Monday Briefing | March 29
Photo: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a new law that puts restrictions on mail-in voting. Credit: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/26/biden-georgia-republicans-voting-rights-restrictions
Stories to follow:
Another mass shooting. On March 21, 2021, a gunman, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa opened fire in a Colorado supermarket leaving 10 people dead, one of which was a police officer. Alissa used an AR-15-style pistol that he legally purchased six days before the shooting. Only four days before this incident, eight people were gunned down at three different spas around the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area. The suspect, Robert Aaron Long, had just legally purchased a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol at a gun store just a few hours before the shootings took place. President Biden recently called for stricter gun laws in the U.S. in response to the recent shootings. President Biden wants to ban assault weapons and high-capacity weapons, and he also says he wants to close loopholes in the U.S. background checking system for obtaining firearms.
Georgia passed a new voting law that puts restrictions on mail-in voting, criminalizes handing food and water to voters waiting in line and could make it easier for officials to challenge voter registration. Georgia state representative Park Cannon was arrested after knocking on the office door of Georgia governor Brian Kemp while he signed the new voting bill into law. Park Cannon was attempting to protest the new bill.
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who’s accused of murdering George Floyd last year, will stand trial starting March 29, and it’s expected to last for about a month. Chauvin is charged with second-degree and third-degree murder. The trial can be streamed online.
Happening this week:
(Re)Imagining Borders: The Performing Arts in Global Dialogue. At a moment when we are confronted by the changing nature and conditions of borders and borderlands, can the performing arts serve as a catalyst for (re)imagining current border logics, shaped not only by long-standing territorial and political disputes but also by the effects of globalization? This panel engages with the meaning of borders not only as physical sites of conflict and contestation but also as cultural and imagined spaces, where competing interests, ideologies, and narratives are brought into dialogue through music, dance, and theater. The panel discussion will be hosted on Zoom on Tuesday, March 30 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
In your free time:
Watch Waffles and Mochi on Netflix. The former First Lady is teaming up with two puppet pals to scramble up eggs and learn about tomatoes. Michelle Obama sat down with Trevor Noah (over Zoom) to discuss the show, life after the White House and food deserts in the U.S.
This week’s Monday Briefing was brought to you by Nswana Samukonga.
