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

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 1123 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • How New Yorkers Stood Up to Amazon and Won

    When Amazon came close to establishing its second headquarters in Long Island City, the Queens borough of New York, community organizing successfully halted the development. Community leaders credit their success to a diverse group of organizations teaming up (like Queens Neighborhoods United and New York Communities for Change), politicians teaming up with the communities they represent, and quick mobilization.

    Read More

  • Can the political divide be mended by bringing rural and urban students together?

    The University of Chicago and Eureka College are teaming up to bring together college students from urban and rural Illinois to discuss political differences. As part of Bridging the Divide, community leaders from both settings have led tours of homeless shelters, job training sites, and immigration centers.

    Read More

  • ‘Now I Am Speaking to the Whole World.' How Teen Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Got Everyone to Listen

    Climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, has sparked global action. The 16-year-old has started marches totalling over 1.5 million people, continuous protests and strikes, and spoken to world leaders at events such as the U.N Climate Change Conference and the World Economic Forum. Her activism has had noticeable impacts, like a decline in flight travel in Sweden, and spurring youth activism on an international scale.

    Read More

  • Offering Childcare at City Meetings May Be Key to Diversifying Civic Engagement

    Research shows that city council meetings are dominated by older, male and longtime residents. One Mayor is trying to change that. Under the leadership of mayor of Svante Myrick, in Ithaca New York, the city council began to offer childcare during city council meetings. “We don’t think anyone else has done it.’ People are using it, and some are even hailing it for it’s inclusionary nature. “Now we’re starting to see new people at meetings. People are using the childcare service.”

    Read More

  • This group wants to unite hikers and hunters on literal common ground: public lands

    A group called Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, now 36,000 strong, is bringing together people from different political and ideological backgrounds over a common interest in the preservation and conservation of public lands and waters. Bucking stereotypes, the group spans the political spectrum, with 33% Independent, 23% Republican, 20% Democrat and 16% unaffiliated in a recent survey. The BHA's recent promotion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund shows that bipartisanship is possible.

    Read More

  • An Unusual Way to Bridge the Town-Gown Divide

    Ball State University and Muncie, Indiana, are forging an inventive town-gown partnership. In 2018, the school became the first public university to assume responsibility for the city's public schools. The transition has involved intentional community engagement and sparked community enthusiasm that had waned in recent decades and resulted in a dramatically declining school population.

    Read More

  • 'It changes the way you see everything': the shocking film about gerrymandering

    In a time of extreme division in American politics, one documentary is highlighting an issue both sides agree is an issue--gerrymandering. As contorted districts have made elections pointless in many Michigan elections, the grassroots group Voters Not Politicians, featured in a recent documentary Slay the Dragon, worked to establish an independent, public citizen's commission for redistricting.

    Read More

  • Extinction Rebellion succeeded where most climate protests fail

    Extinction Rebellion, a United Kingdom-based environmental group, has been using civil disobedience – blocking traffic, painting graffiti, or gluing themselves to trains – to increase discussion and action against the global climate crisis. Such disobedience has led to the leader of the UK’s Labour Party proposing one of their demands as legislation and a sharp spike in climate media coverage.

    Read More

  • 'Hate is always local': the Swedish city that said no to neo-Nazis

    The city of Kungälv, Sweden, with only 20,000 residents, developed a successful initiative to prevent the spread of neo-Nazis after the murder of a fourteen year-old anti-racist activist in 1995. Armed with the theory that "hate is always local," a local teacher created the Tolerance Project, held workshops with local teenagers and took them on trips to Holocaust sites. Now the "Kungälv model" is being practiced and adapted to local contexts around Sweden.

    Read More

  • How USA Today and its network of local papers prioritized investigative journalism

    Shrinking newspaper staffs that deprive communities of local news have struck the nation's largest newspaper chain, Gannett, as well. The company has responded by deploying limited resources toward stories in the public interest with the most potential impact, on such topics as hospital safety and government corruption. Local newspapers pool resources to do investigative-reporting joint projects, which then feed into the chain's national newspaper, USA Today. Some stories have inspired reform legislation.

    Read More