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Why we need to rein in the tech monopolies

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By Robin Morgan | November 9, 2017

Ten years ago, the world’s five largest companies by market capitalization were Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Citigroup, Shell Oil, and Microsoft. Today only Microsoft remains in the top five, where it has been joined by Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Alphabet (the parent company of Google).
Yep, all tech companies, each dominating its corner of the industry.
Amazon has a 74 percent share in the e-book market. Facebook and its subsidiaries Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger own 77 percent of mobile social traffic. And Google has a whopping 88 percent market share in search advertising. More >>

Photo: Google building (by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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Dispatch from Kavumu: A long-awaited trial begins for men who allegedly gang-raped 50 little girls over three years

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By Lauren Wolfe | November 15, 2017

Steam drifts off a damp soccer field near a courthouse. Inside, a man is squatting and cleaning mud off the walls. It is the rainy season in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and unpaved roads color everything a deep brown.
It is 9 a.m. on November 9, and hundreds—maybe 1,000—people have gathered to watch something many believed would never happen: the trial of a group of men who allegedly gang-raped approximately 50 little girls, aged 18 months to 11 years, in an extraordinarily poor village in eastern South Kivu province called Kavumu. Justice has been four years in the making.
A mysterious series of kidnappings and rape began in Kavumu four years ago in June and occurred sporadically over the next three years. At least two toddlers were said to have died in the attacks. Each time, a girl was kidnapped during the night, her family would not awaken, and she would be raped and left in a nearby field, bleeding. No one knew who was carrying out these acts, or why large families in cramped wood-slat houses weren’t waking up during the abductions. There were rumors of sorcery and magic powders being used to sedate whole houses. More >>

Photo: A 5-year-old survivor gang-raped in the summer of 2015 in Kavumu. (Lauren Wolfe)

How to protect black girls in America: Experts weigh in

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By Jonita Davis | November 13, 2017

Over the summer, researchers at the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality published a study that offered proof of a phenomenon in American black communities that has existed since slavery: By being perceived as more mature, black girls fall victim to what researchers are calling a “perception trap,” and are treated negatively as a result.
While the study, “Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhoods,” revealed many things that black women—especially mothers—already knew, it also offers the possibility of opening eyes and minds in white America to the loss of innocence that black girls have experienced as a result of this perception trap.
With this new information, I wanted to figure out what people can do to actually start changing this damaging view of black girls, so I spoke to some experts to find solutions. These experts—Lieutenant Tamara F. McCollough of the Indiana State University Police Department, forensic nurse Angela Bates of Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, and school psychologist Jeni Vandenbergh of the Rolling Prairie School District in Rolling Prairie, Indiana—work with black girls from the age of 5 to adulthood. Two of them are also raising black girls of their own. More >>

Photo: By being perceived as more mature, black girls fall victim to what researchers are calling a “perception trap,” and are treated negatively as a result. (Salvation Army USA West)

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Women in politics discuss online harassment

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By Soraya Chemaly, Patrice Stanley, Marya Stark, Kelly West | November 7, 2017

#NameItChangeIt
Anyone can be targeted by online harassment but studies reveal that violent, sexualized threats and hate speech disproportionately target women, especially in marginalized groups. That is even more true when women are leaders and seek power.
Our video highlights the experiences of 8 women who have run for political office. More >>

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Why the connection between sexual assault and masculinity affects all of us

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By Shihori Kawamura | November 16, 2017

“I’m trying to do something with success which is bigger than myself,” Kevin Spacey once said. While many may have assumed Spacey meant he would use his power for good, it’s now becoming clear that he actually did the opposite. This famous, powerful actor who has starred in classic American films and TV series is now being accused of sexual misconduct by several men.
The first allegation of such behavior came from actor Anthony Rapp, who claimed that Spacey made an unwanted sexual advance toward him when he was just 14 years old. Several other stories followed this revelation. Actor Robert Caravos claimed he had “a couple of nasty encounters” with Spacey that “were on the verge of being called harassment” while they worked together at the Old Vic theater in London. Filmmaker Tony Montana shared that he was “forcefully” groped by Spacey in an LA bar in 2003 and Harry Dreyfuss recalled being groped by Spacey in 2008 in the presence of his own father, Richard Dreyfuss. More >>

Photo: Kevin Spacey.

On Thanks, Birth Control Day, let’s remember to keep fighting for reproductive rights

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By Lauren Davidson | November 15, 2017

Birth control has been an integral component of family planning and women’s health care for over 50 years. Yet many politicians still want to make it harder for women to receive the resources that they need — including our own President.
One of the Trump administration’s first major blows to women’s reproductive rights came on October 6 with the roll back of the birth control mandate included in Obama’s Affordable Care Act. This mandate required employers to provide health insurance plans that covered preventive reproductive services (like birth control) without any additional co-pays. Trump, however, issued an executive order that allows employers to claim a religious or moral objection to Obamacare’s birth control coverage mandate. The Affordable Care Act currently helps 62.4 million women access birth control without using out-of pocket costs, according to a study recently conducted by the National Women’s Law Center. More >>

Photo: Birth control pills.

Why men need to step up to actually make #MeToo work

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By Farha Khalidi | November 13, 2017

The hashtag #MeToo was originally started by activist Tarana Burke over a decade ago. It recently took on a new life, however, on October 15, when actress Alyssa Milano asked her followers to engage with the hashtag. She tweeted that “if all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”
Over 12 million women — some famous, many not — have since used #MeToo to share their experiences with harassment and/or assault. But, of course, not all women who have experienced sexual assault used the hashtag. As one Twitter user wrote, “Survivors don’t owe you their story.” To be fair, not every single survivor should have to come forward, should have to create a vast number of testimonies on social media, for our society to acknowledge that sexual assault and harassment affect a vast number of women. More >>

Photo: Woman holding a sign in front of her face that reads "#MeToo."

The importance of the Obamas being painted by black artists

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By Kalli Jackson | November 10, 2017

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery has collected portraits of every United States president, painted by an artist of their choice, every presidential term since 1968. Once their final term is over, each president is given the opportunity to look through dozens of artists’ portfolios and select one to paint this official portrait. When it was Barack and Michelle’s turn, they chose two black artists: Barack chose Brooklyn native Kehinde Wiley and Michelle chose Baltimore-based Amy Sherald. Their decisions were not only meaningful in terms of giving artists of color a major opportunity, but reflects the importance of this representation given the history of how black identity — both the Obamas’ specifically and black identity in general — have been portrayed in American art.
As the first black president, as well as a scandal-free one, Obama arguably had to put a disproportionate amount of effort into the way he presented himself to the public. For the first time, a black man was leading the free world. A person historically subjected to discrimination and mockery was now making executive decisions that affected every American, regardless of race, gender, or class. Subconsciously or not, many white people still believed that black people were not fit to take on such a role — convinced that they’re lazy, stupid, and not good enough. The whole Obama family, therefore, has always functioned under a type of scrutiny no other First Family had had to endure — from the Obama daughters being labeled classless for what they wore to a Thanksgiving Day event, to the never-ending string of derogatory comments made about the first lady’s weight and appearance, to the birther movement, the first family’s blackness alone made them increasingly scrutinized. When we examine the ways black people have been depicted throughout American history, this view should come as no surprise. More >>

Photo: Barack and Michelle Obama.

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WMC Live #228: Judith Herman, Dee Mosbacher, Nanette Gartrell. (Original Airdate 11/12/2017)

Robin on Donna Brazile, Rand Paul, the special elections, and winning a beauty pageant. Exclusive Roundtable: psychiatrists Judith Herman, Dee Mosbacher, and Nanette Gartrell discuss "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" and the 25th Amendment. Listen here >>

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This week WMC SheSource features experts on:

  • the sexual misconduct allegations that face Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore
  • the shooting in rural California that left 4 dead
  • Jeff Sessions appearing before Congress to discuss Russia, federal eavesdropping, and Hillary Clinton
  • the U.S. Senate considering whether to put limitations on the president's power to launch a nuclear strike
  • the military takeover in Zimbabwe
  • a German newspaper list that names the more than 33,000 migrants who have died trying to enter Europe between 1993 and 2017
  • Lebanese President Michel Auon declaring that Prime Minister Saad Hariri is being held hostage in Saudi Arabia following his abrupt resignation
  • and the UN climate change talks that are currently happening in Bonn, Germany.

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