On The Vine: Lift the weight off our shoulders
Hello KC! This week’s edition is coming at you from editor Savanna Smith and me as we round out Women’s History Month.
As a journalist here at The Star, I have the privilege of having a hand in how women will go down in Kansas City’s history books. In just the past week, we’ve written about an Overland Park mother who has relentlessly sought answers in the shooting death of her son by a police officer and another woman who may have been wrongfully convicted by an overzealous federal prosecutor. That woman, Latysha Temple, stepped forward to tell her story, welcoming me and photographer Jill Toyoshiba into her home (masked and socially distanced), as she recounted her years in prison and the struggle she continues to face. Telling her story, Temple said, helped lift a weight from her shoulders.
We have also been reminded of the importance of women’s stories as details emerged about the victims of the mass shooting in Atlanta. Eight people were killed on March 16, six of whom were women of Asian descent. Each had their own unique stories, from a single mom of two to a business owner to a grandmother who loved line dancing, news outlets reported. The shooting has provoked outrage at both the racism and misogyny — and prompted a wave of allyship for Asian American communities across the country.
Around the block
Only Asian American in Kansas House feels the wave of hatred in a Russell sports bar
Rep. Rui Xu, the only Asian American serving in the Kansas House, was confronted in a sports bar in Russell by a man who asked why he was wearing a mask and told him, “He’s probably carrying the virus.”
Later that night, Xu tweeted that the incident shook him up:
“I guess all I’d ask is check in on your Asian American friends right now and see how they’re doing. I didn’t think I had internalized the Georgia murders, but this incident tonight made it clear that I had. … It’s a scary time out there for Asian Americans right now; it’s not just imaginary slights.”
The history of the name behind a Johnson County creek
For decades, Johnson Countians passed down a story of a Black man who fled from a Missouri farm of a notoriously violent family to escape slavery. He was tracked and as they caught up near a tributary just across the state line, the man chose to die by suicide rather than continue a life of brutal captivity.
That tributary flows through part of Leawood and southern Overland Park and is named Negro Creek.
Many say it’s time to change the name.
“It’s very painful and traumatic to read the historical narrative about what happened,” said Kenya Cox, executive director of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission.
Johnson County officials, activists and historians have formed a committee to learn more about the origins of the creek’s name and change it.
At least six geographical features contain the word “Negro” in their names in Kansas. Many of the places have a history linked to the death of Black Americans and racial violence, researchers found.
“How we name places and how we see ourselves in public spaces really speaks volumes to what we value and what is important to us,” Cox said.
Kansas City’s Westport and City Hall homeless camps rise as protests
A homeless community that sprung up Valentine’s Day weekend near Westport Road and Southwest Trafficway has become one of the most visible encampments in Kansas City.
Another enclave has been occupying the lawn at City Hall.
Both were purposely formed to be hard-to-ignore protests calling on city officials to do more to help the unhoused.
“They don’t want to see us, so we went to where they’ve got to see us,” said James Shelby, who also goes by the name Qadhafi.
Though complaints are mounting, organizers say the camps will not be dismantled.
The Westport site has more than one dozen tents, a gas generator that runs 24/7 and a mailbox for the address at 931 Westport Road.
An estimated 2,000 people are experiencing homelessness in Kansas City.
In case you missed it..
- COVID-19 vaccinations for Hispanic population in Kansas City lags behind other groups
- Kansas City police board approves new policies for body cams, response to protests
- Overland Park residents considered summoning Proud Boys to Black Lives Matter protest
Beyond the block
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Rachel Levine becomes first openly transgender official to be confirmed by U.S. Senate
Former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine will be the nation’s next assistant secretary of health. She’s the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.
The confirmation vote was mostly along party lines, 52-48.
David Crary writes for the Associated Press:
Transgender-rights activists have hailed Levine’s appointment as a historic breakthrough. Few trans people have ever held high-level offices at the federal or state level.
This vote came during a tumultuous time in the transgender-rights movement across the country as several legislatures introduced bills that would bar transgender girls from participating in school-sponsored sports. The Kansas Senate approved a bill last week.
Also, Crary writes, “issues related to transgender rights also are a major factor in Republican opposition to the proposed Equality Act, which would extend federal civil rights protection to LGBTQ people...”
Here’s what former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Institute said after the confirmation:
“At a time when hateful politicians are weaponizing trans lives for their own perceived political gain, Dr. Levine’s confirmation lends focus to the contributions trans people make to our nation.”
Stop Asian Hate rallies emerge in wake of Atlanta shootings
Stop Asian Hate rallies are emerging across the country after the Atlanta shootings.
The days following the killings gave witness to outcries on social media about racism and misogyny that plagued police and media coverage of the shootings.
An officer, who had previously made a racist Facebook post about the coronavirus, said the man was just having “a bad day” when he shot and killed eight people. Reports of the incident being motivated by “sex addiction” rather than race circulated — but missed the mark when failing to address how interconnected race and gender are in anti-Asian violence.
I want to share a few photos from the rallies in Atlanta below. Similar rallies took place across the country — Pittsburgh, New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. There’s a rally planned in Kansas City on Sunday.
NCAA upgrades weight room for women’s basketball players after TikTok video slams disparity
Oregon basketball player Sedona Prince just left this TikTok video here for all of us — and the NCAA — to ponder.
“Let me put it on Twitter too cause this needs the attention’
On Twitter alone (which is where I first saw it) the video has 17.2 million views.
It highlights a stark contrast between the NCAA’s weight rooms for men and women: A little corner with a single set of dumbbells for the women. A huge gym with rows of training equipment for the men.
This was until the NCAA was shamed on social media. Days later the women’s basketball players had an upgraded gym and the NCAA apologized for “dropping the ball.”
Meredith Deliso writes for ABC News:
Following criticism over the disparity between men’s and women’s training facilities during March Madness, the NCAA revealed an upgraded weight room Saturday for female basketball players competing in the Division I tournament.
“The weight room has arrived!” the NCAA Women’s Basketball account tweeted Saturday afternoon. “Let’s gooooo.”
In case you missed it...
- Biden taps VP Harris to lead response to border challenges
- Democrats vow vote on gun bills; Biden says ‘we have to act’
- Asian Americans seek greater political power after shootings
For The Culture
How Crying on TikTok Sells Books
OK, a few things before I dive too deep. I’m a “zillennial” if that is a thing — somewhere floating between my skinny-jeaned predecessors and my middle-part wearing little sisters (I’ve attempted the middle part, but pry my skinny jeans out of my cold dead hands).
And TikTok, for me, is the last place I go when jumping from app to app. When I do log on, I exist in the space of renovated van homes and 2010s pop music challenges. Because really, that’s what I need when I have nowhere to go but home: to relive teenage angst while dreaming about living on the road.
That said, I’m usually a beat or two late to the trends. As I am with “Song of Achilles” (no spoilers, it’s on my list). The 2012 book is making its rounds again — most of my family has read it in the last few months and I’m next — and it’s been recommended by friends.
The dots connected when I started reading this New York Times article about #BookTok.
The day after an Aug. 8 video by @moongirlreads_ called “books that will make you SOB” the “Song of Achilles” publisher saw sales spike. The video has been viewed roughly 6 million times.
And she’s not the only one posting about the book: “The #songofachilles hashtag has 19 million views on TikTok,” according to The New York Times.
Elizabeth A. Harris writes for The Times:
An app known for serving up short videos on everything from dance moves to fashion tips, cooking tutorials and funny skits, TikTok is not an obvious destination for book buzz. But videos made mostly by women in their teens and 20s have come to dominate a growing niche under the hashtag #BookTok, where users recommend books, record time lapses of themselves reading, or sob openly into the camera after an emotionally crushing ending.
Here’s the plot I’m perhaps most interested in: Girls and young women finding community with shared interest and passion about books that let us feel things.
Harris writes:
Some BookTok users say the app has provided more than just a pastime during the pandemic, it’s brought them a community.
Kudos to these young creators who are spreading the word of good books far and wide, maybe just maybe inspiring some of us here to create our own book club.
Some book recs from me and Katie
“In the Country We Love” by Diane Guerrero
“The Soul of a Woman” by Isabel Allende
“World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks and Other Astonishments” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
“Detransition, Baby” by Torrey Peters
“Know My Name: A Memoir” by Chanel Miller
Sandra Oh Implores Attendees At Pittsburgh AAPI Rally: ‘If You See Something, Will You Help Us?’
Actress Sandra Oh has long been an advocate for her community, Elle reports, and on Saturday she showed up to a Stop Asian Hate rally in Pittsburgh with a question.
“If you see something will you help us?”
Her voice is one of many rising in the wake of the attacks at three Atlanta-area spas last week. Robert Aaron Long killed eight people, six of them Asian women.
Hilary Weaver writes for Elle:
Actress Sandra Oh stopped by a Stop AAPI Hate rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday with a very important message.
“For many of us in our community, this is the first time we are even able to voice our fear and our anger, and I really am so grateful to everyone willing to listen,” Oh says in a video that’s been making the rounds on social media. “One thing that I know is that many in our community are very scared, and I understand that. And one way to go through our fear is to reach out to our community.”
Oh had another call that was amplified and echoed across the crowd: “I am proud to be Asian! I belong here,” she said over a megaphone.
In case you missed it...
- WATCH: The 10 best Passover videos you can’t misshed and hyperlink
- ‘Black Widow,’ ‘Cruella’ to Debut on Disney Plus and in Theaters as Disney Shifts Dates for Seven Films
- The Curious Case of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Box
Till next time!
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This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 11:44 AM.
