#83: Together Alone

Welcome to The Highlighter #83! The first two articles this week aim to build empathy and understanding across difference. If you’re not LGBTQ, please read the first article, and if you're not Mexican American, please read the second. Then, after the photo break, it’s time to upgrade your exercise regimen (with the help of Notorious RBG) before feeling disgusted by the history of the death penalty. Please enjoy!

Together Alone

Particularly in the blue states, along the coasts, gay rights have advanced, and things seem to be going very well. So why all the pain and anguish? Why do gay people suffer from worse health problems even after coming out? This article suggests that gay people experience chronic stress that they do not realize is abnormal, and over time, this stress takes a toll on their bodies.

The Making of a Mexican American Dream

This is an outstanding piece. It’s really two articles in one. The first is a delightful profile of Vianney Bernabé and her experience as a second-generation Mexican American. The second is an astute reconsideration of the “American Dream.” Author Sarah Menkedick reminds us: “Any conversation about Mexican immigrants in the U.S. must acknowledge that it’s absurd to talk about many of them as immigrants at all.”

I Did Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Workout. It Nearly Broke Me.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (aka Notorious RBG) turns 84 this month. Will Justice Ginsburg survive the Trump presidency? She has told people she’ll continue to serve as long as she is physically and mentally able. Good thing Justice Ginsburg works out twice a week with a personal trainer. Her workout is no joke.

He Killed 140 Men in the Electric Chair. Then He Took His Own Life.

The death penalty is gruesome and inhumane. (I’ve known this since delivering an excoriating speech in my ninth grade Oral Composition class.) Here is the story of the electric chair at the height of its popularity 100 years ago. It is also the story of an executioner, John Hurlburt, who killed himself after putting more than 100 people to death.

My kids go to Berkeley Public Schools, and the elementary schools are consciously integrated through a complicated busing and lottery system. There are still many problems, and the achievement gap is large. I wonder what Ms. Hannah-Jones would say the next step is after desegregation. How do we leverage desegregation to increase educational opportunity?

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That’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed today’s issue. Also, please welcome new subscribers Carl and Donna! Keep getting the word out about The Highlighter, and have a great week. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am!