It’s Getting Hot Out Here: Heat Wave Hits Two-Thirds of the United States

If you live somewhere between the Central and Eastern United States, you’re probably well aware of the massive heatwave that affected over 150 million people this weekend. With record-breaking temperatures and heat indexes in the triple digits, it was more than just a little toasty.

Folks in Nebraska were baking cookies with the sun, and heat-related power outages left a few New Yorkers in the dark. While it may be just an inconvenience to some, the heat is life-threatening for some vulnerable populations, and six deaths have been linked to this weekend’s heat wave. Not only that -- climate change is making heat waves longer, more frequent, and more dangerous.

Take Action: Protect yourself and others by reading and sharing ways to stay healthy during a heat wave.

Serena Williams Is Investing in Safer Maternal Care

Last year, Serena WIlliams wrote an op-ed about the complications she had after giving birth to her daughter, Olympia. She considered herself lucky to receive the medical care she did. After all, the US is the most dangerous developed country to give birth in, and Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Now, Williams is working to make childbirth safer for everyone by investing in maternal health startup Mahmee. The platform connects moms with prenatal and postnatal care, focusing on both the physical and emotional aspects of pregnancy (and its founder and 46% of its angel investors are women of color!).

Teenagers Successfully Push Oregon to Allow Mental Health Days For Students

Thanks to four teens, Oregon schools will now let students take up to five days every three months for “issues with mental or behavioral health.” Inspired by the political actions of Parkland students, the group campaigned for this legislation to try and reduce the stigma around mental health in a state where youth suicide rates are alarmingly high. Before, absences were only allowed for physical illnesses, and while students could take mental health days by pretending to be physically sick, the new law promotes more transparency that can help students get the help they need.

Take Action: Promote the importance of taking care of your mental health by celebrating Self-Care Day on July 24 (and spreading the word!).

• Why aren’t more people talking about… the Black Georgia lawmaker who was cursed at and told to “go back” to where she came from?

• Meanwhile, in India… the country successfully launched its first lunar lander bound for the moon’s surface.

• My heroes today are… this man who climbed 15 stories to save his mother from a burning building and these three young brothers who started a candle company and donate monthly to homeless shelters.

• Today in viral cuteness… Steph Curry and his daughters having a Hamilton sing-along in the car.

• I’m obsessed with… this Dutch scouting tradition where they let children loose in the woods at night to find their own way out. They’re called “droppings,” and I’m especially intrigued by the adults who sometimes “hide in the underbrush and make noises like a wild boar.”

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