Thursday, April 3

Journalism

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Journalism

Mixed messages as US marks Martin Luther King Jr Day

On the 90th birth anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr, many used American icon's legacy to push political messages. January 15 marked what would have been King's 90th birthday [File: Jeff Kamen/Getty Images] For many Americans, Martin Luther King Jr Day is a time to reflect on his legacy and to hope for advances in racial equality yet to come. January 15 marked what would have been King's 90th birthday, which was nationally observed this year on Monday. For some, the celebration of King's birthday was a chance to reflect on his message of change onto other modern issues. On Sunday, the New York Times published an article by civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander that invoked King's name to criticise Israeli policies against Palestine. The comment piece,...
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What Right-Wing Whites Miss When They Talk About Secession

White Americans need immigrants and diversity. That’s not do-gooder talk. It’s math. President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, and the continuing shutdown of the federal government over it, is only the most recent symbol of the increasing schism in American public life. Despite extensive debate, there is no easy solution to reconcile the so-called red America–blue America divide. Certainly, facts don’t seem to matter to Trump’s supporters. The wall won’t stop immigration, an outstanding analysis by the Cato Institute’s David Bier shows. Nor will it affect distribution of the deadliest drugs (by far) identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration, opioid pharmaceuticals. (We might as well shut down all travel to the U.S. from the U.K. and Ireland, and build separ...
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Cyntoia Brown, sentenced to life at the age of 16, gets clemency

Brown, whose case drew national US attention, said she was a victim of child trafficking when she killed a man in 2004. Cyntoia Brown, enters her clemency hearing at Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville [File: Lacy Atkins/The Tennessean/AP Photo] Cyntoia Brown, who said she was a victim of child sex trafficking, was convicted of murder more than a decade ago and sentenced to life in prison. On Monday, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam granted the now 30-year-old clemency. Haslam, whose term ends in two weeks, said he would show mercy to Brown, whose case has attracted national attention, by releasing her on August 7. She will remain on parole for 10 years. Brown said in a statement that she will do everything to justify Haslam's faith in her and thanked he...
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The Surprising Links Between Family Dinner and Good Health

Adults who prepare quality meals for children are offering something more important than a nutrition lesson. When the 10 Garcia-Prats boys got together every night for dinner, they shared more than food around the table. They talked about the successes and frustrations of their days. The older boys helped the younger ones cut their meat. They compared their picks for the World Cup, a conversation that turned into an impromptu geography lesson. Their mother, Cathy, author of Good Families Don’t Just Happen: What We Learned from Raising Our Ten Sons and How It Can Work for You, strove to make the dinner table warm and welcoming, a place where her boys would want to linger. “Our philosophy is that dinnertime is not just a time to feed your body; it’s a time to feed your mind and ...
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Why Universal Basic Income Is Not the Solution We Think It Is
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Why Universal Basic Income Is Not the Solution We Think It Is

The racial wealth gap is real. But a guaranteed income is not going to fix it. Yes, I feel the current distribution of wealth is grotesquely unfair. Yes, I believe that those who cannot or will not work should not be allowed to starve. Yes, I would be against plans to eliminate or cut the existing welfare system as long as it is needed. Yes, I believe that we should build a community in which everyone’s needs are met. Yet I oppose a universal guaranteed basic income. My objections have surprised many people, but they are consistent with what I think is the solution to our economic justice problem. I favor deep democracy replacing the rule of capital in our lives. This would require reparations and the reconstruction of the commons to include the Earth and the financial r...
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From IVF to Miscarriages: 5 Ways We Can Talk About Infertility

By opening up about her struggles with pregnancy, former First Lady Michelle Obama launches a public conversation about something many women suffer in private. After two miscarriages at age 41, Amy Klein decided to visit a fertility clinic. It took her five clinics and four years to finally carry a pregnancy to term. And recognizing a void in conversations around fertility and information about it, she began to chronicle her experiences. She wrote about it in a regular New York Times column, addressing her private concerns in a public way. She became the person people went to for online advice about infertility and in vitro fertilization. But Klein found that the more she wrote and talked about it, the more obvious the need for guidance and support appeared. The reality i...
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Black-Owned Banks Keep Community Money Where It Belongs

A national network of financial cooperatives is helping marginalized groups keep their money out of an extractive banking system. Me’Lea Connelly is from the Bay Area of California, but she has deep roots in Minnesota. Her mother’s family was one of the first to migrate to the state after slavery ended. When she was 15, her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother to Minneapolis. “I’ve always just felt more at home here,” Connelly said. “All my ancestors are just calling me home.” But that home, in Minneapolis’ Northside, has a severe shortage of shopping centers, grocery stores, and banks. In 2017, Minnesota was named the second-most unequal state for Black people in a study of Black and White inequality by 24/7 Wall St., a financial news and opinion website. Despite the ...
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Dear White Women, Try On Our Struggle Instead of Our Looks

Last week, the story of a young Swedish woman in “Brown skin” went viral. Emma Hallberg, an Instagram model, says she identifies as White and never claimed to be anything other than, so no we don’t have another Rachel Dolezal here. But Black and Brown women took to social media with their disapproval. Some called it “blackface” and “cultural appropriation.” Turns out the young Swede is not the only White woman “blackfishing.” That is overly tanning themselves or literally spray-painting their bodies darker, in some cases wearing traditionally Black hairstyles and appearing to have augmented their bodies (lips, butt) to resemble that of Black and Brown women, and posting their photos on Instagram. Although I understood the upset and offense felt by many, I initially didn’t find the is...
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When Scotland hosted an abolitionist after profiting from slavery

Little known stories behind Frederick Douglass' speaking tour in Scotland, a country is now dealing with its dark past. Glasgow, Scotland - When abolitionist Frederick Douglass arrived in Scotland on a speaking tour in 1846 from the United States, 13 years had passed since Britain enacted the Slavery Abolition Act. Colonial slaves had gradually been freed and Britain's slaveowners were financially compensated for their loss of "property". Douglass's 19-month visit to Britain and Ireland began in 1845; seven years earlier he had fled slavery himself from the US' slave-owning South for the free North. "One of the things about his travels in Scotland was his Scottish surname," said Alasdair Pettinger, author of the forthcoming book, Frederick Douglass and Scotland, 1846: Living an Antislaver...
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Indoor Plumbing Arrived in the U.S. in the 1840s. This Town Got Tired of Waiting

In 1992, after years of advocating for modern infrastructure, Black residents of rural Exmore, Virginia, took matters into their own hands. For a little over 10 years, Zenobia Washington owned a home with a bathroom and hot and cold running water. Before that, she lived in a rental home. And growing up, Washington, who was raised in Exmore, Virginia, lived in a home with no bathroom and only cold water. Washington said her family heated up water on the stove. The Washingtons lived in New Road, a historically Black section of Exmore that was often ignored by city officials. But Washington was part of a dedicated group of community members who took matters into their own hands and improved what were long accepted conditions. She was enthusiastic about continuing that work, b...
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