URL Weekly 03/29

Next-level reporting. Innovative Black & Brown publishers.

Friday, March 29, 2024

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Today is Friday, and we’re highlighting stories from across the URL Media network about anti-abortion centers targeting communities of color, Toni Morrison’s classic novel, “The Bluest Eye,” and a Jamaica-born immigrant helping to keep New Yorkers fed.

Sunday is International Transgender Day of Visibility, a day to raise awareness about the challenges facing the transgender community and celebrate the lives and contributions of trans people. In tomorrow’s newsletter, we’ll look at some of the legislative proposals impacting the transgender community and how they’re banding together to fight them. — Alicia Ramirez

Uplift. 🙌🏼 Respect. 💯 Love. 💛

🤰🏽 Pregnancy clinics with hidden agendas target pregnant people of color: Known as crisis pregnancy centers, anti-abortion centers look like clinics that offer family health and women’s health services. But they are something entirely different according to the reproductive justice leaders, and they’re targeting communities of color, advocates say. palabra., in partnership with Reckon, has the story here.

More: Roe sinks another red seat (Black Girl Times)

📺 Coping with devastating news coverage of the Baltimore bridge collapse: Dr. Eunice Peterson joined WURD Radio this week to talk about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and how coverage of traumatic events like this can impact people’s mental health. 🎧 Listen to the interview here.

More: Missing Baltimore bridge workers are Latino [English translation available] (La Noticia)

⚖️ Minn. family ‘devastated’ by decision not to charge officer in fatal shooting: Yia Xiong’s family and Hmong community members are calling for policy changes at the St. Paul Police Department in light of prosecutors’ decision to not charge one of its officers for fatally shooting Xiong last year. Sahan Journal has the story here.

🚔 Activists say police killing of Ryan Gainer emphasizes need for community safety programs: The fatal police shooting of a Black teen with autism in San Bernardino, California, has sparked renewed calls for alternative crisis intervention approaches for those with disabilities and mental illnesses. Prism has the story here.

🗳️ Mont. Supreme Court strikes down voting laws intended to disenfranchise Native voters: The Montana Supreme Court this week struck down four state laws that were passed by the Republican-controlled legislature to restrict voters. Two of the laws would have suppressed Native American votes. Native News Online has the story here.

More: Six harmful tactics that tried to stop Latinos from voting (Pulso)

💵 Why this entrepreneur says you should have a wealth ‘why’: Entrepreneur and author of “Cultura and Cash: Lessons from the First Gen Mentor for Managing Finances and Cultural Expectations,” Giovanna “Gigi” Gonzalez shares her tips for setting money boundaries with those you love most and defining your money “why” in this episode of Latina to Latina. 🎧 Listen to the full interview here.

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.

🎰 The truth behind the ‘Asian gambler’ stereotype: In speaking out against a proposed casino and entertainment complex at Citi Field in Queens, New York, some community advocates spoke to the problem of gambling within the Asian community. But experts tell Epicenter-NYC that it’s actually an issue of casinos targeting Asian American communities. Read more here.

🧒🏽 Combating child poverty in Calif.: In response to the surge in child poverty, Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson has introduced two proposals to develop and strengthen the California Youth Childhood Tax Credit. Black Voice News has the story here.

⛓️ How the prison industrial complex exploits the resources of rural America: Rural communities often struggle to provide services like education or healthcare and justice, which can feed people into the prison population, further growing the system. PushBlack has the story here.

🇭🇹 Haitian diaspora urges US to act as Haiti crisis drags on: A slew of Haitian American leaders and organizations are calling on the United States government to take urgent action in Haiti to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. The Haitian Times has the story here.

💰 Detroit is looking to clamp down on property tax fraud, but is the system working?: A city audit of some property tax break recipients is catching honest homeowners, and costing them thousands. Outlier Media has the story here.

🏠 This N.J. community is divided over transitional housing: The Mill Hill neighborhood in Trenton, New Jersey, is at a crossroads after learning about a plan to open a transitional housing facility in the community. Trenton Journal has the story here.

📖 Brown eyes in a blue-eyed world: Scalawag takes a look at Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” which was recently banned in Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, 50 years after its first publication. Read more here.

🎾 Jessica Pegula advances to quarterfinals of Miami Open: Korean American tennis player Jessica Pegula has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open. AsAmNews has the story here.

🥘 Meet the immigrant helping New Yorkers in need one meal at a time: Dr. Melony Samuels made a life-changing decision when she left Jamaica and came to Brooklyn in 1982. Little did she know that this leap of faith would lead her to become a beacon for thousands of New Yorkers in need. Documented has her story here.

💻 This rendering of Mexico City as the former Aztec capital is unbelievable: Drawing upon historical and archaeological sources, technical artist Thomas Kole, along with a team of experts, recreated a vivid portrayal of Tenochtitlan, capturing its essence in a 3D reconstruction of the capital of the Aztec Empire. Luz Media has the story 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.

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