Our Wins Of The Week

When the light at the end of the tunnel looks like a freight train, we could all use some good news and progressive wins.

George Takei at AARP's 16th Annual Movies for Grownups Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images.

Here at The Big Picture, we don’t focus just on the uphill fights that lie ahead. In our weekly Sunday edition—available as a thank you to our paid subscribers but free to all for the month of March—we also want to take and celebrate wins along the way! 

These are the moments that inspired us this week and reminded us of the progress we are making every day. This goes out to all of the heroes fighting on the front lines who so deserve our praise. Thank you! — George and team

Amid an unprecedented onslaught of threats toward our LGBTQ+ community, it was truly inspiring to see an outpouring of support for DC’s Drag Story Hour this week.

Last week, the Proud Boys showed up to intimidate participants.

So, this time, allies took to the street to show solidarity, armed with rainbow flags and umbrellas.

Evan Koslof @ekoslof

Huge crowd of people showing support for Drag Story Hour in DC, after Proud Boys showed up to protest similar event last week. @wusa9 @ParasolPatrol

Love to see it!

And speaking of inspiring allies, Michelle Obama took to Twitter to lift up the powerful words of former basketball player Dwyane Wade, who paid emotional tribute to his transgender daughter Zaya at the BET Awards this past week.

Michelle Obama @MichelleObama

I hope you’ll watch this powerful speech by @DwyaneWade and @itsgabrielleu. This is what it means to show up for your child—and for all of our children.  Zaya, I’m so proud of you. You’re an inspiration for us all. ❤️

We salute and support Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union who consistently have shown Zaya, publicly and unapologetically, such incredible support! We hope they serve as a model for others.

The MAGA movement claims to want to make America “great” again. So Bryan Cranston went on Chris Wallace’s show and explained, calmly and clearly, why people of color have every right to see that as a racist slogan and movement.

Kaivan Shroff @KaivanShroff

.@BryanCranston explains to Chris Wallace why “MAGA” is a racist remark. (So well done, worth a watch.)

Well said, sir! 👏🏼

Fresh off President Biden’s successful trip to Ukraine, where he stood in solidarity with Ukraine and President Zelenskyy against the aggression of Vladimir Putin, activists in London pulled off quite a feat.

The epic display involved enlisting unsuspecting motorists to help paint the road outside the Russian Embassy in London the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Reuters @Reuters

Demonstrators disrupted traffic in London to paint a huge Ukraine flag on the road in front of the Russian embassy on the eve of the Ukraine war's first anniversary

A beautiful sight to behold!

Speaking of the President, after Democrats capped the price of insulin at $35 without a single Republican vote last year, Joe Biden shared the news this week that pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has officially followed suit, lowering its prices for insulin to just $35. 

Joe Biden @JoeBiden

Insulin costs under $10 to make, but Americans are sometimes forced to pay over $300 for it. It’s wrong. I signed a law capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors and called on Congress and manufacturers to bring down prices for everyone. Now, they’re taking action.

A big win for those struggling with the outrageous cost of insulin.

Folks everywhere have been asking when serial fabulist and utter fake and phony Rep. George Santos aka Anthony Devolder was going to suffer some actual consequences for his lies. The Congressmember most bent on holding him to account is Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York. Torres and his fellow New York Rep. Daniel Goldman were the first to file an ethics complaint against Santos, and now things are rolling:

Ritchie Torres @RitchieTorres

BREAKING: House Ethics has opened an investigation into George Santos. Rep. Dan Goldman and I filed an ethics complaint against the self-described terrible liar for violating House rules. Now Congress is one step closer to holding its most corrupt member accountable.

Speaking of things that start slowly then develop into something major, we simply had to tip our hat to TikToker @unknowndazza, who built an entire frog habitat in his backyard!

But it started with just a simple idea:

fragrance and foolishness @Brieyonce

Allow me to introduce you to the most ridiculous yet amazing thing you will see this week.

It’s a great reminder: If you’re going to be anything, be kind.

Speaking of unkind, we leave you with a perfect and hilarious take on Gov. Ron DeSantis’s cruelty and absurdity, courtesy of the great Andy Borowitz.

Andy Parker @AndyParkerVA

DeSantis Rounds Up Disney Characters and Puts Them on Bus to New York | The New Yorker

newyorker.comDeSantis Rounds Up Disney Characters and Puts Them on Bus to New York“Let them wander Times Square with Elmo,” the Florida Governor said.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Uncle George and Team Takei