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Mississippi: Local Groups offer financial aid to black businesses shunned by federal stimulus

Aallyah Wright

June 24, 2020 |

Black Star News |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Mississippi

Black businesses in Mississippi are receiving a financial boost from a nonprofit that seeks to level the playing field for rural African-Americans in the state who have historically been overlooked when it comes to federal aid. Higher Purpose Co is a black-led economic justice nonprofit that has raised $400,000 for entrepreneurs and has received over 2,500 applicants. The nonprofit has given up to $5,000 to small businesses with 20 or fewer employees.

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9 Departments and Multiple Infractions for One New Jersey Police Officer

Rukmini Callimachi

June 24, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Woodlynne, New Jersey

New Jersey’s responses to police misconduct offer stark lessons in how certain failures can allow troubled officers to hop from job to job undetected. The state lacks a central database of police misconduct and remains one of only five states that cannot revoke an officer’s credentials because of performance. In one case, an officer with serial failures at nine departments, involving 16 incidents in which people he arrested got injured, the red flags that should have been raised never were, allowing him to mistreat residents of majority-Black neighborhoods despite a record indicating racism and brutality.

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In Germany, Confronting Shameful Legacy Is Essential Part of Police Training

Katrin Bennhold Melissa Eddy

June 23, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany

To prevent its police forces from ever again being turned into militarized and politicized tools of an authoritarian state, Germany requires all police trainees to visit former Nazi concentration camps and learn in detail how the Nazi regime used police as a tool. Though the historical comparisons to American policing of racial minorities is not equivalent, the explicit effort to break from a shameful past as a mode of cultural change is instructive. Other reforms include strict separation of police and military and a decentralized structure to keep unchecked power out of the hands of a single agency.

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Mural project brought Black voices to a shuttered State Street

Will Cioci

June 23, 2020 |

Wisconsin Watch |

Photojournalism |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Madison, Wisconsin

A “rapid response” mural project transformed shuttered storefronts with vibrant messages of pride, perseverance, anger, justice, and unity. The project was funded by Arts in Public Places Looking Forward, a new organized formed to support artists impacted by Covid-19. An open call was posted for interested artists, and the project prioritized artists who had been affected by racial violence and injustice. More than 100 commissioned murals, and many more works of graffiti and public art, focused on support for the Black Lives Matter movement or called on an end to police misconduct.

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Minneapolis theater community uses stagecraft skills to support businesses of color in the aftermath of protests

Ashley Vaughan

June 23, 2020 |

CNN |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

University Rebuild brings together theater members in Minneapolis who are not working due to Covid-19 to use their skills in support of the Black Lives Matters movement by helping communities clean up, make repairs, and create infrastructure to gather safely. Volunteers, numbering more than 100 within the first week, used set design and construction skills to help around 200 businesses impacted by protests following the killing of George Floyd. Windows and doors are boarded up and then prepped for murals painted by local artists and leftover materials were used to build stages for Juneteenth celebrations.

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How tech is tackling wildlife trafficking

Richard Kenny

June 23, 2020 |

BBC |

Radio |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Cambodia

Three examples of new science behind successful efforts to prevent or punish the poaching of protected wildlife starts with PAWS: Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security, an artificial intelligence tool that helped officials in Cambodia predict where poachers would set snares. In an undisclosed location in East Africa, another form of AI powers a miniature trail camera that can detect human activity and alert rangers to rush in for arrests. And Kenya prosecuted four cases of pangolin trafficking by using a new method of lifting fingerprints from the poached animals' precious scales.

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In Seattle, Protests Over Racial Equity Turn to Land Ownership

Gregory Scruggs

June 23, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Over 1000 community members gathered to demand officials keep a 2016 promise to give a vacant publicly-owned fire station to the Africatown Community Land Trust. The station is in a historically Black and quickly gentrifying neighborhood and the trust wants to turn it into a resource center to develop the next generation of Black entrepreneurs. As citywide protests for racial equality spread, the city abruptly agreed to turn it over. The group also wants more unused properties turned over to Black community ownership and for the city to develop an anti-gentrification land acquisition fund.

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Defund police? Some cities have already started, investing in mental health instead

Lindsay Schnell

June 22, 2020 |

USA Today |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Less than one month into its use of a crisis intervention team to handle mental health calls in place of the police, Denver’s one-year STAR pilot project has been flooded with calls and already has achieved success in cases where police presence could have been a hindrance. Like many cities modeling new programs on the successful, long-running CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon, Denver is making “defund the police” a reality with investments in mental health services. Empathic dialog in place of a police presence can lead to peaceful outcomes for people of color afraid of police.

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How 12 Teens Who'd Never Met Before Organized Honolulu's Black Lives Matter Protest

Suevon Lee

June 22, 2020 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Honolulu, Hawaii

Twelve Honolulu high school students, who had only ever met online, used social media to organize a Black Lives Matter protest that drew over 10,000 people. The teens used online forums to communicate about their goals for the protest and also to provide details to the public regarding the march's route, reminders to wear masks, remain peaceful, and abide by city laws. The teens also enlisted the support of established organizations to provide volunteers and bring hand sanitizer, water bottles, face masks, and bullhorns. The result was an entirely peaceful and emotionally stirring protest march and rally.

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Why Japan's Jobless Rate Is Just 2.6% While the U.S.'s Has Soared

Ben Dooley Hisako Ueno

June 20, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Japan

Japan's unemployment has barely grown during the COVID-19 crisis, thanks in large part to a business culture that prizes employees' interests over short-term profits. Much of the country's economy remained open in the pandemic's early months. But the jobless picture was aided even more by policies based on a tradeoff between ordinarily high demands on workers in return for job security. The same policies have produced a tight job market that can make companies risk averse in their hiring. But the net effect during the crisis has been much less economic pain inflicted on workers.

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