Why I Went on Jeopardy

[Stellar]

This week I am a contestant on Jeopardy! Admittedly, it is not quite the real Jeopardy!—with its brutally difficult and obscure answers. This is 2016 Power Players week, in which a somewhat more approachable version of the beloved game is played by a motley crew of elected officials, journalists, political pundits, and brainy celebs.

You can catch me tomorrow, when I'll be playing to support Girls for Gender Equity (GGE), a Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization committed to the physical, psychological, social, and economic development of girls and women.

I first met Joanne Smith, GGE's founder and executive director, when we served together on a panel commemorating the impactful testimony of professor Anita Hill. During that event, I heard Joanne discuss the powerful vision she was pursuing along with her small staff at GGE. Their work amplifies the voices of girls of color in New York public schools, ensures accountability in those schools, and allows young women to be authors of their own futures.

But my Jeopardy! appearance is not the biggest thing happening at GGE this week. Girls for Gender Equity was instrumental in helping the City Council of New York establish a working group focused on young women's issues. That group, called the Young Women's Initiative, released a major new report this week. The report is premised on a simple but revolutionary idea: produce an agenda addressing the lives and needs of young women and girls in New York City. It includes more than 100 recommendations across five issue areas: health, economic and workforce development, community support and opportunity, education, and anti-violence and criminal justice. It is truly groundbreaking because it relies on young women to identify their own challenges and the solutions to those challenges. In a press release, New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called YWI "the first coalition in the United States to tackle the systemic gender-based inequality."

MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY: elle.com

[The Polack MSgt]

1. Not the return to TV I was hoping for...

But Good Luck - Making some cash for a worthy cause is always a good thing.

[Ilsa]

2. I missed last night's show. I hope she's on tonight. nt

[lark]

4. She is on tonight.

Last night it was Senator Al Franken who tore it up and won the game by a landslide. Go Al!!

I expect the same from MHP and can't wait to watch.

[bluedigger]

3. I saw where Louis CK beat a couple of journalists.

[LisaM]

5. He skunked them. n/t

[niyad]

6. hope I can catch this episode, then.

[jg10003]

7. power players week is a joke for true jeopardy fans

It's sad to see "brainy celebs" unable to answer questions that are embarrassingly easy.

[SusanCalvin]

8. I bet MHP could. nt

[MADem]

9. Power Players Jeopardy is more like Puff Piece Jeopardy.

I can't believe a) How easy the questions are, and b) How many "newsmakers" and "news PRESENTERS" missed the answers!

I mean, really--if you are reading the damn news every day, you'd think you might be able to remember some of those details! LOL!

It was nice to see MHP again, but she needs to find a home on the telly, somewhere. She always delivered a great program.