It was a “wild” weekend for Teyana Taylor. She received a steamy lap dance while strapped down during Normani‘s “Wild Side” performance on the MTV VMAs, and she also presented a show for New York Fashion Week.
The versatile singer/actress/designer is the creative director for the PrettyLittleThing brand, and her showcase featured her five-year-old daughter, Junie.
“I’m so in awe of how much hard work pays off and how much of my heart was involved in making sure this show reflected it,” Teyana commented on Instagram, sharing video highlights from her show.
“Trying hard never fails you when it comes to your passion” she continued. “Thank you to everyone involved in this magical moment! Cause it aint just me!!! Y’all know it takes a village!! Thank you @prettylittlething & @theauntiesinc we did it again!!”
The 2017 VMA winner for Best Choreography says her spring/summer 2022 collection was inspired by hip hop culture from 30 years ago.
“As everyone knows I’m obsessed with the whole ’90s era,” Teyana tells Essence. “Diddy, Mase, Mary [J. Blige],I appreciate that era so much. I appreciate the early ’00s as well.”
She adds that her two daughters, Junie and one-year-old Rue, motivate her to succeed.
“They are the greatest form of genuine love. They’re my biggest fans,” the 30-year-old entertainer says. “They don’t say, ‘Oh mommy, you wear sweatpants, you like a little boy.’ They say, ‘Oh mommy you look cute today, you look like a Teletubby.’ That’s what gets me going. I was always a strong person, but having my babies has made me unstoppable. I get my fearlessness from them.”
MULINO FIRING RANGE, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin watched a huge display of firepower put on by his military Monday when he attended the finale of what is believed to be the largest Russian war games held in Europe since the Cold War.
The joint exercises with Belarus — called Zapad — take place every four years and their main phase began last week, involving tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks, aircrafts and warships at sites across western Russia and in Belarus.
Zapad — which means “West” in Russian — is intended to test the country’s ability to fight a major war with NATO on its western border. The exercise has its origins in the Cold War, but in recent years as relations have worsened with the West, Putin has increased their scale, using them to illustrate restored Russian power.
Russia has claimed this year’s exercises involve 200,000 troops, but most military analysts believe that is a significant exaggeration, and the real figure is likely something closer to 50,000 to 100,000.
Putin on Monday attended what amounted to a heavily scripted, grand finale to the drills which took place at a firing range near Nizhny Novgorod, a city about 300 miles from Moscow.
From a grandstand overlooking the Mulino range, Putin watched the event through a pair of binoculars, while heavily armed snipers kept guard.
For 45 minutes, Russian troops unleashed a colossal barrage, involving howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, while warplanes and helicopters flew in waves overhead.
In the exercise, the Russian-led force was defending against a military belonging to a notional enemy, named “the westerners.” Besides Russian and Belarusian troops, small contingents from India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Armenia also participated.
The display watched by Putin appeared notably larger than that put on in 2017, at the last Zapad exercises — and those drills rattled nerves in eastern Europe, amid overheated speculation that they might be used to cover an imminent Russian invasion.
This year’s exercises attracted much less media attention, despite a more tense political atmosphere in Belarus following the mass protests against authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
Lukashenko’s crushing of the peaceful protests, with Russia’s support, has placed him and Moscow in confrontation with European countries and the United States.
Since Lukashenko sought rescue from the Kremlin, there have been concerns that Putin will use that leverage to demand he fulfill a long-time Russian goal of integrating Belarus with Russia. Last week, as the exercises began, Putin and Lukashenko announced plans for significantly deeper economic integration, under the slogan “Two countries, one economy.”
With Lukashenko now dependent on Russian support to remain in power, both sides are using the drills to emphasize Moscow’s strong backing of the Belarusian leader.
“It is in Minsk’s interest to invite a much larger Russian footprint as a show of support for the regime,” Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses, wrote in an article for the website War on the Rocks last week.
“Judging from early deployments and training range selection, a more sizable Russian contingent will be in Belarus and Russian troops will be much closer to the borders with Poland than they were during previous Zapad exercises,” said Kofman.
The exercise’s imagined scenario simulated Russia helping Belarus to defend against an attack by three fictional states, “Nyaris,” “Pomoria” and the “Polar Republic” — thinly disguised versions of Lithuania, Poland and a Scandinavian country.
Lukashenko has claimed the protests against him are part of a planned invasion of Belarus by NATO countries, repeatedly making wild claims last year that western forces were massed on the border.
This year’s Zapad drills appeared partly to incorporate that scenario, including scripts where western-backed “terrorists” provoked instability, as a pretext for invasion.
Belarus’ neighbors Poland and Lithuania have expressed unease about the exercises again this year. Both countries are already struggling with a migration crisis engineered by Lukashenko in relation to their support for pro-democracy opposition. In recent months, European officials have accused Lukashenko of flying in thousands of migrants, mostly from Iraq, and pushing them across the border.
The exercises, though important for training, are also in many ways also a campaign tool for Putin. Stephen Ganyard, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and ABC News contributor said the shows of force are “mostly for domestic consumption.”
The dramatic show on Monday came just four days before Russia’s parliamentary elections.
Military experts have cautioned against accepting Russia’s claims about the size of the exercises, which they warn are partly intended to give an exaggerated impression of Russian military power.
“Russian military leaders likely hope Western media will report exaggerated figures, which help validate the scale and success of the exercise,” Kofman wrote.
NATO has also accused Russia of failing to formally declare the real number of troops involved. A 1990 agreement, the Vienna Document, obliges Russia to invite observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for exercises involving more than 13,000 troops. But despite its public statements that 200,000 are taking part, Russia has circumvented the rule by claiming fewer than 13,000 troops are participating in each individual drill.
Russia has insisted the exercises are entirely defensive and at firing ranges last week Russian commanders were careful to repeat the drills were not intended to be threatening.
“We didn’t want to worry anyone,” said Col. Alexander Zavasky, the commander of an airborne unit drilling in Kaliningrad, told ABC News on Saturday. “It’s a pre-planned exercise, and so, don’t worry.”
Taylor Swift has been rumored to have been visiting Northern Ireland for quite some time now, because her boyfriend Joe Alwyn is filming a TV series there. Well, now there’s ironclad proof that she’s been hanging around the Emerald Isle.
As People reports, last week, Taylor was seen at a restaurant called Shu in Belfast, where she posed for photographs with fans and workers. The eatery shared the pics on its Instagram, and wrote, “Taylor was so lovely and really is a beautiful person inside and out and she kindly agreed to get photos with all our staff!”
The following night, Taylor was seen enjoying margaritas at a cocktail bar called The Tipsy Bird, and she also posed for pics with the staff. They turned the visit into a full-on advertisement, posting the photos and writing, “The one and only @taylorswift graced us with her presence last Friday night…We can confirm she is just as lovely as you would expect and was kind enough to take a picture with our team.”
They added, “Oh, and if anyone wants to join us for Margaritas that are good enough for T-Swizzle just click the link in our bio.”
The bar also shared that Taylor was indeed in town to support Joe as he films a Hulu TV series based on the Sally Rooney novel Conversations with Friends, which is expected to debut next year.
The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star, 42, took to Instagram on Monday to announce the good news, posting a photo of her and Fujikawa, 35, sharing a romantic kiss. Also photographed is Hudson’s perfectly placed engagement ring on her fiancé’s chest.
“Let’s go!” she wrote in the caption, adding emojis of a bride, a chapel and a groom.
Many of the Oscar-nominated actress’ celebrity friends responded to her post with excitement, including Amanda Kloots, Katie Couric, Rachel Zoe and more.
Hudson and Fujikawa, who first met years ago, began dating in December 2016. The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Rani Rose, in October 2018. She turns 3 next month.
The Almost Famous star is also mom to son Ryder, 17, whom she shares with ex-husband Chris Robinson, the frontman for The Black Crowes, and son Bingham, 10, whom she shares with ex Matt Bellamy, the frontman for Muse.
Fujikawa also is a musician, who used to play in a band called Chief.
Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom have been tapped to host the 74th Annual Tony Awards on Sunday, September 26.
McDonald, a six-time Tony winner, will host the awards portion of the evening, which streams exclusively on Paramount+ at 7 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, Hamilton Tony winner Odom Jr. is set to emcee the live concert event, The Tony Awards Present:Broadway’s Back!, at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, in addition to streaming on Paramount+ and the CBS app. The concert will include special performances from the three Tony-nominated best musical contenders — Jagged Little Pill, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Tina – The Tina Turner Musical. It will be followed by the live presentation of three Tony Awards: Best Play, Best Revival of a Play, and Best Musical. A limited number of tickets to attend the Tonys ceremony are now on sale.
In other news, Netflix has released a first-look teaser to Colin Kaepernick upcoming limited series, Colin in Black & White. As previously reported, the six-episode drama follows Kaepernick’s journey to becoming a civil-rights activist and professional football player and focuses on his young-adult years growing up in a mixed-race household after being adopted by a white family. Colin in Black & White launches October 29.
Finally, ICYMI, the 2021 Creative Emmy Awards announced their award winners on Sunday, September 12. Some of the highlights included Dave Chappelle and Maya Rudolph winning Outstanding Guest Actor/Actress in a Comedy Series for Saturday Night Live; J.B. Smoove for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for his role in Quibi’s Mapleworth Murders; Debbie Allen for Outstanding Television Movie and Outstanding Choreography for her work on Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square; and Courtney B. Vance for Outstanding Guest Actor on HBO’s Lovecraft Country.
Rihanna‘s Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3, which takes place next week, promises to be more spectacular than ever, with performances by Normani, Ricky Martin and more.
RiRi made the announcement with a dazzlingInstagram teaser featuring dozens of dancers. She commented in an accompanying message, “SAVAGEXFENTYSHOW VOL. 3!! Start making that guest list to ya watch party baby …. Sept. 24.”
Sabrina Carpenter, Troye Sivan and Vanessa Hudgens will also appear on the show, along with renowned models Behati Prinsloo, Adriana Lima, Gigi Hadid, Irina Shayk and many more.
Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 will stream on Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide beginning Friday, September 24.
Normani also took part in last year’s presentation at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Tonight, Rihanna, whom Forbes declared is the wealthiest female musician in the world, worth an estimated $1.7 billion, will host a special VIP after party following the exclusive Met Gala in New York City.
(NEW YORK) — Kenneth and Adi Martinez have an extra bedroom in the home they share outside of Seattle with their 6-month-old son and 3-year-old daughter.
So when the Martinezes watched the coverage of tens of thousands of people fleeing Afghanistan last month as the Taliban took over, they stepped up to help.
The Martinezes opened their extra bedroom to a family of four who left Afghanistan with all of their belongings packed in a few bags. The mother is pregnant with her third child.
“They [told us] they were in the airplane when one of their friends contacted them and said the Taliban came,” said Adi Martinez. “I’m pretty sure their flight was one of the last to leave before the chaos began.”
For the past month, the two families from different parts of the world have assimilated, living and cooking together and watching their young children play together even as they speak different languages. The Martinezes have helped the family adjust to life in Seattle, including buying them coats and shoes to adjust to the cold.
“Even though we may think we don’t have a lot, we have an extra bedroom, we have the means and the resources and the ability to help,” said Kenneth Martinez. “We are happy that we can help.”
The Biden administration said as many as 95,000 refugees are expected to resettle in the United States from Afghanistan over the next year. U.S. military and diplomatic personnel withdrew from Afghanistan on Aug. 31, ending America’s 20 years of war in the country.
To be able to respond to the demand, the nine national U.S. refugee resettlement agencies that lead the process are having to work with community partners to find housing, according to Kristen Aster, director of client and community engagement with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of the nine agencies.
In some cases, people like the Martinez family are opening their homes for free to Afghan refugees. In other cases, local companies and individuals are offering places to rent.
“Given the large numbers of folks who are arriving right now, we are working with community members and private resources to have interim solutions,” said Aster. “That’s definitely been a great and critical lifeline as we work with these families to find them more permanent housing.”
“Then we work with the families to help them find jobs, to enroll their kids in school, and access medical care, to learn English, to get connected with volunteers and others in the community to help them navigate life in the United States,” she said. “All of that is with the goal of helping families to be self-sufficient and integrated as soon as possible.”
The Martinezes said their Christian faith as well as their own experience motivated them to help. The couple immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 2011 when Kenneth Martinez was offered a job with Microsoft.
“We know exactly what it feels like to come to a brand new country with no family or anything,” he said. “We know it can be difficult, and in the case [of Afghan refugees], it’s very difficult.”
For Fawn Johnson, a real estate developer in nearby Seattle, the realization she could help Afghan families in need came as she was watching news coverage of them fleeing their home country on U.S. military aircraft.
“One of [our] homes became vacant in July and as we saw more and more about what was going on in Afghanistan, we decided we wanted to use it to help refugees,” she said. “This was one thing we could actually put our hands-on and personally do something about.”
Johnson is now donating her property to be used as a temporary landing spot for refugees until they are able to move to more permanent housing.
When Johnson and her son and daughter, who work in the family business, asked for help from family and friends, a team of more than 100 volunteers stepped up to renovate the house in a matter of weeks and stock it with food, clothing, household supplies and toys.
A family of three, including an 18-month-old boy, arrived at the home on Aug. 23, and Johnson and other volunteers were there to greet them.
“We helped them carry in their luggage and they came in with everything they had,” she said. “It really hit us the few things that they brought with them and how we could carry of all that in just a trip or two.”
Describing the toddler’s reaction to his new home in the U.S., Johnson recalled, “The first thing he did when he came in was go right to where the toys are and he saw a ball. His father said that he loves balls and that he had one in Kabul that he had to leave behind.”
Johnson has stayed in touch with the family as they have settled into their home, including taking them to see the ocean for the first time and procuring bread from a local Afghan bakery so they would feel more at home.
She is now also working to help find jobs for the Afghan refugees resettling in the Seattle area.
“The husband in the house now has a degree in computer science,” said Johnson. “As he looks for jobs here, it’s difficult to make that transition, so we’re really hoping some of the big tech companies can step up and help people like him who have the education to work with them to get them employed.”
“The people that we are seeing are those who worked with U.S. military, who are well-educated and who are going to do a great deal to add to this country,” she said. “They will really be clearly adding to the culture and the economy and just the tapestry of the United States.”
Both Johnson and the Martinez family are volunteering their homes through World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization whose Seattle office is working to resettle more than 100 Afghan refugees who have arrived in the past month.
“We have a pretty robust Afghan community in the Seattle area and most folks want to go where they have a tie, either a family member or friend,” Chitra Hanstad, executive director of World Relief Seattle, said of why the area is experiencing such an uptick. “I think it also has to do with the welcoming nature of Washington state. It makes it a great place for people to land, and there are a lot of job opportunities.”
The Afghan refugees arriving in the Seattle area typically come with just a suitcase or two and just over $1,000 in hand — through a U.S. government stipend — to start their new lives, according to Hanstad.
From there, World Relief steps in to help provide housing and supplies to start their lives in the U.S., including gift cards to local stores so the families can pick out their own belongings. The organization also provides long-term support like job placement, child care, social activities and language classes.
“We read research that you can learn language faster if you’re doing something that you’re good at or want to do, so we started an Afghan women’s sewing class and teach English through sewing,” said Hanstad, adding that the class also helps with the isolation refugees often feel. “We do it in a cohort model so these women get to know another group of women really well through those weeks of sewing.”
Hanstad said there has been a “huge uptick” recently of donations for Afghan refugees, but she worries about the months and years ahead as the refugees continue to build their lives in the U.S.
“I’ve been doing this work for years and I’ve seen that crises are short-lived. People move on to the next thing,” she said. “Really what we need desperately is funding so we can be flexible and agile.”
The huge need for help for Afghan refugees has prompted companies in the private sector to step up and help too.
Airbnb.org, for example, is providing temporary housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees worldwide, working with the International Rescue Committee to place refugees in housing available for rent.
Cameron Steele, a 30-year-old in Arlington, Virginia, found out in late August that his Airbnb property in Sacramento, California, would be rented via Airbnb.org and the International Rescue Committee to house a refugee family.
As he told his friends about the booking, an idea grew of how they could help the incoming Afghan family.
“One of my friends said, ‘If the family needs anything, let me know, I’m happy to support,'” said Steele. “That sparked an idea and I posted on Facebook and Instagram that I’d be hosting a family and if anyone wanted to [support] I’d make sure 100% was given to the family.”
Donations started pouring in, mostly in small amounts like $5 and $10, according to Steele.
Steele’s sister, Ashley Frost, who lives in Sacramento and helps him manage the Airbnb property, used the support to stock the house with supplies and leave the family a gift card so they could shop on their own.
“She spent hours collecting all the stuff for the family with the money that was given,” Steele said of Frost. “She went with her two daughters, my nieces, so it was neat to see her involving them in the process.”
When the first Afghan family moved on to more permanent housing and a second family moved in this week, Steele was also able to give them gift cards and supplies.
“It’s so difficult to leave everything you know, even if you know the opportunity is better for your kids and your family,” said Steele, who saw it firsthand through his girlfriend and her family, who are Armenian and immigrated to the U.S. “I know it’s not easy at all so it’s cool to just play a little role in adding some humanness to this whole experience and really showing them what we’re about.”
Steele said that in addition to helping them start their lives, he hopes the act of leaving donations for the Afghan families helps make them feel more at home in America.
“Little things like this hopefully make you feel like you made the right decision and you’re in the right place and it gives you hope, and that’s what we all need,” he said. “[Afghan refugees arriving in the U.S.] is a challenging thing for a lot of people — both for people moving here and for people feeling like people are coming into their communities — but it’s part of the American dream and the foundation of who we are as a country, as a people.”
“For this country specifically, we were all immigrants once,” said Steele.
Rick Ross has created a multi-million dollar hip hop empire with his Maybach Music Group label, enabling him to own over 100 cars. Now finally, at the age of 45, he has a license to drive them.
The Boss admits he’s been driving illegally for years, and has been pulled over by police many times, without ever getting a ticket.
“It’s something about my smile. Every time I get pulled over, by the time the officers walked up….They like, ‘Go ‘head, Rozay. We know you good,'” he told Today.
“My mom and my sister pressured me, finally. So I went and took the test. It took me an hour,” the “Hustlin'” rapper added. “You know, I missed a few answers but I got it.”
Ross published a new book, The Perfect Day to Boss Up: A Hustler’s Guide to Building Your Empire, on September 7, and he’s headlining the Legendz of the Streetz tour which kicks off September 30 in Augusta, GA. He’ll be joined by Jeezy, Gucci Mane and 2 Chainz, with special guests Fabolous, Lil Kim, Trina and Boosie Badazz.
The six-time Grammy nominee, who’s featured on Drake‘s number-one album, Certified Lover Boy, says he’s finalizing his 11th solo album, titled Richer Than I’ve Ever Been. It will be Ross’ first solo album since Port of Miami 2 in 2019.
(NEW YORK) — A powerful new public service announcement is raising awareness about gun violence in a unique way.
Today, Sandy Hook Promise — a nonprofit organization led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012 — released a video of survivors of school shootings reciting lyrics from Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” to show others that for victims of school shootings, the teenage dream is not what it used to be.
“It’s quite ironic, I think when you look at the lyrics,” Samantha Fuentes, a Parkland school shooting survivor who appears in the PSA, told “Good Morning America.” “It’s like the epitome of what you imagine — the typical teenage American life, the carefree worries of what that era of your experience is. So as a teenager who’s had all of that ripped from me — it’s almost like something that you wish that I could have.”
Fuentes added, “This story that I’ve experienced — my life is becoming more and more of a reality for people of my age.”
Living with the trauma
For Fuentes, the aftershock from the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is something she still lives with each day.
“I’m now physically handicapped,” said Fuentes, who suffered leg injuries due to gunshot wounds as well as smaller injuries from shrapnel. “I have issues with mobility and getting around. I suffer from PTSD, depression, anxiety, insomnia. These are all things that I have to juggle on a daily basis.”
Aalayah Eastmond, who also survived the Parkland shooting and participated in the PSA, told “GMA” that she struggles each day with survivor’s guilt after her friend, Nicholas Dworet, sacrificed his life to save hers.
“I’m only here because of Nick,” said Eastmond, who explained that Nick’s body took the bullets that day as she hid underneath him. In the PSA, Eastmond honors Nick by holding up his photo.
”I have to navigate every single day — while also struggling and dealing with survivor’s guilt — which is the biggest hurdle to try and overcome in this process. So, it’s not easy at all, especially being young. You’re never prepared for something like this. There’s no handbook on how to survive a school shooting and what to do afterwards.”
Nick Walczak, a survivor of the 2012 mass shooting at Chardon High School in Chardon, Ohio, said he now thinks three steps ahead wherever he goes in case he’s caught in another shooting.
“I have a plan in the back of my head almost everywhere I go now,” Walczak told “GMA.” “I have to figure out where I am and how to get out. And if I’m somewhere that has stairs or something, it’s very nerve-wracking because I am stuck there.”
Nine years ago, Walczak was at school when one of his classmates opened fire at him and three of his friends. Walczak was shot four times and the last bullet paralyzed him.
Despite the challenges that he has faced over the years, Walczak — as well as Fuentes and Eastmond — said they want others to know that shootings are preventable.
“The truth is that gun violence is in everybody’s backyard across the nation,” Fuentes said. “My hope is that people can make gun violence prevention a priority in their lives again, because people don’t realize that it’s folks like you and I, everyday people who went around thinking they wouldn’t be affected by something like this.”
Message for students returning to school
In previous years, Sandy Hook Promise released PSAs teaching people about gun violence prevention and how school shootings are preventable. But this year, as students return back to school, the nonprofit’s leaders said it was important to open up a conversation about how school shootings impact the lives of survivors.
“This has been a rather exceptional year and we’re facing a very different return to school,” said Sandy Hook Promise co-founder, Nicole Hockley, whose son, Dylan, was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. “This time, I wanted to focus instead on the lived experiences of people, the aftereffects — because I don’t think people focus on what happens after a school shooting and how that impacts lives for decades.”
“I’m so grateful for all of those that survived and have the strength and fortitude to be able to share their stories, to help save the lives of someone else,” Hockley added.
According to a report released earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun violence is the leading cause of death for teens, which is a concern facing many students returning to school this Fall.
“Our students are having feelings of loss of sense of safety, where that is different from past generations it’s a different experience,” Dr. Rachel Masi, a clinical psychologist and director of research at Sandy Hook Promise, said. “And if our kids are feeling anxious, worried, sad and depressed, which we know that they are at an increased level at this point. They’re not going to be able to learn.”
“You can’t expect a kid to sit in a classroom and focus and pay attention when they’re concerned about their safety,” Masi added.
Despite the trauma that students, teachers and families have experienced from past mass shootings at schools across the country, folks at Sandy Hook Promise and survivors like Fuentes, Eastmond and Walczk, are hopeful that change will happen.
“I know our generation has not been complacent with this issue. We’ve been having these conversations, forcing folks to sit down and recognize how important this problem is and how preventable it is,” Eastmond said. “I’m definitely hopeful that we will decrease gun violence.”
As students return to school this fall, Masi shared some tips to help students feel safer this school year. Read them below.
Prioritize mental health
“I think for teachers, they are that first line of defense in the school, they really know their students,” Masi said. “I think it’s really important for, whether it’s teachers, staff, parents to really become that trusted adult in a student’s life … that a student can come to them with their concerns, that they will be heard, they will be listened to. And their concerns will be taken seriously and they’ll get the support they need.”
Educate yourself
Another thing Masi encourages all teachers, parents and adults to do this school year as it begins for many students is to know the warning signs that people or students can exhibit before an act of violence is carried out.
“Nothing’s ever as simple as we see but there are things to do,” Masi said. “These are preventable and there’s ways to intervene.”
Have open conversations with students
With the reality of school shootings, Masi said it’s important to have open conversations with students about their concerns.
“Let’s bring it into the light and say these are the concerns that our kids are having,” said Masi. “These are real things they’re experiencing and the more we talk about it and the more we give those kids the voice to talk about it, the more that we’re going to see change.”
Katy Perry has allowed the use of her number-one hit “Teenage Dream” in a new PSA by Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit organization dedicating to preventing gun violence. It’s led by the family members of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
Katy posted the PSA, which runs for two minutes and 30 seconds and shows various young people reciting and/or singing the lyrics of “Teenage Dream.” That’s followed by the words “The teenage dream is not what it used to be.” We then see a montage of the same kids, and learn that they are all survivors of school shootings.
We learn that one teen still has a bullet lodged in his heart, for example, while another avoided injury by hiding under the body of her dead friend. Still another was shot in the stomach; her best friend was killed next to her.
“School shootings are preventable when you know the signs,” the PSA concludes.
“For too many kids, The Teenage Dream is shattered by school shootings,” Katy captioned the video. “Gun violence shouldn’t be part of growing up. Please share this important PSA from @sandyhookpromise.”
