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Elle
6 minutes ago
- General
- Elle
The Summer Solstice Is Here - And It's More Than A Cosmic Event, It's A Wake-Up Call
On June 20, the summer solstice will arrive, ushering in the longest, brightest day in the northern hemisphere. As the sun ascends to its highest elevation, a mirage takes place. For three days, that great ball of fire appears to hover in place in the sky. Fittingly, solstice is actually derived from two Latin words: 'sol' which means 'sun' and 'sistere' which means 'to stand still.' There's an invitation encoded in that name. Can we stand still for a few days? In a year dense with noise—protests in the streets, algorithms in overdrive—any break in the action might seem like denial or, worse, defeat. But we're not talking about freeze in the fight-or-flight sense. The solstice creates space for a purposeful pause, one that allows us to gather our inner strength. We also have an opportunity to sit in our emotional truth. Cancer season begins with the summer solstice each June, bringing a soulful sensitivity to the world. A gentle reminder streams in with the solstice: There is strength in our softness and our willingness to care. Fittingly, some of the most quietly commanding figures in modern history happen to be Cancerians, including Malala Yousafzai, the Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela. While they fought for different freedoms, they have this in common: Each one stood still and firm in their fight for human rights. You can read your daily horoscope here Malala Yousafzai, born July 12, survived a targeted attack from the Taliban for standing up for girls' education. She went on to become a global voice for empowering women and girls. Since 2013, her birthday has been honored as Malala Day, an annual international celebration focused on education advocacy. The Dalai Lama, born July 6, has modeled stillness as a source of strength since his exile from Tibet in 1959. Through his gentle teachings on compassion and unwavering commitment to peace, he's reminded the world that the refusal to retaliate with violence can be as impactful as protest. Legendary South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was born on July 18. After enduring 27 years of imprisonment, he became the country's first Black president in 1994. In the spirit of standing still, Mandela refused to be conditionally released from prison on certain occasions, choosing instead to uphold his principles. As the sun pauses at its peak this solstice, we're reminded that growth doesn't always look like motion. Sometimes, it looks like standing your ground or waiting for clarity. Like gathering light before the next season. It isn't inertia—it's calibration. The world will keep spinning, the headlines will keep coming, but for a moment, we're invited to take a cue from the cosmos: to be still, feel deeply, and choose our next step from a place of rooted knowing. The sun will move again, and so will we, but not before we take a breath. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Ophira and Tali Edut (The AstroTwins) are among the most sought-after astrologers and intuitive advisors of our times. As the longtime resident astrologers for ELLE Magazine and the authors of over 20 books, they are the advisors to a roster of CEOs, celebrities, global leaders and successful entrepreneurs. They've read charts for celebrities the likes of Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, and Emma Roberts. Their new book, The Astrology Advantage (Simon & Schuster), introduces The AstroTwins' revolutionary I*AM System, which simplifies the birth chart into three archetypes: Innovator, Authority, and Maven. On television, The AstroTwins have appeared as guest experts for Bravo, MTV, 'Good Morning America,' and the 'Today' show, and created the first streaming reality TV dating show based on astrology, Cosmic Love (Amazon Prime Video, 2022). Their work on the subject of 'spiritual technology' as an essential tool for business success has been featured in Fast Company and at leadership conferences around the world. Ophira and Tali have taught thousands of people their methods through their online platform, and at their signature retreats. Graduates of The University of Michigan, Ophira and Tali grew up in Detroit and currently live in New York and Seattle.

Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Kroger under fire for ‘Lazy' Juneteenth cakes: Watch
Kroger is under fire after a video showing a series of poorly decorated Juneteenth cakes went viral on TikTok. Juneteenth, a day commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the U.S., became a federal holiday in 2021. For generations, it has held deep cultural meaning in Black communities. So when cookie cakes featuring like 'FREE @ Last,' 'June 19 FREE,' and simply 'FREE' were seen sloppily decorated and on display at a Kroger in Georgia, it didn't take long for people online to respond. A post shared by GAFOLLOWERS 🍑 (@gafollowersnews) ALSO READ| Who is Opal Lee? 'Grandmother of Juneteenth' to skip Walk for Freedom march this year 'Who the hell made these ugly-a** s***? I wish there was a manager here because ya'll decorate everything else around here cute. Everything else around here cute, but for Juneteenth you want to just throw something on a freaking cookie cake and expect someone to buy it? That's bulls***,' one TikTok user responded. 'The cakes and cookies that were featured in the video were inconsistent with our provided guidance and not of the quality we would expect to see from our stores. The products have been removed, and we've addressed this directly with the store teams and the customer who took the initial video,' a Kroger spokesperson told Newsweek. 'This is a beautiful find of just absolute laziness. Absolute laziness. To be honest, you could have did absolutely nothing and the people would have been just as fine,' @L'lori summed up in a follow-up video. "I would have taken that "free" cookie cake. Lol 😂 'y'all said it was free,' one Instagram user torched. ALSO READ| Juneteenth celebrations near me: Events in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia on June 19 'Somebody made these right before they quit 😹,' another quipped. 'Looks like a fresh out of jail cake 😂😂,' one wrote.


NDTV
2 hours ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Trump Is Silent About Juneteenth On A Day He Previously Honoured As President
Washington: President Donald Trump honored Juneteenth in each of his first four years as president, even before it became a federal holiday. He even claimed once to have made it "very famous." But on this year's Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, the usually talkative president kept silent about a day important to Black Americans for marking the end of slavery in the country he leads again. No words about it from his lips, on paper or through his social media site. Asked whether Trump would commemorate Juneteenth in any way, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: "I'm not tracking his signature on a proclamation today. I know this is a federal holiday. I want to thank all of you for showing up to work. We are certainly here. We're working 24/7 right now." Asked in a follow-up question whether Trump might recognize the occasion another way or on another day, Leavitt said, "I just answered that question for you." On Wednesday, Black community leaders from across the country, senior Trump administration officials and other individuals met at the White House to discuss improving coordination between the leaders and federal, state and local partners, according to a senior White House official. Housing Secretary Scott Turner and Lynne Patton, director of minority outreach, were among those who attended, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss a private gathering. The Republican president's silence was a sharp contrast from his prior acknowledgement of the holiday. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States by commemorating June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas. Their freedom came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln liberated slaves in the Confederacy by signing the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War. Trump's quiet on the issue also deviated from White House guidance that Trump planned to sign a Juneteenth proclamation. Leavitt didn't explain the change. Trump held no public events Thursday, but he shared statements about Iran, the TikTok app and Fed chairman Jerome Powell on his social media site. In the evening, Trump complained on the site about "too many non-working holidays" and said it is "costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed." But most retailers are open on Juneteenth while most federal workers get a day off because the government is closed. He had more to say about Juneteenth in yearly statements in his first term. In 2017, Trump invoked the "soulful festivities and emotional rejoicing" that swept through the Galveston crowd when a major general delivered the news that all enslaved people were free. He told the Galveston story in each of the next three years. "Together, we honor the unbreakable spirit and countless contributions of generations of African Americans to the story of American greatness," he added in his 2018 statement. In 2019: "Across our country, the contributions of African Americans continue to enrich every facet of American life." In 2020: "June reminds us of both the unimaginable injustice of slavery and the incomparable joy that must have attended emancipation. It is both a remembrance of a blight on our history and a celebration of our Nation's unsurpassed ability to triumph over darkness." In 2020, after suspending his campaign rallies because of the coronavirus pandemic, Trump chose Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the place to resume his public gatherings and scheduled a rally for June 19. But the decision met with such fierce criticism that Trump postponed the event by a day. Black leaders had said it was offensive for Trump to choose June 19 and Tulsa for a campaign event, given the significance of Juneteenth and Tulsa being the place where, in 1921, a white mob looted and burned that city's Greenwood district, an economically thriving area referred to as Black Wall Street. As many as 300 Black Tulsans were killed, and thousands were temporarily held in internment camps overseen by the National Guard. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal days before the rally, Trump tried to put a positive spin on the situation by claiming that he had made Juneteenth "famous." He said he changed the rally date out of respect for two African American friends and supporters. "I did something good. I made it famous. I made Juneteenth very famous," Trump said. "It's actually an important event, it's an important time. But nobody had heard of it. Very few people have heard of it." Generations of Black Americans celebrated Juneteenth long before it became a federal holiday in 2021 with the stroke of President Joe Biden's pen. Later in 2020, Trump sought to woo Black voters with a series of campaign promises, including establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. He lost the election, and that made it possible for Biden, a Democrat, to sign the legislation establishing Juneteenth as the newest federal holiday. Shortly after being sworn in for his second term in January, Trump signed an executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government, calling them "illegal and immoral discrimination programs." Biden issued annual Juneteenth proclamations during his four years in office, and observed some of the holidays with large concerts on the South Lawn. Biden's final observance in 2024 featured performances by Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle. Vice President Kamala Harris danced onstage with gospel singer Kirk Franklin. Biden was spending this year's holiday in Galveston, Texas, where he was set to speak at a historic African Methodist Episcopal church.

Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Meet America's typical live-at-home 20-somethings
In 2023, around 40% of younger Americans lived with their parents. Living with mom and dad is a popular safety net for Gen Zers who face steep housing costs, expensive higher education, and a shaky job market. "If you have the luxury of being able to move back home and pay less for rent, groceries, and other basic bills and put some money away in an emergency fund or towards other big financial goals, it can be a really big deal," Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, told Business Insider. BI examined the demographics of America's live-at-home young adults — the 42% of 18- to 30-year-olds who lived with at least one parent — using the 2023 American Community Survey, available from the University of Minnesota's Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. So, who made up that 42%? The charts below show the young adults who were more likely to be living at home. A majority of young adults living with at least one parent were men Over half of young adults living with at least one parent were men, while just under half of young adults not living with a parent were men. There's also a cultural element to multigenerational living. Pew Research Center found Black, Hispanic, and Asian young adults in the US were more likely than white young adults to live with their parents. Young adults living with at least one parent were more likely not to be in school The share of young adults living with at least one parent in the household who were in school was about double that of those living on their own — 39% compared to 20%. They're less likely to have a college degree Fourteen percent of young adults with at least one parent in the household had a bachelor's degree as their highest educational attainment, compared to 27% of those without a parent. Single young adults were more likely to live with at least one parent More young adults without a parent in the household were married than those living with at least one parent. Nearly all young adults living with at least one parent were never married or single, at 96%. They're not stay-at-home kids; they're more likely to be working than not Almost two-thirds of young adults with at least one parent in the household were employed, compared to 82% of young adults without a parent in the household. The share of young adults living at home who were out of the labor force — that is, neither employed nor looking for work — was nearly double that of those living on their own. While many were employed, they weren't earning as much as those not living with a parent On average, employed young adults with at least one parent in the household weren't working as many hours or making as much money as their peers who didn't have a parent in the household. According to Pew Research Center researcher Richard Fry, who authored a recent report on where in the country younger Americans live with their parents, young people are more likely to live with their parents when jobs are hard to come by and wages are stagnant. Pew previously found the share of people living in multigenerational households surged during the Great Recession and continued rising afterward. Living at home can also mean being disconnected from work and school There are those who choose to live at home for family connection and financial convenience, and there are others who don't have a choice. So-called disconnected youth who aren't employed or in school made up about 11% of the 16 to 24 age group in 2022, per a 2024 report from the research firm Measure of America. This cohort was more likely than their peers to live in poverty, lack health insurance, and receive government aid. Minorities and young people of color have higher rates of disconnection. "These are creative young people who, for a whole host of reasons, haven't had the opportunities or the support they've needed to explore what they want to do and figure out how to transition to adulthood in a way that's exciting for them," said Megan Millenky, a senior research associate at MRDC who studies youth development.

Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Meet America's typical live-at-home 20-somethings
Your parents' basement might be looking pretty good these days. In 2023, around 40% of younger Americans lived with their parents. Living with mom and dad is a popular safety net for Gen Zers who face steep housing costs, expensive higher education, and a shaky job market. "If you have the luxury of being able to move back home and pay less for rent, groceries, and other basic bills and put some money away in an emergency fund or towards other big financial goals, it can be a really big deal," Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, told Business Insider. BI examined the demographics of America's live-at-home young adults — the 42% of 18- to 30-year-olds who lived with at least one parent — using the 2023 American Community Survey, available from the University of Minnesota's Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. So, who made up that 42%? The charts below show the young adults who were more likely to be living at home. A majority of young adults living with at least one parent were men Over half of young adults living with at least one parent were men, while just under half of young adults not living with a parent were men. There's also a cultural element to multigenerational living. Pew Research Center found Black, Hispanic, and Asian young adults in the US were more likely than white young adults to live with their parents. Young adults living with at least one parent were more likely not to be in school The share of young adults living with at least one parent in the household who were in school was about double that of those living on their own — 39% compared to 20%. They're less likely to have a college degree Fourteen percent of young adults with at least one parent in the household had a bachelor's degree as their highest educational attainment, compared to 27% of those without a parent. Single young adults were more likely to live with at least one parent More young adults without a parent in the household were married than those living with at least one parent. Nearly all young adults living with at least one parent were never married or single, at 96%. They're not stay-at-home kids; they're more likely to be working than not Almost two-thirds of young adults with at least one parent in the household were employed, compared to 82% of young adults without a parent in the household. The share of young adults living at home who were out of the labor force — that is, neither employed nor looking for work — was nearly double that of those living on their own. While many were employed, they weren't earning as much as those not living with a parent On average, employed young adults with at least one parent in the household weren't working as many hours or making as much money as their peers who didn't have a parent in the household. According to Pew Research Center researcher Richard Fry, who authored a recent report on where in the country younger Americans live with their parents, young people are more likely to live with their parents when jobs are hard to come by and wages are stagnant. Pew previously found the share of people living in multigenerational households surged during the Great Recession and continued rising afterward. Living at home can also mean being disconnected from work and school There are those who choose to live at home for family connection and financial convenience, and there are others who don't have a choice. So-called disconnected youth who aren't employed or in school made up about 11% of the 16 to 24 age group in 2022, per a 2024 report from the research firm Measure of America. This cohort was more likely than their peers to live in poverty, lack health insurance, and receive government aid. Minorities and young people of color have higher rates of disconnection. "These are creative young people who, for a whole host of reasons, haven't had the opportunities or the support they've needed to explore what they want to do and figure out how to transition to adulthood in a way that's exciting for them," said Megan Millenky, a senior research associate at MRDC who studies youth development. In an unsteady economy, it's unlikely that Gen Z and younger millennials' interest in living at home will fade anytime soon. And, as Millenky said, the group reflects "quite a spectrum" of America's socioeconomic ladder.