Journalism – Page 43

19Feb

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Journalism

By Reconnecting With Soil, We Heal the Planet and Ourselves

Enslavement and sharecropping cannot erase thousands of years of Black people’s sacred relationship with the land. Dijour Carter refused to get out of the van parked in the gravel driveway at Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York. The other teens in his program emerged skeptical, but Dijour lingered in the van with his hood up, headphones on, eyes averted. There was no way he was going to get mud on his new Jordans and no way he would soil his hands with the dirty work of farming. I didn’t blame him. Almost without exception, when I ask Black visitors to the farm what they first think of when they see the soil, they respond “slavery” or “plantation.” Our families fled the red clays of Georgia for good reason—the memories of chattel slavery, sharecropping, convict leasing, a...

7Feb

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Journalism

Black Lives Matter Is Making Single Moms Homeowners

In Louisville, the group is purchasing vacant homes for low-income families to promote stability in the community and fight gentrification. In May, Tiffany Brown and her children will move into a new home in the historic Black neighborhood of West Louisville, Kentucky. A single mother of three, Brown has spent most of her adult life in public housing. Her first shot at homeownership comes courtesy of a new project by the Louisville chapter of Black Lives Matter to help provide permanent housing to transient families and low-income single-mother households like hers. She had recently relocated to Section 8 housing because of involuntary displacement in her previous location, the result of ongoing practices of segregation and unequal access to housing based on race. The B...

22Jan

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Journalism

Women’s March 2019: Thousands across the US march for third year

Women and supporters across the US march against Trump amid government shutdown and controversy within the movement. Sherry Cain, a 78-year-old Kentucky native, said she's lived a long time and has seen a lot of change in the world, "but never anything like this in our country". That's why she brought her family to Washington, DC on Saturday for the third annual Women's March. "I am just so fearful for their future if continue on this road," she told Al Jazeera, pointing to the government shutdown, US President Donald Trump's immigration policies and what she called the "abdication of Congress of their duties". "We have to do something," she said. Four generations of the Cain family - Sherry, her daughter, granddaughter and great grandson - joined thousands of women and their supporters ...

22Jan

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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,...

11Jan

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Journalism

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...

8Jan

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Journalism

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...

3Jan

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Journalism

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 ...

Why Universal Basic Income Is Not the Solution We Think It Is

13Dec

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Journalism

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...

6Dec

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Journalism

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...

4Dec

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Journalism

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 ...