Tuesday, July 2, 2024
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A View From the Ground
News and information about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from the URL Media network.
At Thursday’s presidential debate, Donald Trump falsely claimed that “we now have the largest deficit in the history of our country.” (Photo from CNN)
Thursday’s presidential debate is why we need BIPOC media: If Thursday’s debate made one thing clear, it's that BIPOC media is vital especially as we continue to wade through the falsehoods that ran largely unchecked by CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
After Donald Trump made false claims about Biden opening the border “and our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylum, terrorists,” we found context on the topic of how both presidents treat migration from Documented. The outlet called out both Trump’s lies and Biden’s “poor defense.”
We also found guidance from Capital B, which in partnership with PolitiFact, published a piece to answer the question, “What Have Biden and Trump Done for Black People?, which corrected false information when Trump claimed that “we now have the largest deficit in the history of our country,” and when he said Biden called Black Americans “super predators.”
As the Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) declared in a statement against CNN: “Instead of rising to the occasion, the network abdicated its journalistic duty and responsibility — and failed all Americans in the process.”URL Media has more here →
Kimberlé Crenshaw: ‘You can’t outrun’ the attack on racial equity: Civil rights advocate and leading scholar of critical race theory Kimberlé Crenshaw recently talked to Capital B about the assault on efforts confronting racial inequality, the conservative manifesto “Project 2025,” and the failure of traditional media to do critical reporting during this political moment.
To Crenshaw, the media’s role should be about scrutiny, “the ability to get the truth.” Instead, it’s functioning like the Super Bowl,” she told Capital B’s Brandon Tensley. “Democracy shouldn’t be subjected to calling first downs and adding color commentary, but unfortunately, that’s what the game has become. That’s what reporting has become.”
Crenshaw explained how a 2020 Trump executive order signaled the premise of “Project 2025,” and talked about feeling energized even as her work continues to be targeted by the right.
"I'm excited to see that many people now understand that critical race theory is a prism for understanding how race and various forms of institutional inequality continue to function,” she said.Capital B has more here →
Members of elite Haiti police force lost in New York as asylum seekers and parolees: Back in Haiti, they participated in operations against some of the most violent gangs. Here in New York, they work as cooks, security agents, tree trimmers, or aim for a work permit. Documented correspondent Ralph Thomassaint featured Roodolphe Nicolas, Cosby Jean-Charles, Miguel Chardavoine and Bernard C. Pierre — all former police officers in Haiti — who are now navigating language barriers and a complicated immigration system as they seek to make a living in the U.S.
The four men, writes Thomassaint, fled the U.S., “not because they feared death at the hands of the gangs, but rather that their lives would be lost fighting for an institution that doesn’t care if they live or die.”
The police force in Haiti has experienced a decline in its ranks, with the men describing negligent leaders who prioritize the interests of gangs, instead of those of police officers who have become prime targets. Thomassaint’s story comes as a UN sanctioned mission of Kenyan troops recently arrived in Haiti to help battle criminal gangs.
"They are itching to join the fight, but instead are scraping by as many new New Yorkers do working menial jobs to pay rent,” Thomassaint writes.Documented has more here →
New protections empower H-2A agricultural workers to organize: A new rule that took effect June 28 could make it easier for migrant workers with H-2A visas to organize against unfair treatment from their U.S. employers, writes Prism’s Tina Vásquez. This rule from the Department of Labor adds new protections for “worker self-advocacy” and hampers employers from retaliating.
The H-2A program, which allows U.S. employers to fill temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs with workers from other countries, has dramatically increased in recent years due to ongoing labor shortages in the agricultural industry, where labor violations are common. The workers can now decline to attend “captive audience” meetings where employers try to dissuade workers from joining unions or engaging in other protected activities.
Leticia Zavala, a former farmworker who organizes H-2A workers, told Vásquez that agricultural employers have threatened her for trying to speak to H-2A workers. It’s a “serious development,” Zavala said, for H-2A workers to now be able to invite her and other providers into their employer-furnished housing. For agricultural workers who have been abused before and who have left their family behind, “to come and harvest our crops … the new rule gives them some of their power back.” Prism has more here →
🗞️ More headlines
Judge rules educators may teach racial history (The Oklahoma Eagle)
Twice as Good podcast
In the latest episode of URL Media's Twice as Good podcast, hosts Sara and Mitra are joined by guests Madiba Dennie, author of the new book "The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution And How We The People Can Take It Back," and Brandon Tensley, national politics reporter at Capital B News, to delve into the Supreme Court's alarming rollback of civil rights. Together, they explore what we’re calling the "great retrenchment" — the ongoing assault on Black political power — and spotlight the states that are fighting back. Drawing on the wisdom of Frederick Douglass, they affirm the critical importance of persevering in the struggle for equity and justice for all. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here →
Introducing URL Media's Currency of Impact
Check out our Currency of Impact dashboard, a new tool designed to revolutionize media buying conversations and put community impact on the foreground. Dive into our impact tracker and case studies highlighting demonstrated impact across the URL Media network. This project was co-produced with the Reynolds Journalism Institute. Visit it here.
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