Journalism – Page 44

27Nov

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Journalism

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...

27Nov

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Journalism

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...

20Nov

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Journalism

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...

4Apr

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Journalism

When A Parrot Is Held Hostage Or Cats Go MIA, This Pet Detective Is On The Case

More than 20 years ago, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” descended on movie theaters, with Jim Carrey portraying the cartoonish, wisecracking south Florida private investigator specializing in finding missing animals. A couple of Thursdays ago, Jamie Katz, a decidedly serious-minded south Florida private investigator specializing in finding missing animals, sat in her apartment fielding a steady stream of client calls, texts and Facebook messages after having just closed the case of an AWOL parrot. The African grey parrot, Oscar Gray, had turned up in the hands of a woman who ostensibly runs a bird rescue and wouldn’t release Oscar to his owner. Six days after Oscar flew the coop, the owner, at wit’s end, heeded the advice of a parrot lost-and-found registry and turned to Katz. “I had gott...

15Nov

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Journalism

Outdoor Recreation Isn’t Just for Privileged White Folks Anymore

These organizations help kids of all economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds benefit from adventures in nature. When former professional skier Chris Rutgers founded Outdoor Outreach in 1999, he was simply paying forward what he credits for helping him reconcile his own childhood trauma: experiencing the outdoors with a community of peers. The San Diego-based nonprofit, which is funded through charitable donations and grants, has served more than 10,000 mostly poor and non-White youth for nearly 20 years. Exploring the great outdoors is often associated with Whiteness and economic privilege. But Outdoor Outreach and other youth development programs are shifting the narrative. These organizations aim to make the outdoors—and by extension, the mental, physical, and social be...

15Nov

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Journalism

Why Co-ops and Community Farms Can’t Close the Racial Wealth Gap

Circulating local dollars can’t create wealth when there’s not enough to begin with. Residents of one Detroit historic neighborhood have been looking forward to next year’s opening of a food co-op. It will help bring to market produce from a community farm and is part of a larger community development project that will include a health food cafe, an incubator kitchen for food entrepreneurs, and space for events. The project expects to employ 20 people from the mostly low- to moderate-income area. Twenty jobs may not seem like a lot when unemployment in the approximately 80 percent Black city is 8.7 percent, twice that of state and national rates. But this is what economic progress generally looks like in many Black communities: cooperative ventures such as grocery stores and ...

Startup Sells Luxury Doomsday Kits to Help the Rich Survive Disasters in Style

4Apr

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Journalism

Startup Sells Luxury Doomsday Kits to Help the Rich Survive Disasters in Style

If run of the mill disaster survival kits just don’t cut it and you can afford to splurge a few extra bucks on something more befitting your social status, try Preppi, a luxury doomsday kit supplier for the super rich. Film director Ryan Kuhlman founded Preppi in partnership with costume designer Lauren Tafuri, and they run the business out of their downtown Los Angeles loft. The couple experienced a small earthquake in 2014 and realized that they should have supplies on hand for such emergencies. Today, their Prepster disaster kits are the most popular luxury survival accessories on the market. “We started asking friends what they had in their earthquake kits and were quickly surprised how few of our friends had anything prepared at all. Of 10 friends, maybe one had an earthquake kit,...

8Nov

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Journalism

Diversity in News Reporting Starts Here

Black and White journalism students step outside their own experience to navigate the intersections of race, class, gender, and disability. As part of a collaborative social justice reporting project three years ago, a group of journalism students set out for Selma, Alabama, to cover sociopolitical issues there, 50 years after Bloody Sunday, a pinnacle in the civil rights movement. The 12 students, six from Morgan State University, a Historically Black College and University in Baltimore, and six from West Virginia University, a predominantly White institution in rural Morgantown, were partnered across schools as workmates and roommates. They participated in an experimental classroom known as Story Bridge, launched in 2015 to help future journalists see issues through different ...

8Nov

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Journalism

A Thanksgiving Gratitude Exercise

When you are missing a loved one during this season of Thanksgiving, it is often difficult to feel thankful. Yes, you are grateful for eyes to see, ears to hear, limbs to move... and so on. But, what about the pain of loss and loneliness, feelings of abandonment, despair, and hopelessness? What about the fear of the future? We know that the holiday season heightens the emotions of loss and clients have even asked me if they can make this season simply disappear. Since you can't avoid the sights, sounds, and smells that imply happiness, family togetherness and traditions, gift sharing, and the like, I challenge you to find gratitude in what's in your heart. "How do I do that Dora?" A small act of gratitude produces enormous benefits for the mind, body, and spirit. Of course, the greatest ...

6Nov

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Journalism

The First Guaranteed Basic Income Program Designed for Single Black Moms

The Magnolia Mother’s Trust asks participants what they need to not only pay the bills but also to fight generational poverty. Ebony, a single mother of three, works two jobs to make ends meet and takes in around $11,000 a year. In addition to a part-time job at a beauty supply chain, she works as a communication specialist at a Jackson, Mississippi, nonprofit, a temporary position that could end in December. She’s hoping her employers will keep her on, and she’s doing all she can to inspire them, including showing up for work an hour early. “I want to make a good impression,” she says about showing up to work early. “It would be great if [the employers] tell me, ‘You worked so hard, how about you go ahead and stay with us?’” Staying on could mean that Ebony’s annual income...