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In the morning of July 8, workers at a Waffle House in Columbia, South Carolina walked out of the popular breakfast stop and picked up signs to protest their working conditions. The strike is set to last for three days, as employees protest a variety of issues regarding their safety and wages they feel management undermines.
The walkout is supported by the locally-founded Union of Southern Service Workers, created to uplift low wage workers across the food and service industries. They are urging for more frequent on-sight security, regulated scheduling, and the suspension of mandatory check deductions for meals eaten, or not eaten, during shifts.
Longstanding employee Marshawna Parker, who has worked for the breakfast chain for over the past two decades, told The State that there is “no excuse” for there not to be more security at the restaurant. Parker believes that the security should be on sight 24/7, the same as the restaurant’s almost nationwide operating hours.
Waffle Houses across the southern region have been marred with fights and shootings as well, so much that the New York Times covered the rising problem.
As for the meal deductions, a fee ranging from $3 to $6 is taken out of employee’s paychecks for a meal during their shift, whether or not they eat it. Employees state that they are often too busy to actually utilize the meal option, and would prefer for it to be opt-in only.
The strike comes after a petition was sent to management regarding these concerns, but they only heard back silence. Due to this negligence, the workers swiftly organized a strike to hopefully get resolutions on the issues.
Those on the picket line have been uplifted by fellow USSW members in South Carolina, including those for other Waffle Houses, as they all seek to enact change for better wages and safer work environments.
Aaron Mark’s (Random Unrelated Projects) dark, Sweeney Todd-inspired tale of a serial killing masseuse began in 2015, on the off-Broadway stage with the one-woman play Empanada Loca, starring Daphne Rubin-Vega (In the Heights). Three years later, the writer-creator-director turned it into a Spotify podcast called The Horror of Dolores Roach. Now in its third iteration, Mark and co-showrunner Dara Resnik (Home Before Dark) adapted the story into an eight-episode TV series for Prime Video and Blumhouse.
Dolores Roach (Justina Machado) has been through it. We meet her in 2019 as she’s leaving New York State, having served her 16-year prison sentence for possession with intent and assaulting an officer. Upon release, she takes the unpleasant journey back to her old neighborhood of Washington Heights. However, everything changed while she was away. New establishments line the streets, sidewalks are overrun with hipsters and rich moms, and drug dealers handle not-so-subtle transactions out in the open.
When she goes to her old apartment hoping to see her former boyfriend, Dominic, she finds a young couple occupying it. This overwhelming realization that she doesn’t have a home or anything familiar is just one of many anxiety-inducing sequences. There’s also the maddening fact that she spent almost two decades of her life in prison for marijuana, a drug so common that it’s nearly legal now. (Weed was illegal in New York until 2021.)
Wading through a sea of gentrifiers, Dolores recognizes Empanada Loca, where she finds the new owner Luis Batista (Alejandro Hernandez), a former customer and neighborhood friend who still harbors a mad crush on her. The two catch up over empanadas and weed, and he offers to let her crash in his apartment under the shop. When he finds out that she learned how to give excellent massages in prison, earning the nickname “Magic Hands,” Luis encourages her to put this acquired skill to good use and start her own business as an unlicensed masseuse. And despite only advertising her services on the back of a menu and operating out of a bedroom below an empanada shop, the customers start rolling in.
One of Dolores’ first clients is Luis’ disgruntled landlord Gideon Pearlman (Marc Maron), an older white man who’s the type to be so casually racist that it sets him off when he’s accused of being racist. As seen in the clip released by Prime Video, Pearlman rambles on about the burdens of his job, how he’s from a working-class family and therefore down with the struggle, and how generous he’s being about Luis’ late rent. Dolores tries to keep her cool because he has the power (and intent) to evict them. But he seals his fate when he feels her up.
Dolores’ post-murder mindset goes on a rollercoaster ride of emotions — relieved, exhausted, horrified, and kind of elated. However, she’s quick to accept her actions, immediately going into survival mode, and planning her next move. But her impromptu kill unknowingly helps the shop by providing Luis with Empanada Loca’s new ingredient.
The Horror of Dolores Roach could be a hilarious Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt-type sitcom: an ex-con down on her luck trying to adapt to a new reality while she’s surrounded by eccentric New Yorkers. The tone has the coziness of a fun comedy with its collection of supporting characters. Nellie (Kita Updike, reprising her role from the podcast) is Luis’ one and only employee, often on her phone because business is slow. Then there’s the odd but good-natured delivery guy Jeremiah (K. Todd Freeman) and Caleb (Jeffrey Self), a somewhat stereotypical millennial with privilege and a podcast. We don’t meet Ruthie (Cyndi Lauper) until later but when we do, it’s hard not to love the heavily New York-accented private investigator.
With its blend of dark comedy, drama, and horror, The Horror of Dolores Roach masters the unexpected. An intense moment becomes comical, often turning into something disturbing or heartbreaking. Dolores’ bursts of violence and Luis’ cannibalistic disposal method result in some surprising gore. Hernandez accurately described the series as, “half body horror, half stoner comedy,” with his character taking on the role of weed connoisseur. Naturally, his frustratingly relaxed “everything’s chill, mami” attitude clashes with Dolores’ perfectly valid “I’m going back to jail” anxieties.
Close-up shots and sounds of bloody raw meat, sizzling empanadas, and hands kneading skin create a chilling atmosphere, an impressive accomplishment with the bright and lively Washington Heights. Siddhartha Khosla and Garrett Gonzales, both of whom worked on Only Murders in the Building, enhance and expand on that feeling by alternating somber Sweeney Todd-esque piano, suspense-building violin, and upbeat Latin music. The transition from an orchestral horror score to Daddy Yanky is a trip but an enjoyable one.
The Horror of Dolores Roach is a fascinating exploration of redemption, survival, systemic racism, and gentrification, with some murder, cannibalism, and power dynamics thrown into the mix. This exciting entry into the “good for her” horror sub-genre gives Only Murders in the Building meets Orange Is the New Black, along with its inspiration from Sweeney Todd. The series boasts a culturally diverse cast of talented actors led by Justina Machado and Alejandro Hernandez and their Emmy-worthy performances. The laughs and gasps are so addictive you’ll likely watch all eight episodes in one sitting.
The Horror of Dolores Roach premieres July 7, 2023, on Prime Video.
The dating advice Steve Harvey gave Keke Palmer about “trying to give a boy your lifestyle” has resurfaced amid the backlash her baby daddy is receiving for publicly criticizing her.
Keke’s boyfriend Darius Jackson has been trending on social media after he took to Twitter to criticize Palmer’s recent appearance at Usher’s Las Vegas residency where she was serenaded by the singer while wearing a revealing dress.
Usher serenades Keke Palmer
pic.twitter.com/xbMFlXu7FF
— RNB RADAR (@RNB_RADAR) July 5, 2023
Jackson has been under fire after sharing a tweet expressing his distaste for Palmer’s outfit since “you a mom.”
Keke Palmer’s boyfriend shames her for the outfit she wore to Usher concert:
“It's the outfit tho.. you a mom.” pic.twitter.com/ossVtYdfp1
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 5, 2023
Jackson doubled down on his stance in a follow-up tweet explaining why he doesn’t want the mother of his child showing “booty cheeks to please others.”
Keke Palmer shares photos of herself at the Usher concert after her boyfriend publicly shamed her for her outfit choice. pic.twitter.com/itlNaeJmkz
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) July 6, 2023
Palmer’s boyfriend, whom she welcomed her son Leodis Jackson with in February, hasn’t caught a break on social media among the many who are defending Palmer’s behavior, outfit, and response to her appearance at Usher’s residency.
Amid the backlash, social media has resurfaced the “Nope” star’s 2019 guest appearance on Steve Harvey’s former talk show, where the “Family Feud” host explained why he’s always trying to set Palmer up with “a billionaire.”
“Uncle Steve ain’t trying to get you with no billionaire. He’s trying to get you with somebody that has a plan to have something,” Harvey said.
“You need somebody with something,” he continued. “Quit trying to give a boy your lifestyle and he ain’t earned it.”
the whole debacle with the Usher, Keke Palmer & her jealous boyfriend/baby daddy reminds me of her when she flat put chuckled past Steve Harvey's attempts to get her with a worthwhile guy.
Now her lower earning bf is trying to control her like she claimed a wealthy man would. pic.twitter.com/NLYL3PlJ3P
— BijouxFleur (@BijouxFleurette) July 6, 2023
Palmer attempted to defend why she might choose to date someone with less money and even noted that she herself is no billionaire. However, Harvey told Palmer that she should pick a man who aspires to be one.
Now, amid the backlash Palmer’s boyfriend is receiving, many are accusing Jackson of being just the man Steve Harvey was trying to get Keke to avoid.
“I hate to agree with Steve Harvey of all people, but..” one user wrote.
“What you cannot hear, you must feel,” added someone else.
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