#Texas Tech’s Black Cultural Center

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

As Gov. Greg Abbott tells state agencies that using diversity, equity and inclusion criteria in the hiring process is “illegal,” lawmakers in the legislature are pushing against the practice in Texas universities. State representative Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, filed a bill to prohibit higher education institutions from funding or supporting diversity, equity and inclusion offices. HB 1006 also prohibits any efforts to formulate diversity “beyond what is necessary to uphold the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment.” “We call it division, inequity and indoctrination. The DEI office name is a misnomer,” Tepper said. “We feel like it’s purposely being misused, to push a very woke very liberal agenda. You can have any belief you want, you can have any care about race relations or sexual relations or what have you. But we think that on the state dollar, and the state budget, that these universities, these state departments, departments of the state of Texas, should be neutral.”

Tepper’s alma mater Texas Tech University, now in his district, said its Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion works “to foster, affirm, celebrate, engage and strengthen inclusive communities.” They provide mentors to first-generation students, cultural centers for minority students and outlets for the campus to engage with the intercultural community.

Tepper said he hopes his bill will get rid of those outlets. He called Texas Tech’s Black Cultural Center “self-segregation.”

“I would do away with that. We have some wonderful facilities for everyone,” he said. “We want our students to learn together and play together, interact together, not as a segregated society. We want to see distinguished Black alumni, the portraits of distinguished Black alumni all over campus, not just in the Black Cultural Center.”

Some attorneys worry the recent restrictions of DEI policies are misguided. Jay Ellwanger, an attorney who specializes in employment and civil rights litigation at Ellwanger Law, said DEI policies are already prohibited from discrimination by federal law and may attract businesses wanting to create a diverse and competitive workforce. “The thing that struck me most in Governor Abbott’s memorandum to the state agencies was that I think he needed to go back to law school,” Ellwanger said. “Because the issues that were raised by this memorandum are impacted by areas of federal law that have been in place for almost 60 years.” The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recommends DEI initiatives as a best practice.

“EEOC makes it make extremely clear that you can’t have quotas, that you can’t purposely put a minority ahead of a nonminority in a DEI context if they’re not qualified,” Ellwanger said. “All the federal law says is that you can allow for other parts of someone’s makeup to go into that hiring equation, which again, allows for a company or state agency to hire more competitively, to get more viewpoints in the workplace, and just overall become more competitive.”

Rep. Tepper’s concerns are already shifting policy, however. Texas Tech University announced Wednesday they are eliminating DEI criteria. That decision comes after a Wall Street Journal report criticized the weight that some departments give to subjective diversity statements required in candidates’ applications.

[jcmarchi]

Miranda McClellan ’18, MEng ’19 awarded 2025 Schwarzman Scholarship

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/miranda-mcclellan-18-meng-19-awarded-2025-schwarzman-scholarship/

Miranda McClellan ’18, MEng ’19 awarded 2025 Schwarzman Scholarship

MIT alumna Miranda McClellan ’18, MEng ’19 has been named a 2025 Schwarzman Scholar. In August 2024, she will join the program’s 150 scholars arriving from 43 countries and 114 universities from around the world. The Class of 2025 Scholars were selected from a pool of over 4,000 applicants. They will attend a one-year fully funded master’s degree program in global affairs at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

McClellan and her fellow Schwarzman Scholars will engage in a graduate curriculum focused on the pillars of leadership, global affairs, and China with additional opportunities for cultural immersion, experiential learning, and professional development. The fellowship program aspires to create a global network of leaders equipped with a well-rounded understanding of China’s changing role in the world.

Hailing from Texas, McClellan earned a BS in computer science and a minor in African Studies from MIT in June 2018 and received an MEng in computer science in June 2019. While at MIT, she served on the board for the Black Students’ Union and presented recommendations for making the campus more inclusive. After graduating MIT, McClellan won a Fulbright grant to conduct research in Spain, where she studied applying machine learning to 5G networks.

McClellan was a fellow at the Internet Society, Center for AI & Data Policy, and the National Science Policy Network. Since 2020, she has been working as a data scientist at Microsoft, building machine learning models to detect malware. In 2022, she co-founded Black Arts DFW to promote equitable access to fine arts for Black patrons in the Dallas area. She also serves as a cybersecurity curriculum developer and mentor to improve representation of minority women in tech roles. As a Schwarzman Scholar, McClellan hopes to compare the impact of Chinese and U.S. policies on issues of cybersecurity, privacy, and AI fairness.

MIT’s Schwarzman Scholar applicants receive guidance and mentorship from the distinguished fellowships team in Career Advising and Professional Development and the Presidential Committee on Distinguished Fellowships. Students and alumni interested in learning more should contact Kimberly Benard, associate dean and director of distinguished fellowships and academic excellence.

[placestodonate]

Places To Donate

Posted Jan 4, 2021 Updated December 12th, 2021

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Support Trans Lives

The Okra Project - a collective that brings home-cooked meals to Black trans folks.

Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative - an Atlanta-based organization working toward abolition, provides financial support, organizing and direct action training, an internship program, and more to the LGBTQ+ community.

For The Gworls - raises money to pay for Black trans people's rent and gender-affirming surgeries, as well as dedicating another fund to medical relief.

G.L.I.T.S. - works to provide care and resources to the transgender community. The organization is currently using funds to provide housing for Black trans people.

The Marsha P. Johnson Institute - joins you in responding to unjust violence systemically, physically and structurally as it happens to BLACK transgender people.

Black Trans Travel Fund - Donated funds are redistributed directly to Black trans women in need.

Emergency Release Fund - ensures that no trans person at risk in New York City jails remains in detention before trial.

Black Trans Femmes in the Arts - creates spaces for the production and preservation of Black trans art and culture by building community with Black trans femme artists and providing them with the resources and support necessary to thrive.

TGI Justice Project - seeks to create a world rooted in self- determination, freedom of expression, and gender justice.

Audre Lorde Project - focusing on the New York City area; works for community wellness and progressive social and economic justice.

Transgender Law Center - providing the resources necessary to advance the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming people.

The Transgender District - San Francisco-based; facilitates the healing, economic empowerment, and cultural enrichment of transgender people in the Tenderloin district.

Brave Space Alliance - Chicago-based; created to fill a gap in the organizing of and services to trans and gender-nonconforming people.

Homeless Black Trans women fund - a unique opportunity to alleviate the chronic homelessness that exists among Trans people in Atlanta, especially among Black & brown Trans people. They have officially established the Trans Housing Coalition.

The Trevor Project - leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to young LGBT+ people.

Human Rights Campaign - the largest LGBT+ advocacy group and political lobbying organization in the U.S.

Trans Tech Social Enterprises - a co-working, co-learning community dedicated to empowering trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer people and allies with practical, career-ready skills.

The Montrose Center - Empowers the Houston, Texas community—primarily lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals and their families—to live healthier, more fulfilling lives. Their team of state-licensed clinicians, masters-level therapists, skilled educators, support staff and dedicated volunteers work together to create healthier futures for the community.

[go-redgirl]

Trump prepares to bask in the conservative movement he changed David Weigel , The Washington Post Feb. 25, 2021 Updated: Feb. 25, 2021 6:49 p.m.

Trump prepares to bask in the conservative movement he changedDavid Weigel, The Washington PostFeb. 25, 2021Updated: Feb. 25, 2021 6:49 p.m.

"Even though Donald Trump is a one-term president, there's this feeling among Republicans that he was a huge, smashing success," said Matt Schlapp, the president of the American Conservative Union (ACU), which runs CPAC. "That doesn't mean that every moment of every day, of every news cycle, was pleasurable. What it means is that from a policy perspective, he basically ticked through the list of things that he said he would do."

CPAC changed Trump, and Trump changed CPAC. Before Trump's presidency, it was possible to argue that the conference, which had sometimes discussed whether conservatives should bolt the GOP altogether, was a reflection of the movement's agenda or a reflection of who paid to show up.

During George W. Bush's presidency, administration officials came to CPAC to argue for invading Iraq; during Obama's presidency, supporters of the libertarian Republicans Ron and Rand Paul colonized the floor, fueling debates about topics from the gold standard to drug legalization. Mitt Romney won the conference's straw poll four times; the Pauls won it five times.

But something else changed during the Obama years, and Trump was the first politician to take full advantage. The 2009 conference was a flat-out rejection of the Bush presidency, with the ACU's leadership and GOP strivers such as Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., saying Bush had failed to govern as a conservative. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who'd lost to Obama, did not even show up.

"Voters saw an economy in decline, foreclosures rising, retirement savings falling, growing unemployment, huge deficits, earmarked giveaways, and massive government intervention to prop up a mismanaged financial sector," Ryan said. "Voters examined this grim picture and rejected the status quo, punishing the party in power."

Then, like now, Democrats in Washington were using their power to muscle through a massive relief bill. The details of the 2009 stimulus package, particularly the spending that Democrats had tucked in after failing to pass it before Obama took over, energized conservatives; as CPAC unfolded in one part of Washington, one of the first tea party rallies, which helped conservatives rebrand themselves after Bush, unfolded in another.

This post-election CPAC is different. Just one panel, "All Debts Are Off," will focus on government spending, with former Trump administration Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought talking alongside Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La. One panel will tackle the "administrative state," now being rebuilt by the Biden team, and one will discuss "the left's agenda on health care." There's no planned discussion of "earmarks," which Ryan called out by name, both parties got rid of, and Democrats are restoring.

Far more time will be spent on the 2020 election and the rules that conservatives want to change before anybody votes again. That will unfold across seven numbered panels and speeches, four of them on Sunday, before Trump's speech; an eighth panel, "Did your vote count?," will bring Republican attorneys and a Georgia county GOP chair together for a breakout session.

The rest of the CPAC agenda, shaped by the ACU and by sponsors, also is in harmony with Trump. There will be discussion every day of economic and security conflicts with China, an issue that predated Trump's interest in politics, but one he put at the center of his agenda. Several panels will discuss big tech and "wokeness," both from corporate America and in pop culture. The theme of the weekend is "America Uncanceled," not far off the anti-"political correctness" mind-set that has animated conservatives for years.

That was present in 2009, too. As that year's keynoter, the speaker who closed the conference, CPAC chose Rush Limbaugh, whom Democrats at the time were trying to turn into the face of their opposition.

"Republicans had lost, and they weren't especially excited about the candidate they'd lost with," recalled Lisa De Pasquale, the CPAC director that year, who made the speech happen. "The internal mood was, wow, it's going to be depressing this year. And Limbaugh had never been depressing."

The blend of entertainment and policy, both directed at mocking liberalism, was a success. Trump's 2011 visit to CPAC, which confounded conservatives who knew him as a celebrity with socially liberal views, did not quite nail it, as he mostly made news for chastising Ron Paul supporters for supporting someone who could not "win an election." But over time, Trump took control of the party and the conservative movement, replacing some of its issues with his own.

Not everyone stayed on for the ride. Al Cardenas, who led the ACU immediately before Schlapp, said he was not attending this year, and he defended the more raucous, leaderless CPACs that happened on his watch.

"The conference was based on debating peoples' views and where they stood," Cardenas said. "That applied from everything to the sales tax to immigration to war. In my opinion, it was intellectually stimulating to hear different points of view."

Republicans also are in far stronger shape than they were in 2009, both in the numbers of their congressional caucus and the control they've won in states. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida will kick off the conference Friday, probably continuing a feud that has been politically effective: contrasting the lack of shutdowns in Florida to the Biden administration's wariness about fully "reopening" until the pandemic is over. Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, who has grown her profile in the Republican Party since the pandemic began, will close out the speeches Saturday.The rest of the elected lineup emphasizes how the GOP has refreshed itself, while moving right, since the party's 2009 nadir. 

Of the 47 current or former members of Congress with speaking slots, just a few arrived in Washington before 2010. Both of the party's Black House members, Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah and Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, will be onstage, joined by four of the female House freshmen who made up the party's most diverse class ever.None of them have broken with Trump. 

Just nine of the members of Congress with speaking slots, for example, voted to uphold the election results from every state. None of the Republicans who impeached or voted to convict Trump will be there; one of them, Romney, was disinvited by CPAC in 2020. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will not be there either, having skipped since 2014; Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo, the senators who forced the electoral college challenge on Jan. 6, will be.

While Republicans are still arguing over the rioters who invaded the Capitol that day, the activists who participated in it were not welcomed to CPAC. But Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., who urged protesters that day to start "taking names and kicking" behinds, will be there. Rep. 

Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., an adherent to the QAnon falsities who has embarrassed Republican leaders, will not be. But she'll attend a more right-wing conference in Orlando, and a nearby reception, as CPAC is underway.

[stonerbughead]

maria watches friday night lights (#4)

season 2, pt 2!! (2x08-2x15)

ugh Matt is really having his Being A Stupid Teenage Boy season huh?

-lol love a good naked dude being chased scene — in this case, Smash on his recruiting trip being chased around by a potential future teammate. Classic.

(it’s kinda cute that Matt came to pick him up tho)

- the latest in season 2 being off the fucking rails: really? Riggins’ new digs include a meth lab on wheels??

-Landry confessing to murdering someone and then having his sheriff dad drag him out of the station to go home is the whitest shit EVER. Like, Landry is literally *trying* to be punished and they just won’t punish his white, cop-kid ass. ‘Murica. (I mean don’t get me wrong: it WAS self defense against someone literally stalking and trying to rape Tyra, but the point still stands that if Landry was a black kid he’d have been tried as an adult and convicted no doubt)

-YESSSSS a MySpace shoutout! we love to see it

“I hate you” - Santiago (and also me) @ Buddy Garrity

-omg Coach Taylor noticing that things aren’t good at home for Riggins and taking him in, my heart!

-Wow in just one scene Riggins charmed baby Grace, warned Tami’s sister not to shame women for eating a lot (“it can lead to anorexia, especially in girls”) and then offered to go out to the store to get baby formula in the pouring rain. What a man.

-and yes, Shelly, you fully grown woman, it IS a bad idea to lust after a TEENAGE BOY

-wow Riggins protecting Julie from the SUPER DRAMATIC TORNADO that made me laugh. Do we get to have a Riggins-Julie friendship??? bc I’d be down. We need more friendships.

-Thank you, Tami, saying “EW” to her sister watching Riggins work out! Someone has sense to know a fully grown woman shouldn’t be lusting after a teenager! Julie can lust if she wants tho, that’s age appropriate.

-DYING at Landry being aghast that Tyra’s never heard of West Side Story.

-oh god, Lyla — it is totally fair to assume your mom would tell your dad she’s getting remarried, especially if she knew you’d be seeing him — so I’m sorry you’re the one who accidentally set off whatever nonsense Buddy is gonna pull now that he knows his ex wife is “marrying that treehugger.”

“Who’s that?” “Some douchebag named Chip. who names their kid Chip anyway?” Same, Tyra, same.

-Landry, one of my biggest pet peeves is asking someone out while they’re on the clock. Like, come on! let Tyra work, boy.

-Jesus Christ it’s like everywhere Julie looks, she has to see Matt making out with someone. That’s rough.

-and oop Matt you busted bc Julie actually knows who Carlotta is!

-once a cheater, always a cheater, Buddy. And yes to Pam for being like “nah bye I’m happy now, it is over.” You treated her like garbage so here we are, sir!

-hilarious that Landry is the one who ends up throwing the first punch that gets the post-tornado, school-crossover tensions to finally boil over

-I like that they show both the fall formal and the party where everyone who didn’t go to the formal is. Nice.

-Aw poor Julie got drunk af to deal with all her feelings. This really is the season where they have Julie and Matt being sixteen year olds in the most painful ways. So maybe it’s good they’re not together during this tho I’m still looking forward to when the tide turns their way again.

-anyway, Tim is a good friend for getting the creep who thought he was “one beer away from getting laid” off of Julie.

-And....in true Texas dad fashion, Eric Taylor misinterprets everything! Noooo. We can’t have nice things.

-This Noelle-Smash partnership is definitely an interesting pairing. Two very ambitious football people courting all these recruiters while Smash’s mom side eyes them in the corner? Hilarious.

-omg not this Oklahoma tech recruiter harassing smash’s mom in the grocery store! GTFO here! Give her some fucking personal space. They really do such a good job of showing as much of the toxic shit about football culture as the inspiring, big moments.

-Aw and I love that Tami tried to help Mama Smash get the guy to go away. It’s such a familiar scene, women helping each other get a dude harassing them away. And then they have a heart to heart in the parking lot? Love that.

-omg what a throwback that Shelly TAPED OVER Eric’s football game to tape a NEW EPISODE of The Office! Love it. “Y’all should get a TiVo.”

-omg watching Tami and Eric work out arguments is so beautiful, they communicate very well! We stan a good marriage.

-wow seeing the other coach from tornado school lose his shit publicly after he knocked down Riggins was uh....wild???? This is the second time he put his hands on Riggins!

-awww Eric actually coming to apologize to riggins for overreacting about Julie when he hears the real story??? Love it.

-Weevil from Veronica Mars shows up as a friend of Santiago’s? Of course.

-WOW and Logan from Gilmore girls as a Christian radio host...tracks.

“Is that your way of telling her you like her?” Jason making a surprisingly astute observation about Tim. (And Lyla.)

-yo why would you invite your daughter’s boyfriend’s family over for dinner just to say they shouldn’t date? (And bc it’s an interracial relationship.) Southern culture is wild to me lol

-wow the racist coach from last season is now off spouting his mouth about how “no wife of mine would be working with a kid at home.” I love that Eric calls him out as sounding stupid and ignorant — you better!

-hearing that Lyla burned her cheerleading uniform is one of the most badass things she’s done so far tbh along with that dealership destruction

-off the rails update: 2x12 was toooo much!! Like, Jesus between Smash’s sister getting harassed at the movie theater by the racists who hate on smash and Noelle...and this plotline with Santiago and his old friends trashing Buddy’s place...it’s like, can we breathe.

-I could not be more excited for Carlotta to leave and another teenage boy with adult woman relationship to end.

-wow can’t believe the plotline where Riggins stole $3000 from a drug dealer isn’t ending well for him. And now Smash is getting arrested bc of those racist guys from the movie theater episode? One recap I read said that too many of this season’s plots feel contrived and I think that sums it up.

-is there any character who HASN’T worked at Buddy Garrity’s dealership at this point?!

-and yikes at all the other salespeople being mad that a salesperson in a wheelchair was hired...y’all mad ugly and ableist for that

-Tyra and Landry are....confusing

-Wait Logan from GG is an actual preacher and not just a Christian radio host? CREEPY. And he kissed Lyla? A lot to unpack there.

-lol Tim trying to woo Lyla is kinda funny to watch simply bc Tim is clearly so confounded by rejection

-I love how much space they give for Smash’s sister’s pain in the Noelle-Smash theater incident. A lesser show wouldn’t have centered her as much.

-is it mean of me to say Jason is boring AF most of the time

-yeah this dreads girl is seemingly way more compatible with Landry than Tyra yikes! Like she made him a power metal mix cd???

-wow this Smash storyline where mouthing off to the press is what gets him suspended....really checks out bc teenage boys are dumb

-I love Tami as a volleyball coach and getting to see another sport! Also as someone who’s been on a losing team I know that feeling of finally winning a game!!! Go Dillon volleyball!!! (Am I maybe currently writing a Bughead fic based on my underdog field hockey experiences? ;) yes yes I am)

-Oh shit now Saracen’s at the nihilistic Nothing Matters phase of teenage angst. Right on schedule!

-lol these two short haired blondes (white dreads Jean and Tyra) being in a love triangle with Landry is wild

-Omg jean just said, “are you a friend or are you competition?” She is not playing!

-I love Riggins dragging Saracen to practice

“I don’t want you to become at an at-risk youth” -Landry teasing Saracen while also sincerely caring about him is some of the best friendship banter on this show. The accuracy 😂

-It seems like Julie gets a lot of hate? But I think I have such a soft spot for Julie bc I was a bitchy teenager with undiagnosed mental health disorders and I just wish so much #growth for her! Also I really do miss her and Saracen’s relationship, I’m so excited I’m almost at S3 where it seems like it’s happening again?

-LOL this guy at the dmv is the first person in Dillon to be like, “no I hate football.” That tracks.

-wow Saracen is getting driven to the hospital to make sure his grandma is okay by the sex worker who was just giving him a lap dance. Amazing.

-also I hope grandma is okay!

-okay Tyra throwing her hat in the ring for Landry at the last minute? Idk I think Jean deserves the win but there’s no way it’ll happen bc she’s a guest actor?!

-awww Saracen’s abandonment issues coming out whiles he in the tub after being sobered up by Eric Taylor. “There’s nothing wrong with you.” 😭 and “your daughter left me for a better guy” - will take that crumb — first mention of Julie out of Saracen’s mouth in a minute

-hey, Landry, my friend: flirting with a girl (Jean) to get her outside then dumping her immediately is kind of a wild bait and switch. But I get it, he’s been in love with Tyra for a long time and Tyra IS right — they had a very fucked up start to their relationship so it makes sense she needed a minute to process her ~feelings~. however I definitely identified closer to a jean in my high school experience L O L (minus the unacceptable white dreads)

-these Julie and Tami driving scenes are painfully accurate, btw. Love them.

-wow the scene of Smash hyping everyone up, the adrenaline/energy of the team cheering with helmets and a classic “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” - then the whole team running out onto the field and leaving an empty locker room with just Smash breaking down into tears....#art

-alright y’all I’m gearing up for the last episode of S2! Thanks to @lockitin for reminding me this is the writers’ strike season — I was in eighth grade then and remember being pissedddd about the shortened fourth season of “the office” — so I’m fully prepared for the abruptness to come.

-I love when they parallel showing the white church and the black church

-and Tim going to church just to see Lyla makes me laugh

-ooooof Jason you cannot put on this waitress you had a one night stand with the fact that this could be your only chance to have a baby!!! Omg this poor woman who just pointed out she, too, is NINETEEN.

-wait so is Riggins doing a sports show on a Christian radio station? What?

“I think you’re really hot. Your long hair reminds me of Jesus” -Christian girls being horny for Riggins LOL

-awww Saracen being like “okay Landry you’re gonna impress Tyra right now” before that football play was a cute friendship moment for those two

-aww I love how this Smash storyline is turning out with Coach Deeks whose had his eye on him for six years my heart 😭

-also unclear to me whether Logan Huntzberger the Preacher is a fully grown adult dating a high school senior?? Biggest teen drama pet peeve once again! Stop this!

-Tami is my heroine for just leaving Eric at the restaurant fighting with her ex. “see you at home, honey!”

-I’m sorry, is Jason gonna like actually convince this girl to have a baby with her one night stand at 19??? Oh lol wait THAT ended up being the cliffhanger of the whole season? Fucking hilarious.

well I made it through season 2!!! Super psyched for Season 3, Jay has been hyping me up for it. See y’all next time! (I’ll try to post more for season 3 bc this accidentally got long af.)

[jayjay879]

What’s up with the way The Royal Heir portrays Texas?

I’ve been on hiatus for work and just caught up through Chapter 10. I grew up in a small town here and have lived all over the state — in some of the biggest cities and in rural areas. @playchoices has gotten most of it wrong... (This little calf though is so damn cute!)

Keep in mind that Texas has over 65 cities with at least 50,000 people in them. There are plenty of rural towns, but they’re usually in between those cities and/or around one of the big 4 metro areas (DFW, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin.) Texans do work hard and have jobs in almost every industry — yes, there’s ranching and agriculture, but also oil, tech, healthcare, retail, etc.

We also like to kick back and relax at festivals, breweries, wineries, biergartens, the coast, one of the rivers or lakes, football / basketball / baseball / soccer / hockey games, races, amusement parks, water parks, museums, zoos, aquariums, city parks and state parks, the hill country, etc. We like all types of food and celebrations from all different cultures because we’re people from all different types of backgrounds. (Did you know there’s more Asians in Texas than there are people in Delaware?) Don’t let a select few public figures fool you on what it’s like here. And even in smaller areas, we use more modern tech than people give us credit for.

Don’t get me wrong: our state has plenty of things wrong with it. The bad things that make headlines are generally not something we’re proud of or really agree with (especially the younger generations.) But a majority of the 29ish million people here are good-hearted and treat each other like neighbors.

But going back to the story, if we’re talking about strictly rural areas, here’s the big misconceptions I’ve seen:

- There really aren’t that many fairs in small towns or big cities. They don't serve a purpose for cattle. Small towns have stockyards that have bidding every few weeks. Texas has way more festivals and what we call picnics (they’re more like carnivals) — even in towns with less than 1,000 people. At these events, you see more BBQ cook offs, car shows, dancing, and games.

- We have the State Fair in Dallas (https://bigtex.com/) and some rodeos throughout the year. They have some events like a stockyard, bull riding, and mutton busting (where kids ride sheep.) But many people watch those events as a precursor to the concerts (https://www.sarodeo.com/.)

- The biggest ranches in Texas — that can drive a substantial profit from ranching — are hundreds of thousands of acres and are run like (or managed by) corporations. Many of the ranches the size of the Walker Ranch are run as side jobs because cattle are expensive to raise and can’t be relied on for consistent income. Our family had seven one hundred-acre plots of land when I was growing up that was shared with my extended family. The work was few and far between — mostly helping build or mend fences which was a pain in the Texas heat. Many of the people who made a living in ranching took care of other people’s cattle because there wasn’t much to do on their own land, or people just loaned out their land to others who needed a place to put their cattle in order to keep their agriculture or livestock exemption for their land until they need to use it again. Otherwise, it takes years to get the ag exemption back.

- The reason the Walkers aren’t doing well financially is probably because of their outdated ranching practices (think several decades outdated.) We use ranch trucks or 4-wheelers when dealing with cattle in the pasture. The trucks are even registered differently with the state (you’ll usually see “Farm Truck” on the license plate.) It makes it easier to bring tools out with you and to keep the cattle rounded up if we need for them to be. When it’s time to sell cattle, we use trailers.

- Horses are even more expensive to maintain and need a lot of care, so they’re used more for recreational horseback riding. And most people that use them for that pay to have them held at a stable or equestrian center, cared for by the people that run those facilities, and end up riding or training their horses there. The ones that keep them and care for them on their own land really don’t use them for cattle — much less to herd cattle to a stockyard. It would exhaust the horses, block off entire roads, and take way too much time compared to driving.

- The people who were helping the Walkers who then bailed usually wouldn’t be seen often in small towns here. Reputation is everything, so if word gets out that you can’t be relied on, you probably won’t be hired elsewhere. Plus, many that help on the land are part of the family or good family friends that have known you for years. If a ranch can’t competitively pay the people, the ranch owners usually talk to them in advance as a way to say “We know you have to provide for your family,” and “We understand / no hard feelings if you can’t.” It’s also usually also temporary. The reputation thing goes both ways, so ideally those owners do (at least from what I’ve seen) treat their people well.

- People don’t really camp on their land in Texas. They go to state parks because we don’t have many forests (outside of said state parks.) Most rural areas have pastures and most people who own land like that have camp houses (which are like bigger cabins for hunting season.)

- Bears aren’t what cause issues here. We do have some black bears, but they’re rarely seen — they don’t really approach people. Hogs are more dangerous. They can be up to three feet tall and 400 pounds (https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/nuisance/feral_hogs/). They’re what parents warn their kids about if they’re in the country at night. They can mess you up if they charge at you and can total a car. A toll road put in from Austin to San Antonio — which was built without true knowledge of the area — didn’t account for barriers to keep hogs off the road. It’s led to crazy accidents in the area like this one: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/update-hogs-on-sh-130-cause-18-wheeler-rollover-crash-thursday/. Other things that people have to watch out for when they’re in the country on foot are wild cats — like mountain lions or bobcats (http://texasnativecats.org/cats-of-texas/) and snakes. I may be missing some of the wildlife though...

- Did they mention a salmon from their fishing trip? I may have misread that, but I thought it said Liam threw one for the bear to chase. We don’t have salmon here: https://tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/water/aquaticspecies/inland.phtml. Liam must have picked one up from H-E-B. We also fish more at the coast or lakes than rivers. We use rivers for tubing: https://www.wideopencountry.com/tubing-in-texas/

- It was thoughtful for Maxwell to give his brother a motorbike, but the tires would likely not survive offroad terrain in Texas between soft ground due (like clay and expansive soil) in the Eastern part of the state, rocks in the Western part of the state, and thorns in underbrush (like huisache) that will mess up tires. That’s why we use 4-wheelers and trucks for offroading — their tires can handle more. We still use motorbikes and dirt bikes, but usually on roads or dirt courses.

- Cowboy hats really aren’t always great for working outside. It’s too damn hot here. We always did baseball caps because they breathe better and the sweat doesn’t get trapped. Most people where cowboy hats to special events — whether they’re from smaller towns or from the city and don’t really work outside. Smaller town people use them for things like weddings and town festivals, wearing a nicer button down and slacks or nice jeans. Both small town people and city people use them for festivals with a sleeveless top or loose button down and shorts. Both usually wear boots too for those occasions.

- Maxwell is going to die if he wears that that puffy jacket — the heat index can get high during the day here. Liam’s outfit looks more like what accordion players wear to festivals. Drake’s looks more on par, but he could use some color. Blue and red plaid — like our state flag — are much more common. Bertrand looks like an old time oil tycoon. Riley’s hat looks like it’s going to slip off the back of her head because it’s so big. Hana’s looks the most on point, but most people don’t bear their mid drift unless they’re at a festival. It’ll leave you with some major sun burns and weird tan lines. Plus loose shirts stay cooler in the heat, keep mosquitoes at bay, and block direct sun.

I really want to finish this game out, but I think I was expecting more of a royal take on the royal heir storyline. Plus these weird takes on what they think life is like in Texas...

[swifterm]

Why consumers can’t make decisions

Why consumers can’t make decisions. Some people meet, fall in love and get married right away. Others can spend hours in the sock aisle at the department store, weighing the pros and cons of buying a pair of wool argyles instead of cotton striped.

Seeing the world as black and white, in which choices seem clear, or shades of gray can affect people’s path in life, from jobs and relationships to which political candidate they vote for, researchers say. People who often have conflicting feelings about situations—the shades-of-gray thinkers—have more of what psychologists call ambivalence, while those who tend toward unequivocal views have less ambivalence.

High ambivalence may be useful in some situations, and low ambivalence in others, researchers say. And although people don’t fall neatly into one camp or the other, in general, individuals who tend toward ambivalence do so fairly consistently across different areas of their lives.

For decades psychologists largely ignored ambivalence because they didn’t think it was meaningful. The way researchers studied attitudes—by asking participants where they fell on a scale ranging from positive to negative—also made it difficult to tease apart who held conflicting opinions from those who were neutral, according to Mark Zanna, a University of Waterloo professor who studied ambivalence. (Similarly, psychologists long believed it wasn’t necessary to examine men and women separately when studying the way people think.)

Now, researchers have been investigating how ambivalence, or lack of it, affects people’s lives, and how they might be able to make better decisions. Overall, thinking in shades of gray is a sign of maturity, enabling people to see the world as it really is. It’s a “coming to grips with the complexity of the world,” says Jeff Larsen, a psychology professor who studies ambivalence at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

In a recent study, college students were asked to write an essay coming down on one side or another of a contentious issue, regarding a new law affecting young adults, while other groups of students were allowed to write about both sides of the issue. The students forced to choose a side reported feeling “more uncomfortable, even physically sweating more”, says Frenk van Harreveld , a social psychologist at the University of Amsterdam who studies how people deal with ambivalence.

If there isn’t an easy answer, ambivalent people, more than black-and-white thinkers, are likely to procrastinate and avoid making a choice, for instance about whether to take a new job, says Dr. Harreveld. But if after careful consideration an individual still can’t decide, one’s gut reaction may be the way to go. Dr. van Harreveld says in these situations he flips a coin, and if his immediate reaction when the coin lands on heads is negative, then he knows what he should do.

Researchers can’t say for sure why some people tend towards greater ambivalence. Certain personality traits play a role—people with a strong need to reach a conclusion in a given situation tend to black-and-white thinking, while ambivalent people tend to be more comfortable with uncertainty. Individuals who are raised in environments where their parents are ambivalent or unstable may grow to experience anxiety and ambivalence in future relationships, according to some developmental psychologists.

Culture may also play a role. In western cultures, simultaneously seeing both good and bad “violates our world view, our need to put things in boxes,” says Dr. Larsen. But in eastern philosophies, it may be less problematic because there is a recognition of dualism, that something can be one thing as well as another.

One of the most widely studied aspects of ambivalence is how it affects thinking. Because of their strongly positive or strongly negative views, black-and-white thinkers tend to be quicker at making decisions than highly ambivalent people. But if they get mired in one point of view and can’t see others, black-and-white thinking may prompt conflict with others or unhealthy thoughts or behaviors.

People with clinical depression, for instance, often get mired in a negative view of the world. They may interpret a neutral action like a friend not waving to them as meaning that their friend is mad at them, and have trouble thinking about alternative explanations.

Ambivalent people, on the other hand, tend to systematically evaluate all sides of an argument before coming to a decision. They scrutinise carefully the evidence that is presented to them, making lists of pros and cons, and rejecting overly simplified information.

Ambivalent individuals’ ability to see all sides of an argument and feel mixed emotions appears to have some benefits. They may be better able to empathize with others’ points of view, for one thing. And when people are able to feel mixed emotions, such as hope and sadness, they tend to have healthier coping strategies, such as when a spouse passes away, according to Dr. Larsen. They may also be more creative because the different emotions lead them to consider different ideas that they might otherwise have dismissed.

People waffling over a decision may benefit from paring down the number of details they are weighing and instead selecting one or a few important values to use in basing their decision, says Richard Boyatzis , a professor in organisational behaviour, psychology and cognitive science at Case Western Reserve University.

For example, in making a decision about whether to buy costly new designer apparel, a lady may weigh the expense, considering the opportunity to wear against its desirability. But ultimately, Dr. Boyatzis says, in order to avoid getting mired in a prolonged debate, the lady may decide on a core value—say, how close it is the to overall proximity of style in her existing wardrobe — that can be used to help make the decision.

Black-and-white thinkers similarly may recognise that there are positive and negative aspects to a significant relationship. But they generally choose to focus only on some qualities that are particularly important to them.

By contrast, people who are truly ambivalent in a relationship can’t put the negative out of their mind. They may “worry about being hurt or abandoned even in moments when their partner is doing something nice”, says Mario Mikulincer, dean of the New School of Psychology at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel.

Such shades-of-gray people tend to have trouble in relationships. They stay in relationships longer, even abusive ones, and experience more fighting. They are also more likely to get divorced, says Dr. Mikulincer.

Recognising that a partner has strengths and weaknesses is normal, says Dr. Mikulincer. “A certain degree of ambivalence is a sign of maturity,” he says.

With so many personalisation options and possibilities, things start to get complex – how are you supposed to know what each and every one of your customers likes? How can you tailor your campaigns around them individually without spending too much time on it?

That’s where automation and data analytics come in. Your customer data is the most valuable thing you can leverage in order to build the best personalised campaigns.

A study shown by O2 showed that adding personalisation to their eCommerce experience increased sales by 7.8% over a short period of time and that online retailers monitoring their personalisation efforts have seen increases in sales by an average of 19% across the board. For a big company, that figure is worth billions per annum. But does this provoke an instant reaction? The answer is – very rarely, as the message just hasn’t got through yet.

Predictive personalisation software (where an algorithm watches all the buying habits and impressions made for each consumer individually) , using predictive analytics technologies like SwiftERM, identify consumer’s future behaviour, then rank every SKU by greatest likelihood of “that individual consumer” will purchase from all the SKUs you have listed, in order of greatest likely buying propensity. In other words, the ones they love best. CLV soars and RoR is all but eliminated. We know segmentation is not personalisation. So only by drilling down for each individual consumer will you achieve total personalisation.

We hope you enjoyed this article, intended to help improve our client’s profitability. It reflects the care SwiftERM offer, if you need help please ask, we can often help for free. If you haven’t already done so, then please enjoy a FREE month’s trial of our predictive personalisation software on your site, to see how powerful it is.

Here

Other articles of interest below:

[synapsearts]

Meet the first Mural Dances director, Amanda Ramirez // Conoce a la primera directora de Danzas Murales, Amanda Ramirez *English version appears first, the Spanish version is below* *La versión en inglés aparece primero, la versión en español está debajo* . Amanda Ramirez is a Chicago-based choreographer and dance performer, as well as a company member with Synapse Arts and VADCO. Since earning her degree from Texas Tech University with a Minor in Dance, Amanda’s many accomplishments include her selection in 2019 for Synapse Arts’ New Works mentoring program and residencies with the Chicago Cultural Center and Links Hall’s Co-Missions. Her choreographic and performance credits include the Detroit Dance Festival, the Austin Dance Festival and the Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival. . Amanda’s Mural Dance event takes place on: Sat July 17 in Barrett Park 1 to 3pm 2022 W Cermak Rd Free! All Ages BYOC (Bring Your Own Chair) . Image description: a Mexican American woman wearing a peach colored dress and hoop earrings with shoulder length wavy black hair leans to the right as she looks to the left of the camera. Her arms are curved up with her left elbow resting on her left knee. She appears to be seated and the background is full of tall leafy plants. . #DanceEverywhere #ChiDance #MuralDances #ArtInMotion #SupportTheArts #ChicagoDanceCommunity #NightOutInTheParks #InTheParks #MyChiParks . Amanda Ramirez es una coreógrafa y performer de la danza basada en Chicago, Illinois y miembro de la compañía de Synapse Arts y VADCO. Desde que se graduó de Texas Tech University con un diplomado menor en danza, los logros de Amanda incluyen haber sido seleccionada por el programa de mentoría de New Works de Synapse Arts en el 2019, y dos residencias artísticas con el Chicago Cultural Center y Links Hall’s Co-Missions. Sus credenciales performáticos y coreográficos incluyen el Festival de Danza de Detroit, el Festival de Danza de Austin y el Festival de Danza Contemporánea Harvest Chicago. . El evento de Danzas Murales, donde Amanda participará, tomará lugar el: Sábado 17 de julio en Barrett Park de 1 p.m. a 3 p.m. Dirección: 2022 W Cermak Rd -more in comments- https://www.instagram.com/p/CRFeXaJDD8m/?utm_medium=tumblr

[5hfanfiction]

The Last Person You Love - Chapter 1

Summary: 

It started at a coffee shop, as all cliché love stories do.

~ 

Despite it being mid-September, remnants of summer’s heat still lingered for a few hours a day before the crisp air from the fog took over. It was typical San Francisco - one moment the sun would be shining and all of a sudden a blank white sheet was covering the sky. Camila worked downtown near the Bay and, from her view from the hospital windows, she would often admire how rays of sunlight reflected off the water and skyscrapers to highlight the bridge connecting the city and Treasure Island. As she would bike back to her apartment through nearly sky-high hills, Camila’s lungs heaved for oxygen and would be relieved when the fog rolled in to cool down the sweat falling down her face.

She lived in the western part of the city - opposite the Financial district where all the booming tech companies were taking over and where tourists scoured for the best clam chowder near Union Square. She lived in the residential area by the ocean and just a ten minute bike ride to the beach - although, it was nothing in comparison to the beaches back in her hometown, Miami. Ocean Beach’s sand was too coarse and - as ridiculous as this may sound - the Pacific Ocean just felt different from the Atlantic. It was not as warm and the water against her skin did not feel as smooth. Nonetheless, she still loved it. It was one of her favorite places in the city. She and her best friend, Dinah, often found themselves there, playing reggae and entertaining themselves with a few joints because it was San Francisco and smoking weed in public was as common as wearing headphones on public transportation.

After graduating from New York University three months ago, Camila returned to San Francisco to be with her mother, Sinuhe, and younger sister, Sofia. The three of them moved to the city after Camila’s father died from lung cancer the summer before her freshman year of high school. He was an architect for houses along the coast and, after he died, their home simply felt like a house. So they packed their things and moved to the first job offering Sinu got, which was not too hard considering she was one of the nation’s most renowned cardiothoracic surgeons.

The whole situation was overwhelming for Camila - one moment she was saw her dad take his final breath in a hospital bed and the next moment she was in the middle seat of a plane, admiring Sofi admire the window view from their high altitude. However, San Francisco did her well. She cannot explain it, but it helped her grow in more ways than she believed she would have had she stayed in Miami.

They went from a three-story mansion with a backyard the size of a park to a two-bedroom townhome that was half the size of their previous home, yet double the cost. Camila took the bus every day to her high school, which she had to apply to despite being a public school rather than being assigned by proximity to her home. Her school emphasized service learning and critical diversity, and the foreign language department offered various languages rather than just Spanish. Their field trips were to community centers, museums and gardens, and tech headquarters in Silicon Valley. Camila loved Miami for its rich Cuban culture and laid-back aura, but San Francisco always offered something new. There were endless opportunities and so much autonomy to navigate self-discovery, which is what Camila needed after losing her father.

San Francisco made her realize she was a city girl and, ultimately, made the transition to study in New York City not as overwhelming than if she had moved straight from Miami. At NYU, Camila studied Global Public Health and Science with a track in Biology - her goal being to follow in her mother’s footsteps and be a doctor, too. Maybe not surgery because Camila wanted to form relationships with patients and be part of their lives - not just seeing them once or twice, and saying goodbye after that. Her dream was to foster her passion for underserved healthcare and social justice through comprehensive and compassionate care to long-term patients.

Since Camila finished her undergraduate studies in three years, Sinu let her daughter take a gap year to apply for medical school and gain clinical experience during what would have been Camila’s fourth and final year of college. Through her mother’s connections, Camila was able to get an internship at the hospital Sinu practiced at. Camila was a medical scribe, which was a fancy term for “personal assistant to her mother, who she could not call her mother in front of patients, so basically she was Dr. Cabello’s bitch, which really was not any different than from when she was living home.” Her main responsibility was charting her mother’s interactions with patients, documenting all important notes from their discussions. The job is perfect for her considering she spent most of her high school years typing away her feelings on the Internet. Sinu used to always take away her laptop when she was a teenager because she spent “too much time staring at a screen” and, now, Camila loves to rub in her mother’s face that her word-per-minute count can keep up with how fast Sinu talks thanks to all her tweets and Tumblr posts.

With her mom being her supervisor, though, Camila’s hours were lenient - mostly because her mother dismiss her early to pick Sofi up from her middle school and take her to all her extracurriculars. In between piano lessons and soccer practice, Camila often found herself waiting for her younger sister at her favorite coffee shop near Golden Gate Park. The coffee shop was just another hole in the wall, but she loved its minimalist interior design, fairy-light-adorned patio, and lavender white chocolate mocha. She has been going to this place since she had to study for the SAT. However, with her studying in New York, she never considered herself a regular until she moved back home after graduation. She spent all summer working on her medical school application and published article about her undergraduate research on educational neuroscience, but, now, with both submitted, Camila was able to actually enjoy the ambience of the charming coffee shop.

Taking a break from watching YouTube videos on how to properly water succulents, Camila looked up from her screen to sip her mocha and take in all that was around her. There was a table of three adults in business suits, talking animatedly about the stacks of papers next to their mugs. A woman was breastfeeding her baby as her toddler was playing with the banana bread in front of her. Camila’s eyes scanned the room when they stopped to soak in what had to be the most beautiful being Camila had ever laid her eyes on.

The woman was dressed casually - faint jeans and a white tank top partially covered by a black leather jacket that matched the raven hair twirled halfway down her back. The look was so simple, but Camila could not help but squint her eyes to try and focus on the woman standing in line a few feet away from her table. The mystery woman was texting fervently and her left foot tapped with what Camila assumed to be annoyance. Every few seconds, the woman would let out a long sigh or run her fingers through her hair - both of which were only noticeable to Camila, who tried to hide her gawking behind her laptop and mug.

She could hardly hear what the woman had ordered when she stepped in front of the cashier, but Camila could make out raspy mumbles that intrigued her even more. She looked around her table for an excuse to get up and quickly stuffed the rest of her croissant in her mouth so she could bring her empty plate to the bar. This was her idea of flirting: Sneaking glances at a distracted woman with her mouth too full to even talk. Camila gave a tight-lipped smile to the barista as she finished chewing and swallowed in time to turn around to face the stunning woman waiting for her drink. The woman looked up from her phone to meet Camila’s eyes and it was as if time stopped for a moment.

Camila blushed for having been caught staring, but managed to give a small smile before scurrying back to her table without looking back. The woman stood perplexed at the elegant features of the other woman, wishing she was able to admire more before she basically ran back to her table. Her breath caught at her throat and she was not brought back to reality until her order was called out. She grabbed her dirty chai latte and glanced back at the tables to try and see the woman’s face once more before she had to go to work. Her eyes landed on the woman, but was only able to see the white bow clipped at the top of her light brown hair as she was looking down to write some notes.

The raven-haired woman smiled at how simple yet cute the other woman looked and left the coffee shop knowing it was going to be a good day.

~

Still catching her breathing after her bike ride from work, Camila entered her apartment to find Dinah sulking on their couch with a bowl of ice cream and “Moana” playing.

“Rough day?”

“I miss Mani,” Dinah looked at her best friend and pouted.

Camila simply rolled her eyes at how dramatic her best friend was being. Dinah was so in love with her girlfriend, Normani, that she could not even handle a few days without the older woman. Normani had left just the night before to visit her family and best friend, Ally, back in Texas and Dinah has been acting like a complete baby ever since.

“It hasn’t even been 24 hours, Cheech.”

“You don’t understand!” Dinah threw a pillow at Camila. “What’s the point of living without her by my side?!”

“Okay, calm down, Juliet,” Camila sat down on the couch and instantly rested her head on Dinah’s shoulder. “Put the dagger away and just go FaceTime your girl.”

“I can’t. I know she’s having fun and I don’t want to take away time from her family and friends. I just feel so empty, you know?” Dinah sighed and leaned her head against her best friend’s. “Please tell me something interesting that happened today so I can distract myself.”

Camila thought about her day. She just finished a brutal bike ride because there was some convention that caused traffic along her normal route, so she had to take an alternate that included more hills than usual. Her mother was her typical self and kept pestering Camila to have dinner at their house because Sofi was being like any moody middle schooler. Not that she did not love her younger sister, but Camila knew the last thing Sofi needed was some staged intervention by their mother. Sometimes, things just sucked and you needed to be a bitch.

Nothing about her day was out of the ordinary except for the “flirtatious” moment she had with the stunning woman at the coffee shop earlier in the morning. Was their three-second gaze even considered a moment? Maybe it would have been if Camila had not fled in attempt to hide the flush of red that crawled across her face.

“I don’t know, there was this girl at the coffee shop.”

“A girl?!” Dinah’s head instantly snapped up and she bent her head down to look at her best friend with eager eyes. “Spill!”

Camila sat up and shook her head at the mischievous look on Dinah’s face. She shrugged and mumbled, “It’s nothing. We just looked at each other and I ran away.”

“Ugh, not again, Chancho!” Dinah buried her face in the palms of her hands. She groaned at how awful her best friend was at interacting with anyone she found even slightly attractive.

They have been best friends ever since Camila had initially moved to San Francisco and they ended up living in adjacent townhomes. They hit it off right away despite them going to different high schools - Camila at a randomly assigned public school while Dinah went to a private performing arts school on the opposite side of the park. Their families got close as Dinah’s parents always welcomed Camila and Sofi into their homes when Sinu had a night shift, and Camila tutored Dinah in basically every subject except Dance and Music Theory.

With Camila not being the one to really go out and Dinah always getting stuck babysitting her younger siblings and cousins, the two of them basically spent every moment with each other outside of school. They maintained their friendship via constant texting and daily FaceTime sessions while Camila studied at NYU and Dinah stayed in San Francisco to become a dance instructor at the children’s dance studio a few blocks down from their homes. When Camila returned from New York, she knew she would go absolutely insane if she moved back home on top of already working every day with her mother, so she proposed to Dinah that they live together. 

It really was not hard to convince the younger woman to move out of her family’s small townhome with twenty other people.

Their two-bedroom apartment was just five bus stops away from their families, but it was enough for them to feel somewhat independent and in their 20’s. They were able to finish a bottle of wine on a weeknight and not have their mothers scold them for displaying borderline concerning alcoholic tendencies. They rolled and smoked on their fire escape after a rough day - much more convenient than when they would have to sneak out in high school to light a joint at the neighborhood park. They did not have to be second mothers to the little kids running around their homes. They were able to simply enjoy being out of school and somewhat adulting. 

Normani lived with them, too, but, with her working at a major tech company as one of the best computer engineers, she went on several business trips to the company’s other offices - from Seattle and Chicago, to Shanghai and Berlin. You would think with all the business trips the older woman has gone on, Dinah would be used to her absence, but it seemed that the younger woman’s separation anxiety only got worse with each trip. Sometimes, Dinah would be so miserable that Camila sucked up her pride and put on the tightest dress she owned just to take her best friend out clubbing.

Camila may not be able to dance, but her ass was big enough to not have to do much and still have guys fighting over her. She cannot lie and say it did not boost her ego to watch extremely desperate guys gawk at her as she tried to sway her hips the way Dinah so effortlessly did. There would always be a few handsy guys who would grab her waist from behind and try to slam their boners against her, but “D” in “Dinah” basically stood for “Dick Deflector." 

The younger woman never let a guy get their way with her best friend - always shoving them away and grabbing Camila to dance with. Sometimes, Dinah would push Camila against a wall and grind on the older woman just so no guy could get at Camila from the front or back. Sometimes, Dinah would hold Camila from behind and bend her down just to make it clear that her best friend’s Cuban ass was off limits. It was hot for most guys to watch and, honestly, if they were not practically sisters, it would really look like Camila and Dinah had something going on between them. Normani would murder her girlfriend in a heartbeat if Dinah ever danced with anyone the way she did on Camila. The two best friends just worked - there was no other way to explain it. They balanced each other out, always had each other’s backs, and never failed to have the times of their lives together.

So, when Camila admitted she ran away from a girl at the coffee shop, Dinah was not surprised, considering the older woman always ran off to the bathroom whenever someone tried to pick her up at a bar or club. Camila was not experienced with intimacy and romance. In high school, she "dated” a basketball player, Austin, for less than a month before he dumped her because she denied his sexual advances. During her three years of college, Camila only went to a total of seven parties - only four of which she got drunk at and only two of those four instances did she drunkenly kiss someone. She gave Shawn a quick peck on the lips as a rule for King’s Cup and she hooked up with Hailee after she took a body shot from the girl’s cleavage. The girl took Camila to an empty room and showed her what is was like to be with a woman, being the first person to ever see Camila in such a vulnerable state. Camila did not regret having sex for the first time with Hailee, but, prior to their hook up, Camila never considered the thought of being attracted to girls. She always thought girls were pretty and felt more comfortable around them than with guys, but, after experiencing the sheer bliss and passion with Hailee, Camila could not help but think that maybe she was only attracted to guys because that was expected of her and being with a girl was what she truly desired.

This reveal was not surprising to Dinah, who always noticed how flustered her best friend got around boys and caught Camila staring at the cheerleaders more so than the football players when they would go to Friday night games back in high school. She did not care how her best friend identified - all Dinah cared about was that Camila found someone deserving. This was hard to determine when Camila could hardly even flirt. If a decently looking guy tried to converse with her, Camila would stutter and make some excuse about having to pick up her younger sister. Whenever a pretty girl passed by her, which was all the time because women are just so effortlessly beautiful, Dinah would have to physically close Camila’s mouth for her. The younger woman has tried to teach her best friend the basics, but Camila always froze in the moment and resorted to what she knew best: Running off to be by herself.

“I really tried this time, I swear!”

Dinah crossed her arms and gave her an incredulous look. “How?”

“Okay, so I was learning how to take care of succulents, which is much more complicated than you would think, and then I saw her,” Camila stood up to reenact the morning. “She was standing in line on her phone like this and I thought to myself, ‘I have to do something!’ So I did what I thought was the best thing to do in that moment and shoved half a ham and cheese croissant just so I could give the plate to the barista at the bar, where the girl was standing, waiting for her drink.”

Dinah’s mouth hung open at how ridiculous her best friend was, but she let Camila continue.

“When I turned around to go back to my table, our eyes met and holy shit! Dinah, her eyes! Her eyes were like, fuck, I don’t know how to explain it!”

“What color were they?”

“They were green, but not just green!”

“Oh, so like hints of blue?”

“No, no, no,” Camila shook her head furiously as she paced back and forth in front of the TV. “It’s not as simple as that. They were so full. I don’t know how to explain it except that it felt like magic and bliss and warmth and eternity! We looked at each other and time stopped and I felt a rush of comfort take over me as if I have been scouting the universe for centuries and finally found my home.”

When she stopped her movements and looked at Dinah, whose eyes were as wide as saucers, Camila shook her head in frustration at how she could not fathom into words how gorgeous this mystery woman was. She knew she sounded crazy, but, of everyone she has encountered - from Mexico, Cuba, Miami, San Francisco, and New York City - this woman was surreal. You know how everyone has a celebrity crush or that dream person that stars in every fantasy? This woman blew every face imaginable for Camila. Camila did not even understand how a face so perfect could exist - it had to be chiseled by God himself and topped with Midas’ touch.

After moments of silence, Camila plopped face first back into the couch and groaned into the cushions as her best friend rubbed her back.

“Oh, honey…” Dinah cooed. “Should I pop open the red or white?”

“White." 

~

A/N:

This is going to be a very long story… Get ready for an agonizing slow burn… 

I hope you enjoyed - thanks for reading! 

Wattpad: nodustollens7

[rdesai19]

2020

saturday night

Biden up by 7% in iowa - says one new poll of 800 people. 48% to 41%. is this poll right and all others wrong? is this fake news pushed by the right?

it makes PA the tie-breaker. and PA is very close. So are Georgia, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, Florida. All these states will most likely break the same way - decisively victory for one of them. Is it more likely that the right takes over or the left?

If history is any guide - the right will take over. The left only wins decisively once in a while. The left's cultural victories are decisive but political victories, not so much. Every once in a while, the left does win - like the continent. But, most of the time, the right wins - in all the continents - not just in Europe. It feels like a very self-centered world in which the time i live through is one of those rare times when the left wins decisively. More likely, this will be like all those other times when the right wins yet another war and extracts a harrowing price. Perhaps, IA is a harbinger.

There is genuine energy in the 30% that the right does not identify with. They will show up in much higher numbers. There is also genuine energy in the right wing. They will show up in force - equally so. The moderates on both sides are very energized. They may not protest, but they will show up. And, whom are they voting for? Maybe enough of them do not identify with the right and show up in much bigger numbers. We will know when the wave breaks.

One of the many outcomes of this Schrodinger’s cat is that the left wins decisively. That could mean so many good things without pissing off the business too much. Techies love the left but are scared of the right. The right does not have the edge in tech. And business is techie these days. So, a decisive victory could mean a lot of awesome, perfectly constitutional legislative remedies to historical injustices. 

But, the more likely scenario is that things have to get worse before they get better. So, the right will win all 3 branches and proceed to enforce its will on the rest of the world. They have the $ and the guns. Trump could very well end up being the father of the American Empire. The first emperor. The supreme court will be packed with 13 justices - 10 repubilcans and 3 democrats. All the right lands will be gerrymandered. Elections can become a farce within 4 years.

Who will stop it from getting worse? There is no other nation with the power to stop them. Hitler had the USA. There is no USA that can out-USA USA now. A hundred years ago - there were multiple peer powers. Today, there is only one power.

The only thing that can stop this runaway right wing train with the American Empire as the engine - is nature.

---

sunday night

It seems highly possible that all the wavering states break the same way. Their behavior could turn out to be very correlated. The people who stay at home may be the same kind in all states. Breaking left is highly possible - biden, congress, and the senate. It would likely affect state elections too - continuing the tide of competitive improvement in state legislatures.

A complete control of the left over the law-making machinery is entirely plausible. And there is much old ground that can be reclaimed through laws. Cannabis, Civil rights, Abortion. Title IX, Immigration, Election infrastructure, regulations, etc. 

If two branches gang up on a third branch - it is not an even battle. If the congress and the president decide to pack the court, there is nothing that the SC can do to stop it. Notice that Biden has not ruled it out and he had promised to clarify his position before election day. I wonder if he will play his cards close or go big to get the base.

On the other hand, breaking right is highly possible too. Trump and the Senate stay republican. This would empower the right to no end. The project of American Empire would go full steam ahead. The right wing of today is not isolationist in the same way as the Nazi-era right of US. Those guys wanted to stay aloof from peers - these guys want to stay in splendid isolation - imposing their will on the whole world and exploiting resources like it is a race against the clock. The old practices of separate will come back; social injustice will get much worse. The British Empire with today’s tech.

It feels oddly calm even as I feel the wave is breaking big - one way or the other. The uncertainty makes it hard to feel happy about the prospects of Biden victory. The uncertainty makes it easy to feel scared about the prospects of Trump factory. The odd calm is perhaps the onset of the numbness needed to withstand the wave of fear and loathing that will wash over in case of Trump victory. After the numbing will no doubt come the regrouping. The right has risen. We are in for the long haul.

There will be recriminations in hindsight. But, I will need to put it behind me. I will need to put the loathing behind me too. There will be many people who will go to the right, once it rises. We will need to live with them. I will need to bring back my old values about how to be friends with right-leaning people while still being true to myself.

There will be temptations to go extreme. I do not have to be as cautious as I have been all my life. I can be vocal. I can become the thorn in people’s sides. But, I have to avoid these urges to signal virtue. Nothing is to be gained by feeling virtuous. Better to be in human company also, rather than only in my own head.

I feel that I have reached the end of imagination. I do not expect the right to hold back in any way. And, they have so many weapons they have never used. I do not expect them to exercise restraint. They are firm adherents of scorched earth tactics. Overwhelming power. Shock and Awe. SDI. They will not hesitate to bomb China or iran to bits. I do not think the US Military can stop them. There are enough in the US Military who support the right. Expect a major purge of the top level command in the military.

I feel that I have reached the end of imagination I do not expect the right to hold back in any way on the domestic front either. They will enact Christianity as the first among equals religion. Ten commandments, prayer, abortion. They will vent their fury on people like Brij - trans - who have not yet reached the level of LGB in mainstream, They will vent their fury on immigrants. They will push wages down - but unequally. While men’s wages will go down less; the rest will go down more. They will go to any lengths to ensure congress victory in 2022 - gerrymander after 2020 census, suppress vote,...

But, when it comes to the left winning - I do not feel at the end of imagination at all. Stories and novels and sagas remain to be written about how a more just society can be made with more just laws. It is a fascinating human endeavor. What are the just laws I want?

But, right now - it seems untimely to dwell on that.

-------------------------------------

Thursday night.

There is a lightness in my step. A lifting of a cloud in the head. There is a feeling of a return to a good place. Mere certainty of Trump’s loss has brought clarity back to the mind.

It is a relief that I can ignore Trump again. He is so infectiously negative. I marvel at how his 3 old kids have turned out so positive. He stirs up everyone’s negative nerves - whether sad or mad. Never glad.

Trump and Perdue are pegged - thankfully in GA, sadly in other places like KA, NC, MT, IA. The center left wins the presidency and now - the left left has to win the Senate by winning GA again. And, Biden has to get out the base in GA.

GA January may have an even bigger turnout than this time around. It will be an epic battle between the left and the right. A totally different test than this election, Trump will be dousing GA with the flames for two months. Churches could get burnt. Muslims could get rounded up as terrorists. Professors may get fired. All these attacks on civil society could juice up his base to an even higher participation. The backlash to Kamala's win and Trump’s loss could impose a whole new test on GA.

The left has the blacks. They will turn out 100%. They have been working the system. They know the importance of now. John Lewis will be brought up again and again. Biden will talk about LBJ. He will have to turn left. He cannot sit on his haunches and solve just Covid. He will have to spend political capital, perhaps burn some Republican bridges. He will bring out the base.

The left has minorities. Kamala could reach out to Indians - if she can convince more of them to forego their prejudices and economic thinking - maybe the Indians could be a help. These two segments, in spite of their turnout and strengths are no match for the white right.

It all comes down to the left-right split in the whites. GA 2021 is yet another civil war battle. And fittingly, GA is the location of the battle. The white left will turn out big. The youth vote will skyrocket. The senior turnout will get even higher. But, will enough white lefties show up in the fight against the 100% turnout in the white right? I think Biden can do it.

We cannot claim to know what this test will reveal. Such an honest test of the left-right split has never been conducted in any society. No one can predict what happens if there is a 100% turnout. The next few months will be full of drama. There is no return to normalcy. Trump will do atrocities that will shake me up. The Right is not going to suddenly give up. There is no permanent win in my lifetime. GA 2021 will provide an amazingly honest look at the left-right split in the whites.  I cannot know whether I will like the test results. No point in thinking about that.

It is still untimely to think of what kind of just laws I want. First, get clarity on what the next two months will bring. Pendulum of emotions. Trump will stir up bad stuff and that is actually very good for the cause. Biden will have to spend political capital on the base, instead of winning the center, like he did in 2020 elections. Seeing a prez do that will be very satisfying. A further step towards an old sjw’s dream. But, the good and the bad will be happening at the same time.

[mfaunlv]

Meet the New Class!

It is our pleasure to introduce you to the 17 writers who will join our UNLV community this coming Fall 2020 semester! Congratulations to everyone, and welcome to UNLV!

PHD/BLACK MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE FELLOWS

Dorothy Allred Solomon (nonfiction) was born into a polygamous household to the father of forty-eight children and his fourth wife, but married a Vietnam veteran who said, “One wife is more than enough.” She took her bachelor’s degree in literature, theater and communication and her master’s degree in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Utah. Her writing has received several awards, including the 2004 WILLA, the Utah State Publishing Prize, three first prizes from the Utah Arts Council,  Distinguished Journalism Awards from Sigma Delta Chi and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a Governor's Media Award for Excellence. Her books include the groundbreaking In My Father’s House (1984, Franklin Watts and 2008, Texas Tech University Press) Predators, Prey and Other Kinfolk: Growing Up in Polygamy, (W.W. Norton, 2003) Daughter of the Saints, (W. W. Norton, 2004) The Sisterhood: Inside the Lives of Mormon Women, (2007, Palgrave Macmillan) and coming in 2020 from Texas Tech University Press, Finding Karen: An Ancestral Mystery.

Areej Quraishi (fiction) was born in Dubai, UAE. Her fiction explores familial relationships, cultural identity, memory, and their effects on the psyche. She holds an MFA from the University of Washington-Seattle and an MA and BA in English from Rutgers University. Outside of writing, she enjoys food, trying out new recipes, teaching, graphic design, language, and dabbles in drawing and singing. Her stories appear or have been awarded Finalist spots in Entropy, Glimmer Train Press, and New Millennium Writings. She's super excited to attend UNLV and hopes that being raised in a desert has prepared her for the heat.

MFA Fiction

Mark Ranchez discovered the power of stories and storytelling at an early age. Moved from the Philippines to Hawaii in 2013, he finds himself in a constant journey into the unexpected and unknown, from which many of his stories he’s excited to write about were gleaned. By furthering his education and expertise of the craft, he aspires to someday bring these stories into life. His main writing interests involve the Filipinx experience both in the US and the Philippines. Currently he writes for The Hawaii Filipino Chronicle, an ethnic news publication based on Oahu. Hawaii.

 Shani Boianjiu (not pictured)

Marlan K. Smith joins the MFA program as a fiction writer after completing his MA in English at the University of Idaho. A veteran of the video game industry, his academic interests include contemporary and Victorian literature, speculative fiction, and horror. His short stories (written pseudonymously) have appeared in Dark Moon Harvest magazine as well as Space and Time Magazine. As someone moving to Las Vegas during a global pandemic, he accepts that he has basically become a character in a Stephen King novel.

Alycia Calvert was born in Palo Alto California, and has been trying be be close to the ocean ever since. She graduated from UNLV in 2016 with a degree in English, with an emphasis in Creative Writing. Alycia mostly writes flash fiction and is interested in the processes of mothering and childhood in memory. She is the wife to one wildlife biologist, and mother to four curious children. In her “spare time” she can be found running, biking, kayaking, nursing a forest of house plants, tearing through audio books, and half-finishing house projects. She loves learning, and is thrilled to begin her MFA at UNLV.  

MFA Poetry

Ben Socolofsky is a poet currently celebrating the mundane in Las Vegas, Nevada. He received a bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College, where he became a founding member of the Departure Collective, which organizes readings and produces chapbooks. His work has appeared in The Hampshire College Reader, WORKSHOP and Departure Anthology.

Sara Brown grew up in rural, middle-of-nowhere South Jersey on her grandparents’ two farms and on the coast. She started working at age 9 on her grandparents’ blueberry farm and then at a flower nursery while completing her Bachelors in Literature. Due to a very bad/good habit of being interested in everything, she enjoys reading and writing poetry and creative nonfiction, painting, growing plants, experimenting with film and digital photography, running and biking, and making music. She also has a chocolate problem and will ugly-cry when she has to leave her dog in NJ. Sara has spent many hours exploring the Mojave Desert while staying with her family and friends in Las Vegas and is beyond thrilled to start the MFA program at UNLV.

Benjamin Stallings is an American poet and musician who grew up in Beijing, China. He moved to America to attend Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, where he graduated with a B.A. in Literature and a B.A. in Writing. He performs as Dagger, playing guitar and writing songs in El Bandito Forever.

John Blake Oldenborg recently graduated from Florida State University with an M.A. in English Literature, Media, and Culture. His favorite pizza toppings are pepperoni and black olives. In his spare time, John enjoys visiting art museums and playing rogue-likes. He is scared of the screaming guy from the band Death Grips

Alice Letowt is convincing her endocrine system to behave. She is interested in light, spent two seasons working on a farm, and hopes to continue farming in the future. While practicing social distancing, she is discovering a fondness for azalea bushes. She can’t wait to stop in Kansas on her drive from Virginia to Nevada.

Harrison Bernard Nuzzo

“i stand outside me and watch myself"

- d.a. levy

 MFA Nonfiction

Michael Hanson, a Minnesota native, has chased warm weather in Hawaii, California, Hong Kong, Australia, and now Las Vegas. When he isn’t winning sailboat races, he can be found camping, reading, or carousing with the local riff-raff.

Emma Hardy is from Melbourne, Australia. Her nonfiction has been published in Voiceworks, The Lifted Brow, the Monthly and Dumbofeather. She's interested in animals, the environment and nonfiction that lends itself towards the speculative and fabulative. She's also obsessed with comedy, and performs improv, clown, sketch and occasionally stand-up.

Journalist Travis Dunn was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey and rural Pennsylvania. He holds a B.A. from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md. His reporting has been published by the Center for Public Integrity, WhoWhoWhy, Alternet, Belt Magazine, and the now-defunct Baltimore City Paper.

Claire Mullen is a freelance writer, critic, audio producer, and translator based in Mexico City. Her work has appeared in outlets such as The Nation, Lithub, The Believer, and Ploughshares, and she is currently a National Book Critics Circle fellow.

Patricia Heisser Ph. D is a clinical Psychologist who is also an activist and writer. She has been a play producer one of her plays “The Wedding Band”, received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award. She consulted on casting for movies, such as "The Color Purple", "Lethal Weapon" and "Planet of the Apes" and had a television talk show on CBS," L.A. Kids" which was featured in TV Guide's' Year of the Child.  Patricia was also selected as a MS. Magazine Feminist Scholar focusing on international trafficking has testified for the United Nations on the Status of Women and Violence. She also was awarded the American Psychological Association accredited Clinical Psychology Fellowship at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.

[rickhorrow]

10 To Watch : Mayor’s Edition 11419

RICK HORROW’S TOP 10 SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 4 : MAYOR’S EDITION

with Jacob Aere

Fully 14.8% of all World Series ads focused on giving back and corporate social responsibility. There were more advocacy and corporate social responsibility ads aired during the first four games of the World Series than any other type of ad outside of auto makers, according to data from Advertising Analytics, a strategy firm that specializes in political and issues advertising. The World Series attracted mostly defense, enterprise technology, and healthcare ads. While this was a departure from typical sports championships, in which consumer package goods and retail ads typically dominate, Axios noted World Series games in DC presented a juicy opportunity for brands to “reach Washington decision-makers in a casual environment. While many marquee advertisers sponsor events around Washington DC, there are few games that will have as high of an impact and as engaged of an audience as a World Series that includes a Washington team.” As the hyper-political environment in Washington becomes more contentious, companies are pressured to take a stand on more issues than they have in the past – and this is reflected in their marketing initiatives. Expect this trend to continue at least through the 2020 election cycle.

A college players' rights group has entered into a partnership with the NFL Players Association to explore how to maximize name, image, and likeness rights. A day before the NCAA announcement last week, the NFLPA and National College Players Association (NCPA) announced jointly that the partnership will "explore opportunities for" college athletes in merchandise, gaming, licensed products, and "how recent developments impact television broadcast revenues in pursuit of fairness." California's Fair Pay to Play Act granting college athletes in that state the ability to profit off their name, image, and likeness goes into effect in 2023. A similar bill has been proposed in Florida, but it would go into effect far sooner—July 1, 2020. A Pennsylvania bill is expected to be introduced soon. Were college players able to unionize in a similar fashion to the way NFL players are able to collectively bargain, it would put even more pressure on the NCAA to craft new rules that give student athletes the same rights that all their classmates on campus currently enjoy.

Premier League Primary Stars USA visits Austin elementary school for soccer-themed learning. On October 25, Austin, Texas elementary school students worked side-by-side with Premier League stars during a soccer-themed educational experience. Premier League, the top level of the English soccer league system and EVERFI, a leader in driving social change through technology and education, recently joined forces to bring an interactive soccer-themed education program to students at Perez Elementary School in Austin. The event was part of the Premier League Primary Stars USA program, an educational initiative focused on health and wellness and social and emotional learning skills. Representatives from the Premier League and associated pro soccer clubs led a digital learning session, a hands-on soccer skills clinic, and a school-wide assembly centered on areas of critical emotional development. Perez students also engaged with visiting soccer stars, met mascots from four Premier League clubs, and saw the iconic Premier League trophy. On hand for the event were Premier League star winger and ambassador Shaun Wright-Phillips, EVERFI Global CMO Brian Cooley, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, and youth coaches from clubs including Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Wolverhampton.

Kansas City, here we come. Our “Power of Sports” program heads to Kansas City this month, highlighting community outreach programs, culturally significant sites, and people who have made a difference through sports. This month, host Rick Horrow visits the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to speak with President Bob Kendrick about the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Negro Leagues coming up next year and the museum’s role in the celebration and in the community. He also checks in on two of the Kansas City Royals’ youth outreach programs: Royalty Fields grants and a recurring Special Olympics clinic, and hears from James McGinnis, a high school football player from the KC Metro, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and used the Chiefs’ success last season to motivate his recovery. Our Game Changer segment features an interview with former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue filmed in early October at a Sport Business Handbook contributor symposium hosted by EVERFI at their Washington, DC headquarters

The Orlando Magic have "filed an updated master plan" for their downtown Orlando Sports + Entertainment District that is "expected to more than double" the original $200 million project budget. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the mixed-use district will be built "starting next year on 8.4 acres across from Amway Center." Magic Chief Communications Officer Joel Glass said the project will now cost "well over" $500 million. The district will "contain nearly 110,000 square feet of retail space, a conference center hotel with 80,000 square feet of event space, offices, apartments and a 2,500-space parking garage." The updated plan maintains the original concept from 2018 but "increases the number of hotel rooms by 50 and more than doubles the amount of office space from the original 200,000 square feet to 420,000 square feet." District Director Pat Gallagher said that the office tower "would now rise to 18 stories, which includes the ground-floor retail, multilevel parking structure and commercial office space." The Sentinel notes the Magic's new headquarters "would occupy 40,000 square feet in the office tower,” or close to 10%.

Unsung World Series winner this year:  Palm Beach County, FL.  The most publicized “first” this year involves the visiting team winning every World Series game.  However, maybe one of the most important economic “firsts” is the first time the World Series finalists shared a Spring Training facility:  the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.  The 7,700-seat stadium also features six practice fields each for the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros.  The 160-acre site also includes a 1.8 mile public walk trail and other facilities.  The Palm Beach County Sports Commission touts the facility as a major economic generator for the county, as it also hosts over 1,400 youth and tournament baseball games each year.  Look for a series of major announcements by the county and sports commission over the next two months.

San Diego State is now offering the city of San Diego $87.7 million for Mission Valley stadium site. San Diego State University is "now offering to pay" the city $19.5 million more than before to purchase the Mission Valley stadium property formerly occupied by the Chargers. According to the letter delivered last Monday to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, SDSU's new offer is $87.7 million, which consists of a "revised purchase price" of $86.2 million for 135 acres of land, plus an estimated $1.5 million to "account for a portion of the site's appreciation" since 2017. In addition, SDSU is "proposing to take over the portion" of Murphy Canyon Creek immediately adjacent to the site "without requiring the city to pay for any past-due maintenance,” according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The news comes as SDSU cracked the Associated Press college football Top 25 for the first time in many years (they are now #24), an achievement that should aid local enthusiasm for the SDSU West project, as a new football/soccer stadium is part of the master plan.

Parisian soccer club PSG goes green with Gaussin transport deal. According to SportsPro, French soccer giant Paris Saint-Germain has signed a strategic partnership with the Gaussin Group for the supply of self-driving, 100% electric vehicles for public transport and goods transport. The long-term agreement includes equipment for all of the Ligue 1 champions’ infrastructure, including their new training complex which will open its doors in 2022. The deal also falls in line with PSG’s ambition to utilize innovations in sustainable development and autonomous mobility, especially with regard to the practice facility as it bids to become the first recognized Smart City in sports. The Gaussin Group will initially undertake research to understand where to best deploy its autonomous and electric mobility solutions before rolling out its products where it best suits the needs of the club. This deal marks a movement for sports franchises to be more environmentally conscious of their off-field impacts.

Philadelphia 76ers’ Tobias Harris donates $1 million to charities. According to 247 Sports, Harris announced a combined donation of $1 million to assist nine different charities in Philadelphia. He announced the charities and the dollar amount for each during a community draft at a local elementary school. The benefitting organizations include the Center for Black Educator Development which received $300,000; Read by 4th was given $200,000; The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, and Legends Academy were all given $100,000; World Literacy Foundation and True Love Missions each received $75,000; and both WUFSD Wynadanch Memorial High School and Team Up Philly were given $25,000. Although Harris was traded just eight months ago from the Los Angeles Clippers, the basketball star seems to be investing heavily in the youth of Philadelphia, a city facing a major teacher shortage and in which two-thirds of third graders can’t read at grade level.

Call of Duty League launches in January, 2020.  According to BusinessWire, Activision Blizzard Esports announced the inaugural season of the Call of Duty League will begin with the Call of Duty League Launch Weekend at the Minneapolis Armory January 24-26, 2020. The event will be hosted by Minnesota Røkkr, which is the Call of Duty League team operated by WISE Ventures Esports, under the ownership of the Minnesota Viking owner Wilf family and tech investor Gary Vaynerchuk. The league will feature all 12 of the professional Call of Duty League teams competing across three days, and the opening weekend will feature additional fan and player experiences to celebrate the launch of Activision Blizzard Esports’ highly anticipated new city-based league. In a concept that should appeal to traditional sports fans, the Call of Duty League follows a home-vs-away format with 5-versus-5 professional match play. Throughout the season, each team will host “Home Series” weekends in their market, with multiple pro teams competing at each which will draw in crowds to take part in the events and participate in one of the most far-reaching video game series ever created.

[briggsps]

Rick Dingus has explored the cultural and topographical landscapes of the western United States for more than four decades. Beginning in the late 1970s, his black and white and color photographs heightened with drawing created a dialogue between the multiplicity of photographic processes and the singularity of drawing. In the last several decades his panoramic, infrared, and circular images have been coupled with an unrelenting tinkering with cameras and lenses to adjust the “windows” of his worlds.

Dingus recently donated over 750 works, including notebooks and related notes, to an archive of his work in the AP/RC. His imagery explores ironies, contradictions, dialogues, and symbioses among human manipulated environments. While much of his attention has been directed toward the southwestern United States, Dingus has pictorially examined other regions of the western United States, as well as India, Australia and Mexico.

As the artist notes, “I’m interested in any situation that prompts contemplation of the curiously complex connections we share with the larger patterns of existence. Remote wilderness and rural settings, vernacular byways, urban environments, ancient pathways, ruins, historic, mythic and spiritual pilgrimage sites, scientific and technological research facilities, folk and professional museums, shrines, collections, displays, and dioramas all fascinate me because these places reflect individual and collective responses, understandings, and a myriad of relationships to the same world I live in.”

In 2016 the Museum of Texas Tech presented a retrospective exhibition  and the University of Oklahoma published a monographic survey of Dingus’ work, Shifting Views and Changing Places: The Photographs of Rick Dingus.

Go to the artists web site at: http://www.rickdingus.com/

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Every day at exactly 5pm in February 1973, Isla Vista, CA; digital print from color transparencies

After the Fire, Bandelier National Monument, NM (Topography Grid), 1977-78; silver gelatin print

After the Fire, Bandelier National Monument, NM (Denuded Slope Erosion), 1977-78; silver gelatin print

After the Fire, Bandelier National Monument, NM (in Snow), 1977-78; silver gelatin print

Pulpit Rock, W.H. Jackson, 1869; silver gelatin print from, negative from original print

Location of Pulpit Rock, for the Rephotographic Survey Project, 1978; silver gelatin print

Tertiary Conglomerates, Weber Valley (Witches Rocks #5), T.H. O’Sullivan, 1869; from photograph of original print

Tertiary Conglomerates, Weber Valley (Witches Rocks #5), T.H. O’Sullivan, 1869, for the Rephotographic Survey Project, 1978

Untitled (Hole with Board: Gravel Mound), 1977; silver gelatin print with graphite

Lightning Snake Shadow, 1977-81; silver gelatin print with graphite

Gravity Fence, 1979; silver gelatin print with graphite

After the Tornado at Wichita Falls, TX, 1979-82; silver gelatin print with graphite

Living Room, Langtry, Tx, 1984; silver gelatin print with graphite

Satellite TV, Junction, TX, 1984-85; silver gelatin print with graphite

Tilted Earth Shield: San Rafael Swell, UT, 1982-88; silver gelatin print with graphite

Earth Changes: Past-Present-Future, 1981-86; silver gelatin print with graphite

Ufinsihed House in the Woods near Taos, NM, 1985-88; silver gelatin print with graphite

Journey Within, 1987-88; silver gelatin print with graphite

Empty Soda Well near San Ysidro, NM, 1989; silver gelatin print with graphite

Entrance, Gulf Coast, Mississippi, 1988-90; silver gelatin print with graphite

Five Years After the Fire, Bandelier National Monument, NM, 1982-89; silver gelatin print with graphite

Tree of Knowledge, Turkey, TX, 1988-89; silver gelatin print with graphite

Ufinished Business, Mississippi, 1989; silver gelatin print with graphite

Underground Stairway, Sonora Caverns, TX 1993;

Wind Scored Tin near Lubbock, TX, 1995; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Airport Motel, Plainview, TX, 1992; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Neon Motel, Junction, TX, 1992; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Equinox Sunset Snake Creeps Down, Chichen Itza, Mexico, 1995-96; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Teotihuacan (from the Pyramid of the Moon), 1997-98; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Storefront Landscape, TX Panhandle, 1998; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Plowed Fields near Colorado City, TX, 1994-96; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Dust Storm, Lubbock, TX, 1995; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Field House near Snyder, TX, 1994-96; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

“Tlaloc” Petroglyph near Cooks Peak, NM, 1984-85; silver gelatin print with graphite

Exterior: Cave Kiva near White Rock, NM (rebirth Place), 1982-86; silver gelatin print with graphite

Interior: Cave Kiva near White Rock, NM (Mythical Fragments), 1984-86; silver gelatin print with graphite

“Five Portraits” Ceremonial, Davis Canyon near Canyonlands, UT (Proposed Nuclear Waste Disposal Site), 1982-85; silver gelatin print with graphite

Marking the Passage, Three Rivers, NM, 1983-86; silver gelatin print with graphite

Location of the “Sky Faces” Pictographs, Canyonlands, UT, 1982-84; silver gelatin print with graphite

Painted Rock near Santa Barbara, CA, 1983-84; silver gelatin print with graphite

Lessons by the Campfire, 1987-88; silver gelatin print with graphite

After the Sweat, 1987-88; silver gelatin print with graphite

Shade House Full of Light, 1988; silver gelatin print with graphite

Volcanic Wall near Shiprock (Wings of the Giant Bird in the Journey to the Sky Father Story), 1987-88; silver gelatin print with graphite

Buddha with Onlookers, Pandu Lena Caves near Nasik, Maharashtra, India, 1988-90; silver gelatin print with graphite

Kneeling Figures, Buddhist Caves near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India, 1988-90; silver gelatin print with graphite

Shiva Lingam, Panchaleshwar Temple, Poona, India, 1988-90; silver gelatin print with graphite

Hanuman, Panchaleshwar Temple, Poona, India, 1988-90; silver gelatin print with graphite

Collecting Navajo Smoke, 1992-93; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Collecting Salt at Zuni Salt Lake, 1991-92; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Shadow Over Moaning Lake, 1991-92; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

White Cone, 1991-92; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Shiprock; 1991-92; chromogenic print with water-soluble wax and oil based pastel crayons

Tesla Coil, Lubbock, TX, 2000-02; chromogenic print

Unmarked Sensors, Los Alamos, NM, 1998-99; chromogenic print

Statue of a Water Witcher, Waterville, WA, 1998; chromogenic print

Fissure Vent with Camera, near Reno, NV (after T.H. O’Sullivan), 1998-99; chromogenic print

Tourists at Bonneville Dam, Columbia River, OR, 1998-99; chromogenic print

Dam and Viewing Platform, Shoshone Falls, ID (after T.H. O’Sullivan), 1998-99; chromogenic print

Scheduled for Removal: Lower Elwa River Dam, WA, 1998-99; chromogenic print

Recycled Beetle, Swetsville Zoo, Fort Collins, CO, 1998-99; chromogenic print

Neon Boneyard, Las Vegas, NV, 2002; chromogenic print

Listening to Stonehenge (Audio Tour), Wessex, England, 1998-2002; chromogenic print

UFO Watchtower near Hooper, CO, 2001-02; chromogenic print

Abandoned Dugout of a Supposed Hermit near Twin Falls, ID, 1998-99; chromogenic print

Caged Cave Kiva near White Rock, NM, 1998-99; chromogenic print

Movie Theater, Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center, WA, 1998-99; chromogenic print

After the Collapse, Crater Lake, OR, 1998-99; chromogenic print

Oil Refinery, Big Spring, TX, 2004-06; chromogenic print

Oilfield Trash, Penwell, TX, 2004-06; chromogenic print

Lamesa’s “Rainmaker Rocket,” now in Big Spring, TX, 2004-06; chromogenic print

Climate Controlled Storage, Lubbock, TX, 2005-06; chromogenic print

Crop Duster Mural, Caprock Cafe, Lubbock, TX, 2005-06; chromogenic print

Giant Femur, Mt. Blanco Fossil Museum, Crosbyton, TX, 2005-06; chromogenic print

Buffalo Mural, Hale Center, TX, 2004-06; chromogenic print

Horse, Wheatland, NM, 2004-06; chromogenic print

Lubbock-Marked Globe, International Cultural Center, Lubbock, TX, 2004-06; chromogenic print

Visitor Center, Monahans Sandhills State Park, TX, 2004-05; chromogenic print

Theater Mural, Floydada, TX, 2005-06; chromogenic print

Old Home Place in a Plowed Field, Posey, TX, 2004-06; chromogenic print

Picnic Table, Badlands National Park, SD, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Curtained Window in a Sod House, Prairie Homestead, Philip, SD, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Rock Display, Chadron State College, Chadron, NE, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Trail Head, Devil’s Tower National Monument, WY, 2005-07; chromogenic prints

Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, SD, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Smoking Foundation, near De Kalb, IL, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Museum Courtyard, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Global Rescue Station (Old Growth Forest Scheduled for Clear Cutting,) The Styx Valley of the Giants, Tasmania, Australia, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Stump Shelter in a Clear Cut Area of Old Growth Forest, The Styx Valley of the Giants, Tasmania, Australia, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Queenstown Overlook (Gravel Soccer Field near Landscape Denuded by the Mt. Lyell Mine), Queenstown, Tasmania, Australia, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Hydroelectric Water Transportation (during its Last Year of Use), Lake Margaret Dam, Tasmania, Australia, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Deep Sea Diver, Maritime Museum of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 2005-07; chromogenic print

Queue for a View, Okie-Tex Star Party, Kenton, OK, 2013-15; pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Observatory Tent, Okie-Tex Star Party, Kenton, OK, 2013-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Elaborate ATM, Okie-Tex Star Party, Kenton, OK, 2013-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Many Views, Okie-Tex Star Party, Kenton, OK, 2013-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Shared References, Okie-Tex Star Party, Kenton, OK, 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Observation Trailer, Okie-Tex Star Party, Kenton, OK, 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Lined Escarpment and Circles (SLC>DFW>LBB), 2012-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Silicon Valley (OAK>LAS>LBB), 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Suburban Maze (OAK>LAS>LBB), 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Reworked Fields with Circles (LBB>LAS>OAK), 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Ridged Desert Highway (LBB>LAS>OAK), 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Line Marked Mountains (LBB>LAS>OAK), 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Drainage Toward Circles (LBB>LAS>OAK), 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Ridges, Roads and Runway (OAK>LAS>LBB), 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

Straight Line Over Fractured Ground (OAK>LAS>LBB), 2014-15, pigment print; infrared sensor digital camera

New Additions to the AP/RC: Rick Dingus

Rick Dingus has explored the cultural and topographical landscapes of the western United States for more than four decades.

New Additions to the AP/RC: Rick Dingus Rick Dingus has explored the cultural and topographical landscapes of the western United States for more than four decades.

[jmarksthespots]

[#WOWFestival #FESTIVAL #PANEL] Women of the World Festival OW: Big Ideas * Intimate Conversations May 7 | 2-7pm  @apollotheater​ | 253 West 125th Street New York, NY  Admission: FREE For tickets, REGISTER ONLINE

PANELS

Opening Remarks The Global State Of Women Purna Sen – Director, Policy Division, UN Women

Linking Arms: Why Our Feminism Must Be Intersectional

What are the issues shaping the feminist agenda in the 21st Century?  Who gets to set them and how do we ensure that no feminist is left behind? This panel brings leaders from across the feminist movement to discuss why it matters who leads the march and explore what it takes to create an inclusive movement that also stands against racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia and classism.

Panelists Include: Jude Kelly, Moderator – Artistic Director of Southbank Centre and WOW Festival Founder Tamika Mallory – National Co-Chair of the Women’s March on Washington; President of Mallory Consulting Carmen Perez – National Co-Chair of the Women’s March on Washington;  Executive Director of The Gathering for Justice Azadeh Khalili – Former Founding Executive Director – Commission on Gender Equity, Office of the Mayor, NYC

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Unapologetically Afro-Latina Co-presented by the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute

This  interactive conversation celebrates what it means to be an Afro-Latina and explores the intersectionality of her identity. This panel will also address the multilayered impact of race and gender on the lives of Afro-Latinas across the Spanish-Speaking African Diaspora, from socio-economic status, to education and healthcare access, to representation in media and politics.

Panelists Include: Marta Moreno Vega, President CCCADI Nancy Morejon, Award-winning Cuban poet (presented in partnership with Pen World Voices) Malin Falu, Radio and Television personality Magdalena Albizu, moderator – director, NEGRITA documentary; former President of the New York Chapter of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP).

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The M Word: Muslim-American Women on Power and Beauty What is the unchallenged perception of a Muslim-American woman? Who gets to decide what images and narratives about women dominate in the public discourse, the media, and the literary world? Is the hijab a fashion accessory, an expression of one’s faith, or trending iconography? Is a focus on the hijab reductive?A conversation on women—by women—on what it takes to defy obsolete notions of power and beauty, and instead embrace multidimensional identities. Addressing beauty standards, cultural appropriation, faith, and feminism, our diverse panel tackles a few of the most controversial and sensitive topics of our time.

Panelists include: Mara Brock Akil (Being Mary Jane, Black Lightning) Rana Abdelhamid (Hijabis of New York) Mona Haydar (‘Ask A Muslim’) Penina Roth (Franklin Park Reading Series).

Presented by The M W Word: Muslim Americans Take the Mic, a PEN America series supported by Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s Building Bridges Program and by the PEN America World Voices Festival. This event is co-presented by the Apollo Theater and the 2017 Women of the World Festival.

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I Love Myself When I’m Laughing: Finding Power Through Comedy          

This panel will look at the many cool ways in which comedy has served to empower women who have found success as stand-up comedians, actresses, and writers of major talk shows. In this talk will women will also discuss how they have used humor as a tool to create social change around reproductive rights, Black Lives Matter, sexual trafficking, healthcare, immigration, women’s and LGBTQ rights and how you can too.

Lizz Winstead, moderator – co-creator of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Maysoon Zayid – writer, actor, comedian, Maysoon Zayid is the co-founder of the New York Arab-American Comedy Festival. Aida Rodriguez – producer and actress, known for Last Comic Standing, The Comedian, and The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. Subhah Agarwal – Subhah’s unique perspective comes from growing up Indian-American in the mid-west. She has been featured on PBS series Modern Comedian, TruTV, Comedy Central, and MTV. 

#ACTIVISM

In 2017, it appears you can’t be an effective activist without social media and you can’t be relevant without a ’cause’. Or at least, that’s what we’re led to think. This discussion will explore what activism looks like now compared to the past, what it will look like in the future and the myriad of ways activists are using social media to create narratives and bring the reality of overlooked experiences to the fore for change and empowerment.

Ashleigh Shackelford, moderator – contributing writer at Wear Your Voice Magazine and For Harriet Alaa Basatneh is a human rights activist, writer and Justice Correspondent at FUSION and is the protagonist in the 2013 award-winning documentary, #ChicagoGirl (chicagogirlfilm.com), following Alaa’s tireless efforts to guide revolution in war-torn Syria using only social media and her laptop from 6,000 miles away in the suburbs of Chicago. Lorne Batman is the social media manager for Lady Parts Justice League Elizabeth Luke is a communications manager at Twitter

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Period Rights: Who Gets To Bleed With Dignity The functions of women’s bodies has historically been hidden from them and ‘polite’ conversation which informs a sense of shame and hush women have talking about their periods. We are now learning how lack of access to sanitary products for certain groups of women in certain social circumstances (poverty, prison, homeless, etc.) prevent them from fully taking part in everyday life and can even lead to disadvantage. WoW has put together a frank debate of experts who are changing the period game and given us the power back to ‘bleed with dignity’ and without impediment.  

Moderated by Simone Bresi-Ando

Panelists Include: Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, author of Periods Gone Public (Skyhorse, September 2017);contributor to Ms. Magazine. NYC Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland Nadya Okamoto – co-founded PERIOD. Alison Nakamura Netter – Chief Communications & Development Officer, ZanaAfrica Foundation

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Masculinity, A Solution? The construct of masculinity has been more vocally challenged in recent years with the emergence of new gender identities, the study of the various negative impact of toxic masculinity, the highlighting of rape culture and the resurgence of feminist ideologies in the mainstream. Can masculinity as we know it survive? Do we need it? Why does it cause so much harm across the world against both men and women? What’s the new ways we can carve a masculine identity that empowers, nurtures and educates men without the pain? 

Panelists Include:

Risikat “Kat” Okedeyi, Moderator – hosts a radio show, The LSP Effect, a weekly online show and Creative Conversations. Robert Jones, Jr. is the literary, sociopolitical and psychosexual writer behind the Son of Baldwin blog, which explores issues that matter to queer people of color and their allies. Leo Sheng is a Trans Activist/Advocate and writer for MTVFounders Professor Robert Jensen is a professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center in Austin.He is the author of Plain Radical: Living, Loving, and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully (Counterpoint/Soft Skull, 2015). Michael Kimmel – is one of the world’s leading experts on men and masculinities. He is the SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Stony Brook University. Among his many books are Manhood in America, Angry White Men, The Politics of Manhood, The Gendered Society and the best seller Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men.

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Give Me Body: What I Learned About Myself & The World When I Embraced & Loved My Body From Sports Illustrated to Beyonce, the current culture of body image politics is evolving and impacting our lives for better and for worse! Panelists will share personal stories about the trauma and pleasure of having “non-traditional” bodies, and will challenge alternative facts promoted via pop culture empowering women and girls to love their bodies and dismiss the haters.

Panelists Include: Ericka Hart is a kinky, poly, activist, sexuality educator, performer and cancer-warrior who after her double mastectomy made waves with her topless photo Jen Ponton is a comedic force and most commonly recognized for her work on Tina Fey’s “30 Rock” and “The Unbreakable Kimmy  Schmidt.” Additional participants will be announced

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Digital Dames: The Future of Women & Girls in Tech This talk will look at the many varied and fascinating ways in which women and girls are impacting the tech sector. Our expert panelists will not only lay out the many challenges that women still face in tech, but will provide solutions on how to break in and break the glass ceiling.

Panelist includes: Sonya Magett, co-founder of Code & Content Academy, a nonprofit that provides coding workshops in underserved communities. Heather Cabot – co-authored GEEK GIRL RISING: Inside the Sisterhood Shaking Up TechRaising Powerful GirlsHow do we give and create empowerment tools and leave a positive, sustainable legacy for the next generation of girls to positively handle and define their identity, ambitions, desires and dreams in a world that is increasingly seeing these things as secondary to its progression? 

Moderated by Mommy Blogger, @ChicBusyMoM, Candace Montgomery Panelists Include: Nadia Lopez – Principal at NYC Department of Education. Stacey Patton – an American journalist, writer, author, speaker, and college professor and commentator.  She is also founder of the anti-child abuse movement Spare The Kids, Inc. Shireen Ahmed is a sports journalist, former football player, wife and mother. Candace Montgomery, Moderator – Senior Director, Event Marketing at Essence Communications.

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Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood: An Intimate Conversation on the Experience of Being Trans, Gifted & Black This panel will discuss the transformative experience of being trans, by slaying the misperceptions around being Black, transgender, and a woman. Panelists will address the violence still faced by trans women everyday and the silence surrounding them. This talk will conclude with a discussion envisioning a trans/ cis Black sisterhood and give voice to the ways in which we can mine that Black Girl Magic to find a more powerful level of understanding.

Featuring CeCe McDonald, a transgender prison-reform activist and subject of the documentary, Free CeCe in conversation, with Octavia Lewis, the Audre Lorde Project Trans Justice School Fellow.

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Uptown Hall: The Power of New York Women       The Apollo Theater’s WOW themed Uptown Hall – The Power of New York Women will be an in-depth panel examing the opportunities and obstacles women in positions of power face.  How are New Yorkers impacted by what these women do?  What power does an average New York woman have to lead and to influence leaders?

Moderated by WNYC’s Jami Floyd.

Panelists include: Piper Anderson, Create Forward Majora Carter, Majora Carter Group Professor Christina Greer, Fordham University Amy Holmes, Rasmussen Reports Margaret Hoover, American Unity Fund Donna Lieberman, NYCLU Janai Nelson, NAACPLDF Sonia Ossorio, NOW- New York City

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WORKSHOPS WOW Workshop:  5 Ways To Boost Your Career On Social Media Featuring a discussion with Mary Pryor, Director of Digital, Digital Flash New York

WOW Workshop: Self-Acceptance presented by StyleLikeU Mother-Daughter duo Elisa Goodkind & Lily Mandelbaum, the founders of the multimedia company StyleLikeU and creators of “The What’s Underneath Project”, will led a workshop on self-acceptance through personal style.

WOW Workshop: Warrior Women This family-friendly craft workshop invites participants to design wooden door hangers of powerful She-Roes from around the world including:  Mama Tingo from Santo Domingo, Queen Nanny of the Maroons, Yaa Asantewaa, Lolita LeBron, Harriet Tubman, and many more.

WOW Workshop: Trap Yoga Apollo Theater Sunday May 7 at 2pm Taught by Trap Yoga guru, Brandon Copeland

This workshop is a fast-paced, power yoga practice done to Trap.  Participants should wear comfortable clothes and bring their own mats.  Due to limited capacity, this event requires an RSVP. Please RSVP at wow@apollotheater.org.

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WOW BITES WOW Bites are engaging bite-sized talks delivered by fascinating women with amazing stories from all walks of life.

WOW Bite: Crazy Is My Superpower Featuring AJ Mendez Brooks, former wrestler and three-time WWE champion Divas Champion.

WOW Bite: “Carrying The Weight: My Senior Year As ‘The Mattress Girl. '”Featuring Emma Sulkowicz, a Columbia University student who became the face of sexual assault on college campuses nationwide when she carried around a 50-lb mattress as a work of endurance performance art for her senior thesis.

WOW Bite:  My (Underground) American Dream – From Undocumented Immigrant To Goldman Sachs Star Featuring a discussion with Julissa Arce, political commentator, speaker, writer and author of MY (UNDERGROUND) AMERICAN DREAM.

WOW Bite:  Harlem: The New Tech Frontier Harlem Featuring Jessica O. Matthews, founder of Uncharted Play, a renewable energy company specializing in motion-based, miniaturized power systems.

WOW Bite: Con Cuatro En Una Casa: How I Make Single Motherhood Look Good  Featuring Yvette Russell

WOW Bite: My Hijabi Chronicles Featuring Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, photographer and recent recipient of the Reporting Grant from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF).

WOW Bite: Kindness Is Magic: 25 Acts of Kindness to Incorporate Into Your Life Everyday  Featuring Tere Geckle

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OTHER ACTIVITIES

WOW Reading:Julie Scelfo, author of The Women Who Made New York,  reads from the chapter of her book entitled “The Aunties,” which features four women who helped their immigrant communities feel more at home in New York–while also protecting and celebrating cherished cultural traditions from back home.

Suffrage Spotlights:To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the woman’s right to vote in New York state, activists and performers will gather to read excerpts from famous Suffrage speeches from around the world.

Podcast:Shirley McAlpine, a seasoned business coach and facilitator, will launch her new podcast, ‘She’s Got Drive,’ live at the WOW festival.  She, along with a roundtable of panelists, will share inspiring stories and offer tips on how to live your life by design and not default.

WOW Film: MAKERS: Women in Politics Executive Produced by: Dyllan McGee & Peter Kunhardt MAKERS: WOMEN IN POLITICS profiles the long, slow fight for female political representation over the last century, from the first woman elected to Congress in 1916 to a young woman running for Detroit City Council in 2013. Trailblazing leaders like Hillary Clinton, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Olympia Snowe, the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the House of Representatives, and Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to serve in Congress, provide a backdrop for younger women like Rashida Tlaib, the first Muslim-American woman elected to the Michigan House. Today’s leaders in Washington, including Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the first female Senator from Massachusetts, Susan Collins (R-ME), who led the Senate in shaping a deal to end the government shutdown, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), currently the youngest woman serving in Congress, are also represented. Narrated by Alfre Woodard. About MAKERS MAKERS is a storytelling platform for the trailblazing women of today and tomorrow. Through visual storytelling, podcasts, live events, Emmy-nominated documentaries, and award-winning digital content, we’re inspiring the MAKERS who will shape the future. MAKERS are women who dare to lead. As the largest digital collection of women’s stories ever assembled, MAKERS is inspiring and empowering women to change the world one story at a time. Today, MAKERS.com features over 4,500 videos and the stories of more than 400 women. Current MAKERS include: Hillary Rodham Clinton; media mogul & philanthropist Oprah Winfrey; writer, actor, producer Lena Dunham; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg; artist Alicia Keys, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, writer and producer Shonda Rhimes, YouTube sensation Lilly Singh; and more. For more info, visit MAKERS.com

MUSIC/PERFORMANCES Under the Apollo Marquee DJ:Musical Pathways Radio Show RhythmAndSoulRadio.com is the urban eclectic internet radio station where you can listen to your varied music tastes in one place.On May 7th, under the Apollo’s marquee, the hosts of RhythmAndSoulRadio.com’s Musical Pathways Radio Show (The Mad Spinner Jamelle Mel, Lady Scorpio, and Mama Soul) will serve as DJs with a unique music mix celebrating women across the globe. They will play new soul, classic soul, R&B, Hip-Hop, Spoken Word, Reggae, Soca, Calypso, Black Rock, and more from artists you know and love and independent artists who you need to know.

WOW Mainstage DJ: DJ CUPPY Florence Ifeoluwa Otedola, famously known as DJ Cuppy, is a musician and entrepreneur.  In 2014, Cuppy released her first compilation House of Cuppy, which saw her pioneer a fresh new sound she dubbed “Neo-Afrobeats” -an electric blend of Tropical House and Afrobeats music.Urban WordThe Sunday program will feature special performances by young poets from Urban Word NYC.Urban Word NYC champions the voices of New York City youth by providing platforms for critical literacy, youth development and leadership through free and uncensored writing, college preparation and performance opportunities.

[supersportsnewsblog]

Updated May 6 with cancellation of Pitchfork Music Festival Worries about the growing coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected more than 1 million people in the United States and killed at least 58,000 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have dramatically upended what was originally going to be a busy schedule of entertainment, sports and cultural events into a virtually empty slate in the first half of 2020.Click to see updated film, music, television, sports, tech and miscellaneous events. FilmTheaters have closed indefinitely, leading studios to push back release dates or go the direct-to-consumer route.Event: Locarno Film Festival Location: Switzerland Original Date: August 5-15 Rescheduled: No, but launched “Locarno 2020 – Future of Films Initiative“Event: Beijing International Film Festival Location: Beijing Original Date: April 19-26 Rescheduled: Online fest to stream on iQIYI beginning May 1Event: Karlovy Vary Film Festival Location: Czech Republic Original Date: July 3-11 Date canceled: April 27 Rescheduled: July 2-10, 2021Event: Comic-Con Location: San Diego Original date: July 23-26 Date canceled: April 17 Rescheduled? Yes, to July 22-25, 2021Event: Cannes Film Festival Location: Cannes, France Original date: May 12-23 Date rescheduled: April 14 Rescheduled? Yes, TBD time and formatEvent: Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, Critics Week Location: Cannes, France Original dates: May 13-23 Date canceled: April 15 Rescheduled? No, but organizers are “looking at the best way to keep on supporting the films submitted”Event: Annecy Animation Film Festival Location: Annecy, France Original date: June 15-20 Date canceled: April 7 Rescheduled? Event will be digital-onlyEvent: Wondercon Location: Anaheim, California Original date: April 10-12 Rescheduled: Yes, March 26-28, 2021Event: South by Southwest 2020 Location: Austin, Texas Original date: March 13-22 Date canceled: March 6 Rescheduled? No, but films will screen online in AprilEvent: 40th Annual Razzie Awards Location: Los Angeles, Calif. Original date: March 14 Date canceled/postponed: March 14 Rescheduled? No, winners announced onlineEvent: Tribeca Film Festival Location: New York Original date: March 20-22 Date postponed: March 12 Rescheduled? No, select programming debuted onlineEvent: CineEurope Convention Location: Barcelona Date postponed: March 24 Rescheduled: Yes, August 3-6Event: Produced By Conference Location: Los Angeles Original date: June 6-7 Date Canceled: March 20 Rescheduled? NoPostponed Event: AFI Tribute to Julie Andrews Original Date: April 25 Date Canceled: March 7 Rescheduled? New date and air date will be announced in coming weeks MusicBans on large public gatherings have shut down Broadway and concert venues, though artists have begun performing their works online.Event: Pitchfork Music Festival Location: Union Park, Chicago Original Date: July 17-19 Date canceled: May 6 Rescheduled: NoEvent: Elton John “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour Location: North America Original date: May 22-July 8 Date canceled: April 23 Rescheduled: 2021 TBDEvent: Against Me! 2020 spring tours Location: U.S. and Europe Original date: Beginning May 1 Date canceled: April 17 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Taylor Swift’s “Lover Fest” Shows Location: U.S. and Europe Original date: Summer 2020 Date canceled: April 17 Rescheduled? Yes, for 2021Event: Coachella 2020 Location: Indio, California Original date: April 10-12 and April 17-19 Date canceled: March 10 Rescheduled? Yes, October 2020Event: Stagecoach Country Music Festival Location: Indio, California Original date: April 24-26 Date canceled: March 10 Rescheduled? Yes, October 10Event: Eurovision Song Contest Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands Original date: May 12-16 Date canceled: March 18 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2020 Induction Ceremony Location: Cleveland, Ohio Original date: March 20-22 Date postponed: March 12 Rescheduled? Yes (Nov. 7, 2020) and will air 8 p.m. ET on HBOEvent: 55th Academy of Country Music Awards Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas Original date: April 5 Date postponed: March 17 Rescheduled? September 16, 2020 and will air 8 p.m. ET of CBS and CBS All AccessPostponed Event: CMT Music Awards Original date: June 3 Date Canceled: April 3 Rescheduled? Yes, Oct. 14Event: Boston Calling Festival Location: Boston Original date: May 22-24 Date canceled: March 31 Rescheduled? TBD 2021Event: CMA Fest 2020 Location: Nashville, Tenn. Original date: June 4-7 Date canceled: March 31 Rescheduled? June 10-13, 2021Event: Governors Ball 2020 Location: New York City Original date: June 5-7 Date postponed: March 26 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Lovers & Friends Festival Location: Los Angeles Original date: May 9 Date canceled: March 27 Rescheduled? Yes, August 8Event: Glastonbury Musical Festival Location: Pilton, Somerset, England Original date: June 24-28 Date canceled: March 18 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Billboard Music Awards Location: Las Vegas Original date: April 29 Date postponed: March 17 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Bonnaroo Location: Manchester, Tennessee Original Date: July 11-14 Date Canceled: March 18 Rescheduled? Yes, September 2020Event: BTS 2020 Tour Location: North America, London, Berlin, Barcelona Original date: April 25-26 in Los Angeles Date canceled: March 26 Rescheduled? TBD, postponedEvent: Pussy Riot North American tour Location: US, Canada Original date: March 17-18 Date canceled: March 12 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Green Day, “Father of All…” tour, first leg Location: Cities across Asia Original date: March 2020 Date canceled: Feb. 27 Rescheduled? TBAEvent: Ultra Music Festival Location: Miami, Florida Original date: March 20-22, 2020 Date canceled: March 4 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: The National Japan tour Location: Tokyo Original date: March 17-18 Date canceled: March 2 Rescheduled? NoEvent: The Pixies Asia tour Location: Cities in Japan and China Original date: Feb. 24-March 3 Date canceled: Feb. 23 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Stereolab China Tour Location: Shanghai, Beijing Original date: March 19, 21 Date canceled: Feb. 20 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Stormzy “Heavy is the Head” Asia Tour Location: China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia Original date: March 20-21, 24, 27, 29 Date canceled: Feb. 13 Rescheduled? Postponed, TBDEvent: Korea Times Music Festival Location: Hollywood Bowl Original Date: April 25 Date Canceled: Feb. 26 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: BTS “Map of the Soul” Tour, South Korea Dates Location: Olympic Stadium in Seoul Original Date: April 11, 12, 18 and 19 Date Canceled: Feb. 27 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Burning Man Location: Nevada’s Black Rock Desert Original Dates: Aug. 30 to Sept. 7 Date Canceled: April 11 Rescheduled? Organizers plan to hold a virtual online-only event. TelevisionProduction has been suspended or delayed on nearly every show.Event: Peabody Awards Location: Los Angeles Original date: June 18 Date postponed: March 25 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Television Critics Association 2020 Summer Press Tour Location: Pasadena, Calif. Original date: Late July to mid August Date postponed: May 1 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Kids Choice Awards 2020 Location: Las Vegas Original date: March 22 Date postponed: March 11 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Edinburgh TV Festival Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Original date: August 26-28 Rescheduled? Event will be digital-onlyEvent: National Association of Broadcasters’ NAB Show 2020 Location: Las Vegas Original date: April 19-22 Date canceled: March 11 Rescheduled? NoEvent: PaleyFest LA 2020 Location: The Paley Center in Los Angeles Original date: March 13-22 Date postponed: March 11 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: MipTV Location: Cannes, France Original date: March 30-April 2 Date canceled: March 4 Rescheduled? No SportsSports has taken a major hit domestically and internationally. Nearly all events have been canceled or postponed, including the 2020 Olympics.Event: 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan Location: Tokyo Original date: July 24 – Aug 9 Date postponed: March 24 Rescheduled? July 23 – Aug 8, 2021Event: Tour de France Location: France Original date: June 27 – July 19 Date postponed: April 14 Rescheduled: August 29 – September 20Event: Kentucky Derby Location: Churchill Downs Original date: May 2 Date postponed: March 17 Rescheduled? Sept. 5Event: NASCAR Indy 500 Location: Indianapolis Original date: May 24 Date postponed: March 26 Rescheduled? Aug. 23Event: Wimbledon Location: London Original date: June 29-July 12 Date canceled: April 1 Rescheduled: June 28 – July 11, 2021Event: World Surf League March events Location: Global Original date: Throughout March Date postponed: March 12 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: XFL 2020 Inaugural Season Location: Nationwide Date Canceled: March 20 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Little League World Series Location: Williamsport, Pennsylvania Original Date: Aug. 20-30 Date Canceled: April 30 Rescheduled? No MiscellaneousEvent: NYC Pride Location: New York City Original date: June 14-28 Date canceled: April 20 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Anime Expo Location: Los Angeles Original date: July 2-5 Date canceled: April 17 Rescheduled? July 2-5, 2021Event: White House Correspondents’ Dinner Location: Washington, D.C. Original date: April 25 Date postponed: April 13 Rescheduled? August 29, 2020Event: Cannes Lion Festival Location: Cannes, France Original date: June 22-June 26, rescheduled for October 26-30 Date canceled: April 3 Rescheduled? June 21-25, 2021Event: Edinburgh Fringe Festival (and also Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh International Festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo) Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Original date: August 7-31 Date canceled: March 31 Rescheduled? TBD 2021Event: RuPaul’s DragCon Location: Los Angeles Original date: May 1-3 Date canceled: March 10 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Gridiron Dinner Location: Washington, D.C. Original date: March 14 Date canceled: March 10 Rescheduled? NoEvent: LA Pride Parade and Pride Month events Location: West Hollywood, Calif. Original date: June 2020 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Beijing and Shanghai Fashion Weeks Location: Beijing, Shanghai Original date: March 25-31 Date canceled: February 10 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Art Basel Hong Kong Location: Hong Kong Original date: March 19-21 Date canceled: February 6 Rescheduled? No, online viewings insteadPostponed Event: Just for Laughs Comedy Festival Original Date: July Date Canceled: April 3 Rescheduled? Yes, September 29 – October 11Event: Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Location: Los Angeles Original date: April 18-19 Date canceled: March 10 Rescheduled? Yes, postponed to October 3-4Event: Exploding Kittens’ “Burning Cat” convention Location: Portland, Oregon Original date: May 16-17 Date canceled: March 10 Rescheduled? Postponed until further noticeEvent: Scripps National Spelling Bee Location: Washington, D.C. Original date: May 28 Date Canceled: April 21 Rescheduled? No TechEvent: GDC Summer Conference Location:  San Francisco Original date: August 4-6 Date postponed: April 30 Rescheduled? Now an online-only eventEvent: Esports World Open Location: Tokyo Original date: July 22-24 Date postponed: April 17 Rescheduled? NoEvent: E3 2020 Location: Los Angeles Convention Center, Downtown Original date: June 11-13 Date canceled: March 11 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Game Developers Conference Location: San Francisco Original date: March 16-20 Rescheduled? No, digital-only with a summer event planned August 4-6Event: Riot Games 2020 Mid-Season Invitational Location: Global Original date: May Date canceled: March 10 Rescheduled? Yes, postponed to July 3-19Event: Microsoft Build conference Location: Seattle, Washington Original date: May 19-21 Rescheduled: Will now be digital-onlyEvent: FMX Visual Effects Conference Location: Stuttgart, Germany Original date: May 5-8 Date canceled: March 3 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Google I/O Conference Location: Mountain View, California Original date: May 12-14 Date canceled: March 3 Rescheduled? NoEvent: 24th Annual Webby Awards Location: New York City Original date: May 11 Date Canceled: March 19 Rescheduled? No, but winners will be announced online via an “Internet celebration”Event: Mobile World Congress Spain Location: Barcelona Original date: February 24-27 Date canceled: February 12 Rescheduled? NoEvent: Facebook’s F8 Location: San Jose Original date: May 5-6 Date canceled: February 27 Rescheduled? TBD, events onlineEvent: ESL One LA (Esports match) Location: Shrine Auditorium, Downtown LA Original date: May 2 Date postponed: March 12 Rescheduled? TBDEvent: Apple: Worldwide Development Conference Location: San Jose, California Original date: June Rescheduled: Will now be digital-onlyEvent: Burning Man Festival – Build of Black Rock City Location: Black Rock Desert, Nevada Original date: Aug. 30 to Sept. 7 Rescheduled: Will be virtual on a date TBDRead original story Coronavirus: The Canceled and Postponed Events in Tech, Media, Sports and Entertainment (Updating) At TheWrap

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