Young Voices Demand Action At Nationwide Rallies

Here’s what you’ll find on today’s show:

— From Parkland, Florida, to Queens, New York, to Newark New Jersey, young voices took center stage over the weekend in mass rallies calling on Congress to end their inaction on substantive gun reform. The Takeaway brings you to the front lines of the marches in Washington, D.C., and Newark, where communities of color are often plagued by gun violence and have long complained about the absence of effective government intervention.

— Three provisions in the $1.3 trillion federal spending bill President Trump signed on Friday addressed gun violence and gun research, breaking a longstanding period of inactivity on substantive gun safety reform in Congress. The measures included a form of the ‘Fix NICS Act’ and a tweak in C.D.C. regulatory language that would provide greater assurance to researchers who want to study gun violence.

— N.F.L. Player Michael Bennett was indicted in Harris County, Texas, for an alleged incident that took place when he was a spectator at the Super Bowl last year. Bennett is charged with felony assault against a 66-year-old paraplegic woman. Authorities claim he shoved the woman while heading to the field to celebrate after the game. At a news conference, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters that the woman suffered a sprained shoulder as Bennett pushed his way through the crowds to congratulate his brother Martellus on his team’s victory.

— The Takeaway is launching a new series at the intersection of women and healthcare, and how gendered interactions color the way women are received by their own doctors and nurses. We dissect the world of women’s health with writer Michele Lent Hirsch, who interviewed dozens of women for her new book which exposes what it’s like to be sick in a world that doesn’t meet female patients halfway.

— Last Friday, President Trump signed a spending bill that boosted funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities by 14 percent. It is the latest in a growing list of investments in historically black colleges from the White House. Despite successfully winning federal assistance, H.B.C.U. presidents are walking a tightrope when it comes to riding the momentum of support, recognizing that the Trump administration is incredibly unpopular with their students and alumni.