URL Weekly 8/11

Next-level reporting. Innovative Black & Brown publishers.

Friday, August 11, 2023

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Today is Friday, and we’re highlighting stories from across the URL Media network about what happened to the Dominican Republic town of Cabarete when work-from-home foreigners moved in; a new app helping Black queer, trans, and non-binary travelers locate safe spaces; a Riverside County, Calif. teenager making waves in the world of international water polo; and a podcast that invites listeners to be part of one woman’s grief journey. — Alicia Ramirez

Uplift. 🙌🏼 Respect. 💯 Love. 💛

🇩🇴 Invasion of the digital nomads hits Dominican Republic town: Ever since COVID-19 blurred the boundaries of home and work, foreigners, most of whom are white, have flooded the Dominican Republic town of Cabarete with their laptops and flip flops. Their arrival has displaced Dominicans who have been pushed out as rents rise. palabra. has the story here.

🏫 Okla. superintendent continues attack on Tulsa Public Schools: Ryan Walters is the school superintendent for the state of Oklahoma. He has called Tulsa Public Schools, the state’s largest school district, “uniquely bad,” and has recommended the removal of the district’s superintendent, Deborah Gist. Read more here from The Oklahoma Eagle.

📗 New travel app maps safe spaces: Lavender Book is “a community-driven platform built for the Black Queer, Black Trans, and Black Gender Non-Binary communities.” The National Black Justice Coalition and Out In Tech joined forces to create the app, which crowdsources information to help users travel safely and “spread the word about spaces where people can be themselves.” Read more here from PushBlack.

💰 Private prison revenues skyrocket on ICE contracts: Revenues of private prisons GEO Group and CoreCivic have soared in the last three years, a new analysis from the American Civil Liberties Union found. Documented has more.

✊ The WGA isn’t backing down: Nearly 100 days after declaring a strike, the Writers Guild of America remains unwavering in its commitment to securing a fair contract for its 11,000 members, making it clear last week that the union would not end the strike until its terms are met. Read more from Prism.

💔 TikTok revives search for girl missing since 2004: The day before her 5th birthday, Sofia Juarez went missing. Eighteen years later, a TikTok video reignited the search for her. Immigrantly podcast host Saadia Khan unpacks the case and how its yearslong lack of media attention Juarez is a symptom of “Missing White Girl Syndrome.” 🎧 Listen to the full episode.

🕳️ Detroit’s citywide sinkhole dilemma: In Detroit, sinkholes are practically an everyday occurrence. City officials told Outlier Media they are investigating more than 300 sinkholes as of late last month. Read more.

⚖️ Former President Donald Trump pleads not guilty. What happens now?: Tim Golden, a professor at Whitman College, joined Wake Up With WURD this week to talk about former President Donald Trump’s ongoing legal troubles. 🎧 Listen to the full interview.

🤽🏿From broken leg to polo pro: When Messan Moore broke his leg as a sophomore in high school, he spent a lot of time in the pool as part of his rehab. It was there that he was approached by the school’s water polo coach to attend a practice. Messan fell in love with the sport and is now heading to Germany to play professionally.

Black Voice News has his story

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🐎 Haitian American social worker brings equine therapy to Detroiters: Sabrina Cesaire is one of roughly 3,700 people of Haitian ancestry who call Michigan home. After the pandemic, she relocated to Detroit from Brooklyn and started an equine therapy business to help her new community heal. Read more here from The Haitian Times.

👏🏾 Celebrating International Day of the World’s Indigenous People: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, commemorated every Aug. 9, recognizes the achievements and contributions of Indigenous people while highlighting the challenges many Indigenous communities face. Read more here from Native News Online.

🌱 Cultivating connection through community gardens: There is a vibrant network of community gardens in New York City. Epicenter-NYC recently spoke with Isak Mendes, the deputy director of NYC Parks’ GreenThumb program, about how these gardens are fostering connections in the city. Read more here.

🎙️ “Great Grief” podcast moves to Scalawag: Later this month, Nnenna Freelon will bring her podcast “Great Grief!” to Scalawag. Nnenna will bring listeners along on her grief journey following the deaths of her husband, architect Philip Freelon, and her younger sister. Learn more 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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