5SR - November 8, 2023

Today’s #5SmartReads contributor is Madison T. Clark! She is a full-time freelance writer, part-time college counselor, and founder of the newly launched Grief Cards, a company that makes sympathy cards that don't suck.

The Transgender Family Handbook (The Cut)

This is a read that I hope you'll return to, and one that I hope you'll share widely, too. It contains nearly 150 specific, linked, summarized suggestions that came directly from trans people and their families.

Data shows that 82% of trans people have considered suicide, making this type of authentic, impactful support even more critical from every member of their community. If you didn't previously know where to start with these types of conversations, here's your starting point.

A quarter of Missouri nursing homes haven’t had inspection in years (NPR)

Nursing homes are such a critical part of our infrastructure, especially with our currently aging populations. When someone moves into this type of facility, they and their loved ones are trusting that all care will be high quality. Whether someone needs medication management, physical therapy, regular socialization, or anything else - that facility is responsible for making it happen.

The number of complaints from residents have risen, and become more severe, making the backlog of health inspections in Missouri even harder to work through. Our older populations deserve so much better than this.

Women are always the wrong age (Business Insider)

Age-based discrimination runs rampant against women in the workplace.

The prejudicial assumptions: there's the too-young woman, who's working hard but who will quit as soon as she decides to get pregnant; then, the mother who's capabilities are assumed to be limited due to her personal decisions; there's always the childless woman, of any age, who's deemed cold and distant (regardless of her actual behavior); and there's also the sudden transition from physically desirable, sexually active, to too old, not attractive, not worthy of attention. The list continues, and has been proved by research time and time again.

Here, Julie O'Neill's experiences as a news anchor are used as a case study to showcase the realities of what women face in the business world. To me, the headline captures the essence of it all: Women are always the wrong age.

The Voice of the NYW Subway Is a Trans Women With An Inspiring Story (Them)

Missouri isn't exactly known for being welcoming of LGBTQ+ people. In my experience, this is especially true for trans folks from the state; I know numerous trans men and women who grew up here and simply had to leave in order to safely become their true selves. It's a heartbreaking story that's true across the United States -- even in more 'progressive' states like New York, especially as you look further into the past.

Bernie Wagenblast is a stunning example of resilience and trans visibility, and is present in every NYC subway ride. See, her voice is what we hear every time a train arrival is announced. And thinking about that gives me goosebumps, to know the work it took for her to transition and to feel confident in her voice and to, now, continue inspiring younger trans folks to reach for their own iterations of visibility. In New York, in Missouri. Everywhere.

Elise Smith Is Among the Most-Funded Black Women in Tech. She Doesn’t Want To Talk About Funding (Inc.)

Elise Smith is the co-founder of Praxis Labs, a DEI learning platform that's using mixed reality tech to train people in navigating the workplace. This startup has raised over $18M - and as remarkable as this is, due to Smith being one of the most-funded Black women in the tech world, money cannot be the only topic the media covers.

When you Google Smith's name, you see headlines shouting about funds raised, but you rarely see anything about the impacts of her business, the needs for her startup, or where it's heading next. In Smith's own words: "That kind of tokenization of folks who've been able to break, gain access, opportunity, start companies, and get capital is a detriment not only to their teams and their businesses, but also to society." We, and the media, have to do better. a