After months of deliberation, the Minneapolis City Council has unanimously voted to give George Floyd’s family $27 million in a legal settlement. The city has agreed to pay the wrongful death civil lawsuit which was filed last July. In it, Floyd’s family said that the police officers who were involved in killing George Floyd violated constitutional rights by using “unjustified, excessive, and illegal, and deadly use of force.” The $27 million settlement was announced shortly after that of Breonna Taylor‘s. This is one of the largest settlements ever in a police misconduct case, and the largest ever paid for the death of a Black man.

On Friday, the Minneapolis City Council voted 13-0 to approve the lump sum for Floyd’s estate — $500,000 of which will go towards the George Floyd memorial site in Minneapolis. The lawsuit also detailed how the city created a culture of excessive force and impunity in the police department while also failing to fire officers who exhibited harmful behavior. This coincides with the current jury selection for the trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who killed Floyd by kneeling on his neck until he stopped breathing. Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder, second-degree manslaughter, and third-degree murder. 

In May, Floyd uttered his last words, “I can’t breathe,” after being violently pressed to the ground by police officers, sparking the summer’s Black Lives Matter uprising. Bridgett Floyd, George’s sister, told CNN in response to the settlement that the family is “pleased that this part of our tragic journey to justice for my brother George is resolved.”

Ben Crump, one of the Floyd family’s lawyers, also said regarding the settlement: “George Floyd’s horrific death, witnessed by millions of people around the world, unleashed a deep longing and undeniable demand for justice and change. That the largest pre-trial settlement in a wrongful death case ever would be for the life of a Black man sends a powerful message that Black lives do matter and police brutality against people of color must end.” 

“The past year has dramatically shifted our city’s trajectory, and today marks another milestone in shaping a more just future for Minneapolis,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a tweet. “Our settlement with George Floyd’s family reflects a shared commitment to advancing racial justice and a sustained push for progress.”

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Following a sixth allegation of sexual assault and misconduct against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman joined the growing call for Cuomo to resign. On Friday morning, Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman wrote a joint letter saying that there was no real alternative for the governor other than to step down.

“As members of the New York delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, we believe these women, we believe the reporting, we believe the Attorney General, and we believe the fifty-five members of the New York State legislature, including the State Senate Majority Leader, who have concluded that Governor Cuomo can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges,” Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez wrote in their statement.

Their statement comes in response to the most recent — and most serious — allegation against Cuomo. According to a new report, an anonymous staffer said that sometime last year, Cuomo called her to his Executive Mansion where he non-consensually reached under her blouse and fondled her. In response, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also spoke out for the first time asking for Cuomo to leave office.

“It’s deeply troubling. The specific allegations that the governor called an employee of his, someone who he had power over, called them to a private place, and then sexually assaulted her is absolutely unacceptable. It is disgusting to me, and he can no longer serve as governor,” de Blasio said during a press conference.

This is the first time that de Blasio has spoken out about the assault allegations. Cuomo, whose term would come to a close in 2022, is now the subject of other calls for resignation or even impeachment. On Thursday, New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie also demanded an “impeachment investigation” into the allegations — a process that would involve interviewing witnesses and studying evidence of the allegations as a first step towards full impeachment.

In addition to these calls, more than 55 Democratic legislators from New York state have signed a letter requesting Cuomo’s resignation in light of the stories of harassment and abuse, as well as accusations about misreporting on New York’s COVID-19 death data within nursing homes.

Cuomo was first accused of harassment by Lindsey Boylan, a former aide, in December 2020. Boylan, who is now running for Manhattan Borough President, shared her story on Twitter and then in an essay, after which others stepped forward to detail similar accounts of harassment and abuse. Cuomo is also under investigation for allegedly covering up the number of deaths in New York nursing homes in the early months of the pandemic. According to a 76-page report from New York Attorney General Letitia James, nursing home residents that had been transferred into hospitals after contracting COVID-19 were not accounted for in reporting the number of deaths within the homes themselves.

Prior to these public statements demanding Cuomo leave office, the New York governor commented on the allegations on Wednesday night. “I have never done anything like this. The details of this report are gut-wrenching. I am not going to speak to the specifics of this or any other allegation given the ongoing review, but I am confident in the result of the attorney general’s report,” he stated.

It is unclear if Cuomo is prepared to step down or face a full impeachment trial at this time, though he has previously stated that he does not plan to resign from his post.

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After Oprah’s highly anticipated interview of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex, many Americans are coming to terms with just how corrupt the British monarchy remains today. During the interview, Markle and Prince Harry described how a member of the royal family voiced concern over what their son Archie’s skin color would be while she was pregnant with him, and how members of the family helped perpetuate tabloid slander against Markle — never once stepping in to defend her.

Markle also made it clear that the royal institution failed to protect her when she reached out for help after suffering with depression and suicidal ideation. One thing remained clear, in no uncertain terms: The monarchy exists to protect its own bloodline — and nothing else.

Yet apparently, a number of conservative talking heads in the U.S. are willing to do free PR work for the royals, attacking Markle and Prince Harry in an attempt to discredit them. Megyn Kelly — who has somewhat of a reputation for defending, say, Donald Trump for example — went so far as to shame Markle for suffering from depression and speaking out about her mental health: “It’s a fact of life you have to learn to deal with. It doesn’t — it shouldn’t drive you to that kind of depression, those kinds of self-lamentations,” she said during an appearance on Piers Morgan’s show.

Charlie Kirk compared Markle to another Black actor, Jussie Smollett, who is believed to have fabricated a story about being attacked in a hate crime in 2019. “I think she’s making it up like Jussie Smollett,” Kirk said on Tuesday on his podcast.

Meanwhile, Ben Shapiro tweeted, “We told you not to screw with us, George III. And now we’ve unleashed our most dangerous resource: B-rate TV actresses wielding wokeness,” adding, “Imagine being Prince Philip: fighting Nazis, helping preside over the UK during the Cold War and the economic struggles of the 1970s, and now watching your spoiled grandson basically call the institution to which you have silently devoted your life a vile repository of bigotry.”

On Fox & Friends, host Ainsley Earhardt criticized Markle, saying, “I’ll just say, if I got a castle and I got the jewels and a crown, I wouldn’t be leaving!” insinuating that the royal family welcomed Meghan at all and that should have been enough.

Radio personality Erick Erickson also decided to jump on the woke-hating bandwagon, tweeting, “So essentially Harry and Meghan have joined Woke-o Haram and want to cancel the Royal Family for not being woke.”

It shouldn’t come as such a shock that these conservative media pundits are cheerleading the monarchy’s racism and abusive behavior. After all, these are the same people who have routinely defended the Confederacy, violence against Black Americans, anti-abortion initiatives, and rallied behind a violence-perpetuating police state. 

This past summer, Shapiro ranted for nearly 15 minutes in a video denouncing the Black Lives Matter movement. Kirk has continuously mocked Black Lives Matter protesters. “Imagine marching in the streets and dedicating your life to something that doesn’t exist. It must be a miserable life to believe America is a racist country. It takes effort to believe something so materially false,” Kirk tweeted in June. In a recent Fox News segment, Earhardt attempted to justify the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, saying, “There are 75 million people that voted for President Trump. And they are scared. They are worried about what the future of this country looks like. They are confused and heartbroken that their candidate didn’t win and they don’t want to be forgotten.”

By attacking Markle, these right-wing pundits are continuing to perpetuate the ideologies of white supremacy inherent in the monarchy, stemming from colonialist roots that have laid the groundwork for what culminated in Markle’s ostracism. Conservatives — much like the monarchy itself — fail to show any proof that Markle didn’t experience racism, or that she has no reasons to speak out. But that likely won’t stop them from trying.

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On Friday, the U.S. Senate voted against Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposal to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $15. One of the votes that helped knock down the progressive proposal came from Arizona’s Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. But Sinema didn’t just vote to keep poverty wages in place — she actually dressed up, carrying a Lululemon bag, and brought a cake.

Yes, the senator literally carried a cake to the Senate floor to give a proud “thumbs down” to keeping the $15-per-hour wage provision in the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, a video of which quickly went viral. Following the incident, a spokesperson tried to clarify that Sinema brought the cake for Senate staffers who had been working all night — not as an homage to Marie Antoinette’s “let them eat cake.”

But no one online is buying these excuses, and sure enough, “Marie Antoinette” started trending on Twitter after Sinema’s vote. “She’s decided she’s going to be a media darling as Marie Antoinette of the establishment. Dress in a super fun way, do performatively hip thumbs downs as she votes to kill higher wages & now rub it in with symbolic cake we can all eat instead of higher salaries. #CorporateTool,” Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks, tweeted. A former senior advisor to Sen. Sanders tweeted: “839k people in Arizona make under $15 an hour. They need a raise, and they deserve a better Senator than [Kyrsten] Sinema.”

Actual video of Senator Sinema voting no to the minimum wage amendment: pic.twitter.com/930vltqK2n

— 🌻The Official New York Socialist ✡️ (@TheNYSocialist) March 5, 2021

Remind me what happened to the last rich, powerful white woman who got a cutesy “let them eat cake” attitude while her country was starving https://t.co/7dDsCBbgUY

— Hayley Farless McMahon (@McMisoprostol) March 5, 2021

Honestly until Krysten Sinema bisexual women were often represented in popular culture as straight or suicidal. Hoping now we can get some representation for keeping Americans in poverty!

— Kate Willett (@katewillett) March 5, 2021

She’s decided she’s going to be a media darling as Marie Antoinette of the establishment. Dress in a super fun way, do performatively hip thumbs downs as she votes to kill higher wages & now rub it in with symbolic cake we can all eat instead of higher salaries. #CorporateTool https://t.co/IvbzF7NfOj

— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) March 5, 2021

Following the vote, Sinema tweeted: “I understand what it is like to face tough choices while working to meet your family’s most basic needs. I also know the difference better wages can make.” She added that the Senate should hold an “open debate” on raising the minimum wage. “I will keep working with colleagues in both parties to ensure Americans can access good-paying jobs, quality education, and skills training to build more economically sound secure lives for themselves and their families.”

The only problem here is that none of this is actually possible unless the national minimum wage is no longer a “starvation wage,” as Sen. Sanders has put it. Maybe if Sinema made $7.25 an hour instead of the Senate’s almost $200,000-a-year salary, she’d understand this a little better.

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Bernie Sanders has been hard at work fighting for workers rights, among other things. On Friday morning, Sanders proposed an amendment to the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 — which he called a “starvation wage” — to $15. The Senate ultimately rejected the demand for a $15 minimum wage.

But that’s not all that Sen. Sanders has been advocating for. He has also apparently taken up young people’s romantic futures as a cause. “@SenSanders on the Senate floor saying we must crush COVID-19 so that young people can start dating again (among a long list of other reasons),” Tara Golshan, a reporter for the Huffington Post, tweeted yesterday.

That’s right: Bernie is advocating for us to get back to dating. The politician’s statement on Thursday summed up the mass devastation and suffering that the pandemic has caused — which goes beyond just financial instability and into mental health and well-being.

“COVID has not only caused massive death and illness, it has resulted in social isolation … All over this country, you’ve got old people, elderly people, in their homes, they can’t interact with their grandchildren, with their own kids, with their friends,” he said. “You’ve got young people, [who] want to go to school, want to socialize, want to date, want to do things that young people do. And they can’t do that or have been unable to do that for the last year, and that has resulted in a very sharp increase in mental illness in this country, something, by the way, this legislation also deals with.”

As a result of Sanders’ pro-dating stance, many Twitter users voiced support for the Senator, who is truly looking out for our sex lives, as it turns out. “Glad Bernie believes in my dating potential even if I don’t,” one responded. But that’s Bernie, for you: always believing in our potential. And that’s been true since before 2021 and for the duration of the pandemic.

Sanders has continued to advocate for a more robust stimulus package, as well as higher minimum wage for workers. Last March, he largely shifted his political focus into advocating for pandemic relief and has continued to stress the bipartisanship of COVID-19 aid in the Senate.

What’s clear is that Bernie’s support extends beyond just what’s in our bank accounts or pockets: He wants us to have our summer of love, too. (And maybe do so in some custom-made mittens).

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On Thursday, Caroline Giuliani, the daughter of defamed Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, shared her experience with polyamory and monogamy. In an essay for Vanity Fair, Giuliani spoke out about being bisexual and having sexual experiences with multiple people at one time on her path to polyamory, shedding light on how the lifestyle has opened her up to new ways of thinking about relationships. 

Giulani, who is 32, explained what it was like to be a “unicorn”: someone who joins couples as a third partner in the bedroom. “Finding the strength to explore these more complicated, passionate aspects of my personality became the key to harnessing my voice and creative spark, which in turn helped me better cope with depression, anxiety, and the lingering cognitive effects of adolescent anorexia,” she wrote. Sexual non-monogamy, she says, helped her cope with lack of fulfillment in past relationships.

Coming out of a particularly unsatisfying relationship, Giuliani said she finally realized what she was looking for and “immediately began to make up for lost time” by having sex with different people and practicing uninhibited self-discovery. “At the time, I didn’t fully understand what was missing from that relationship, but I did know that my partner loved me despite my weird wildness, while I yearned to be with someone who loved me because of it.”

She explained that finding her “wildness” as an adult felt more peaceful than when she was growing up. “It was not reacting or crying out but intentionally searching,” she said, explaining that she’d known she is bisexual for a while but hadn’t fully explored her sexuality with others at that time.

Despite her happiness in sharing her experiences, candidness about her lifestyle has also resulted in slut-shaming, she said. Still, this only served to help her see that she’s an “empathetic, radically open-minded, profoundly adventurous” person who is “fiercely committed to telling stories that reduce the stigma surrounding sexuality and mental health — including this one, right now.”

Giuliani — who is a filmmaker, political activist, and writer as well as politician Rudy Giuliani’s daughter — has already been the subject of media attention after she openly disagreed with her father’s political ties to Trump. Giuliani began her career as a production assistant in Hollywood, and has since worked her way up in the world, more recently working as the director’s assistant on Netflix’s 2019 romantic comedy Someone Great. In 2020, she created the psychological thriller film Or (Someone) Else, which follows a woman struggling through an abusive relationship, and the implications and ramifications of her anger and her mental health.

As for her relationship with her father, in 2016, when questioned about her political beliefs completely contradicting her father’s, she stated in another Vanity Fair essay: “he knows and is fully comfortable with it and thinks I have a right to my opinion.”

Rudy has not yet commented on his daughter’s latest writing on polyamory at time of publication. But Caroline says that she hopes by sharing her experiences with polyamory, more people will be open to the lifestyle and that she can shed light on harmful misconceptions and myths about it. 

“In these sexually-limiting pandemic times, reliving my spicy threesome memories has been a much-needed, COVID-free crutch for a single gal and her vibrators,” she wrote.

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After weeks of private talks, President Joe Biden has endorsed the right of workers at an Amazon facility in Alabama to unionize. On Sunday, Biden showed solidarity with unions and workers in a video message, although he didn’t explicitly name Amazon in the short speech.

“Unions put power in the hands of workers, they level the playing field, they give you a stronger voice, for your health, your safety, higher wages protections from racial discrimination and sexual harassment,” Biden said in the two-and-a-half-minute video. “Unions lift up workers, both union and non-union, but especially Black and Brown workers. … So let me be really clear, it’s not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union. But let me be even more clear, it’s not up to an employer to decide that either. The choice to join a union is up to the workers — full stop.”

The message came ahead of an ongoing vote at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, AL, over whether workers will unionize. Supporters of the campaign have said that this push is the best chance that labor organizers have to shake up the company’s anti-union defenses so far, but workers remain reasonably scared of taking on the company and its CEO Jeff Bezos.

The campaign has drawn national attention, though the outcome of the vote will be its real test of success. To move forward, the union needs to win a majority of the votes at Amazon’s Bessemer fulfillment center from approximately 5,800 workers. Workers have already started voting by mail, and have until March 29 to make their decision. After that, ballots will be tallied.

Biden’s historic decision to publicly support a unionization push marks a major turning point in how presidential administrations are addressing labor rights and organizing. The last time a sitting president staunchly supported labor rights was when Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the seizure of Montgomery Ward’s properties after the corporation refused to follow labor laws. 

While Biden’s message is meant to encourage workers to stand up and unionize knowing they have the full support of the President of the United States, it’s not yet clear what effect it will actually have on workers who have not decided whether they will be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). After all, Biden’s speech comes midway through the workers’ decision period.

Although Biden did not explicitly name Amazon — a powerful company that has pledged to help his administration fight the pandemic — labor organizers and activists largely welcomed his message. “This is the most pro-union statement from a president in United States history,” Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the RWDSU, told Politico.

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants Union, told Politico that even if Biden’s message doesn’t change the results of the vote, it is still pivotal. “This message was not just about Bessemer, it wasn’t just about this one Amazon shop. It was about workers’ rights everywhere,” Nelson said.

Biden is also not alone in showing support — he is backed by an entire Congressional delegation, which includes leaders like Reps. Andy Levin, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Terri Sewell, and Nikema Williams, among others. “The movement fighting for Black lives is about dismantling systems of exploitation and violence. More than 80% of workers at the Amazon plant are Black. Their incredible organizing is Black liberation in action. We’re bringing that St. Louis solidarity to Alabama,” freshman Rep. Cori Bush tweeted on Monday.

Once all workers’ votes are tallied, the outcome could affect the future of Amazon workers’ rights across the country in a major way. If the vote passes, workers in other Amazon facilities will be more easily able to unionize, which is a huge victory for the company’s entire labor force — and U.S. workers as a whole.

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As new vaccines continue to roll out, the U.S. continues to see mass pushback from different sourcess — including anti-vaxxers and, apparently, the Catholic Church. This week, the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans called for a ban on the new Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, over a muddied link to abortion. 

The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a split decision on how religiously acceptable major COVID-19 vaccines are in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Upon investigating, the church decided that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are acceptable for members of its community, but has called the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine “morally compromised.” According to their findings, an “abortion-derived cell line” that was used to produce this particular vaccine became a dealbreaker.

“The Archdiocese of New Orleans, in light of guidance from the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and The National Catholic Bioethics Center affirm that though there was some lab testing that utilized the abortion-derived cell line, the two vaccines currently available from Pfizer and Moderna do not rely on cell lines from abortions in the manufacturing process and therefore can be morally acceptable for Catholics as the connection to abortion is extremely remote,” the official statement reads. “It is under the same guidance that the archdiocese must instruct Catholics that the latest vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing.”

But this decision — and the “evidence” used to sway the archdiocese — predates the COVID-19 vaccine. Rather, there is a historic debate in the Catholic community regarding the use of HEK293 cells, with origins that can supposedly be traced back to aborted fetuses from the 1970s. Despite the fact that many ethicists and scholars have emphasized that HEK293s and cells similar to them are simply clones and are not the original fetal tissue, the arguments within the church wage on. 

Since this was issued in New Orleans, it’s only binding for Catholics in that area of Louisiana. Catholic churches in other areas have the power to issue their own guidance on whether or not the latest FDA-fast tracked vaccine is acceptable. And some places are going to even more extremes: In Tyler, Texas, all three vaccines are considered “produced immorally” for similar abortion-related reasons.

It should be noted, though, that the Vatican itself has begun administering the Pfizer vaccine, with Pope Francis and predecessor Pope Benedict XVI among the first recipients of it. The Vatican has even warned that it will fire employees who choose not to be vaccinated. 

Despite this, religious groups may very well continue to find reasons to refuse COVID vaccines. And this is not the first time something like this has happened. The Catholic church has taken a stand against plenty of vaccines before, like the long opposition to the measles, hepatitis A, and chickenpox vaccines. But those who choose to defy the Archdiocese won’t necessarily be shunned.

A 2005 document from the Pontifical Academy for Life, which considered the moral issues surrounding abortion and vaccines, shows that The Vatican concluded it is morally permissible and morally responsible for Catholics to be vaccinated. It also notes that Catholics have an obligation to use ethically-sourced vaccines if possible and when there are not alternatives, to speak out against the development of vaccines that use anything even related to aborted fetus tissue. 

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On Tuesday, Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general and President Joe Biden’s choice for the nation’s top health official, finally received his confirmation hearing — but not without hostility from Republicans. During the testimony before the Senate Health Committee, several GOP senators expressed concerns about Becerra’s lack of direct healthcare experience, as well as his explicit support for abortion rights. 

If confirmed as secretary, Becerra would play a vital part in fending off the pandemic, which has taken more than 500,000 American lives so far. So far, the Biden administration has operated without anyone in this post for more than a month. Becerra, California’s first Latinx attorney general, was first picked by Biden to be his Health and Human Services secretary in December.

“Members of Congress do not become subject-matter experts just because they are members of Congress, just because they sit on a committee that has health responsibilities,” said Sen. Richard Burr, referring to Becerra’s experience as a congressman from California, serving on a health subcommittee. “I’m not sold yet. I’m not sure that you have the necessary experience or skills to do this job at this moment.”

Sen. Mitt Romney vigorously questioned Becerra’s vote against a ban on late-term abortion. “I understand that people have different deeply held beliefs on this issue,” Becerra responded. “We may not always agree on where to go, but I think we can find some common ground on these issues.” But Romney pushed back. “I think we can reach common ground on many issues, but on partial-birth abortion, it sounds like we are not going to reach common ground there,” he said.

Becerra is only one of Biden nominees facing opposition from the GOP. Neera Tanden, Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, has faced particular scrutiny, with Republican lawmakers refusing to confirm her due to her inappropriate behavior on social media. Tanden’s nomination was put in dire straits last week when Sen. Joe Manchin, a self-described “moderate conservative Democrat,” said he wouldn’t support her due to her public statements and tweets.

“Congress has to be able to trust the OMB director to make countless decisions in an impartial manner, carrying out the letter of the law and congressional intent,” Republican Sen. Susan Collins said on Monday. “Neera Tanden has neither the experience nor the temperament to lead this critical agency. Her past actions have demonstrated exactly the kind of animosity that President Biden has pledged to transcend.”

Despite Tanden facing public rejection from both Republicans and progressives, the White House said Tuesday that they are standing behind her.

Republicans have similarly targeted Becerra since his selection was announced. Sen. Tom Cotton even went so far as to launch a digital advertisement in Georgia and New Hampshire that tied Becerra to California’s poor response to the pandemic. In his ongoing campaign against Becerra, Cotton said he stands against Becerra’s opinion that California schools, churches, and small businesses should stay closed while pandemic case numbers are high.

Becerra’s confirmation hearing will continue with further questioning on Wednesday by the Finance Committee, which will then vote on sending his nomination to the Senate floor. If he isn’t able to secure the nomination, officials will choose a new nominee. However, it’s still likely that he will be confirmed, as long as he has total support from Democrats — who seem largely unconcerned about his prospects, and have pointed fingers at the GOP for playing politics amid the urgency to fill this top role during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“I understand the enormous challenges before us and our solemn responsibility to faithfully steward this agency that touches almost every aspect of our lives,” Becerra said in his opening statement, while spotlighting his family’s immigration story from Mexico. “I’m humbled by the task. And I’m ready for it. The mission of HHS — to enhance the health and wellbeing of all Americans — is core to who I am.”

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On this day one year ago, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was killed by two white men while out for a jog in his neighborhood in Georgia. For a while, the case evaded national attention due to COVID-19’s domination of the news cycle around the world and specifically in America. But in May 2020, that changed when a video that showed the confrontation leading to Arbery’s death was posted online by a local radio host. The new evidence circulated publicly after a district attorney recommended that the case go to a grand jury.

A year after her son was violently killed, eventually becoming a figure that triggered a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer of 2020, Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, is speaking out. In an interview reflecting on the first year dealing with the loss of her son, Cooper-Jones describes her grief: “What happened in February last year changed my life. When I lost Ahmaud, I lost a part of myself.”

She also revealed that on the day of his death, she got a phone call with muddied details about the events that took place. “They initially called me and told me he had burglarized something. There was a fight over the gun and Ahmaud was shot and killed by the homeowner. I know that was different. Ahmaud was never, never accused of taking anything from anybody,” she said.

Arbery had been living with his mother at the time of his death. On February 23, Gregory McMichaels, 64, and his son, Travis McMichaels, 34, saw him running while he was out jogging. They chased him, shot him, and killed him, in an act of vigilante violence. The elder McMichaels, a former police officer who has only recently retired, defended his actions saying he thought Arbery looked like a robbery suspect in the neighborhood. Travis McMichael claimed he was fearing for his life, despite video evidence showing the two men literally hunting down and killing Arbery while a third person filmed it. While there was relatively little noise around his death initially, Arbery’s name and story would soon become one of the catalysts for the renewed Black Lives Matter uprisings during the summer and fall of 2020. 

“Early when it first happened, I could have just stopped and accepted what they told me, but I didn’t. And I thank God for giving me the intuition to push,” Cooper-Jones said. Although it took months for the public outcry over Arbery’s killing to really spread, Cooper-Jones continued to push to get answers, make known the injustice her family suffered, and hold the McMichaels accountable.

On May 21, both the McMichaels were finally arrested. But the movement to find justice for Arbery didn’t cease: protesters in Georgia focused their sights specifically on removing Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson from office entirely, with many believing that the only reason the McMichaels were even arrested was because of the public backlash the office faced as a result of the video circulating. In November, that effort became a reality when Johnson lost her post as DA to Keith Higgins. 

On the anniversary of his death, at 5 p.m., Cooper-Jones and Arbery’s other loved ones plan to hold a candlelight vigil in Waynesboro, Georgia. She’s asked everyone to wear a blue ribbon in memory of him, hoping to continue keeping his fight alive.

“I knew he didn’t want me sad. He’d want me to be happy. So, I try to look at it that way as well. You know, he wouldn’t want his mommy sad, he would want me happy,” Cooper-Jones said. “[If I could speak to him now] I would tell Ahmaud that things are going better than before, that we do seek justice at this point. I think Ahmaud will be pleased with how, you know, the family and I have approached it. How we waited patiently, not let it change us, the people who we are. Ahmaud was love. So, it changed me, but I still know there is hope and we just pray for the better.”

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This week, the Equality Act was reintroduced in the House of Representatives in an effort to historically expand protections for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. In a Friday statement, President Joe Biden explained the urgency of passing this act — and why it’s one of his first major actions since taking office.

“Every person should be treated with dignity and respect, and this bill represents a critical step toward ensuring that America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all,” Biden said. “The Equality Act provides long overdue federal civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, locking in critical safeguards in our housing, education, public services, and lending systems — and codifying the courage and resilience of the LGBTQ+ movement into enduring law.”

If fully passed, the Equality Act would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to include specific protections for LGBTQ+ people. As a baseline, it would legally prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in more public places, including schools. It would also lead to more housing opportunities, more comprehensive healthcare for transgender people, and the eradication of conversion therapy, among other critical issues the community faces.

The bill originally passed the House in May 2019 but didn’t move forward in the then Republican-controlled Senate. Now, it’s expected to pass the House again but could still face challenges due to the 50-50 partisan divide in the Senate.

But passing the Act in both the House and Senate could lay an unprecedented foundation for the future of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. According to GLAAD, if both the House, Senate and Biden signed, the Equality Act would be “the most comprehensive federal LGBTQ civil rights legislation ever to become law.” 

According to The LGBT Movement Advancement Project (LGBT MAP), which wrote a guide explaining why the Equality Act is so needed, it will fundamentally change the experience of people of all genders by expanding the number of public spaces where LGBTQ+ people have rights. Currently, the 1964 Civil Rights law doesn’t apply to retail stores, hair salons, entertainment venues, bars, nightclubs, and transportation services.

This also comes at a time where protections are perhaps more needed than ever: As of 2021, 27 states still have no nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people; landlords in states like Florida can refuse to rent a property to a queer couple, and college students in Southern states like Tennessee can be thrown out of school for being transgender. Last year, a hospital in Maryland even refused to treat a transgender man because he’s trans.

“Transgender people in particular have been denied an equal playing field at school, at work, and throughout our lives,” Gillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for National Women’s Law Center, tells Refinery29. “My hope, however, is lawmakers will recognize this as a foundation for economic justice and not wash their hands of the needs of transgender people once it is signed into law.”

In the last few years, incidents of reported hate crimes have reached their highest level in more than a decade, with more than 7,300 incidents reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2019, according to the Human Rights Campaign. But, if passed, this legislation would update civil rights laws to include explicit protections for LGBTQ+ people in almost every aspect of federal law: providing transformational new legal protections for so many marginalized groups that have been harmed by the lack of a federal legal blueprint; making more protections available for women, expanding existing protections for disabled people, houseless people, people of color, immigrants, and people of minority faiths.

The Act would provide clear and vital protections across employment, housing, public places and accommodations, health care, credit, education, federal jury service, and federally funded programs. Specifically, discrimination at work, denying someone housing, behaving in harmful ways towards those in the foster care system, refusing to serve someone for their gender identity and/or sexuality would become illegal across the country. And that would open the door to radically change the way that all systems function in America.

GLAAD’s research also shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans already support protecting LGBTQ people from systemic discrimination. According to the media advocacy organization’s research, up to 91% of Americans believe that discrimination against LGBTQ+ family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors should be illegal. The Equality Act secures those core values of fairness and equal treatment to protect LGBTQ+ people everywhere, and allows us the chance at full participation in all areas of American life, says CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. 

What is perhaps most significant about this legislation is what it means for the future of LGBTQ+ youth in this country. Dylan Waguespack, Public Policy Director at True Colors United, explains, “LGBTQ+ people would have the freedom to exist as themselves, and equity work can become the true focus.”

“There being one federal standard that creates uniformity will allow us all, in all movement spaces, to go from a movement where we are pending all our time trying to focus on emergency shelters and emergency situations of other natures in the community and to make sure that LGBTQ+ people just have access to basic resources and housing to begin with, so we can thrive and not just survive,” Waguespack says.

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Texas Senator Ted Cruz would do well to start believing in climate change now that his state has frozen over. But that’s unlikely, considering that, instead of staying to help lead Texans through the weather disaster that has left millions without power, water, and heat, Cruz instead left to go on a vacation with his family in Cancún, Mexico. In the aftermath of the disastrous scandal, during which the lawmaker attempted to blame his daughters for wanting to “escape,” the Cruz family also apparently left their rescue dog, Snowflake, behind in their very probably ice-cold house.

Since cutting his vacation short and coming back to Texas on Thursday, Cruz has explained that he was only chaperoning his daughters on a vacation with their friends and had planned to return the following day. “Look, it was obviously a mistake. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it. I was trying to be a dad,” Cruz said in a bid for sympathy from the public, also saying that, like millions of others, his “family lost heat and water.” Unfortunately, this defense all came apart when a hero from Heidi Cruz’s group chat leaked their texts to the New York Times, and revealed that the Cruz’s had been planning to escape for several days, and invited others to go along with them.

But enough about the human members of the Cruz family: What about Snowflake? Houston-based reporter Michael Hardy sought to answer this question, and drove down to the Cruz home, where he saw that the family’s mansion did indeed look uninhabited and sans power — but still very much with Snowflake.

Hardy said he heard barking coming from the home, and noticed a small, white dog looking out the window of the front door. When asked, a security guard on the property identified himself as the dog-sitter. While it’s good to know Snowflake wasn’t totally home alone, it’s also no surprise that Hardy’s tweeted photo of the dog, looking abandoned, quickly went viral.

Just drove by Ted Cruz’s house in Houston. His lights are off but a neighbor told me the block got its power back last night. Also, Ted appears to have left behind the family poodle. pic.twitter.com/TmLyGQkASy

— Michael Hardy (@mkerrhardy) February 18, 2021

“Update: Snowflake has now joined the 99.9 percent of Americans who reportedly can’t stand @tedcruz,” one person tweeted. “I stand with Snowflake,” comedian Kathy Griffin wrote. “In the event you thought @tedcruz could not possibly be a more detestable human being, he left his poodle alone in the house, freezing without electricity while they left to Cancún,” journalist Ana Navarro-Cárdenas tweeted. Others similarly wrote about how Snowflake deserved better, with many users going as far as tagging the ASPCA and PETA in their posts.

Cruz has now joined a long line of neglectful politicians whose public slip-ups in failing to care for their animals reveal some deep cruelty. Harkening back to the Mitt Romney dog-on-car-roof incident of 2007, Cruz proves that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat their pets. Snowflake deserves better.

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Following former President Donald Trump’s acquittal in the Senate and more than a month and a half after the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing for a special panel to be created. According to Pelosi, the independent panel would investigate the events of that day in order to hold those responsible for enabling it, including Trump himself, accountable. 

“Now, as always, security is the order of the day: the security of our country, the security of our Capitol which is the temple of our democracy, and the security of our Members,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to colleagues on Monday. “To protect our security, our security, our security, our next step will be to establish an outside, independent 9/11-type Commission to ‘investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021 domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex.'”

In her letter, Pelosi explained that the evidence presented during the most recent impeachment trial of Trump justifies moving ahead with a more full investigative process carried out by an independent panel. Apart from wanting to investigate Trump for inciting violence, Pelosi also believes that there are personal reasons to look into the former president. Like other Democratic politicians including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the events of that day traumatized Pelosi — who was personally targeted by alt-right rioters who entered her office and attempted to find and hurt her. 

So, how will this independent investigation be carried out? Several lawmakers have now called for a bipartisan commission. And Pelosi explained that this would function similarly to the proposal stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. That specific Commission, formally called The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was a bipartisan initiative led by former Republican New Jersey Governor Tom Kean and former congressmen Lee Hamilton.

The process involved many interviews with witnesses as well as multiple public hearings and subpoenas over the course of almost two years. In the end, the investigation found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) failed to do its job correctly and properly warn the correct parties about impending danger. The “9/11-type commission” process also provided recommendations that led to the reshaping of congressional oversight as well as intelligence coordination in America.

Pelosi has explained that this new panel examining the riots in January would prioritize investigating the “interference with the peaceful transfer of power, including facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement in the National Capitol Region.” Currently, she’s chosen Ret. Lieutenant General Russel Honoré to head up the assessment of the Capitol’s security capabilities and gaps in security following the horrific events of January 6, which left five people dead.

Surprisingly enough, there are also several Republicans calling for the investigation in order to hold Trump to account. Despite Trump already having been acquitted and evading full impeachment for the second time in the last year, some members of Congress have said this panel is an opportunity to finally hold the former president responsible for the harm he’s done. Senator Chris Coons said it’s necessary to “lay bare the record of just how responsible and how abjectly violating of his constitutional oath President Trump really was.”

“I think there should be a complete investigation about what happened on 1/6,” Senator Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republicans in the Senate who voted to convict Trump, said. According to Cassidy, it’s important to learn “why was there not more law enforcement,” in addition to “what was known, who knew it, and when they knew it.” Even Senator Lindsey Graham told Fox News Sunday that, “We need a 9/11 commission to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again,” and that we need to “make sure that the Capitol footprint can be better defended next time.”

Establishing this special commission would also undoubtedly require special legislation that would look into how to prevent any similar attacks in the future. In an ideal world, the investigation would succeed in providing Donald Trump consequences for his lack of leadership and his incitement of violence — and ensure that would likely face consequences including incarceration. But it’s unclear now what can and will come of it.

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Claudia Conway, the daughter of former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, is returning to the spotlight in a big way. According to reports on Tuesday morning, the 16-year-old daughter of the former Trump adviser and anti-Trump attorney George Conway is set to appear on the upcoming season premiere of American Idol.

American Idol judge Katy Perry revealed several months ago on Instagram that Claudia would be appearing in the 19th season. But now, trailers show the teen activist standing before judges in the upcoming February 14 premiere episode. “Well, well, well, let the games begin, because Claudia just tried out for American Idol,” Perry said in her Instagram story. 

In the posts advertising for the new season of American Idol that dropped this week, Claudia is seen strolling into her audition. “My parents are high profile political figures,” she says to the judges. “I’m very nervous but very excited.” And, in her own Instagram video debuting the experience on the singing competition show, Claudia said: “Hey guys, I’m here at American Idol Confessional! I met Ryan Seacrest today and I have my audition soon, so stay tuned for that… very very nervous for that but very very excited.” 

You heard that right. @claudiamconwayy is looking for a golden ticket 🤯🎤 Find out Sunday if she has what it takes to be #TheNextIdol on #AmericanIdol 🌟 pic.twitter.com/DyjZWk2w1r

— American Idol (@AmericanIdol) February 9, 2021

According to the promo television spot, George and Kellyanne will also appear on the show as well to discuss their daughter. But the news of Claudia’s participation in American Idol comes just weeks after recent abuse allegations surfaced about Kellyanne. Although it appears her Idol stint was filmed in November 2020 before the family made headlines, Kellyanne has been a subject of concern among many after allegedly releasing topless photos of her daughter on a Twitter Fleet. This coincided with her daughter, Claudia, detailing stories of abuse she endured from her mother on Tiktok. Claudia’s posts resulted in a public outcry, with many Tiktok fans and supporters attempting to get her help and calling Child Protective Services and the police to report Kellyanne.

At the end of January, Claudia briefly left Tiktok to take time and work on her relationship with her parents, according to her last posts. But even the year leading up to the allegations and the photo scandal were difficult for the Conway family. Claudia has openly disavowed Trump and her mother’s ties to the former president, promoting more liberal beliefs and becoming known as an online activist. This allegedly resulted in Kellyanne leaving her job to focus on her family, as her daughter became more and more outspoken about the inner workings of both their home and the White House.

Currently, Kellyanne Conway is being investigated for sharing child pornography online. Though the former political advisor has since claimed that this was entirely accidental, allegations of emotional abuse and retaliation against her daughter are being factored in to the investigation.

At the time, Kellyanne commented on her daughter’s participation in the competition: “We are proud of Claudia for entering the arena and sharing her beautiful voice and inspirational message about mental health with others.”

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Early Friday morning, President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package was finally approved in the Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Following nearly a year of constant back-and-forths between Republicans and Democrats over how much aid to provide during the coronavirus pandemic, the measure that was passed this morning is especially significant because it would allow Congress to try to rush President Biden’s COVID-19 budget into effect without requiring any Republican support. It also prevents Republicans from filibustering the relief package. 

The vote passed in the early hours of the morning and was a party-line vote of 51-50. This comes just two days after the House also approved a budget measure, and is expected to make moves on the Senate’s version later today. While this action itself does not mean that the relief package has been officially passed, this resolution does allow Democrats to move forward eventually with a bill that can work around the 60-vote threshold required to end a filibuster. Essentially, that sets the stage for Democrats to be able to pass a future relief bill with a simple majority. 

So, what is in the hotly contested bill? Biden’s American Rescue Plan Law, which aims to help Americans recover from the devastation caused by COVID in the last eleven months, would provide $1,400 payments to millions of Americans. In addition, $130 billion of the $1.9 trillion relief package would go towards reopening schools across the country. Approximately $350 billion would be distributed to state and local governments, $160 billion would go towards vaccine testing and equipment, $50 billion would provide grants and loans to businesses, and $30 billion would be used for a rent and utility assistance fund. Furthermore, $400 in unemployment benefits per week would be distributed through September 2021. And, the federal minimum wage would rise to $15 an hour. 

Although Republicans have strongly voiced their opposition to the size of Biden’s proposal and have offered a smaller package as an alternative, the President has insisted that he “will not settle.” Despite the fact that Biden has said he won’t give up and that he does hope to win Republican support after all, Democrats have gone the safe route by creating the means to push the budget through without compromising with Republicans.

Before finishing its session this morning, the Senate approved amendments to the budget outline as well, which means that the House must also vote again to accept the Senate’s changes. The amendments will ultimately become guidelines for developing the actual aid bill over the course of February. According to reports, lawmakers will hold a procedural vote midday today. 

Should that vote succeed, the budget will be adopted relatively immediately. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that this process moving forward is a “giant first step” towards passing the comprehensive COVID aid bill that Biden has promised. “I am so thankful that our caucus stayed together in unity,” he stated following the vote. “We had no choice given the problems facing America and the desire to move forward. And we have moved forward.” He has claimed that, despite pushback from Republicans, this is an entirely bipartisan effort. 

While not significantly, this bill proposal does differ from previous ones pushed through during the Trump administration. Prior bills passed provided much less funding and went out to fewer people. These bills also did not prioritize giving aid to individual people and families in America who have suffered from job loss, unemployment, lack of rent cancelation, and more. Despite the original promise of $2,000 stimulus checks, individuals instead received $600 checks in January — only the second round of financial aid provided to people during the entire pandemic. This bill specifically prioritizes putting the second half, the $1,400 into people’s hands as soon as possible. 

Should the relief bill officially pass the Democratic-led House, funds would be distributed to individuals, government agencies, and companies. “As we all know, a budget is a statement of our values,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “Next week, we will be writing the legislation to create a path to final passage for the Biden American Rescue Plan, so that we can finish our work before the end of February.”

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During an Instagram Live chat on Monday night, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared how she’s feeling nearly a month after the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6. During the live stream, Ocasio-Cortez shared her experience as armed rioters entered the building while Congress was in session. While recounting, she revealed that she took refuge in Rep. Katie Porter‘s office while insurrections yelled, “Where is she?” And in those moments, Ocasio-Cortez said she was truly scared she was going to die.

“I start ripping through Katie’s office like a madwoman. Poor Katie, I’m opening every closet, I’m opening every nook, I’m opening every cranny looking for where I’m going to hide when they get into this office,” she said. “I mean, I thought I was going to die.”

Ocasio-Cortez was able to hide in Porter’s office where she was reassured they were safe inside. In another interview on Monday, Porter corroborated AOC’s story that the New York congresswoman expressed anguish that she might die before getting to have kids.

“I was saying: ‘Well, don’t worry, I’m a mom, I’m calm, I’ve got everything here we need — we could live for like a month in this office.’ And she said, ‘I just hope I get to be a mom — I hope I don’t die today,’” Porter described of her conversation with Ocasio-Cortez during the siege in an interview. Clearly, one of the most excruciating parts of this for the young Congress member was the prospect of dying without getting the chance to have her own children — an especially traumatizing realization for a young woman with hopes of starting a family like Ocasio-Cortez.

But this wasn’t the only trauma that Ocasio-Cortez shared in her Instagram Live: “I am a survivor of sexual assault, and I haven’t told many people that in my life. These folks who tell us to move on, that it’s not a big deal, that we should forget what’s happened or even telling us to apologize,” she said, referencing both politicians and broader public that have scrutinized her trauma. The Congresswoman was vulnerable about how being trapped in the Capitol during the insurrection triggered those memories and similar feelings, and what they have to do with each other.

“These people are just trying to tell us, ‘It’s not a big deal.’ And they’re trying to say, ‘You’re making too big a deal over it.’ Whether you are a survivor of abuse, whether you experience any sort of trauma in your life, small to large — these episodes can compound on one another.”

In tweets following the Instagram Live, Ocasio-Cortez said that this “isn’t the only story, nor is it the central story” of what happened on Jan 6. “It is just one story of many of those whose lives were endangered at the Capitol by the lies, threats, and violence fanned by the cowardice of people who chose personal gain above democracy,” she stated.

If you are experiencing anxiety and are in need of crisis support, please call the Crisis Call Center’s 24-hour hotline at 1-775-784-8090.

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Just after footage of QAnon conspiracist Marjorie Taylor Greene harassing Parkland High School shooting survivor David Hogg surfaced this week, another unhinged politician has logged on to join the fight. Lauren Boebert — a Republican Congressperson from Colorado and gun fanatic — jumped in on late Thursday night to mock David Hogg for not being “tough” enough about the shooting he survived in 2018 as a high school senior. 

The aggressive cyberbullying comes after Hogg has repeatedly called out Boebert, Greene, and other Republican politicians for failing to take action on gun control. Hogg tweeted previously that both Greene and Boebert are “real threats” in Congress. “They can put up all the fencing around the capitol the real threats of @mtgreenee and @laurenboebert will still be inside until @GOPLeader takes a stand,” he tweeted.

In response, Boebert shot back with a quote tweet, saying, “David, please. We all saw how tough you were when questioned face to face. Give your keyboard a rest, child.” No, you didn’t misread that — a politician is mocking a school shooting survivor specifically for supporting gun control laws following a violent attack on the Capitol, no less.

Initially, Hogg responded by quote tweeting and saying, “Sorry I was a little more worried about MTG not shooting my friends and staff with her concealed gun she was threatening us with than responding to your evil twin. It’s a little thing called deescalation you probably haven’t heard of it.” Then, he replied directly to Boebert: “Ha- funny enough last I checked I wasn’t the Congresswomen trying to bully a college student on twitter. I’ll say the same thing to you I said about your evil twin- if you shoot me you prove my point.”

Along with his response, he asked people to text “resign” to 954-954 to demand via petition that Marjorie Taylor Greene resign from her position for her dangerous views and behaviors. 

Early this morning, March For Our Lives Georgia showed up at Greene’s office with a petition that has over 112,500 signatures demanding her resignation. When Hogg tweeted to raise awareness about the petition, he called Greene out as “a person who calls the unarmed teenagers she stalks with guns ‘cowards’” who “when teenagers show up in her district with over 100k signatures calling for her resignation she runs and hides.” Hogg called her “just another cowardly corrupt DC millionaire politician.” 

Both representatives Boebert and Greene believe and have continued to push former President Trump’s election fraud conspiracy theories, but it’s unknown whether Boebert holds a shared belief in Greene’s conspiracy theory that the Parkland shooting was staged. Boebert herself does have extreme views on guns, and refused to walk through a metal detector following the insurrection at Capitol Hill.

It’s no wonder that the woman who walks around Washington, D.C. with a glock is going after a Parkland survivor. But perhaps her time would be better spent addressing the thousands of people who already want her removed from office instead.

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