URL Weekly 8/4

Next-level reporting. Innovative Black & Brown publishers.

Friday, August 4, 2023

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

Subscribe.

Today is Friday, and we’re highlighting stories from across the URL Media network about the high cost of staying healthy in the U.S., a Russian DJ who is starting fresh in New York City, and the fever dream aesthetics of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”

A new school year is right around the corner, but this year could look drastically different with teacher shortages, changing curriculums and the latest push to ban DEI initiatives. In tomorrow’s newsletter, we’re taking a look at the changing education landscape. — Alicia Ramirez

Uplift. 🙌🏼 Respect. 💯 Love. 💛

🌡️ What exactly is a cooling center?: With much of the U.S. still reeling from record-breaking heat, cities across the U.S. have opened up cooling centers, but what exactly is a cooling center? Epicenter-NYC recently visited three locations to learn more. Read more here.

🏛️ Former President Donald Trump indicted for Jan 6: Temple University professor Linn Washington Jr. joined Wake Up With WURD this week to talk about the latest indictment of former President Donald Trump, which charges him with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against the rights of citizens, and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding. 🎧 Listen to the full interview here.

📦 UPS averts strike with tentative deal: UPS and the Teamsters have reached a tentative deal on a contract that would affect 340,000 UPS workers, narrowly avoiding a strike that would have severely hampered package delivery service in the country. Get the full story here from Prism.

🍃 Recreational marijuana is now legal in Minnesota: As of Tuesday, recreational marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older to use and possess in Minnesota, making it the 23rd state in the country to legalize cannabis for recreational use. Sahan Journal, in partnership with MPR News, has the story here.

🥼 Students partner with researchers to address air pollution: A group of researchers have partnered with students from a New York City high school to study air quality in their community so they can address environmental injustices and pursue broader legislative change. Read more here from palabra.

🏥 Staying healthy in the US is a cost many can’t afford: More than half of Californians reported skipping or delaying health care due to cost in the past 12 months, according to a survey conducted in 2022, leading to worse health outcomes. Read more here from Black Voice News.

⚖️ Will justice prevail for race massacre survivors?: After Tulsa County District Judge Caroline Wall dismissed the survivors’ case for reparations, the question remains whether there is any hope for justice for the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The Oklahoma Eagle has the story here.

🚨 Why is there a war on Black unhoused people?: Unhoused people are statistically more likely to be victims of violence, but many politicians and news outlets tend to use Black unhoused folks with mental illnesses and disabilities as scapegoats. PushBlack has more here.

🛫 Leaving the American dream behind: A growing number of Latino are seeking to rediscover their roots and forge new lives in Latin American and Caribbean countries. In this episode of The Pulso Podcast, three people talk about their life-changing decision to leave the American dream behind. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

🇮🇳 Unraveling Partition 1947: Untold stories of shared humanity: The 1947 Indian partition was one of the most colossal migrations in recorded history, leaving a devastating toll in its wake. In this week’s Immigrantly episode, Neha Aziz talks about the podcast she started to shed light on the forgotten stories of this historic event. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

🇭🇹 US praises Kenya’s proposal for Haitian intervention: U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken praised Kenya for its proposal to lead a multinational armed force in Haiti, but the proposal still needs to go through the resolution process at the United Nations before armed forces can be sent. The Haitian Times has the story here.

🗽 DJ flees Russia, finds community in NYC: Miloslav Chemodanov is just one of hundreds of LGBTQ+ Russians who have fled their homeland since the Ukraine invasion began. Last year, the Moscow native found his way to Brooklyn, where he hopes to start fresh.

Documented has his story here

.

🙏🏻 Remembering Sinéad O’Connor: Sinéad O’Connor, Irish singer-songwriter who was known for her iconic shaved head and outspokenness both off- an onstage, including her live-televised protest against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church on Saturday Night Live, died last week at the age of 56. Native News Online has more here.

📚 Our Body Politic’s summer book club: In this week’s episode of Our Body Politic, host Farai Chideya revisits past conversations she’s had with three authors — Danyel Smith, Tiya Miles, and Carmen Rita Wong. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

🏮 After demolition, memories of Detroit’s Chinatown endure: Detroit’s former Chinatown in the Cass Corridor was not big, but it meant a lot to the people who lived and worked there. It also means a lot to their descendants, including Sandra Lee, the granddaughter of one of the early owners of Shanghai Cafe. Outlier Media has her story here.

🎀 It’s Barbie’s world, and we’re all just living in it: A lot has been said and written about Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” but this review by Virginia Walcott for Scalawag finds a way to let the film speak to larger truths while also simply enjoying the fever dream aesthetics of it all. “At the end of the day, the Barbie movie is a giddy and harsh reminder of what this monolith of a brand really did—a lot of bullshit, nothing real, and yes, of course, lots of genuine happiness and wonder,” she writes. Read the full review 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