Weekend Reads 6/20/20

How to Apologize for Slavery

Benin, too, apologized for its role in slavery, not only to African-Americans and the black diaspora, but also to the world. The apology coincided with then-President Mathieu Kérékou’s efforts to repair his, and Benin’s, international reputation after a series of corruption scandals that imperiled the country’s access to foreign aid money. In 1999, Kérékou began a global apology tour, including multiple stops in America. He and members of his government appealed to the religious conception of forgiveness to frame the act of reconciliation as a divine pursuit that would make whole the relationship between offending states and the victims’ offspring.

Hairstylists with COVID-19 didn't infect any of their 140 clients. Face masks may be why.

After learning that two stylists at the salon had tested positive for COVID-19, Pokin got tested for the infection. He had not been contacted directly by the health department, since the stylist who cut his hair was not infected. The health department offered free diagnostic tests for the 140 other clients who had seen the infected stylists as well as the six potentially exposed Great Clips employees. Together, 46 people actually underwent diagnostic testing, but all "potentially exposed were quarantined for the duration of their exposure period," the health department noted.

George Floyd’s daughter is Disney’s latest shareholder — another child shareholder says the stock helped change her life

The company doesn’t ignore its youngest shareholders either. A six-year-old Disney shareholder was given the chance to ask a question of then-CEO Bob Iger at the company’s annual shareholders meeting in 2015. In response, Iger inadvertently revealed plans that had not yet been announced to rename one of the company’s theme parks in Florida.

The Hard Truth Of Poker — And Life: You’re Never ‘Due’ For Good Cards

This moment, this I’m not half-bad making its fleeting way through my brain, is the first time I notice a funny thing start to happen. It’s as if I’ve been cleaved in two. The psychologist part of my brain looks dispassionately on, noting everything the poker part of me is doing wrong. And the poker player doesn’t seem to be able to listen.