How a contested region became a model for multilingual coexistence

The Economist

August 22, 2020 |

The Economist |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Denmark

The border between Denmark and Germany was highly politicized and when it was set, Germans found themselves in Denmark and Danes found themselves in Germany. Each country is required to offer regional schools taught in the other language and some Germans have decided to send their children to Danish schools and vice versa. Over the years this has led to cultural exchanges and better relationships between the groups. It can be hard to convince Germans to learn Danish because there are just about 5.5 million native speakers, and young Danes now prefer to learn English over German.

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A culturally inclusive food bank is ‘Feeding el Pueblo'

Agueda Pacheco Flores

August 19, 2020 |

Crosscut |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Alimentando el Pueblo (Feeding el Pueblo) is a pop-up food bank, started in response to Covid-19, that offers food staples for Latinx dishes. A Mexican, Central American, and Caribbean food box option, with 12 lbs. of fresh food, is filled with food from local farmers and markets, and funded by a GoFundMe account. Families can get a box every two weeks and the food bank has given food to 198 families, or about 936 people. The culturally relevant food has been an important source of comfort and support for many community members, particularly people who are prohibited from accessing federal assistance.

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Why most top Foreign Office posts are held by women

The Economist

August 13, 2020 |

The Economist |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

More women are serving in top positions of the United Kingdom’s diplomatic corps with a female ambassador to the United States for the first time since the position was created in 1791. Women now hold about a third of Britain’s ambassadorships and the increase can be traced to several changes, including a public pledge to increase women in leadership positions. A reliable pipeline of women to fill the top spots was also nurtured, with nearly 60% of new foreign service employees now female. Grouping interviews forces management to see the big picture and diplomatic life has become more flexible for families.

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19 Volunteers Sharing an iPhone Are Trying to Support Incarcerated People Through COVID-19

Celeste Hamilton Dennis

August 13, 2020 |

TalkPoverty.org |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Beyond These Walls launched a crisis phone line to provide emotional support for LGBTQ+ people who are incarcerated and to hold prisons and jails accountable for their virus-containment practices. Trained volunteers have fielded 369 calls so far, more than a quarter of which concern fears that reporting virus symptoms could land people in solitary confinement. Beyond These Walls and its coalition partners can provide safety by letting jailers know their practices are being monitored.

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Challenge of archiving the #MeToo movement

Colleen Walsh

August 11, 2020 |

The Harvard Gazette |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library’s digital services team gathered and archived all the virtual material they could find related to the #MeToo movement. The social media-driven movement is now represented in the library’s online archive that contains more than 32 million tweets, 1,100 webpages, and thousands of articles. The team created a largely automated system to capture the content, including 71 hashtags, and a steering committee of historians, lawyers, and data experts helped work through the challenges of capturing a digital footprint. The data has already been examined to study aspects of the movement.

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Short on Money, Cities Around the World Try Making Their Own

Peter Yeung

August 07, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tenino, Washington

Complementary currencies are local alternatives to national currencies that help local economies when budgets are tight. Tenino prints “wooden dollars” and residents in need get up to $300/month to spend at local businesses from grocery stores to day cares. Cities across the US have reached out for advice on starting their own local currencies, which can take many forms including digital-only. There are 3,500-4,500 local currencies in 50 countries, including Brazil’s Maricá where it helped the under-resourced city build schools and hospitals. These currencies have no value outside of the local economy.

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'An awakening': the George Floyd protests spur surge in Black voter registration

Megan Botel Isaiah Murtaugh

August 07, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Advocacy organizations conducted voter outreach and registered new voters at Black Lives Matters protests on a scale not seen since the civil rights era. HeadCount, a voter-registration organization, created QR codes that anyone with a printer could put on protest signs. Other attendees could scan the codes with their smartphones to immediately register to vote. The group registered 14,898 new voters in June 2020, compared with 1,204 in June 2016. Political organizing at the summer’s protest events contributed to higher turnout in local and national elections, particularly among Black and Latino voters.

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Can the LBJ Women's Campaign School build a pipeline for women candidates?

Barbara Rodriguez

August 07, 2020 |

The 19th |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The LBJ Women’s Campaign School at the University of Texas at Austin provides nonpartisan support for women running for political office and seeks to recruit more center-right women into the pipeline of political candidates. The inaugural class had 50 women - 33 Democrats, 12 Republicans, and 5 Independents/Other. The group was racially diverse, 58% identified as women of color, but there is room for improvement when it comes to recruiting Republican women. The LBJ program received a financial award from the Women’s Public Leadership Network, which helps center-right women get involved in politics.

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Roanoke man creates group to unite the region's Black fathers

Taj Simmons

August 06, 2020 |

WSLS-TV |

Multi-Media |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Roanoke, Virginia

Black Father Families unites Black fathers to provide support and education, while also countering stereotypes that Black fathers are not as competent and/or are absent from their children’s’ lives, which is often internalized without realizing it. The Facebook page posts videos of Black fathers sharing their experiences and advice on fatherhood. The group also organized the Black Father Family Festival so fathers could meet in person. Now, the group supports men as they are trying to figure out how to talk with their children about the social issues and civil rights protests going on around the world.

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The birth of the Black is Beautiful movement

Precious Adesina

August 03, 2020 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS) kickstarted the Black is Beautiful movement with 1960s fashion shows elevating Black models with dark skin and full bodies, who agreed to keep their hair natural year-round. As events increased and photographs spread, and famous Black women adopted their style, natural hair became more normalized. The founders recently released a song called We Will Breath to empower black people to “take back control of the narrative surrounding their lives.” The group continues to inspire Black entrepreneurs, such as Rihanna, and encourages people to support Black businesses.

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