2023 Civics Edition
March 7, 2023
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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.
Following Maine and Massachusetts, California might be the next state in the country to restore voting rights to incarcerated people and individuals in prior justice involvement. Chris Allen for Black Voice News
Calif.’s push to restore voting rights to individuals in state custody: In California, assembly members are working on a bill that would allow system-impacted individuals on parole or in state custody to vote. “Upon passing Proposition 17, we also acknowledged that continuing to restrict access to our democracy to even those who are currently incarcerated was unfair and disproportionately impacted our Black, Brown, and poor communities,” said Antoinette Ratcliffe, Executive Director of Initiate Justice. If the bill is passed, California would become the third state in the nation to restore voting rights to people who have been impacted by the justice system. Read more from Black Voice News.+: Keeping it Real: Evicted without explanation
Khalil Azad’s family, students call for an investigation into his death: Hundreds of students rallied in downtown Minneapolis on Monday to protest the death of 24-year-old Khalil Azad, who died last July after an encounter with law enforcement, write Elizabeth Shockman and Feven Gerezgiher for MPR News and Sahan Journal. Months after his sudden passing, Azad's family learned he had died from “freshwater drowning.” But the true cause of death, they believe, involves the local police who pulled him over for a traffic stop. “We all know looking at those (autopsy) pictures that there’s something that needs to be done,” said Azad's sister, Ayisha Johnson, whose family has called for an independent investigation into his death. Read more here.
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How to improve racial equity efforts: Neighborhood-level data could help cities across the United States strategically craft interventions to effect real change for Black and Hispanic residents. Find out how here.
From Spelman College’s alum to the school’s president: Denounce Cop City Now: Last week, Patrick Darrington for Prism examined Atlanta's educational institutions, including its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), for their inaction in upholding white supremacist structures, such as Cop City, a police training facility that costs $90 million. In an exclusive interview published by Scalawag today, Spelman College alumni condemned Cop City in an open letter to the school's president and board of trustees, emphasizing that the facility threatens the legacy, safety, and well-being of the Spelman community. “As a school founded for formerly enslaved women, for Spelman to offer any support to the institution born of slave patrols is an insult to their legacy,” they write. Read the full letter here.ICYMI: What good are HBCUs if they mirror the anti-Blackness of the US? (Prism)
New workplace rule empowers immigrant workers: For the first time, undocumented workers who have experienced abuse in the workplace (think: wage theft, labor trafficking, safety violations) can receive a visa certificate as leverage to take action against their bosses, reports Amir Khafagy for Documented. Starting March 30, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will begin issuing victims of workplace abuse with a visa that allows them to legally work in the country while investigating the details of their case. The visa also protects workers from employer retaliation. Read details of the announcement here.
Turkey’s earthquake may shake up its political future and making the case for good apologies: Our Body Politic host Farai Chideya interviews Ali Tekin, a political scientist at Istanbul's Gediz University, about the Turkish government's weak response to the region's devastating earthquakes. She then speaks with Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy, co-authors of the book “Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies," about how to give and receive apologies.
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Reproductive rights organizations offer legal assistance to abortion patients and providers: As the nation's legal landscape shifts constantly, millions remain uncertain about their reproductive rights, reports Prism. But with the help of a new national initiative, abortion patients and providers facing litigation for abortion care will soon have legal representation. “Abortion providers, doctors, and even family members of people seeking abortion care are unsure what they might be prosecuted for," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a press release. "Many states have conflicting and overlapping abortion bans that make it nearly impossible to know what is legal and what is not.”
The initiative, Abortion Defense Network, provides legal advice, criminal and civil defense, and funds to pay for the services. Read more about the initiative.
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