Good afternoon, and welcome back to Women Rule! What are you excited about with the return of fall TV? How do you like the newsletter lately? Anything in particular you want to see? Feel free to email me: [emailprotected]. Follow me on Twitter, too. Thanks to Maya Parthasarathy for putting together all these great links. Onto the newsletter this week ...
In a new Hulu series, Dopesick, about the roots of the opioid crisis and how it affected one small Virginia town, Rosario Dawson plays a frustrated Drug Enforcement Administration agent. After discovering bags of OxyContin at a drug bust, her character, Bridget Meyer, becomes consumed with getting the drug under control. But as a woman of color in law enforcement, she is stymied by her DEA superiors and representatives from Purdue Pharma, the company that made the drug.
Its a powerful portrait of the people affected by the opioid crisis and an exploration of how it got so bad. It comes at a particularly important moment, too: In early September, the Sacklers, the family that owned Purdue Pharma, were released from liability in lawsuits involving opioids. In exchange, the family agreed to pay $4.5 billion, which will mostly go to addiction treatment and prevention programs in the U.S., and to dissolve the company. After decades of a mounting opioid crisis spurred by OxyContin, critics said the ruling amounted to very little accountability for the family and their company.
The new series is also a subtle indictment of the racism and sexism embedded in companies and government agencies that made it harder to push back against the powerful interest groups that perpetuated the opioid crisis. I spoke with Dawson over Zoom about why the main person her character was based on didnt want to participate in the series and how the racism and sexism her family experienced shaped her role.
Thank God for the people who go, No, I will not bow down, This is wrong and something needs to change, she said. Not everybodys capable of it.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. Watch video clips of the interview above or click here.
Katelyn Fossett: How did you prepare for the role?
Rosario Dawson: I read Dopesick and a couple of other books that [Dopesick series creator] Danny [Strong] recommended that he had researched. My character is kind of a few different storylines put together in one. And I asked about the cast of people that was used to create Bridget.
I did the more basic online research about the DEA and how the structure works. I think what was great about it was Bridget as a character and as a person, and about the cost of being the Cassandra and seeing something happen and not being able to convince other people to not let in this Trojan horse in and to fight back. I think that was probably the more compelling thing.
Some of the people that [Strong] had tried to resource for this character didnt even want to talk. One of the main people that my character is based off of is just so burnt out from all of it, that she was just like, I dont want to touch this with a 10-foot pole. And it was just fascinating. Not having that person to speak to actually spoke volumes about this character that Im playing and the toll that this whole thing seeing this tsunami and doing her best to try to prevent it and and to protect people what that cost her personally.
Fossett: The thing that struck me as I was watching the episodes was how male and white this world of pharmaceuticals and regulation is most of the doctors, the lawyers, the pharmaceutical sales representatives are white and male. And then you have Bridget Meyer, a woman and a person of color and someone who is pushing back on everything that is happening with OxyContin. Do you think being an outsider in some ways made her more likely to push back on these powerful interests?
Dawson: Oh yeah. Theres one scene with a young boy. She thinks shes taking down an adult addict. And its this child, and its one of the big Aha! moments about just how insidious and scary and profound this tragedy is and how its unfolding. And in that scene, I talk about where Bridget comes from, which is a community that was devastated by the crack-cocaine disparities in how the laws were enacted, and the three-strikes rule, and how generations of people have been affected by how we addressed that crisis and the failed war on drugs.
And its that idea of you know, a Cory Booker who is in the Senate and is fighting for police reform and all kinds of things because hes actually living in Newark and in the community that hes trying to help and work with. And thats not true for most of the senators, or any of them. (Dawson is in a relationship with Booker.)
When people talk about the statistics of how valuable it is to have more diversity in your workplace, its true. When you dont have a voice that authentically comes from a certain space, your default position isnt going to include that.
So I think it is critical to represent a woman like Bridget in this space at that particular time and how that exceptionally put a toll on her because she was really fighting an uphill battle in so many different ways just to be even taken seriously when what was at stake was very serious. And the fact that she wasnt that charming, and didnt how to work the room and massage the egos, that cost her being able to be as effective as she wanted to be. If she had been a man, she would have been listened to differently. They wouldnt have killed the messenger.
Fossett: Yeah, it seems like the opioid crisis has not really penetrated our culture in the way that a lot of other big crises or wars, for instance, have. Is that a part of what appealed to you about the script in the story?
Dawson: Its really powerful to have a story that helps to share all of that and hopefully give us a different perspective and ground from which to act next. Like the SACKLER Act being passed! (The bill would prohibit non-debtor companies from enjoying protections from lawsuits that debtor companies can take advantage of during the bankruptcy process.) There are things legislatively that we can do that can make a real difference that if we get enough people to kind of push can shift the tide.
Fossett: We talked about Bridget Meyer being a woman of color and how that maybe made her more likely to go against these powerful forces. Is there anything in your own life that you tapped into when you drew strength from being a woman of color?
Dawson: There is a scene in which my character feels like shes making real progress, and shes been promoted, and shes done some really interesting things that have put Purdue and the Sacklers feet to the fire, and theyre actually willing to come to the table. And then, as shes finding out that her tactics are working, shes also being told shes not invited to the meeting.
And it just made me think so much of my grandmother. My great-grandmother worked for the Ladies International Garment Workers Union, and my grandmother used to help her with the union organizing. They stood up with stature and dignity in the face of really inhumane treatment.
My grandmother used to say all the time, I may speak with an accent, but I dont think with one. She was the senior secretary to the vice president of Swiss Bank Corporation at the World Trade Center. And I think about her going from deep Brooklyn trains and busses to get to work. The fact that she had to say that all the time ... what was she encountering every day? How many times did she have to hear a certain comment and be like, I'll be right back, and go and cry in the bathroom, and then put her game face back on and go back out there because no one else was going to do it for her?
I think a lot of people can recognize when the powerful treat you like crap, and you know youre right. And so youve got to tough it out and keep persevering. Thats such a real thing. But thank God for the people who go, No, I will not bow down. I will not play nice. I will not excuse this or ignore that. This is wrong and something needs to change. And not everybodys capable of it, but a [person like] Bridget Meyer was. But it still took a toll.
The cost of this crisis has been on so many people. And misogyny and racism and prejudice and discrimination added to how terrible this was. This would have been very different if our society operated differently. But here we are, and were still pushing back against that. And so it gives us leverage, because look at how differently we look at that moment now, and how much more differently we will look at it in 20 years and 30 years when equity is even more normalized.
House, Senate Democrats at odds over whether to slash paid leave plan, by POLITICOs Eleanor Mueller: Senate leadership is considering slashing funding for paid leave in Democrats reconciliation package to $300 billion, four sources told POLITICO, as part of a broader push to bring down the bills price tag to appease moderates.
Thats about $200 billion, or about 40 percent, less than what the House approved. To get there, policymakers would need to make major changes to the House-drafted language, illustrating the kind of tradeoffs Democrats are being forced to consider and the type of schisms that's creating between moderates and progressives.
Weve been touting this as being transformational in terms of creating job opportunities for women, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said in an interview. It would be dastardly if the approach is one that is just going to be slash-and-burn the House bill, because that will mean that nothing is transformational.
Divided Supreme Court considers who can defend abortion restrictions, by Alice Miranda Ollstein for POLITICO: A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed which state officials can defend abortion bans in court a procedural question with implications that extend beyond reproductive health in states where the governor and attorney general hail from opposing parties.
The arguments marked the first abortion case to be argued in full before the courts 6-3 conservative majority and centered on whether Republican Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron could defend his states ban on some forms of abortion after two courts found it unconstitutional and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear refused to defend it further.
A decision, which is expected next summer, could extend beyond abortion to Covid mandates, gun control laws and even election results.
Read more here.
This Is How Everyday Sexism Could Stop You From Getting That Promotion, by Jessica Nordell for the New York Times: When the computer scientist and mathematician Lenore Blum announced her resignation from Carnegie Mellon University in 2018, the community was jolted. A distinguished professor, shed helped found the Association for Women in Mathematics, and made seminal contributions to the field. But she said she found herself steadily marginalized from a center shed help create blocked from important decisions, dismissed and ignored. She explained at the time: Subtle biases and micro-aggressions pile up, few of which on their own rise to the level of lets take action, but are insidious nonetheless.
Its an experience many women can relate to. But how much does everyday sexism at work matter? Most would agree that outright discrimination when it comes to hiring and advancement is a bad thing, but what about the small indignities that women experience day after day? The expectation that they be unfailingly helpful; the golf rounds and networking opportunities theyre not invited to; the siphoning off of credit for their work by others; unfair performance reviews that penalize them for the same behavior thats applauded in men; the manterrupting?
When I was researching my book The End of Bias: A Beginning I wanted to understand the collective impact of these less visible forms of bias, but data were hard to come by. Bias doesnt happen once or twice; it happens day after day, week after week. To explore the aggregate impact of routine gender bias over time, I teamed up with Kenny Joseph, a computer science professor at the University at Buffalo, and a graduate student there, Yuhao Du, to create a computer simulation of a workplace. We call our simulated workplace NormCorp.
Research: Women Leaders Took on Even More Invisible Work During the Pandemic, by Marianne Cooper for Harvard Business Review: The events of the last year and a half have put intense pressure on companies to do more to support employees and act on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Women leaders are meeting this moment and taking on the extra work that comes with it but theyre not getting recognized or rewarded for it. As a result, this mission-critical work is in danger of being relegated to office housework: Necessary tasks and activities that benefit the company but go unrecognized, are underappreciated, and dont lead to career advancement. Thats a main finding from the new 2021 Women in the Workplace report by LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company, which I co-authored.
The report on the state of women in corporate America surveyed more than 400 companies and more than 65,000 employees in professional jobs from the entry level to the C-suite. The survey found that at all levels of management, women showed up as better leaders, more consistently supporting employees and championing DEI. Compared to men in similar roles, women managers invest more in helping employees navigate work-life challenges, ensuring workloads are manageable, and providing emotional support. ...
But this work is taxing the people who are disproportionately doing it. Whats more is that this work is going unrecognized. Only about a quarter of employees say that the extra work theyre doing is formally recognized (for example, in performance reviews) either a great deal or a substantial amount. This disconnect raises an important question: If companies think this work is so critical, why arent they recognizing and rewarding it?
Washingtons Most Powerful Women 2021, by Jane Recker in Washingtonian: Power in Washington is a complicated thing to quantify. Some people have it by virtue of the office they hold. Others maintain it by virtue of their reputations, no matter what their business card might read. And in a political city, many of the most powerful among us owe their clout to voters either the constituents who elect them directly or the national electorate who picks the government every four years.
That last factor is a reason why this years Most Powerful Women list is replete with new names not only did the government change, but the new administration put a lot more women into top jobs, starting with the vice-presidency.
Of course, not all power resides in high-profile arenas like politics. Some of the most powerful women on our list might be able to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue unnoticed while still causing people to tremble in whatever other world they help shape.
Read more here.
Two new biographies of Fannie Lou Hamer are coming out, and they both sound fantastic.
Kenyatta T. Brunson will be the new CEO of N Street Village, the largest provider of homelessness services for women in D.C. Neda Brown is now director for the Caribbean and Summit of the Americas at the National Security Council. She most recently was a student at the National War College and has spent almost 20 years at the State Department as a career foreign service officer. Sarit Catz is now an SVP at ATHOS Pr. She previously was a partner at Eldion.
Sakura Komiyama Amend is joining SKDK as a managing director. She previously was a U.S.-based comms executive for En+ Group. Sara Schapiro joins the Federation of American Scientists as a senior fellow and its first director of education, workforce and talent. Schapiro previously served as the vice president of education at PBS. ...
Ambar Mentor-Truppa, Katherine Brandon, Kimberly Davis-Wells and Tania Mercado are joining Fenton Communications as VPs. Mentor-Truppa previously was VP of comms at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. Brandon previously led comms and advocacy for Together For Girls. Davis-Wells previously was lead consultant for the City of Oakland Human Services Department. Mercado previously was a VP at SKDK.
See the article here:
Rosario Dawson on sexism, racism and the opioid crisis - Politico
- The dark legacy of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines - WBUR News - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Step up war on drugs and illicit liquors - Nation - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Forum From the Archives: Brutality of Philippines War on Drugs Laid Bare in Some People Need Killing - KQED - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Commentary: We need to rethink how we address drug use - Maryland Matters - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Liberia: Boakai's War on Drugs Gains Momentum - Liberian Daily Observer - February 22nd, 2024 [February 22nd, 2024]
- Tactics are shifting in the war on drugs - Financial Times - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- End overreliance on punitive measures to address drugs problem ... - OHCHR - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- HSCSO making a dent in the local war on drugs - Malvern Daily Record - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- The Drug War on the Border Doesn't Work - Progressive.org - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- 'When I walk to school, I can see people shooting up.' How Seattle's ... - KUOW News and Information - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- The best gifts ever? Being named after drugs and declaring war on ... - POLITICO Europe - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Latin America This Week: September 20, 2023 - Council on Foreign Relations - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- The drug trade is taking over Latin America - PRESSENZA International News Agency - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Safe Supply Streaming Co. Ltd. Completes Reverse Take-Over ... - The Dales Report - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Critics claim drug use clemency proposal to reduce overcrowding in ... - asianews.network - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- War on illicit drugs | Police warn of meth production, collusion with ... - Fiji Times - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- From Grief to Action - The Stranger - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Police in region to discuss war against drugs - Khmer Times - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Five die in suspected drug turf war in Richards Bay - Durban - IOL - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Mayor Bruce Harrell Shares His New Pitch for the War on Drugs - The Stranger - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Illinois Governor Signs Supervised Release Bill To Help Drug War ... - Marijuana Moment - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Activist: Automatically expunging cannabis convictions is step ... - MPR News - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- What the crack epidemic reveals about America - The Boston Globe - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- 'The war on drugs has failed: Sir Richard Branson tells LBC there ... - LBC - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- An Enemy in Mexico - The New York Times - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Betrayal on the Bayou, a New Season of Hit Podcast Smoke Screen ... - Sony Music - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Worldwide Wednesday's International Roundup: Bangladesh, China ... - Death Penalty Information Center - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- 46 Bacolod local government workers test positive for drug use - Rappler - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- Jon Bernthal's 12 Best Movies, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes - MovieWeb - August 2nd, 2023 [August 2nd, 2023]
- We Are Continuing the War on Drugs - The Stranger - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Clemency Is One Answer to the War On Drugs | American Civil ... - ACLU - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- As Evidence Mounts That 'War On Drugs' Has Failed, Harm ... - Health Policy Watch - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Families of victims await justice as the ICC reopens Philippines drug ... - NPR - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Why Trump and other Republicans want to go to war in Mexico - Vox.com - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- New Queensland drug laws will keep thousands of people out of justice system, advocates say - ABC News - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Ben Cohen's Cannabis Company Tries to Undo the Harm of the War ... - Seven Days - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Pt. 2: The war on cannabis - Cabrini College Loquitur - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Globe editorial: The tide is turning, but the war on drug overdoses is ... - The Globe and Mail - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Eric Clapton Bringing Crossroads Guitar Festival to L.A., With 41 Guests Ranging From Buddy Guy to the War on Drugs - Variety - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Evaluation of all PNP senior officers has significant impact on war on ... - Manila Bulletin - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- War on Drugs Poster Campaign launched at Pangei bazaar - Pothashang - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Mary Jane, MJ, Weed, Oh my! - The Post - The Post - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Opinion: In defence of drug dealers' humanity - The Globe and Mail - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA: Incarceration for marijuana needs to ... - The Daily Orange - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Today in History: April 23, Hank Aaron's first home run - Sent-trib - Sentinel-Tribune - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- GUEST COLUMN: Legislation would have helped war on opioids - Colorado Springs Gazette - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Positioned to succeed: Organization offers educational program for ... - Youngstown Vindicator - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Miniature organs driving precision medicine and new drug discovery - University of Arizona - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- 18 concerts to see this week, including Father John Misty, Nickel ... - The Key @ XPN - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- 'They are not helping PRRD' | Philstar.com - Philstar.com - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Brandon Ali: By 18 he had a shotgun. At 19 he was smuggling drugs. Age 20 he had murdered a man - Teesside Live - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Kindiki team shores up gains in drugs, illicit brews fight - The Star Kenya - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- The US Has Spent $1 Trillion Fighting The War On Drugs A Failure, Say The Authors Of New Cannabis Book - Forbes - April 17th, 2023 [April 17th, 2023]
- Gov. Kathy Hochuls cannabis crime bill will destroy lives and restart the War on Drugs (guest column) - newyorkupstate.com - March 31st, 2023 [March 31st, 2023]
- Official says war on drugs is 'here, local' following discovery of 10K fentanyl-laced ecstasy pills in Silsbee - 12newsnow.com KBMT-KJAC - March 26th, 2023 [March 26th, 2023]
- The War on Drugs: History, Policy, and Therapeutics - Dominican University - March 11th, 2023 [March 11th, 2023]
- The War on Drugs - Crime Museum - March 11th, 2023 [March 11th, 2023]
- What Is the War on Drugs? - WorldAtlas - March 11th, 2023 [March 11th, 2023]
- 9 Important Pros and Cons of the War on Drugs ConnectUS - March 11th, 2023 [March 11th, 2023]
- The War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration - A Brief History of Civil ... - March 11th, 2023 [March 11th, 2023]
- The Former Mexican Official Who Oversaw His Nation's War on Drugs Went on Trial in the ... - Latest Tweet - LatestLY - January 25th, 2023 [January 25th, 2023]
- Women and the Drug War | Drug Policy Alliance - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- The War on Drugs as Structural Racism - Penn LDI - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- The Phony War on Drugs - The New York Times - January 6th, 2023 [January 6th, 2023]
- Biden pot pardon to help with War on Drugs' harms to Black people : NPR - December 21st, 2022 [December 21st, 2022]
- War on Ivermectin: The Medicine that Saved Millions and Could Have ... - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- IN NUMBERS: The Philippines' 'war on drugs' - RAPPLER - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- Race, Mass Incarceration, and the Disastrous War on Drugs - October 30th, 2022 [October 30th, 2022]
- The Irrational War on Drugs - consortiumnews.com - October 30th, 2022 [October 30th, 2022]
- Race and the Drug War | Drug Policy Alliance - October 30th, 2022 [October 30th, 2022]
- Sound Summit 2022: a guide to the Bay Areas highest music festival - SF Chronicle Datebook - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Here's how health and wellness will show up on Denver's November ballot - Denverite - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- 10 Monday AM Reads - The Big Picture - Barry Ritholtz - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Colombian president Gustavo Petro calls for an end to the War on Drugs ... - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- The U.S. has spent over a trillion dollars fighting war on drugs - CNBC - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- From wounded Latin America, a demand comes to put an end to the ... - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- The War On Drugs, 'Oceans Of Darkness' - WNCW - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- How the War on Drugs failed Democracy and society - IPS Journal - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- This Day in History, October 14th, 2022 War on Drugs - Signals AZ - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Best Phoenix Concerts This Week: The Black Keys, Karol G, The War on Drugs - Phoenix New Times - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]