URL Weekly 4/21

Next-level reporting. Innovative Black & Brown publishers.

Friday, April 21, 2023

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Today is Friday, and we're highlighting stories from across the URL Media network about historic discoveries in Tulsa, federal funding to end the digital divide and how children of migrant workers are sowing success.Be sure to keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow about how you can be a better ally to workers.— Alicia RamirezUplift. 🙌🏼 Respect. 💯 Love. 💛

⛓️ Nonprofit founder steps down for season of rest as work to end mass incarceration continues: Amanda Alexander dreams of the day mass incarceration is no longer a reality for so many Detroiters and their families. It’s why she started the Detroit Justice Center (DJC) five years ago — and why she is stepping down after making a significant impact through DJC. Read more here from Outlier Media.+: Detroit’s Reparations Task Force gets up and running

📚 Black voting rights and the attack on critical race theory: Dr. Tim Gordon, a professor at Walla Walla University, recently joined WURD Radio to talk about critical race theory in light of a new report that says Black voting rights are under attack. Listen to the full interview here.

🔬 Miami allows development on ancient Tequesta site, delays vote for historical designation: A long-awaited vote to preserve an ancient Indigenous market site at the southern bank of the Miami River was delayed this month. Archeologists say Miami’s Brickell neighborhood — an area known for its luxury real estate — is home to major prehistoric artifacts that should be preserved and protected. Prism has the full story here.

🧬 Historic discovery provides a glimpse into family trees of DNA profiles: In 2008, the city of Tulsa launched the 1921 Graves Investigation to help find answers from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Recently, it was announced that genealogists were able to tie some of the remains to potential surnames and locations of interest. Read more here from The Oklahoma Eagle.

🌿 Marijuana convictions can jeopardize employment and housing. What to know about removing them from your record: Possessing 1.5 ounces of marijuana or less has been classified as a petty misdemeanor in Minnesota since the 1970s. If caught, the fine can cost you up to $300. However, unlike other petty offenses like parking tickets, marijuana convictions in Minnesota stay on people’s records forever, which makes finding housing and employment more difficult. Sahan Journal has the story here.

💵 Federal funding will accelerate Calif.’s push to end the digital divide: California will receive roughly $540 million for high-speed internet under the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund. The funding will provide high-speed internet service to approximately 127,000 families across California. Get the full story here from Black Voice News.

🎒 Cap-Haitien students protest against no-show teachers as exams loom: This past Monday, hundreds of high school students took to the streets in Cap-Haitien, Haiti to protest the absence of their teachers. The educators say they cannot continue working without support in a country facing massive dysfunction. The Haitian Times has the story here.

🗳️ N.C. legislator changes parties and puts thousands of immigrants at risk: In early April, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina won a supermajority in the General Assembly, allowing them to override vetoes from the state’s Democrat governor. But a recent decision by a lawmaker who switched to the Republican party puts the future of the state’s immigrant population at risk. Read more here from La Noticia.

🎧 Local, state, and national: The power of political coalitions: Guest host Natasha Alford explores political coalition building through three lenses in the latest episode of Our Body Politic. From the national stage to hotly-contested state and local races, elected officials owe a duty of care to the constituents they serve. But how do politicians at all levels of government communicate with marginalized communities and how do those communities get their voices heard? Listen to the full episode here.

🇺🇸 Slave patrols are the blueprint for modern American policing: Policing, as Americans know it today, started in the form of slave patrols in the North and South Carolinas in the early 1700s. And while slave patrols officially ended with the passage of the 13th Amendment, local militia groups took their place to enforce “Black Codes” to restrict the freedoms of formerly enslaved people. PushBlack has more here.

🗽 NYC mayor demands Biden expand work permits for asylum seekers: In the most sternly worded rebuke of the federal government yet, Mayor Eric Adams and other New York City officials demanded that the White House back New York with concrete plans to support asylum seekers in the coming months. Read more here from Documented.

🛶 1,000-year-old Indigenous canoe excavated from North Carolina lake: The Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe helped archaeologists excavate a 28-foot canoe out of Lake Waccamaw on April 12 believed to be at least 1,000 years old. Local reports state that the canoe was found while three teenagers were swimming in the lake during the summer of 2021.

Native News Online has the story here

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🎷 Movement and music with Meklit Hadero: This week’s Immigrantly episode features Meklit Hadero, an Ethiopian-born and San Francisco-based artist, about how music facilitates  her expression of longing, pain, hope and other facets of living in the diaspora. Listen to the full conversation here.

🤎 Oshun's Suicide: Eros, repetition and reprieve in Black popular culture: In the sixth installment of Scalawag’s The Captive Maternal Roundtable, Jordan Mulkey examines Black romance and libidinal economy of anti-Blackness in popular culture. Read more here.

🇸🇾 Bringing traditional Syrian music to New York’s Carnegie Hall: Samer Ali and Marissa Arciola celebrate the musical traditions of Syria through their organization, the Syrian Music Preservation Initiative. Epicenter-NYC has more here.

🏕️ Sowing success: Migrant students and their families follow the seasons year-round to sow and harvest America’s produce. The children of these families take pride in their parents’ work ethic, though they struggle to continue their schooling. But this 50-year-old camp scholarship has helped hundreds of them go to college. palabra. has the story here.

🎉 Outlier Media expands its editorial team with three hires

URL Media partner Outlier Media is welcoming three new editorial staff members over the next few weeks. Alex Washington will join the newsroom as audience and engagement manager; Koby Levin will join as senior science reporter; and Carmella Denise Baldwin will be Outlier’s first social media producer.

Read more about them here.

👩‍💻 Let's Talk Careers: The What's Next Workshop

Join URL Media for the fourth installation of our webinar for folks who have recently been laid off or are at a career crossroads. Breakout sessions will include how to prepare for job interviews and informational conversations with URL Media Chief Business Development and Partnerships Officer Leonor Ayala Polley, why networking is now more important than your resume and how to build your network with career and leadership coach Phoebe Gavin and how to maximize your LinkedIn. 

Register for the webinar here

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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 currently a JSK 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.