Tuesday, November 19, 2024
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A View From the Ground
News and information about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from URL Media's network of Black and Brown publishers.
Good evening. Transgender Awareness Week comes to a close today, with a Day of Remembrance to follow tomorrow. In today’s newsletter, we’re covering the policies and preparations that are most pressing for trans communities in one of the most anti-trans states in the country, as well as border surveillance tech, California’s red shift, and more. Plus, we’re bringing you the latest updates at url-media.com as events unfold. Have a question? Write to us at [email protected].
Credit: Caryl Lawson
We are the breadcrumbs: What trans Alabamians already knew about the election: Throughout all the noise this election season, the Alabama trans community has been seeing things clear as day. No matter who is in the White House, legislative attacks will not stop, the need for support systems outside of national politics will persist, and what local trans people face will continue to be a warning for the rest of the nation. “We are the canaries in the coal mine issuing a loud warning: What happens in Alabama locally is coming for your state,” T.C. Caldwell and Jose Vazquez write in Scalawag. For the 500,000 trans adults living in the South — which is more than anywhere in the U.S. — recent legislative sessions have been a nightmare. In Alabama alone, trans participation in high school and college sports has been banned, K-12 students can no longer use the bathroom most aligned with their gender identity, and in 2022, the state became the first to make providing gender-affirming care a felony for medical professionals.In the coming months, the state legislature will decide on similar bills, likely to include a book ban on LGBTQ+ content in public libraries, as well as an extension of the “Don’t Say Gay” law that prohibits discussions of that content up to 12th grade. Voting, unfortunately, is not the solution to this brand of systemic oppression. Neither is waiting around for change, or giving up and fleeing the state — which the Scalawag writers point to becoming the dominant media narrative around white families with trans children.Instead, freeing themselves through new models of community health, job opportunities, and mentorship are top priorities, as is local organizing, pressuring elected officials, and causing what gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin called “creative trouble.” Caldwell and Vazquez highlight two key organizations who lead, connect, and truly serve the state’s trans community in staying rooted and building a future in Alabama.The Knights and Orchids Society is an AIDS service group and STI clinic founded by Black, trans, and gender non-conforming people. It offers testing, hormone therapy, and holistic, loving care. Montgomery Pride United is a trans-led group that safeguards space in central Alabama for queer people to gather and organize. It also helps provide a community center and thrift store just three blocks from the Capitol. Learn more about the organizations →
AI at the Border: In today’s episode of Immigrantly, host Saadia Khan speaks with Petra Molnar, a lawyer and anthropologist, about “what it means to protect human rights in the digital age,” as Khan puts it.Molnar wrote “The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” a book that captures how states criminalize migration, how digital surveillance has evolved, and what the dangerous, profit-making intersection of the two looks like today. As she tells Khan, the technology that shapes border settings is often omnipresent, high-risk, and unregulated. They include drones, cameras, and sensors, but also more dystopian hardware, such as AI lie detectors, robot dogs, and sonic weapons. Yet she reminds Immigrantly listeners that tightly controlled and scrutinized borders are still fairly recent in human history, and that they can be changed. “Migration has been with us since time immemorial. People have been moving and shifting across the globe since we started walking on two legs … Human movement is something that is part of the human condition.”Listen to the full podcast here →Plus: How does Minnesota protect Driver’s License for All data? (Sahan Journal)
How California voted in 2024 compared to 2020: Vice President Kamala Harris won California this election by a margin of 58.9% of votes to former President Donald Trump’s 38.1%. However, take a closer look, and it’s clear that the “red shift” noticeable in other states also happened in the west coast liberal stalwart, Black Voice News explains. The final ballots are still being counted, yet the current results show many counties that in 2020 were tight races falling in favor of President Biden, this time fell for former President Donald Trump. For example, Trump won over 50% of votes in San Bernardino County, where he only snagged 43.5% in 2020. Similarly, he secured 49% in Riverside, compared to 45% in 2020. See the numbers → Plus: Interactive map: Minnesota’s red shift in the 2024 presidential election (Sahan Journal)
Advocates expect Maryland to drive climate action when Trump returns to Washington: Trump’s return to office may mean a steeper battle on climate ambitions. Federal funding for the clean energy transition, such as what the Inflation Reduction Act or the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have established, could be at risk of being pulled once he takes office beside a Republican-led Congress.However, climate advocates are not in full despair. Instead, they see the moment as a return to what it was like before the Biden Administration, where states led the climate action charge. Poised to take up that mantle is Maryland, Baltimore Beat writes. With Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat, working beside a blue legislature, experts predict the state will play an important role in the next four years of energy and climate legislation. “We have been a leader across the nation, and fortunately, our governor is committed to being a national leader on this,” Kim Coble, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, told Baltimore Beat.Get the full story →
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