Movement happening on minimum wage: Chicago is now among several cities seeking to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers over the next five years (The Progressive Magazine). Meanwhile, at least 65 counties, cities and states are making changes in their minimum wage laws this year. Read about them, and the new study from the National Employment Law Project, in Mother Jones, which credits the “Fight for $15” movement with much of the new laws.
Are humans evolving too fast to resolve climate change? A new study led by University of Maine evolutionary biologist Tim Waring suggests that humans’ cycle of evolution has been driven for 100,000 years by “a positive feedback process” that rewards finding more resources, consuming them more efficiently, and enabling faster growth. “Central features in human evolution are likely working against our ability to solve them.” (University of Maine)
Women, people of color still under-represented in Hollywood: A new study shows that only 9 percent of top-grossing film directors in 2022 were women, and that only 3.4 percent of top-grossing directors in 2023 were women of color. In addition, less than a quarter of directors in 2023 were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. such as Black, Latino or Asian (L.A. Times). One reason for the inequity, according to the study: lack of financing, leading to lack of portfolio material.
Harvard president’s resignation letter cites “racial animus:” Read in News One about the resignation letter from Harvard’s first Black president, Claudine Gay, who first drew controversy when she hedged during congressional hearings on condemning anti-semitic language on campus and then was also found to have plagiarized significantly in her research work.
(photo credit: Fibonacci Blue through Wikimedia Commons, showing workers in Twin Cities, Minnesota, walking out to press for a $15 minimum wage)
