“Everything was taken away”
THE BIG STORY
"My human rights are being violated": Fighting a family conservatorship  (Victoria Will for BuzzFeed News) As a thirtysomething Californian who's spent years trying to break from her father's control over her life, Marie Bergum had always identified with Britney Spears.
Marie has an intellectual disability, and she says she needs help with certain things in her life, like budgeting and making medical decisions. But her father — and legal guardian — felt otherwise. According to him, Marie was unrealistic about her abilities, and if he gave her the freedom she wanted — to take care of herself, to live by herself, to have sexual relationships — people would take advantage of her.
"Everything was taken away," Marie told BuzzFeed News. "A little bit every year."
The #FreeBritney movement has drawn international attention to the conservatorship of Britney Spears. But though her celebrity is exceptional, her predicament is far from unique. Although it's meant to be used only as a last resort, many children with disabilities get placed in guardianships as soon as they turn 18, often because their parents are told it's the only way to ensure good care. Once granted, a guardianship can be hard to dissolve, even if parents wish to do so.
"Think about what you were like as a teenager," said Zoe Brennan-Krohn, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union's disability rights program who worked on Marie's case. "What if a judge assessed who you were and said you'd never be able to grow or change, or accomplish anything more?"
Marie vowed to fight back. "I don't care how long it takes," she said. "I'm going to keep doing it, fighting the conservatorship."
STAYING ON TOP OF THIS
Photos from the Texas border show thousands of Haitians facing dire conditions at a makeshift camp This weekend, the remote southern Texas town of Del Rio saw an influx of immigrants, many originally from Haiti, resulting in around 13,000 people living in a makeshift camp under an international bridge. But on Sunday, US Customs and Border Protection officials stopped allowing people back into Texas, even if they had only temporarily crossed the river to retrieve food and supplies from Mexico.
 Haitian immigrants cross the Rio Grande from Del Rio, Texas, to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, on Sept. 20. (John Moore/Getty Images)
 Immigrants take shelter along the Del Rio International Bridge at sunset as they wait to be processed after crossing the Rio Grande into Texas from Ciudad Acuña, Sept. 19. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)
 A US Border Patrol agent on horseback tries to stop a Haitian immigrant from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas, on Sept. 19. (Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images)
 Immigrants cross the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into the United States on Sept. 19. (Allison Dinner) SNAPSHOTS
Back off, Grandma, I'm working remotely from my Portal. Facebook's newest version of its video-calling device is portable, battery-powered, and ready for your at-home office.
Prosecutors lost a fight to keep a set of Jan. 6 Capitol surveillance videos under seal. The disclosure marks a setback for the US Capitol Police and the US attorney's office in their efforts to control how much footage from the Capitol's closed circuit video system gets out.
VACCINE "EQUITY"
A Texas doctor fired for giving leftover COVID vaccines to "Indian sounding" patients is suing the county Physician Hasan Gokal was fired from Harris County Public Health (HCPH) in January after being accused of stealing COVID-19 vaccines. Now, he's suing HCPH for more than $1 million in damages, alleging that the agency discriminated against him on the basis of his South Asian race and Pakistani national origin.
On Dec. 29, Gokal had six hours to administer leftover 10 doses of the Moderna vaccine before they expired. After informing his superior that he was going to find people to vaccinate, Gokal lined up 10 people in his community who were at risk due to underlying health conditions. The recipients all happened to be South Asian because he lived in a predominantly South Asian community, Gokal said.
On Jan. 7, HCPH officials fired Gokal after accusing him of stealing the vaccine and of not distributing it "equitably."
Although legal charges against him have all been dismissed, Gokal's lawsuit states that it's been difficult for him to get another job after HCPH's "misinformation campaign" turned potential employers away.
"Imagine if I was a white doctor and I went out and gave [the vaccine] to 10 white people. Do you think I would have had someone question that 'you didn't do it equitably because there were too many white people in your group?'" Gokal told BuzzFeed News. "I just can't imagine that." PICTURE PERFECT
The most interesting movies we saw at the Toronto International Film Festival Petit Maman  1996-98 Accusoft Inc., All Right A sweet, slow-moving depiction of intergenerational connection and love, Petite Maman centers on Nelly, an 8-year-old girl (Joséphine Sanz), and her mom Marion (Nina Meurisse). After her grandmother dies, Nelly starts to feel untethered, searching for an anchor now that her family has lost theirs. As her parents pack up Marion's childhood home, Nelly takes solace in the woods behind the house and, as the title suggests, discovers her own mother, age 8. Directed by Portrait of a Lady on Fire's Céline Sciamma, Petite Maman is a beguiling adventure in fantasy, discovery, and empathy. The Humans  1996-98 Accusoft Inc., All Right It's tempting to describe The Humans as the story of a dysfunctional family, but it's far more nuanced than that. Instead, it's a film about navigating what we withhold or divulge in order to keep our families functional. Based on the eponymous Tony-winning and Pulitzer-nominated play, The Humans gracefully captures the burdens of love and reconciliation. Flee  1996-98 Accusoft Inc., All Right In this celebrated animated documentary, Amin Nawabi shares his remarkable, death-defying journey out of Afghanistan as a child refugee, a story he's been keeping secret for 20 years. Amin opens up to director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, his former high school classmate and longtime friend, about his need to live as openly and honestly as he could, even in the face of mounting danger. The result is a tender, at times cruel study of what it takes to live freely.
These are just a few of the upcoming movies we're most excited about. Get the full list here for some more film fun. What's the best lesson you've ever learned from a movie? Mine is to live life a quarter mile at a time, Alexa 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Alexa Lee and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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