“Schitt’s Creek” broke a record with seven Primetime awards and nine Emmys in total in the comedy categories, and “Succession” took home five awards, including best drama series. Here are other notable moments from the night. Catherine O’Hara won her first acting Emmy for her role as Moira Rose on “Schitt’s Creek.” Tyler Perry accepted the Governors Award, which recognizes “extraordinary” or “cumulative” accomplishment, and gave a heartfelt speech that tied a story about his grandmother to the experiences of Black Americans. Zendaya made history by becoming the youngest winner for best lead actress in a drama for her role in “Euphoria.” Several winners implored viewers to vote. Others made statements about racial justice during speeches and through their wardrobe. Jimmy Kimmel hosted from a nearly empty Staples Center while nominees tuned in from around the world.
A stupendous show at the Whitney Museum explores the profound impact of Mexican painters — the meeting and mingling that enriched American culture. From floated proposal to finished product, “Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945” at the Whitney Museum of American Art represents a decade of hard thought and labor, and the effort has paid off. The show is stupendous, and complicated, and lands right on time. Just by existing it accomplishes three vital things. It reshapes a stretch of art history to give credit where credit is due. It suggests that the Whitney is, at last, en route to fully embracing “American Art.”
Thousands of people around the world have rallied in solidarity with anti-racism protests in the United States following the police killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was pinned to the ground by a white officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The officer, who has since been fired and charged for murder, knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, as Floyd pleaded "I can't breathe". Protests, which began in Minneapolis, have spread to hundreds of cities across the US. National Guard troops have been deployed in at least 23 states to handle the demonstrations. Outside the US, large protests have also erupted in many cities around the world.
The first case of COVID-19 in the United States was identified in January of this year. As of the date of this letter, there are over 3 million total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., which is roughly the size of the entire population of Puerto Rico. COVID-19 has killed over 135,000 Americans. These are confirmed infections – we are not incentivized to attribute a patient’s death to COVID-19 if the diagnosis is not confirmed with laboratory studies. This pandemic is real, and we are very concerned about it.
