URL Weekly 02/16

Next-level reporting. Innovative Black & Brown publishers.

Friday, February 16, 2024

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Today is Friday, and we’re highlighting stories from across the URL Media network about the potential problems immigrants might face once the Department of Homeland Security’s REAL ID policy is implemented, four things you might not know about the prison labor force, and Colorado, which has now recognized Lunar New Year as a state holiday.

In tomorrow’s newsletter, we’re examining why it’s important for legacy media outlets to hire and retain BIPOC journalists and how URL Media’s partner organizations are working to fill the gaps. — Alicia Ramirez

Uplift. 🙌🏼 Respect. 💯 Love. 💛

🚨 Lack of ID is a barrier for immigrants across the US, but the new REAL ID policy could make it worse: The Department of Homeland Security is implementing a new policy for personal identification cards, but advocates warn it may exacerbate racial profiling and lead to discrimination. palabra. has the story here.

More: Political hypocrisy is on full display in the ongoing border crisis (La Noticia)

⚖️ Trump asks the Supreme Court for immunity to run for president: Rev. Dr. Alyn E. Waller, the senior pastor at the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia, recently joined WURD Radio to talk about former President Donald Trump requesting immunity to run in the 2024 presidential election. 🎧 Listen to the full interview here.

⛓ Four alarming facts about the American prison labor force: Recent findings by the Associated Press detail some of U.S. prison labor's most secretive and gruesome practices, including prison farms, no workers’ compensation for incarcerated workers and more. PushBlack has more here.

🇵🇸 Reproductive rights organizations are failing Palestinians: Reproductive justice champions, including advocates and consultants, are grappling with the silence from some of the largest reproductive rights organizations in the country about Israel’s ongoing siege on Gaza. Prism has the story here.

More: Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University in NYC were sprayed with a chemical agent. Mainstream media has been oddly silent about the whole thing. (Epicenter-NYC)

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.

💰 Did you know Okla. will issue public funds to pay for private school tuition?: As part of a new $150M special fund, Oklahoma is doling out public funds to pay for private school tuition and other fees for students across the state, including those from very affluent families. The Oklahoma Eagle has the story here.

More: Argument against taxpayer funds for segregated schools continues in court (Black Girl Times)

👏🏽 This N.J. community just got new downtown signage to help residents and visitors: Three solar-powered digital kiosks were recently installed in downtown Trenton, New Jersey. The kiosks can display news, weather feeds, transit feeds, calendar feeds, digital flyers and advertisements to make getting around the capital city easier. The Trenton Journal has the story here.

🏚 Taking action against Detroit’s ‘rogue’ landlords: In a report last week, Detroit council members were given a series of steps they can use as a blueprint for dealing with landlords who let violations pile up. Outlier Media has the story here.

🇭🇹 ‘Nothing was set in stone for [the city] to have a carnival’: A three-day carnival festivities in Haiti’s northern city unfolded as a somber affair with insufficient whimsical floats, pageantries and vibrant costumes that once adorned its streets. The Haitian Times has the story here.

🧧 Colo. celebrates first Lunar New Year as a state holiday: East and Southeast Asians in Colorado have been celebrating Lunar New Year for years across the state. But this year, for the first time, the celebration has been recognized as an official state holiday — making it the second state in the nation to do so. AsAmNews has more here.

🎬 Extend your Galentine’s celebrations with these five Latino films: Gather the girls and get the popcorn ready because Luz Media has the ultimate Galentine’s Day movie lineup with these five Latin American films that celebrate sisterhood and more. Find the full list here.

🏆 First Nation's Fund awards $25,000 to Community Spirit Award recipients: The First Peoples Fund recently announced the 2024 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award recipients. The selected artists infuse the cultural richness of their Indigenous backgrounds into their work. Native News Online has the story here.

💇🏽‍♀️ How this celebrity hairstylist became the ‘hair saint’: Ona Diaz-Santin, a celebrity hairstylist, curl expert and owner of 5 Salon Spa shares how a fortuitous offer forced her to speed up her ten-year plan and the ways the pandemic tested her business (and her faith) in this week’s episode of Latina to Latina. 🎧 Listen to the full interview here.

💒 A city hall wedding marks the end of a journey to NYC: Stalin Alquinga and Maria Correa fled Ecuador for a new start in the U.S. The arduous journey drew them closer. Documented has their story here.

🥘 Cooking up love one recipe at a time: Send Chinatown Love, a nonprofit founded in New York City’s Chinatown during the pandemic to help restaurants, tackle hate crimes and support the elderly has recently developed a cookbook. Learn about the group’s latest project in this week’s Immigrantly. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

💝 BIPOC pastry chefs pull out all the stops for Valentine’s Day: As the clock ticked down to Valentine's Day, Minnesota pastry chefs were rushing to fill orders and carve out a niche in a market filled with competition. Sahan Journal has the story here.

✊🏽 The beautiful IRL end to the harrowing pool scene in Ava DuVernay’s ‘Origin’: Al Bright is the real-life inspiration for the young Black actor in Ava Duvernay’s new film “Origin,” who was barred from fully participating in a party for his Little League team at a segregated pool. In real life, Bright, who died in 2019 at 79, was a celebrated artist and educator at Youngstown University, where he studied and founded a Black Studies department. Epicenter-NYC has the story here.

More: Check out this podcast on our biggest takeaways from “Origin” (🎧 URL Media)

✍🏽 Black Voice News is seeking a journalist through the California Local News Fellowship

Black Voice News, a URL Media partner, is seeking an aspiring reporter with a passion for community who is dedicated to developing their skills as a storyteller and journalist to join their team. Read more here.

🎙 Podcasts to listen to this Black History Month

Blackness is expansive. From the vibrant global diaspora to the giants of Black history, we celebrate a people who refuse to be limited. Throughout this February, URL Media will be uplifting stories from our partners that reflect the expansiveness of Blackness — from our origins to current times. We hope you will join us in exploring these stories of joy, history, and identity, including the present-day realities of what it means to be Black. Listen to these ten episodes from URL Media partners Immigrant Media, WURD Radio, PushBlack, Epicenter-NYC, LWC Studios’ Still Paying the Price and others. 🎧 Listen here and make this your go-to playlist this #BlackHistoryMonth.

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.

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