Wassapened This Week: Mar 13th- 19th

Authors note: These are events that happened this week that I chose to highlight. These are in no way everything everyone needs to know. I highly encourage everyone to read the news themselves, from reliable sources, to develop their own opinions. My opinions have been italicized. With that being said all opinions stated in this article are my own so if you don’t like them then drink water and mind your business. 

We got all the major gist in this week’s Wassapened This Week. We talk about the NCAA’s sexism, an American terrorist and unaccompanied migrant children

Grammy’s

On Sunday, March 14th, the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards were held.  Many historical moments took place on Sunday: Beyoncé became the most-awarded woman in Grammy history, Taylor Swift became the first woman to win Album Of The Year three times, Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé became the first female artists to win best rap performance and Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy became the second-youngest person to win a Grammy. Last year, the Grammy’s changed its Best World Music category to the more inclusive Best Global Music Category. Burna Boy became the first winner of this award for Twice As Tall. There were numerous performances ranging from Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s astounding performance to Anderson.Paak and Bruno Mars’s performance of their 70s soul-infused single “Leave the Door Open.” Though there were many historical moments, a lot of people are upset as they believe many well-loved artists were snubbed. Many can’t comprehend how Roddy Ricch was nominated in six categories and Phoebe Bridgers and DaBaby were nominated in four categories yet they managed to lose in all categories. Don’t get me started on Jhené Aiko losing for her Chilombo album and ChloexHalle losing for their Ungodly album. I was really rooting for Mickey Guyton to become the first Black female country solo artist to win a Grammy. 

Migrant Children 

On Monday, March 15th, it was revealed that more than 4,000 unaccompanied migrant children are in Border Patrol custody. Excuse me but what is going on? Y’all need to get yourselves together and get these kids back to their parents. This report means that the children are arriving at an accelerated pace. A Homeland Security official told CNN that the spike in children arriving at the border has drawn a lot of attention and meetings are ongoing “at the highest levels.” Whatever that means because that didn’t sound like a solution. This is not a new issue, how many discussions are necessary to actually do something?  Joe, you entered office vowing to reverse the cruel policies put in place by former President Donald Trump that made it difficult for people fleeing poverty and violence to come to the US. Yet it seems like these people are still facing the harsh realities created by Dummy Trump.

White Terrorist 

On Tuesday, March 16th, a deplorable white man, Robert Aaron Long, opened fire at Young’s Asian Massage. While authorities were responding to this shooting, Long was on his way to open fire at Gold Massage Spa and Aroma Therapy Spa. This idiot decided to play God and took the lives of eight people including six Asian women and injured one person. The names of those who lost their lives are Soon C. Park, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, and Yong A. Yu. The investigation is still underway but according to Cherokee County Sheriff’s Capt. Jay Baker, Long told police he believed he has a sex addiction and that he saw the spas as “a temptation … that he wanted to eliminate.” If he had a sex addiction why didn’t he go fix himself instead of wasting life by finding others to blame for his issues? This statement also shows the dangers of racial fetishism and misogyny cause there was no way that the disproportionate amount of Asian women killed was a coincidence. Millions of people have taken to social media declaring #StopAsianHate as this incident was the last straw for many individuals. New data revealed recently has shown that the number of anti-Asian hate incidents — which can include shunning, slurs and physical attacks — has significantly increased. It was revealed that nearly 3,800 incidents were reported over the course of roughly a year during the pandemic. On top of that women made up a far higher share of the reports, at 68 percent, compared to men, who made up 29 percent of respondents.

Japan

On Wednesday, March 17th, a Japanese court ruled that not allowing same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Took them long enough. It’s the first time that a court has ruled on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage in Japan, the only Group of Seven (G7) country that has not recognized either same-sex civil unions or same-sex marriage. The Group of Seven (G-7) is an intergovernmental organization made up of the world’s largest “developed” economies: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The case has been going on since 2019 after three couples in Hokkaido prefecture filed a lawsuit claiming 1 million yen in damages each for the psychological harm caused by the government not allowing same-sex marriage. Though the court ruled that the Japanese court ruled that not allowing same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the court dismissed the couples’ claims for damages. Kanae Doi, Japan director for non-profit Human Rights Watch (HRW), said the ruling alone would not legalize same-sex marriage in the country — that would need a Supreme Court ruling, which could take several years. Though the work is not done, we should still celebrate the small wins until we get the big one. 

NCAA Sexism

On Thursday, March 18th, the NCAA received a ton of backlash after videos and photos revealed the huge disparity between the workout equipment and spaces, food and gifts between the men and women players. Male players had a full weight room in Indianapolis, while the women’s tournament in San Antonio literally only had a rack of weights and some yoga mats in a nearly empty ballroom. The NCAA outta be ashamed of themselves for the unfair treatment of their women’s basketball players living in the San Antonio tournament bubble. There is not one bullsh*t reason that deserves to be heard as to why the gym setup they gave to the women players is not even good enough for a single person talkless of dozens of elite athletes.  Sedona Prince, a redshirt forward for the University of Oregon, documented the horrific inequality firsthand through her TikTok.  She spoke on the substandard workout spaces and food that the players had been provided. Fitness stores, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, and gyms, OrangeTheory Fitness, have offered help to the women.  Dick’s has started moving some of their equipment from stores across Texas to San Antonio for the women players to use. Orangetheory Fitness announced that they would make studios available for private sessions or make a full range of their floor equipment available.