How History Got the Rosa Parks Story Wrong
Tuesday marks the 60th anniversary of Rosa Parks refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Alabama, but she wasn’t exactly the quiet, unassuming seamstress you learn about in school — she was actually a “battle-tested activist” who’d long fought against racism.
A newly opened collection of personal documents from Parks at the Library of Congress creates a much fuller view of her “life history of being rebellious,” as Parks once wrote. The importance of this new version of Parks is profound, the author writes: “Listening to Rosa Parks forces us to reconsider our view not only of our civil rights history, but also the demands of our civil rights present. We are forced to reckon with the fact that today’s rebels could be tomorrow’s heroes.” [Washington Post]
Where Do Longtime Crown Heights Residents Go When Gentrification Pushes Them Out?
In a rapidly changing neighborhood of rising rents and new restaurants popping up each week, longtime residents of Crown Heights are forced to move on. The New York Times takes a look at where former residents make their homes after Brooklyn is no longer affordable — oftentimes moving in with relatives, traveling South or even to the Caribbean. Many see poor conditions in their apartments improve only after they’ve left, with landlords nearly doubling the rents. [NYT]
Safety at Work Sites Falls Behind as Construction Boom Surges Ahead
New York is experiencing a huge construction boom, with new skyscrapers shooting up at every turn. But injuries have been increasing as well, and the city has been unable to successfully keep safety measures on pace with the increase in jobs and work sites. The New York Times took a deep look at the high rate of injuries and deaths, which appear to far exceed new construction and whose impact falls heaviest on undocumented workers. [NYT]
This Year’s Pirelli Calendar Trades Models for ‘Exceptional and Intellectual Women’
The annual calendar put out by Italian tire company Pirelli — known in the past for its sexy shots of scantily clad women — is taking a different approach this year. Its swapping its usual cast of supermodels to feature photos of women who are famous for their achievements in their respective fields, or as GQ put it, “choosing brains over boobs.”
#PirelliCalendar 2016 "This Calendar is so completely different. It's a whole other concept" #AnnieLeibovitz #TheCal https://t.co/n6qgEkxCgr
— Pirelli (@Pirelli) November 30, 2015The calendar, shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, includes portraits of women like Yoko Ono, Amy Schumer, Serena Williams and Patti Smith. [GQ]
Beautiful, gross, strong, thin, fat, pretty, ugly, sexy, disgusting, flawless, woman. Thank you @annieleibovitz pic.twitter.com/kc0rIDvHVi
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) November 30, 2015Racist Comments Made Online Hit Home
The Brazilian organization Criola is working to keep people accountable in what they say online through an initiative called “Virtual Racism. Real Consequences.” The group, which advocates for black women’s rights, finds racist comments online, locates where the comments were posted through geotagging tools and places those comments on billboards nearby. The faces and names are blurred out, but the point gets across — racism lives here. What would happen if this concept were brought to the U.S.? [Business Insider]
Adele’s ‘25’ Sells Record-Breaking 3.38 Million Copies in First Week
The numbers are in: Adele’s new album “25” sold 3.38 million copies in the U.S. in its first week, beating the previous single-week sales record, held by NSYNC’s “No Strings Attached,” which sold 2.42 million copies when it launched in 2000. Its remarkable success also makes “25” the best-selling album of 2015, surpassing Taylor Swift’s “1989,” which was released in 2014 and has sold nearly 2 million copies this year so far. [NYT]
Neil deGrasse Tyson Says the Enterprise Would Destroy the Millennium Falcon
Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson chose the dark side — for “Star Wars” fans at least — when he said he’d pick Starfleet’s Enterprise over Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon in a National Geographic video. In explaining his choice, he called the “Star Trek” spaceship “fake real” while dismissing the Millennium Falcon as “fake fake” and “just part of a fantasy storytelling in ‘Star Wars.’" [The Verge]
Transgender Woman and Former Sex Worker Could Be the Most Year’s Most Unlikely Oscar Candidate
Meet Mya Taylor, a potential Oscar nominee, who would be the first trans woman ever to earn a nomination if she’s selected. Taylor’s role in “Tangerine” sheds light on the gritty reality of trans sex workers. Her personal experiences inform her performance, having worked herself on the streets of Los Angeles after getting kicked out of her grandparent’s home at age 18. [Washington Post]
Only About 30 Wolves Remain in Norway and Norwegians Are Lining Up to Shoot Them
Norwegians are lining up to get hunting licenses to shoot a dwindling wolf population, with only about an estimated 30 wolves living in the wild in the country. More than 11,000 hunters have applied for licenses and are allowed to shoot 15 wolves in total — a ratio of more than 700 hunters per wolf, The Guardian points out. The hunting licenses are given to protect livestock, the Norwegian government has said. [The Guardian]
The Guy Behind “Anchorman” Just Made a Movie About the 2008 Financial Crisis
Director Adam McKay may be best known for making Will Ferrell comedies like “Anchorman,” “Talledega Nights” and “Step Brothers,” but his latest release is about something a bit more serious: the 2008 financial crisis. His new movie “The Big Short,” based on the Michael Lewis book of the same name, opens soon, and New York Magazine has put together an in-depth look at how it got made and McKay’s hopes that it could revive some of the nation’s anger about the crisis. [Vulture]
Lin-Manuel Can Do No Wrong
The mastermind behind the musicals "Hamilton" and "In the Heights" is adding another credit to his list of masterpieces — writing the new Star Wars cantina song. Director J.J. Abrams said, during a segment on Tonight, that he was seeing the show with his son a few months ago, when Lin-Manuel Miranda approached him and offered up his score-writing skills for the new, yet-to-be released movie. Abrams said he was actually looking for someone to help with the song, so he reached back out to Miranda to offer him the job. Talk about needing a “Right Hand Man!” [Vulture]
A Woman Almost Died Because of She Left a Hair Tie Around Her Wrist
So this is basically every long-haired woman's nightmare: a Philadelphia woman developed a potentially deadly infection because of bacteria from a hair tie she left on her wrist. [NY Magazine]
This column has been compiled by DNAinfo reporters Lisha Arino, Camille Bautista, Jeanmarie Evelly, Emily Frost, Gwynne Hogan, Noah Hurowitz, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Carolina Pichardo, Irene Plagianos, Eddie Small, Shaye Weaver and Nikhita Vengupal.
