22 Jan The Short Version: Women’s March on Washington
The point of it all is to break down the headlines, the week’s most controversial issues, determine why a particular issue is important to you, and reveal the best arguments on each side of the story.
By reading Cleo Abram’s The Short Version, you join a vibrant group of people with two simple beliefs: 1) Every important issue can and should be discussed in a way we all can understand; 2) Understanding both sides makes us more thoughtful and our views more informed.
In some of the most recent iterations of The Short Version, Cleo Abram looked at the viability of the Electoral College and the Affordable Care Act, aka, Obamacare. With an inadequate or, worse, no replacement over 20 million people could loose their health insurance. Last week, week, Cleo examined “The Trump Dossier,”considering both sides of the argument about whether or not BuzzFeed should have released as yet unsubstantiated allegations about our new president. This week, she considers the implications of the Women’s March on Washington, asking if “society should do more to promote equal pay.”
Note: In general, if you have missed any of Cleo’s blogs, just go to our Home Page, type “The Short Version” into Search (magnifying glass icon) and poof, like magic, all her blogs will appear.
“I love getting feedback every week—thank you! If you want come hang out, debate a thing or two, and meet other Shorties, check out Short Events,” says Cleo. “Or if you have a topic you’d be interested in guest writing, just let me know! Let’s make it happen.”
Cleo Constantine Abram of the “Short Form,” offering densely packed spins on issues of national and global importance.
What’s happening?
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of women and men took to the streets for the Women’s March on Washington. The march aimed to “send a bold message to our new government on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights.” It was (and continues to be) been enormously popular; In DC alone, crowd scientists estimate the march had three times more people than Trump’s inauguration did the day before.
Across the country and around the world, millions more turned out in support of the Women’s March—in major cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, Raleigh, St. Louis, Sydney, London, Tel Aviv, Nairobi, Beirut, Tokyo (and more) and in smaller communities everywhere.
Aerial photographs of the crowds on both days, both at peak density (NYT)
Why is it important?
The Women’s March is much more than a protest against President Trump.
What do they want? The Women’s March organizers released an official platform, which is built on the basic tenet that “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.”
The march recognized the ways women’s rights and identities overlap with other important issues—racism, climate change, public health, economic opportunity, criminal justice, immigration, and more. (That’s what people mean when they use the term “intersectional feminism.”) One central issue is equal pay.
Debate it!
Should society do more to promote equal pay?
Continue reading here.
Why “The Short Version” on TIO:
Nine+ ago, Telluride Inside…and Out began as a lifestyle webzine. Today, in the full knowledge that Telluride is a window on the world, we continue to bring the “zazz” (short for “pizzazz) of the region to a local, national, and global audience by covering everything from Telluride’s robust cultural economy – major events and festivals – to health and fitness and outdoor adventure. When Telluride travels, we write about places to go, people to meet too. (That’s part of the “Out” part of our handle, the other, obviously, Outdoors.)
And now, this new weekly column, “The Short Version,” which offers simple summaries of issues of national and global importance. (Though we won’t go political, or rather we won’t show bias.)
“The Short Version” is written by Cleo Constantine Abram, the daughter of Telluride locals Eleni Constantine and Jonathan Abram (and therefore an honorary local and regular visitor) and a digital strategist.
Why “The Short Version”? Because, though we live in Shangri-La, our bubble is not impermeable and the rest of the world is only a click away. Because there is no inconsequential action; only consequential inaction. And because information is power in a moment so many of us are feeling powerless.
More about Cleo Constantine Abram:
Cleo grew up in Washington D.C., lives in New York City, and loves to visit her parents in Telluride. She authors “The Short Version,” a newsletter that explains each week’s most important issue and both sides of the debate around it.
Cleo is a digital strategist now working at Vox, a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission is simple: Explain the news. Politics, public policy, world affairs, pop culture, science, business, and more.
Cleo’s work focuses on ways to share, educate, and inform using online platforms. While in college at Columbia University, she guided the school’s entrance into online education through her role as the youngest elected representative to the Columbia Senate, which makes university-wide policy.
She continued her work on online education at TED-Ed, the educational branch of the nonprofit, building new programs and online tools to support high school teachers worldwide.
Continuing her work with TED, Cleo founded and led an early TEDx conference, the organization’s community-specific series.
Most importantly, Cleo loves to ski.
Charles Roth
Posted at 20:46h, 22 JanuaryHello Cleo,
My friend Susan Viebrock sent me your “Short Version.” I’d like to get your article/s weekly to find out your point of view from NYC. I live in Pasadena, CA. (There is a Pasadena, TX as well.)
I looked at the Washington Posts accumulation of Women’s March photos from around the world, and found that it gave me hope for the future. There is nothing more powerful than the human voice in action. There have been a number of articles about Trump, his first “faux pas,” and the advent of what is to come. Trump’s press secretary made the first dictatorial mistake by lying about what was so obvious to everyone who saw the photos, KellyAnne Conway, the other puppet who’s strings are pulled by Trump or one of his cronies, about “alternate information,” was the second. No.3 was his address to the CIA, which the former chief, Brenner, said was a dishonor to those who had given their lives to serve and protect the country. Three big mistakes in two days. Pure incompetence. In my anticipation of what is to come, I don’t know whether I should be trembling or be excited about the hole that the Trump administration is digging for itself. You did a good promo job on yourself in this piece. Cheers.