URL Weekly 01/12

Next-level reporting. Innovative Black & Brown publishers.

Friday, January 12, 2024

Reading this from an email forward or elsewhere on the internet?

Subscribe.

Hey

Today is Friday, and we’re highlighting stories from across the URL Media network about how surveillance capitalism has taken over immigration enforcement, free meals in Tulsa’s public schools, and New York City’s only bones museum bringing osteology into the mainstream.

The Golden Globes kicked off the 2024 award show season this past weekend, but much of the coverage focused on the lackluster performance of host Jo Koy. In tomorrow’s newsletter, we’re recentering the historic wins of the night. — Alicia Ramirez

Uplift. 🙌🏼 Respect. 💯 Love. 💛

✊🏽 Historic all-women city council in Minn. is sworn in as hundreds cheer on: Seven women made history on Tuesday as they took their oaths of office to serve on the first all-women city council in St. Paul, Minnesota. The historic council, with six women of color, is also the city’s most racially diverse. Sahan Journal has the story here.

More: Trenton (N.J.) City Council unanimously chooses women for top leadership roles. (Trenton Journal)

🇺🇸 The story of January 6 is an American Story: In the first episode of a six-part audio documentary series “Jan 6: An American Story” produced by Our Body Politic, listeners meet the Black, South Asian and Latino investigators on the January 6th committee who share their personal stories and why they choose to defend a nation that doesn’t always defend them. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

More: President Joe Biden reflected on the third anniversary of the insurrection during a recent visit to Philadelphia. (🎧 WURD Radio)

🚔 Surveillance capitalism has taken over immigration enforcement: Data mining companies, which extract, aggregate and sell personal information from thousands of databases without individuals’ consent, are assisting the Biden administration in expanding its surveillance of immigrants to unprecedented levels. Prism has the story here.

More: 4,800 migrant families face eviction from NYC shelters (Documented)

Join us in celebrating the launch of URL Media’s new hub for independent journalism by Black and Brown publishers! Discover the stories and perspectives that matter. Check it out here.

⛓ Fentanyl crisis and mental health issues drive increase in deaths in Calif. jails: Jails in Riverside County, California had their deadliest year in 2022 with more than a dozen reports of people dying in the custody of the sheriff’s department. According to an analysis by Black Voice News, fentanyl and mental health issues are driving the increase. Read more here.

CW: This story discusses suicide, death and mental illness.

⚖️ N.Y.’s highest court upholds city’s ban on police chokeholds: Last fall, New York State appellate court upheld New York City’s ban on police chokeholds following pushback from police unions, which argued that it would be “impossible” for officers to know if they were compressing a person’s diaphragm. PushBlack has more here.

🥪 Tulsa Public Schools to expand student free meals program: Tulsa Public Schools will expand its free meals program to include all students in district schools beginning in the 2024-25 school year. The Oklahoma Eagle has more here.

🏗 Detroit developments to watch in 2024: From housing to how taxpayer dollars subsidize housing development, it’s worth keeping a close watch on these projects and how it hurts or helps residents’ ability to thrive. Outlier Media breaks down the developments it’s keeping an eye on here.

🇭🇹 Nearly 20 found killed or burned near Haitian capital since the start of 2024: The new year has already shaken Haitians who are caught in the grip of criminal insecurity around Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince. The Haitian Times has more here.

🦴 Bringing bones to the mainstream: When Jon Pichaya Ferry was 13, his father gave him his first skeleton — a mouse. In the years since, Pichaya Ferry has amassed a collection of responsibly-sourced human skeletons he now displays in The Bone Museum that he founded last year. Epicenter-NYC has the full story here.

👩🏽‍💼 How Latina-owned businesses are shaping the entrepreneurial landscape: In a landscape historically dominated by men, being “Latina-owned” challenges traditional gender norms and underscores the dynamic role of women in steering businesses and the U.S. economy forward. Luz Media has more here.

🥮 Growing up in a Chinese-American restaurant: Poet and professor Jane Wong talks about her new book, “Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City,” which delves into her experiences of growing up in her family’s Chinese-American restaurant and reckoning with her ancestral past and present. 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Immigrantly here.

💕 Transforming intergenerational trauma into ‘intergenerational abundance’: Dr. Mariel Buqué, a Columbia University-trained, trauma-informed psychologist and practitioner of holistic healing weaves together scientific research, best practices and personal experience to help listeners unpack intergenerational trauma in this week’s episode of Latina to Latina. Listen to the full interview here.

Sara Lomax-Reese, CEO of WURD Radio, media entrepreneur for almost 30 years, served as Program Lead for the inaugural Facebook BIPOC Sustainability Accelerator and is a former John S. Knight Fellow.

S. Mitra Kalita, former SVP at CNN Digital, current CEO & Publisher at Kalita Mukul Creative Inc., which publishes Epicenter-NYC, The Unmuted and The Escape Home has worked at The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The LA Times, and has launched brands like Mint and Quartz.

Share