Politics, Policy & PowerSeptember 5, 2023
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A View From the Ground
News and insights about politics, government, civic participation and engagement from the URL Media network.
Migrants fleeing DeSantis' Fla. seek sanctuary in NYC: Nowadays, there are many reasons why an undocumented immigrant would leave Florida for a sanctuary city like New York City. Several laws in the state prevent undocumented workers from moving freely, including prohibiting the use of driver’s licenses from other states issued to undocumented immigrants and increasing penalties for businesses — particularly agriculture — that hire undocumented migrants. One farmer's association in the state told Documented that up to ten people were leaving every day, resulting in a shortage of employees for the upcoming harvest. Read more here.
A tree damaged after massive storms in Detroit. Trees are among Detroit’s best defenses against climate change, and replanting them is one of the ways the city can prepare for extreme weather. Credit: Koby Levin/Outlier MediaWhat Detroit can learn from last week's catastrophic storm: A massive thunderstorm and tornadoes last week killed five people in Michigan and caused blackouts for hundreds of thousands of residents. But more could have been done to mitigate the damages, reports Outlier Media. For starters, the city needs more trees. It also needs billions of dollars to repair and expand its existing stormwater infrastructure due to its aging sewer infrastructure and power lines. Read more here.
An activist holds anti-death penalty signs outside the US Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., on the 50th anniversary of the Furman v. Georgia decision. Credit: Maria Oswalt/UnsplashOn the execution of my friend: Kelly Renee Gissendaner was executed on September 30, 2015, becoming Georgia's only woman executed in 70 years. Many people in Atlanta and around the world opposed the death penalty and planned execution of Gissendaner, including her close friend Carla J. Simmons, who has been incarcerated in the state since 2004. In this essay for Scalawag’s ‘Condemned’ series, she writes: "There were still protests, but much of the public fever had subsided. It was devastating: a sanctioned murder of a woman who, despite the bleakest of conditions, thrived on life, who loved and was loved, and left a grieving world behind." Read the full piece here.
Credit: Gabrielle Pascal/Haitian TimesHaitian pride at the New York Labor Day carnival: A float under the banner Banboche Mas led the Haitian presence at the 2023 Labor Day Carnival’s signature parade along Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway. Families, teens and children wore red and blue flags and joined performers to bask in Caribbean culture. View the festive spirit and garb captured by the Haitian Times.
ICYDI: Here’s the true history of Carnival (PushBlack)
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