#5SmartReads - November 22, 2022

Madison works as a full-time freelance writer across numerous verticals. She's excited for winter because it's hot chocolate season, and is filling every spare minute with design mockups for Grief Cards, a line of sympathy cards that don't suck.

Read The Report On Abuse In Women’s Soccer (The New York Times) 

In October 2021, the U.S. Soccer organization hired independent investigators to look into allegations of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct, specifically in women’s professional soccer.

To get to that point took immense advocacy and resolve on the part of players, two hard-earned skills that were again tested last month when the Yates Report was released. I’m choosing to link the full report here (without a paywall) because, as upsetting as it is to read this document, I also believe that it’s incredibly important.

The findings show a direct link between abusive treatment of youth soccer players and women at this country’s highest level. I’m hopeful that meaningful change will come from this, and simultaneously heartbroken that these players had to survive so much abuse, simply in order to do their jobs.

Prison Calls Are Wildly Expensive. Gov. Newsom Just Made Them Free In California (Protocol)

The cost of phone calls to incarcerated people are so high that families go into debt in order to speak to their loved ones. By making these calls free, California is choosing to both upset an incredibly predatory industry and to help incarcerated people connect with the people they’ll, eventually, be going home to.

The impacts of this decision will be widespread and transformational, both on the individual level and, hopefully, on the national stage.

The Pain And Glory Of Cori Bush (The Cut)

Cori Bush has been reelected and will continue to represent St. Louis as the first Black Congresswoman from Missouri.

Her previous work on Capitol Hill hasn’t earned nearly enough recognition or praise, so seeing her political and personal experiences laid out in this feature was a true gift.

She continues to remain true to her roots and the needs of the communities she’s representing -- decisions that shouldn’t still be groundbreaking when it comes to democratic representation. Still, she’s an absolute force to be reckoned with and I’m excited to see what she achieves in her next term.

An Ode To Leslie Jordan (Week In Progress)

Saeed Jones’ Substack is a work of art. This particular newsletter is a celebration of Leslie Jordan and the role he played in showing so many young, queer, southern people that they, too, could follow their dreams and they, too, could get out of a stifling environment if they chose to.

I, like Jones, am immensely grateful for the joy that Leslie Jordan brought into my life, especially on social media during 2020. He is definitely missed.

Is The Climate Emergency Making Hajj Even More Exclusive? (gal-dem)

I won’t pretend to know how ripple effects of the climate crisis will impact communities around the world, but I do know that it’s already carving out larger divisions between the ultra-wealthy and everyone else.

Hajj is a holy pilgrimage for Muslim people. The resources needed to travel from your home country to Saudi Arabia for Hajj has always been a limiting factor for some people; the rising temperatures and increasing droughts mean the price tag on this experience continues to increase so that attendees can be comfortable, yes, but also -- quite literally -- survive the trip.

This read dives into the numerous other ways that the climate crisis is turning hajj into a privilege rather than a pilgrimage.