Girls: "Live a Bold, Brave Life" According to Women Skydivers on 100th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage

A team of all-female elite skydivers in Nashville took to the skies to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which resulted in the right of women to vote, after decades of efforts. 

The 11 members of the Highlight Pro Skydiving Team jumped from the skies on August 18. 

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/women-of-the-century/2020/08/18/skydivers-mark-100-years-womens-right-vote-nashville-jump/3334327001/

Here is a video of the jump on the group's Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/highlightskydiving/videos/652886625344048/?_ga=2.228406111.355801281.1598759944-2137335707.1597797519

NAACP Sues USPS and Dejoy for Impeding Mail Service

The NAACP has filed lawsuit in the United States District Court of Washington, D.C. against the United States Postal Service and Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service, Louis Dejoy. The lawsuit alleges that Dejoy has impeded the timely distribution of mail, implemented crippling policies on postal workers, and sabotaged the United States Postal Service in a blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters of color, who are already more harshly impacted by the coronavirus and require alternative methods to in-person voting to protect their health and safety.

“As the country faces an uphill battle against COVID-19 and systemic racism, we’re witnessing a significant onslaught against our postal system at a time when prompt mail delivery matters more than ever, especially for voters of color,” said Derrick Johnson, President and CEO, NAACP. “This willful and blatant attempt to obstruct the mail system amidst a pandemic and on the precipice of a pivotal election is a direct threat to the people of this nation’s right to vote in a fair and free election.”

https://naacp.org/latest/naacp-sues-postmaster-general-united-states-postal-service-restore-reliable-mail-delivery-ahead-november-elections/

J.K. Rowling Distances Herself From Human Rights

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, is returning the Ripple of Hope award she received last year from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization.

The decision comes after Kerry Kennedy who is the president of the RFKHR group, issued a statement, concerning Rowling’s comments about transgender issues.

“Over the course of June 2020—LGBTQ Pride Month—and much to my dismay, J.K. Rowling posted deeply troubling transphobic tweets and statements,” Kennedy wrote on August 3, before detailing instances in which the British author “wrote glibly and dismissively about transgender identity.”

Kennedy stated that she is disappointed that Rowling “has chosen to use her remarkable gifts to create a narrative that diminishes the identity of trans and nonbinary people, undermining the validity and integrity of the entire transgender community—one that disproportionately suffers from violence, discrimination, harassment, and exclusion and, as a result, experiences high rates of suicide, suicide attempts, homelessness, and mental and bodily harm.”

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/08/jk-rowling-distances-herself-from-human-rights

NBA Teams Rise to the Occasion

Hierarchies fall faster when people on top decide to support that efforts of lower groups to break down hierarchies. Such is the case when professional men's sports teams use their power and influence to crate positive change. 

When players chose not to play in postseason games Wednesday to protest the excessive use of force by the Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officers in the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, the NBA and the National Basketball Players' Association came to an agreement on putting three initiatives into place before game action would resume.

One of those initiatives stated: "In every city where the league franchise owns and controls the arena property, team governors will continue to work with local elections officials to convert the facility into a voting location for the 2020 general election to allow for a safe in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID."

These efforts come in contrast to the effort by Top-of-the-Hierarchy Trump supporters and Republicans trying everything they can think of to create voter suppression, particularly in areas where support for Trump is not what they desire.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29769349/lakers-latest-use-team-facility-voting-center

Kyle Rittenhouse Viewed as Isolated Incident Because He is a White Male

Let's say a person who was part of a Black Lives Matter demonstration had brought an automatic weapon and shot and killed two people. We all know that the collective view would blame the BLM movement. After all, if people on lower groups of a hierarchy do something viewed as undesirable, it is considered to be a reflection of the entire group when hierarchies are in operation.

However, since Kyle Rittenhouse is part of a group of white males, what could he possibly do that would reflect on his group as a whole? Not too much, as when people on top of hierarchies do something that is considered undesirable, then that one person is viewed as acting as a loner when hierarchies are at play. We are so unaccustomed to holding top groups accountable for their collective actions and privileges, that we are programmed to not attribute top characteristics to the group as a whole.