Tuesday, August 6, 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.
Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan delivers a victory speech inside the ballroom at the Intercontinental Hotel in St. Paul. The re-elected Governor made sure to thank family and friends, as well as supporters and volunteers for their efforts on his behalf. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal
Kamala Harris taps Tim Walz as VP nominee: In choosing the Minnesota Governor as her running mate, Minnesota Democrats are praising Harris’ act as a win for reproductive rights and working families, according to the Sahan Journal, which covers immigrants and communities of color in the midwestern state.
“The last two years are a shining example that Tim Walz is good at working with strong women in full collaboration to get things done,” said House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, in a statement.
The Sahan Journal pointed to Walz’s experience working with strong female leaders in the Legislature to pass progressive policies that codify abortion rights and legalize marijuana, as well as providing free breakfast and lunch for Minnesota school children and driver’s licenses and health insurance for undocumented immigrants.
If Harris and Walz are elected in November, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, would become Minnesota’s first female — and Native American — governor. Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, stands to become lieutenant governor, and would be the first Black person in that role.
Capital B is reporting that Walz has advocated for causes that specifically impact Black communities. In July, for example, he signed the African American Family Preservation Act, which bolsters protections for families confronted with separation in the foster care system. Last year, he signed the CROWN Act to combat the discrimination Black and brown people face in the workplace and at school in response to their hair texture or style.
A victory for Bangladesh’s youth, diaspora and democracy: As student protests have led to the ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, URL Media co-founder S. Mitra Kalita checks in with Habib Rahman, the co-founder and anchor behind TBN24, the livestream channel covering the South Asian nation’s growing diaspora across the globe.
For Epicenter NYC, Kalita asks Rahman — who lives in the U.S. — about how he and his team handled the international story, the diaspora’s role, and lessons for media coverage of U.S. elections.
“Our stance as a network was cautious because we have an operation in Bangladesh. We had to be very cautious. But last Friday, I said one thing: When you oppress people, there’s a limit,” he told Kalita.
Regarding the role of U.S. Bangladeshis in this movement, Rahman said: “It’s very simple. People in Bangladesh and here have one thing in common: We like democracy. We like free and fair elections, and unfortunately, that was not the case in Bangladesh anymore.”
Kamala Harris and Usha Vance’s South Asian identity in the spotlight these elections: Leading up to the presidential election, South Asian Americans are closely watching how their identities are being constructed as Harris — the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother and Vance — who was born to Indian immigrant parents from Andhra Pradesh — share the national spotlight.
At The Blindian Project, an Instagram hub for Black and South Asian couples and families, Ayesha Syeddah and Jonah Batambuze are observing mistrust as Usha Vance — who clerked under Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh — steps into a position associated with the likes of Rishi Sunak and Bobby Jindal. People are asking, “Why does it have to be another person to the right?” Batambuze said.
As a South Asian woman, Syeddah says seeing a version of herself and future daughter “in a place where none of us have been before should be a cause of celebration.” But, she adds, “then how do I overlook the deafening denial of a permanent ceasefire?” (Harris has since said she pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help reach a ceasefire deal.)
Having the spotlight on Harris and Vance, says Muslim scholar Najeeba Syed, provides opportunity for a “fascinating exploration” among South Asians, who embody multiple nations, languages, and identities.“Besides how others describe us, how do we describe ourselves?” Syeed told URL Media.
Iranian students are still waiting for their visas to process, leaving lives in limbo: As fears grow of a wider war in the Middle East — with Iran and Hezbollah pledging to retaliate for the killing of top leaders — Prism highlights how “Iranian students are victims of discriminatory immigration policies exacerbated by the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
Over 2,000 students from various embassies — who applied between 2022 and now — continue to face visa-processing delays, leading to “severe disruptions to their academic and professional plans, as well as psychological distress for thousands of students.”
Some of these delays have caused students to lose their positions at prospective schools. This process has also placed them in dangerous conditions, with one student enduring a bus fire while traveling to Armenia for her visa interview.
Legal experts have called these delays “disproportionate and discriminatory.”
“Why should Iranian people, Iranian students, Iranian couples, wait for so long for just a visa?” one student told Prism. “People are not the government. They are not the same.”Prism has more here →
In the latest episode of URL Media's Twice as Good podcast, hosts
Sara Lomax and Mitra Kalita discuss the stakes of the presidential election after President Joe Biden stepped down in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris on the 2024 Democratic ticket. What contradictions exist in the Democratic Party and within VP Harris’ legacy? And what lessons can the American left learn from the global fight against the far right? Joining the discussion are Epicenter NYC editorial director Femi Redwood and Scroll’s politics editor Shoaib Daniyal.
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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.
