Good morning! Welcome to MSNBC's Sunday Spotlight, where you can find a selection of the week's most interesting and important stories. Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome on Saturday, the first pontiff to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is looking to cut Head Start, an Ivy League college is defending academic freedom in court, and conservative influencers are encouraging vigilantism. Plus, a new horror movie is scaring Hollywood — but not because of what's on screen. Don't forget to check out more top columns and videos from the week below. |
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| Pope Francis' Jesuit legacy: As the first Jesuit in the position, Pope Francis leaves a complicated legacy related to the Catholic order, long known for a rebellious nature that often has confounded the rest of the church. Formed in 1534, the Society of Jesus was famous for exploring the Americas, teaching the children of nobles and recruiting the best and brightest to a rigorous method of soul-searching. All of this informed Francis' actions as pope, writes Lev Golinkin, who studied at a Jesuit college. |
Settling for less: Head Start's preschool and child-care programs get such great results that its $12 billion annual budget effectively pays for itself. If the Trump administration succeeds in its effort to slash — or even to end — funding for the program, it will force women to settle for less. Hundreds of thousands of the women who benefit from the program would likely have to settle for less-than-ideal partners, less-than-ideal child care or less-than-ideal jobs, writes sociologist Jessica Calarco. |
Giving it the old college try: After the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funds to Harvard University, the college went to court with a full-throated challenge, arguing that the move was an attack on First Amendment protections. Supreme Court precedents appear to be on Harvard's side, and a successful challenge should inspire other colleges and universities to stand up for their own free-speech rights, writes Albany Law School professor Ray Brescia. |
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A nation of vigilantes: Conservative influencer Laura Loomer recently promoted an app on her podcast that allows users to snap photos of people they suspect of being undocumented immigrants and to send them to law enforcement. Loomer, a close confidant of Trump, is not alone in promoting vigilantism on the right, as is evident in the rise of militia groups and people impersonating immigration officers. In fact, vigilantism has a long and tragic history in the country, writes journalist Christopher Mathias, who covers the far right. |
'Sinners' wins: Director-writer Ryan Coogler's critically acclaimed genre-bending movie "Sinners" isn't just scaring audiences with its vampires. The blockbuster is also frightening Hollywood executives, who are worried about the implications of Coogler's deal to get full ownership of the movie after 25 years. But while they fear it could be the end of the studio system, it's hardly a harbinger of the future of moviemaking. Even Coogler admits his decision to hang onto the long-term rights was more personal than financial, writes cultural scholar Stephane Dunn. |
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Lawyers for deported migrants say that a random assortment of tattoos — Michael Jordan, two crowns over the words "Mom" and "Dad," to name just a couple of recent examples in the news — have been cited by immigration authorities as evidence that someone belongs to a gang. But experts say this tactic doesn't necessarily work with Venezuelan gangs, writes Karla Ostolaza, managing director of The Bronx Defenders' immigration practice. She says police have long used dubious claims about everything from tattoos to sneaker brands to accuse teens of membership in gangs because it's "a powerful weapon that can neutralize public empathy and scrutiny by cloaking race-based attacks in race-neutral excuses." Read Ostolaza's column here. — Ryan Teague Beckwith, newsletter editor |
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Tonight, MSNBC Films presents "David Frost Vs." The six-part documentary series explores the legacy of legendary host David Frost through his iconic interviews with guests from Muhammad Ali to President Richard Nixon, examining key political and cultural moments of the 20th century that still resonate today. The first episode of "David Frost Vs," featuring The Beatles, premieres tonight at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC. |
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