Time’s Up pins in solidarity. As my colleague Anna North <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/1/2/16840882/times-up-harassment-hollywood-metoo">wrote this month</a>, “While they’re far from the first to work against harassment, the Hollywood women of Time’s Up have been granted a large platform in the wake of #MeToo, and they say they’re committed to using it not just for themselves, but on behalf of women who have gotten less attention.” </p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/1/21/16917130/natalie-portman-womens-marchMichelle Garcia2018-01-20T16:40:02-05:002018-01-20T16:40:02-05:00The Women’s March showed its power on a day Donald Trump’s presidency stood still
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<figcaption>Thousands rally at the Women’s March on January 20, 2018 in New York City. | Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Women’s March marks a year of wide-ranging activism on the day the federal government shut down.</p> <p id="ZiaeAF">People are packing up their cars, loading up subway stations, and hopping on busses to head to Women’s March events in towns and cities across the country. Since last year, feminists and their allies have come together under the Women’s March banner to protest both issues like the gender pay gap <em>and</em> Trump administration initiatives, like the president’s immigration ban. But it’s particularly poignant that the second Women’s March meets on what happens to be the one-year anniversary of Trump taking office and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/1/18/16905472/government-shutdown-2018-congress">the first day of a government shutdown.</a></p>
<p id="zVoxCo">By midnight Saturday, Congress was locked in a standoff after failing to reach a deal on immigration. Earlier in the week, on Thursday, House Republicans passed a bill “to fund the government for four weeks and extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years, after Congress had failed to reauthorize that program for the last four months,”<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/20/16910722/government-shutdown-2018-shut-down"> Vox’s Tara Golshan and Dylan Scott reported</a>. However, 45 Senate Democrats and five Republicans rejected the measure because of the White House’s “unwillingness to accept a bipartisan proposal to address the nearly 700,000 immigrants in legal limbo after he pledged to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,” Golshan and Scott wrote.</p>
<p id="EKGEGq">As Vox senior reporter Anna North found while on the ground at New York City’s Women’s March on Saturday morning, the topic was front of mind for marchers.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">One marcher on marching the day of a shutdown: “our government is in complete dysfunction” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensMarchNYC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WomensMarchNYC</a></p>— Anna North (@annanorthtweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/annanorthtweets/status/954737480523272194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Another marcher on the shutdown: “we’re working!” <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensMarchNYC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WomensMarchNYC</a></p>— Anna North (@annanorthtweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/annanorthtweets/status/954738871681601536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Spotted at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensMarchNYC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WomensMarchNYC</a> <a href="https://t.co/IveYh5nCrY">pic.twitter.com/IveYh5nCrY</a></p>— Anna North (@annanorthtweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/annanorthtweets/status/954735002641715201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<p id="8Y0u27">This should come as no surprise for <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/1/22/14350808/womens-marches-largest-demonstration-us-history-map">the millions of people</a> who came together last year in the nascent days of Trump’s administration to rally against what was largely viewed of a <a href="https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2017/11/6/16610624/clinton-candidacy-women">rejection of women’s power</a> in Hillary Clinton’s presidential loss and an embrace of an<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/26/16526922/harvey-weinstein-donald-trump-sexual-harassment"> alleged sexual predator as the nation’s leader.</a> For many who have protested in the last year under the Women’s March banner, gender equality has been <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/1/21/14342942/womens-march-inauguration-trump-protest-goals-feminism-demands">not a solitary focus but a lens</a> through which they view the fight for many issues, like racial justice, health care, immigration, police reform, and economic inequality. </p>
<p id="p0YZB6">And sure, this shutdown won’t last forever. Eventually one side will have to give in. The question is: Will that come at the expense of immigrants and their allies — many of whom, both immigrants and allies, are marching this weekend? </p>
<p id="u2rEGQ">Last year’s march was initially criticized for having too narrow a view of what feminism and women’s concerns really are; plenty of feminists, especially women of color, had been campaigning for issues like police and immigration reform long before the 2016 election. Eventually after complaints from uneasy participants and activists, to make it clear that women of all stripes were welcome to the front lines, the march organizers took <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/1/17/14267766/womens-march-on-washington-inauguration-trump-feminism-intersectionaltiy-race-class">an intersectional approach</a> — and even that saw <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/us/womens-march-on-washington-opens-contentious-dialogues-about-race.html">resistance from some participants</a> and<a href="https://thegrio.com/2017/01/23/why-i-did-not-attend-womens-march/"> skepticism from others</a>. Since then, the Women’s March movement has become an essential partner within left-leaning circles for organizing and protesting. All through 2017, Women’s March organizers coordinated efforts with other groups like Color of Change and United We Dream, for example, while often acting as a resource for the women who were new to feminism, activism, and organizing.</p>
<p id="wSLbgk">It seems the coalition-building efforts of the Women’s March and several other organizations may be a contributing factor to the Democrats’ resistance in Congress to compromise on DACA to pass a budget. As <a href="https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/954736675250475008">Jeff Stein</a> of the Washington Post points out, many of those Democratic politicians who voted against the budget this week likely did so after facing a “mobilized months-long pressure campaign from key interest group activists who built political power.”</p>
<p id="vsuTLw">This is evident in the Women’s March’s own tweet late Friday:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">If the government would have done the right thing by passing a clean Dream Act, we would not have a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrumpShutdown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TrumpShutdown</a>.</p>— Women's March (@womensmarch) <a href="https://twitter.com/womensmarch/status/954566031824928769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<p id="nwZQVe">One activist recently <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/1/19/16905884/2018-womens-march-anniversary">described to North,</a> the Women’s March movement, and particularly its first convention in October, acted like the “center of a maze.” She adds, “There’s a lot of entrances out of the center, and each one of those are the different issues that we’re tackling, and so we all kind of run in the different directions outside, and that means our voice is in more spaces.” The ability to act as a hub for activists with multiple interests has made the Women’s March movement crucial to the anti-Trump resistance. </p>
<p id="Y3zQSi">As <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/18/16458164/democrats-daca-border-security-schumer-pelosi">Vox’s Dara Lind wrote in October</a>, their organizing has clearly been effective, particularly around immigration. “The thing is,” she writes, “about 10 years ago, many Democrats — including, notably, Schumer — would have championed many of the Trump administration’s enforcement proposals, from increased local cooperation with immigration enforcement to a physical barrier on the US/Mexico border, even if they weren’t part of a deal to legalize unauthorized immigrants. And they’d certainly accept them, happily, alongside legalization.” </p>
<p id="sQDvPL">So what’s changed? After trying to regulate immigration from the center and getting little out of it, Democrats seem to be listening to DREAMer activists with a new sense of urgency that’s pushing them to the left. That’s due in large part to the momentum of newer activist efforts gaining traction in the age of Trump. </p>
<p id="nrM4Pl">Still Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon as the protests in Washington, DC, and elsewhere were underway, with a message that seemed to completely miss the point of the weekend’s events. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Beautiful weather all over our great country, a perfect day for all Women to March. Get out there now to celebrate the historic milestones and unprecedented economic success and wealth creation that has taken place over the last 12 months. Lowest female unemployment in 18 years!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/954788467069870081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2018</a>
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<p id="VfyZ9u">Clearly, he misses the March’s power <em>and </em>its point. Yes women are protesting sexual and gendered inequality; but he also fails to see the march and its organizers provide a place to fight the very nature of his presidency, whether it’s taking on the inability to pass immigration reform, his astounding racist comments, or his failure to protect health care access for all. Yet the president seems to interpret the Women’s March as a general airing of female grievances, writing off their concerns about things like the wage gap and probably sees nothing but a whole bunch of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/8/7/9119897/donald-trump-blood-wherever-Fox">ladies bleeding out of their wherevers</a>.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2018/1/20/16913334/womens-march-government-shutdownMichelle Garcia