Check Out Riz Ahmed’s Must-Watch Speech on Diversity

Just issues, news, and other stuff that matters to you [Fusion]( March 3, 2017 Oh Friday, how good it feels to be in your loving arms. We hope you’ve got some plans you’re really looking forward to this weekend, whether it’s heading to Michigan for a [Selma Solidarity March]( in Flint, going to see Get Out for the third time, or watching Octavia Spencer host SNL (while you shout “Queeeeeeen!” from your couch). Take some advice from the swoon-worthy Brit rapper and actor Riz Ahmed (more on him below) and be the woke bae you want to see in the world. [—Anne Branigin]( TODAY IN... CATCH AND RELEASE 💔 A new proposal reportedly under consideration by the White House would [rip apart parents and their children]( if they’re caught entering the country illegally. SCHOOL'S OUT 📚 The “Day Without a Woman” protest—a general strike coinciding with International Women’s Day—is causing an entire school district in NC to [shut down]( next week. PLAY OF THE DAY 💪 When football player Michael Sam faced criticism for coming out, Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen delivered a viral takedown of homophobia. Now, he’s given [a rousing defense]( of a trans wrestler. DEATH BY DELIVERY 🚑 Pregnant black women in the U.S. are four times more likely to die from pregnancy and birth complications than white women. [Meet the activists]( fighting to change that. WOKE BAE 😘 Your actor/rapper soulmate Riz Ahmed just gave a must-watch speech about the importance of representation in Hollywood—[and beyond](. THE READ [The High Toll of Costly Water: Who Will Pay for America’s Quiet Water Crisis?]( by Ciara O'Rourke When Elizabeth Mack wondered about a future in which Americans wouldn’t be able to pay for water, a couple of colleagues waved her off. “Don’t be ridiculous,” they said. But the idea niggled at Mack, an assistant professor at the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences at Michigan State University. And in January, in [an article]( published in the science journal PLOS ONE, she asks a new question: Is there a burgeoning water affordability crisis in the United States? Mack, along with research assistant Sarah Wrase, determined that if water rates increase at projected amounts over the next five years, the percentage of households that can’t pay their water bills [could triple from 11.9% to more than a third](. [Nearly 14 million households nationwide already struggle]( to afford water services. [An additional 27.18 million]( 8.5% of the country’s population—could soon face the same challenges. “I don’t think we think about this, about what it would mean to not have running water,” Mack told Fusion. Of course, some Americans have experienced it. Water affordability is becoming an increasingly critical issue in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, and Detroit. In Philadelphia, [an estimated four out of 10 water accounts are past due](. [Atlanta and Seattle have some of the highest water rates in the country](. And in Detroit, a campaign to cut off delinquent residents has stopped water and sewage service [for 50,000 households since 2014](. It’s a reality Mack thinks Americans in other parts of the country could face. [Read more](. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE PROGRESSIVE CRYSTAL BALL March, they say, enters like a lion and leaves like a lamb. But in this case, March entered like [an attempt to trash diversity]( and became the meme we all need. I’m talking, of course, about “[the future liberals want]( and yes, there’s already a [New Yorker]( think piece on it. Listen, we’re just here for the [cosplay]( and [pets](. The Latest [Alabama movie theater boycotting Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' over its new gay character]( [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [California residents are being hit with racist graffiti attacking their immigration status]( [Read More]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Vine]( [Instagram]( [Youtube]( Remember, you can always [click here to unsubscribe]( and never see another one of these emails until the apocalypse (at which time it'll be nothing but emails). [Unsubscribe]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} Fusion · 419 Lafayette St · New York, NY 10003 · USA