Newsroom

Welcome back! Here is your afternoon briefing…

JMU Students and Faculty participate in global Climate Strike

• On Friday (9/20/19), around 400 students and faculty walked out of their classes and jobs to stand on the Wilson Hall steps joining in on the global climate strike. They then marched downtown to demand action in preventing climate change.

Plastic army women coming in 2020 thanks to the little girl who asked: why not?

• 6 year-old girl, Vivian Lord, from Little Rock, Arkansas sent a letter to BMC Toys asking them, “Why do you not make girl army men? My friend’s mom is in the army too!” The company responding saying that they hope to release female army soldiers in late 2020, just in time for Christmas.

Chanel Miller, woman sexually assaulted by Brock Turner, speaks out in first interview

• Chanel Miller, the woman formerly known as “Emily Doe”, revealed her identity earlier this month. In a “60 Minutes” interview, aired this past Sunday (9/22/19), she spoke about how she is working on re-claiming her identity and how other survivors helped in her healing process.

Model, Ayesha Tan-Jones, protests Gucci’s offensive mental health imagery at Milan fashion show

• Ayesha Tan-Jones, a runway model in Gucci’s Milan fashion show, staged a protest during the show by holding up her hands, that displayed the message “Mental health is not fashion”, while on the runway. Ayesha described Gucci’s decision to “use the imagery of straight jackets and outfits alluding to mental patients” as “unimaginable” and “offensive.”

Angry Greta Thunberg tells global leaders she ‘will never forgive’ them for failing on climate change

• 16 year-old climate activist, Greta Thunberg, addressed the UN on Monday (9/23/19) at their Climate Action Summit expressing her passion for fixing the climate crisis. Along with her powerful speech, where she calls out political leaders by saying, “For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away?” amongst other things, her and “15 other children activists filed a complaint with the UN alleging that five of the world’s leading economies have violated their human rights by not taking adequate action to stop the unfolding climate crisis.” These include “Germany, France, Brazil, Argentina and Turkey”and the petition states “that they say have failed to uphold their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a 30-year-old human rights treaty that is the most widely ratified in history.”