What's New?
a lot actually.
I’ve been incredibly busy, but that doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention. Here are a few stories on my radar that I thought were worth sharing— some old and some new!
Health
From the New York Times: A Woman is Cured of H.I.V Using a Novel Treatment. “She’s the third person ever to be cured. Researchers announced that the new approach holds the potential for curing more people of racially diverse backgrounds.”
From The 19th: North Carolina no longer requires a prescription for birth control. “The state joined more than a dozen other states in allowing pharmacists to prescribe contraceptives, but access still depends in part on whether insurance companies will cover the cost.”
From The 19th: Senators seek new blood donor rules for gay and bisexual men. “Nearly two dozen lawmakers urged the FDA to update “its discriminatory blood donor deferral policies for men who have sex with men.”
From Forbes: Billionaire Mark Cuban Opens Online Pharmacy To Provide Affordable Generic Drugs. “Billionaire investor Mark Cuban launched an online pharmacy Thursday that offers more than 100 generic drugs at an affordable price with a goal of being “radically transparent” in its price negotiations with drug companies.”
Immigration/Refugee Policy
From The 19th: Afghan Women describe resettling in the United States. “Since August, the U.S. has helped more than 76,000 Afghan refugees resettle across the country. Now, many are turning their focus toward rebuilding their lives.”
From Mother Jones: More Immigrants Are Waiting in Legal Limbo Than Ever Before. “New data shows a record 1.6 million cases in the immigration court pipeline.”
From The Marshall Project: Is It Time To Remove Immigration Courts From Presidential Control? “Calls grow to create an independent court system that protects immigration judges from political pressure.”
Food + Land
From The Counter: Lone Star legacies: Black Ranchers in Texas tend cattle, land, and family history most of all.
From Civil Eats: Can Farmers Help Each Other Navigate Mental Health Crises? “The pandemic precipitated a new mental health crisis in ag. Programs have some federal funding—for now.”
From Civil Eats: Saving Heirloom Seeds Can Protect Crop Diversity. “Beyond seed banks, saving seeds and cultivating local varieties may help feed us in our climate-changed future—and preserve them for future generations.”
From Civil Eats: Pandemic Disruptions Created an Opportunity for Organic School Meals in California. “A large Bay Area school district that serves low-income families is on its way to offering 100 percent organic food. It’s not alone.”
From Civil Eats: The Field Report: Can Lawuits RIght Historic Wrongs for Black Farmers?
From Civil Eats: Farmworkers Bear the Brunt of California’s Housing Crisis. “Despite $100 million in recent investments, many of the state’s 400,000 to 800,000 farmworkers live in cramped, unsafe conditions.” Read more here if you’re hungry for more!
From Civil Eats: Incarceration, Abolition, and Liberating the Food System. “Six food and agriculture organizers discuss the role of resistance, healing, and community in their work.”
From Southerly: As N.C poultry plants failed to curb COVID-19, Latina workers stood the gap. “With little to no protection from their employers or the state during the pandemic, a mother-daughter community health worker duo has helped launch and lead vaccination events.”
Justice
From the Marshall Project: How I Went From Gangster to Geek. “Prison forced me to be still and start my mental metamorphosis.”
From the Marshall Project: They Went to Prison as Kids. Now They’re on Death Row. “Fight clubs, solitary confinement and neglect make juveniles angrier and more violent.”
From Vox: The school shooting generation grows up. “After coming of age in a world wholly unprepared to deal with the aftermath of mass school shootings, an early wave of survivors is now in their 30s and 40s, grappling with the present.”
From Chalkbeat: Black girls graduate at the highest rates in Memphis schools.
From Capital B: Black Students fought to defund school police in LA and hire mental health counselors instead. “Now other students around the country want to follow their lead.”
From the Drift: Joke’s On Them. “The Democratic Party Meets Rural America”
From The Drift: “Justice at the Necessary Scale”. An Interview with Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò
Life
From Aeon: Hope is not Optimism. “Even when you know that prospects are grim, hope can help. It’s not just a feeling, but a way to step into the future”.
From the BBC World Service: A library where the books are people.
From The Los Angelos Times: He befriended his brother’s murderer. In each other, they found healing
From Believer Mag: An Interview with Andrew Garfield.
Poverty + Economics + Money ($)
From NPR: 3.7 million more kids are in poverty without the monthly Child Tax Credit, study says
From NPR: Why America Has Been So Stingy In Fighting Child Poverty
From the New York Times: Social Security Opens to Survivors of Same-Sex Couples Who Could Not Marry. “Challenging a policy that limited survivor’s benefits to married couples, even though some couples were legally barred from marriage, took years.”
Podcasts + Videos
HUD on the Breakfast Club:
One of my favorite episodes! ‘Who Do You Want Controlling Your Food?’
cover image by https://unsplash.com/@bank_phrom