 Amb. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Live With The 19th
Join The 19th’s Amanda Becker on Thursday, July 9 at noon ET (11 am CT) for a live conversation with Amb. Kay Bailey Hutchison. President Donald Trump appointed Hutchison to be the 22nd U.S. permanent representative to NATO and she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in August 2017. Hutchison previously served as a U.S. senator from Texas from 1993 to 2013 and authored a book on gender representation in that chamber with her female colleagues. A provision in the U.S. tax code is named for Hutchison that allows spouses who do not work outside the home to contribute to their own individual retirement account. RSVP now to submit your questions ahead of next week's conversation.
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Dawn Gomez holds her 3-year-old granddaughter, Saryia Greer, who waves at Vanessa Guillen's mural in Houston. (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP)
#IAMVANESSAGUILLEN
The murder of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen might have finally brought a #MeToo reckoning to the military.
- Guillen, 20, went missing from Texas’ Fort Hood military base in April. Guillen’s sisters and mother said that before she disappeared, Guillen told them that she had been sexually harassed — but that she was scared to tell Army leadership.
- On Sunday, Guillen’s family announced that remains that had been found days earlier belonged to the 20-year-old soldier.
- Authorities say that Guillen was killed by a fellow soldier who died by suicide when he was confronted by police last week.
As Guillen’s family waited for answers, women took to social media to share their experiences with sexual harassment and assault while in the military.
- On June 30, women began using #IamVanessaGuillen to air frustrations over a lack of accountability for sexual misconduct in the military.
- “Myself and almost every single woman I’ve ever served with have stories about harassment, stalking, or assault,” one woman wrote.
The conversation about the lack of protections against sexual assault extended outside of social media.
- Guillen’s family drove from their home in Houston to Washington, D.C., to demand changes to the military’s system for reporting sexual misconduct.
- U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia — who represents Guillen’s hometown of Houston — wrote a letter signed by 87 of her colleagues calling for an independent review of Fort Hood’s handling of Guillen’s disappearance and highlighting sexual harassment and assault in the military.
- Fort Hood officials said that they would conduct an investigation into the sexual harassment accusations and review their response and prevention programs.
There were 6,236 sexual assaults reported in the military in fiscal year 2019, according to Department of Defense data. That’s a 3 percent increase from the prior year.
- The Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office estimates that represents only about 30 percent of the total assaults committed. (Surveys that allow troops to anonymously report are only conducted on even-numbered years)
- The office also reported that reports of sexual harassment went up 10 percent in 2019 from the previous year.
Guillen’s sister Mayra said that she hopes the federal government will take action to help soldiers who experience sexual assault or harassment. “I just hope none of this is in vain,” she told The New York Times. — Abby Johnston
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LaTosha Brown, right, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, breaks out with an organizing song at a meeting of several Mississippi grassroots organizations in August 2018. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Black female voters say they want what they're owed: power
By Errin Haines
Bernice Scott estimates that she logged 30 miles, knocked on 50 doors and made 25 calls each day for “a solid two months” ahead of South Carolina’s Feb. 29 primary, campaigning for Joe Biden in a state that sent him on his road to the nomination.
She says she’s resting now, ahead of the general election push, but on Friday had already checked in by phone from her home in Hopkins, S.C., with about 10 prospective voters.
“I want you to tell me how many people you registered to vote,” she said. “We’ve got to have an agenda. I’m telling people: Write up five things you’d like to see.”
Scott wants her rural Black community to get the services and resources it deserves and expects Biden to do what he has pledged.
“That’s what I want, for him to be fair and do what’s right by the people, and help people as a whole,” she said. “I want to have access to the White House.”
As the country is shaken by protests against racial injustice and a president whose racist remarks are contributing to his low approval ratings, Black women are not just the country’s most consistent voters — they could be among the most coveted. Headed into November, several Black women voters, organizers and activists say this could be the year they are finally valued — not just for their output, but for their input.
This election cycle is different, said Evette Dionne, author of “Lifting As We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box.”
“A large part of that has to do with the literal moment we’re in, where you have a pandemic on top of this fight in the streets,” Dionne said. “Democratic politicians have long paid lip service to the idea that Black women are their base. It seems they’re taking it seriously, for once.”
Read our full story at the Washington Post.
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A WAYS TO GO
The majority of U.S. adults believe we have more work to do when it comes to gender equality. In a new survey by the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of people believed that the United States had not gone far enough in granting equal rights to women.
About half of Americans say that granting women the right to vote was the most important milestone in advancement.
Among people who believed there was still more work to be done, 77 percent pointed to sexual harassment as a major obstacle. Women not having the same legal rights as men (67 percent), differing societal expectations between men and women (66 percent), and not having enough women in positions of power (64 percent) were also common reasons.
Nearly one-third of men believe that the gains experienced by women have been at the expense of men.
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 What we’re reading
Curated by May Olvera
Agonizing lag in coronavirus research puts pregnant women and babies at risk. When the pandemic first started, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials believed pregnant women had no higher risk of contracting several illnesses from COVID-19 than the rest of the population. Now, they’ve found that pregnant women have a 50 percent higher chance of being admitted to intensive care with the virus. The most alarming thing the studies expose is how little is actually known. (ProPublica, July 6)
It’s a new era for U.S. women’s soccer. And Cindy Parlow Cone is in charge. For the first time in its 107-year history, the U.S. Soccer Federation is being led by a woman. With an ongoing equal pay lawsuit between the U.S. Women’s National Team and the federation, Cindy Parlow Cone wants to make sure everyone feels heard. (Glamour, July 6)
Symone Sanders, Biden’s top African American aide, faces pressure from all sides. Within the Biden campaign, some wish Symone Sanders were less of an activist; outside of it, her critics say she hasn’t been bold enough. As she advises Vice President Biden through a national racial reckoning, Sanders works to find the balance to connect communities and politicians in meaningful ways. (Washington Post, July 3)
Women ask themselves, ‘How can I do this for one more day?’ Portraits of those who are making it work. Women who join the workforce are often still expected to start their jobs as caregivers and homemakers after they clock out — which has only become harder during the pandemic. Six women share their experiences balancing dual labor at work and home. (New York Times, July 4)
Black women in Italy weren’t being heard. Then Black Lives Matter protests began in the United States. George Floyd’s death rippled across the Atlantic, opening up dialogues about what it means to be Black in Europe. Although Italian media and politicians characterize current protests as solidarity with the United States, Afro-Italians are holding up a mirror to their own country’s racism. (The Lily, July 6)
Feminism fails women of color. Mikki Kendall, author of “Hood Feminism,” says feminism often misses the mark by addressing the need to break glass ceilings but neglecting basic issues that affect marginalized women, like food insecurity or childcare. Kendall talked to Marie Claire about what true solidarity looks like and what it means to show up for all women. (Marie Claire, July 1)
🎧 Listen: What’s left of Roe v. Wade? This roundtable podcast discusses the latest Supreme Court ruling on abortion access and unpacking what it means. The conversation zeroes in on Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision to strike down the Louisiana law, agreeing with the liberal judges’ outcome but not their reasoning. (Amicus via Slate, July 4)
📺 Watch: She Resisted: strategies of suffrage. This interactive experience brings women’s suffrage to life through colorized archival images and footage of suffragist trailblazers. There are nine chapters to explore, each touching on a different strategy used to seize the right to vote. (PBS, July 3)
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