Tuesday, June 24, 2025
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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. The U.S. government wants to see the social media of foreign students; also, more victims of the 1921 Tulsa massacre have been discovered. Plus, we’re bringing you the latest updates at url-media.com as events unfold. Have a question? Write to us at [email protected].
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Student visa interviews will resume through U.S. consular services after being paused by the Trump administration in May. But the catch is that those students’ social media accounts will be thoroughly screened for any content the State Department deems undesirable.
India Currents reports that a communication was sent to consular missions around the globe by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It warned officials to be on the lookout for students whose social media content showed activism that might indicate association with violence or certain political views.
If students fail to share their social media with consular officials, the government would view the refusal as an attempt to evade radical activity and reject the application.On May 27, the State Department had stopped student visa interviews to allow for an expansion of social media screening of applicants.
As the Trump administration mobilizes to minimize the history of Black Americans, it’s important to note the discovery of five previously unidentified potential victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols told reporters about the findings of a 2024 report from forensics specialists on the burials of the victims of the violence, according to the Oklahoma Eagle.
He said that five bodies interred at Oaklawn Cemetery in Tulsa were shown to have a series of gunshot wounds, including C. L. Daniels, a World War I veteran from Georgia killed in the rioting. Four others were also discovered with gunshot wounds. The graves showed signs of hasty burials, caskets that fit poorly, and signs of severe trauma.
“The data we received from the latest field report couldn’t be more clear – there are multiple gunshot wound victims in the area of Oaklawn Cemetery,” said Nichols. “We can’t stop now and intend to return to Oaklawn Cemetery for an additional excavation later this year based on expert findings.”Historians believe as many as 300 people were killed and 800 were injured in violence that erupted in Tulsa’s thriving Greenwood district between May 31 and June 1, 1920. It is the most deadly event of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
Election Day in New York City is wrapping up, and voters who cast their ballot early or on June 24 for the primary expressed their frustration with their choices. According to Epicenter NYC, they are fed up with poor city services and public safety.
Robert Bass in St. Albans, Queens says he had not made up his mind about his vote. What he does know is that the way buildings are constructed in his neighborhood is unfair to the people who live there.
“They tear down a house, leave three walls, call it a renovation, and rebuild as a two-family,” he said. That means more cars on the street, more people sharing the same aging sewer system, and more pressure on sagging infrastructure. “It only happens in neighborhoods where the ethnic population is different.”
Meanwhile, the consistent theme in New York that the “rent is too damn high” is resonating. “Two grand [in rent] is relatable, y’all,” said a Bronx resident identified only as SG. But Andrew Cuomo’s $10,000 monthly rent is not relatable, she says. “That’s a huge red flag. “Why is it the other candidates live here on rent assistance or subsidized housing or something along those lines, or at least pay two grand?”
As the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” makes its way to a final Senate vote, many are concerned about the impact it will have on Medicaid. The White House is apparently attempting to punish recipients of the program’s benefits.Black Voice News reports that the Trump administration has shared the personal information of Medicaid enrollees, including their immigration status, with the Department of Homeland Security. Citing the Associated Press, BVN says reporters obtained an internal memo that shows Medicaid officials tried to block the transfer of data, but could not. That data, which was obtained from California, Illinois, Washington state, and Washington, D.C., went to DHS.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has resisted Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles during the recent protests, was defiant.
“Sharing Medicaid beneficiary information with the Department of Homeland Security – which is itself legally dubious – will jeopardize the safety, health, and security of those who will undoubtedly be targeted by this abuse, and Americans more broadly,” he said in a prepared statement. “Federal law requires emergency care to be provided to all to save lives, and the federal government helps pay for it for low-income individuals, regardless of immigration status.”
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