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Megan Rapinoe: 'Lending Your Platform to Others Is Cool'


So while I’m enjoying all of this unprecedented—and, frankly, a little bit uncomfortable—attention and personal success, in large part due to my activism off the field, Colin Kaepernick is still effectively banned from the NFL, for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of known and systematic police brutality against people of color, known and systematic racial injustice, and known and systematic white supremacy. I see no clearer example of that system being alive and well than me standing before you right now. It would be a slap in the face to Colin, and to so many other faces not to acknowledge, and for me personally, to work relentlessly to dismantle that system that benefits some over the detriment of others, and frankly is quite literally tearing us apart in this country.

While we all have injustices we are facing—for me personally, a very public fight with our [US Soccer] Federation over why we don’t deserve to be paid equally; some people even say we do our job better. I don’t know! It’s crazy!—I still know in my heart of hearts and my bones that I can do more. And that we can do more. And I know that because we just have to. We must. It’s imperative that we. do more.

My mom, who’s here today, looking stunning, by the way—shout-out to mom—impressed upon me and my twin sister at a very young age, ‘You ain’t shit cause your good at sports. You ain’t shit cause you’re popular. You’re gonna be a good person. You’re gonna be kind. And you’re gonna do the right thing. You’re gonna stand up for yourself, always. You’re gonna stand up for each other, always. And you’re damn sure ‘gonna stand up for other people. Always.

She taught us that in kindness and in caring and in giving a shit and sharing—that’s abundance. That’s the kind of culture we want to live in. I feel like we live in this scarcity type culture; one of my best friends always says that. That’s not the world I wanna live in. I think we can move on from losing alone to the belief in winning together.

With that abundance in mind, I want to re-imagine what it means to be successful, what it means to have influence, what it means to have power, and what that all looks like.

I’ve gained this incredible platform in such a short period of time, but I’m not gonna stand on it alone. I refuse to do that. There’s gonna be ladders on every side, all over the place. And I’m not gonna act like it wasn’t Colin Kaepernick, Tarana Burke and the #MeToo Movement, Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi of Black Lives Matter, the women of Time’s Up, Harvey Milk, Gloria Steinem Audre ‪Lorde, Travon Martin, Sandra Bland, and the injustices that so many others face that have put me in this very position. And I’m not gonna act like my whiteness has nothing to do with me standing before you now. I don’t want to live in that kind of world. I don’t think that kind of world is the world that suits everybody and is gonna move us forward in the direction that we need to go.

We’ve gotta switch the game up.

Caring is cool.

Lending your platform to others is cool.

Sharing your knowledge and your success and your influence and you power, is cool.

Giving all the fucks is cool. Doing more is cool.

I don’t need to say that to all the other women who are being honored tonight. Everyone is doing that. But to everyone else in this room, we have such an incredible opportunity to redefine what power and influence and success looks like. From the looks of it, this looks like a room full of powerful and influential and successful people. So share that platform. Throw your ladders down. It’s our time. We’re ready for this. And it needs to happen. This is such a pivotal movement for us. There’s so much momentum, but we have to move forward and we have to be better. So everybody: We have to do more. We’re here. We’re ready. Everyone’s ready to do more? Good!

Thank you so much for this amazing award. Thank you, everyone.

Find out more about Glamour‘s 2019 Women of the Year here.



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Megan Rapinoe Says Trump's Comments "Unified The Team"


Co-captain of the U.S. Women’s soccer team Megan Rapinoe blazed into the spotlight helping her teammates cinch their fourth and second consecutive World Cup victory this summer but she’s also making an impact off the field, gaining attention for speaking out about politics and gender disparities and helping to lead the team’s equal pay lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. She’s also at the center of President Trump’s latest Twitter feud.

Rapinoe became the target of Donald Trump’s tweets after video emerged of her saying that she was “not going to the fucking White House” as would be customary if the team won the World Cup. In response, Trump tweeted that she should “WIN first before she TALKS!”

“One of our media people sent me a text … [and] I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve done something. I’ve done something bad,’” Rapinoe told Kara Swisher on the Recode Decode podcast last week. “I went on Twitter and looked at it and I was like, ‘This is crazy. I mean, what is going on? This is so insane.’ And we’re like, ‘We’re going to win. So this is not going to age well.’ And I was also like, ‘You know what? This is so rude.'”

Trump’s comments were also baffling considering his “America first” attitude. “It’s the World Cup. It’s America. You love America. Like, ‘Go USA,'” Rapinoe said. “This is the biggest thing and you’re heaping down this bold beep on all of us. This is ridiculous.” The tweets only helped to unite the team. “I felt like it actually sort of unified the team. Everyone was like, ‘You’re a G, Rapinoe!’ Like, ‘Get him!’ From the back of the bus,” she said, doubling down on her refusal to visit the White House, joking that the only way she’d be stopping by is if she were being inaugurated.

During the interview, Rapinoe also opened up about the heat that both she and her teammates have received from critics who feel that they are too “arrogant” or “cocky.” (Rapinoe previously defended her teammate Alex Morgan, who faced backlash for making a tea-sipping gesture after scoring against England in a semifinal match in the tournament.) These women deserve to enjoy their success, she told Swisher, recounting a conversation with teammate Ashlyn Harris. “We were just like, ‘You know what? We deserve this. We deserve everything. We deserve this parade, we deserve all the champagne that people are giving us. We deserve all this shine. We’ve worked very hard for it.’ A little bit in jest of course,” she said. “To be that outspoken voice in the country right now, we’re not just thankful to be there, I’ve worked very hard to get there and feel like, ‘Yeah, I deserve it.'”



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Megan Rapinoe Had an Epic Response to Alex Morgan’s Tea-Sipping Moment


Like the champion she is, U.S. soccer player Megan Rapinoe defended her teammate Alex Morgan from critics who have taken issue with the tea-sipping gesture Morgan made during a semifinal match in the FIFA Women’s World Cup this week. In an interview Rapinoe praised Morgan and then clapped back at haters so perfectly that the whole thing was, well, goals.

To recap, Morgan celebrated her 30th birthday by scoring one of two goals that brought the U.S. Women’s National Team to victory over England on Tuesday. Her reaction? She pretended she was sipping a cup of tea and lifted her pinkie high in the air, a perfectly cheeky version of a fist-pump, tailor-made for the rival team.

While most people thought the move was, as the English would say, bloody brilliant, not everyone was thrilled. Lots of social media users (particularly those in the U.K.) called Morgan out for being too cocky—a constant criticism during their historic World Cup run. As the USWNT racks up wins on their way to the final on Sunday, trolls have argued that their on-the-field celebrations have been distasteful.

Rapinoe, however, had some thoughts when asked about the meme-making moment after the game. “That was next-level. That was pretty sharp by Alex,” she said, joking that next time she’d have to do something bigger so Morgan wouldn’t upstage her. An interviewer than asked what Rapinoe thought of the backlash Morgan’s faced, and the athlete quickly made it clear that the U.S. Women’s National Team has nothing but love for their opponents.

“Wah, wah, wah,” she said. “I mean, it’s like, we’re at the World Cup, what do you want us to do? This is the biggest stage, the biggest moment. I don’t think anyone truly believes that we disrespect the game or disrespect our opponents. We have the utmost for England and every team that we’ve faced and every team that we will face, forever and ever. That’s just part of the DNA of the squad. With that said, we work hard, we like to play hard, and we like to have fun and enjoy ourselves, and these are the absolute biggest moments to do that.”

Rapinoe has been frank and articulate when it comes to matters off the field too. The LGBTQ-rights activist recently made headlines for saying that she won’t go to the White House if the team is invited by President Trump, and she’s been one of the leaders in a gender-discrimination lawsuit her team leveled against the U.S. Soccer Federation. She’s a GOAT in every way.



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Megan Rapinoe Won’t Visit the White House if the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Wins the World Cup


UPDATE:

On Friday evening (June 29), following the U.S. Women’s soccer team’s victory over France in the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinals, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez invited U.S. co-captain Megan Rapinoe and her fellow teammates to the House of Representatives for a tour. “It may not be the White House, but we’d be happy to welcome @mPinoe & the entire #USWMNT for a tour of the House of Representatives anytime they’d like. ??,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

And it looks like the team is down: “Consider it done @AOC,” Rapinoe responded, adding a celebratory emoji.

Original Story

The U.S. Women’s soccer team is currently battling it out in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The team just made it to the quarterfinals, but their success in the tournament wasn’t what made headlines on Wednesday (June 26); instead a social media frenzy exploded around co-captain Megan Rapinoe’s recent comments.

When asked whether she was excited to go to the White House (if the team does indeed take the tournament) by a reporter from the outlet Eight by Eight, she responded, “I’m not going to the fucking White House.” She then added, “We’re not gonna be invited…. I doubt it.”

For context, Rapinoe’s reaction is in keeping with her past political statements. She’s been an outspoken critic of President Trump and was one of the first white players to join Colin Kaepernick and other footballers in taking a knee during the national anthem back in 2016. Rapinoe is also part of her team’s discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer.

Later on Wednesday morning, Trump responded to Rapinoe’s comments in a series of three tweets. “Women’s soccer player, @mPinoe, just stated that she is ‘not going to the F…ing White House if we win.’ Other than the NBA, which now refuses to call owners, owners (please explain that I just got Criminal Justice Reform passed, Black unemployment is at the lowest level…in our Country’s history, and the poverty index is also best number EVER), leagues and teams love coming to the White House. I am a big fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer, but Megan should WIN first before she TALKS! Finish the job! We haven’t yet….invited Megan or the team, but I am now inviting the TEAM, win or lose. Megan should never disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her & the team. Be proud of the Flag that you wear. The USA is doing GREAT!”

While Rapinoe has yet to speak out about Trump’s tweets, many others have taken to social media about his remarks. Adam Serwer, a staff writer at The Atlantic, wrote, “Trump is now going after Megan Rapinoe because the ‘f**k your feelings’ president flips out when members of groups targeted by his policies criticize him rather than knowing their place. I might add that for all the thoroughly insincere ‘free speech’ rhetoric from his supporters, Trump most frequently deploys his authority as head of state to chill criticism of himself. Like it’s not even close.”

Journalist Jemele Hill also came out in support of Rapinoe. “So as I’ve said previously about @mPinoe: Given this administration’s attitude toward the LGBTQ community (which they’ve enacted into policy), how do people not understand why she is upset,” Hill tweeted.

But some applauded Trump for inviting the team to the White House in the midst of his tweets. “Megan Rapinoe insults the president and the president still invites the US Women’s Soccer team to the White House win or lose after the World Cup. This is a big win for Trump. He makes Rapinoe look small here,” wrote Fox Sports Radio host Clay Travis.

Rapinoe isn’t the first athlete to decline an invitation to visit Trump’s White House. Last year, after the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title, the team opted out of meeting with the president.





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