Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 589 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • We can't vote in San Quentin prison. So we held a mock election

    October 28, 2020 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

    Two men incarcerated at San Quentin prison tell how the men incarcerated there held a mock presidential election, despite a pandemic-related lockdown and prison officials' failure to distribute ballots that had been sent to the prison. Using handwritten ballots, the "voters," denied their actual voting rights by the state, managed to cast 176 mock votes (heavily favoring Joe Biden) by distributing the ballots during limited time outside their cells. Voting gave the men the opportunity to express their views, not just by checking a box but by adding comments on their ballots.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Ballots Behind Bars

    October 24, 2020 |

    The Crisis Magazine |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

    Chicago Votes works to ensure access to voting for people awaiting trial in jail. In addition to registering thousands of voters, they helped pass a Cook County law designating the nation’s largest single-site detention facility as a polling place. This access enabled 1,850 people to cast their votes and about 600 people were able to take advantage of same-day registration and voting, which isn’t possible with traditional absentee ballot voting. Addressing jail-based disenfranchisement, which disproportionately impacts communities of color, gives people a voice in policies that directly impact them.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • To Recognize Misinformation in Media, Teach a Generation While It's Young

    October 23, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Media Literacy Now is a nonprofit aimed at combatting misinformation, especially on social media platforms, and lobbying for media literacy education in schools. The organization was started by Erin McNeill in 2013 and played a hand in the formation of 30 bills in 18 states. The organization also provides resources on its website, including toolkits for teachers to incorporate media literacy in their lessons, and templates for emails and letters people can send to their local officials in support of increased media literacy in schools.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Youth Vote Goes Virtual

    October 23, 2020 |

    Voices of Monterey Bay |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, California

    California Students Vote Project, a public-private partnership, encourages college students to vote. Covid-19-adjusted strategies include sending out multiple emails, using social media, and encouraging peer-to-peer contacts to inform students about how to register to vote and the ways they can actually cast their ballots. Group representatives also visit Zoom classrooms to share information and some students have organized virtual events, such as political trivia night, to foster student engagement. Over 65,000 California students have registered to vote since August, triple the number from all of 2016.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Botswana's Radical Experiment in National Unity

    October 23, 2020 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: Botswana

    Botswanans have deprioritized deeply held tribal identities, created a national identity, and found societal stability by using the practice of randomly assigning civil servants to different parts of the country. Sending the over 120,000 civil servants to work away from friends and family, immersed in a new culture, has led to intercultural exchanges, new friendships, and even many marriages that resulted in children whose parents belong to different tribes. Increasing contact across tribal groups led to thousands of new personal relationships, which reduced prejudices and created a shared national culture.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Midwestern Youth of Color Are Using Art and Culture to Build Their Political Power

    October 22, 2020 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States

    The Midwest Culture Lab consists of three organizations working to increase voter turnout among young people, especially young people of color. The partners work with artists, musicians, and other creative people to create messaging and campaigns that are culturally relevant and engage young people in civic participation. One partner, the Ohio Student Association, had artists create an ad that used relatable messaging about a criminal justice reform ballot measure to appeal to young people to vote. The ad brought in over 150 volunteers and contributed to doubling Ohio’s youth voter turnout from 2014 to 2018.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Latinos the targets of election disinformation – but activists are fighting back

    October 22, 2020 |

    The Guardian |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Civic and advocacy groups fight disinformation targeted at Latinx voters and conduct voter registration and education outreach. Voto Latino encourages young people to help older relatives spot disinformation and trained its staff to spot and report it to the watchdog group, Disinfo Defense League. Social media posts then flag the information as false. Personal relationships are an effective way to counter disinformation and also help encourage people to vote. Voto Latino alone has registered over 500,000 voters since mid-2019, more than the total amount since the organization began in 2004.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • These groups try to hack the vote – so that real criminals can't

    October 21, 2020 |

    The Christian Science Monitor |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Cyber security simulations are taking place across the country to help everyone, from government officials to journalists, to identify election-related cyber threats and coordinated disinformation campaigns and make plans to strengthen defenses against them. One company, Cybereason, holds simulation events, sometimes bringing together law enforcement officers from agencies including the Secret Service and FBI, to think through potential security threats and come up with corresponding solutions. Running through security breach simulations helps plan for a quick response to deal with the challenges.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • EdNext Podcast: Teaching the Declaration of Independence with a Video Game

    October 21, 2020 |

    Education Next |

    Podcast |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States

    Nationally, civic courses lack rigor, partly because few states require coursework in civics. A new video game called “Portrait of a Tyrant,” based on the Declaration of Independence, could change that. “Let’s gamify a story,” said Danielle S. Allen, director of the Democratic Knowledge Project. In this episode, the creators of the video game share the challenges that exist for creating civics curriculum and the way this game can bridge that game between students and history.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

  • Citizens' Assemblies let everyday people make important city decisions. Let's bring them to Philly.

    October 19, 2020 |

    The Philadelphia Citizen |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Citizens' assemblies, where a randomly selected representative sample of people work together to make decisions and find policy solutions to social issues, is an effective approach to decision-making that bridges polarization. It also minimizes the influence of special interests in decision making. America In One Room gathered 500 people in Texas to address topics such as immigration and healthcare, among others, and it showed that people tend to find common ground after deliberative discussions. Citizens’ assemblies have successfully informed policy decisions in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and France.

    Read More


    Go to Original Story

Go to All Solutions in Focus