Safe, happy and free: does Finland have all the answers?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/safe-happy-and-free-does-finland-have-all-the-answers

Jon Henley

The Guardian

12 February 2018

Text / 1500-3000 Words

In the past 150 years, Finland has gone from famine-ridden to renowned as one of the world’s strongest democracies with leading global rankings in health, education, and innovation. Culture is key to this transformation. Finns are both self-reliant and highly cooperative with a long history of putting independence, freedom, and opportunity for all people front and center in policymaking.

Reconciliation: A Tale of Two Seas

https://kerningcultures.com/reconciliation-a-tale-of-two-seas

Hebah Fisher

Razan Alzayani

Lilly Crown

Kerning Cultures

27 August 2016

Multi-Media / Over 15 Minutes

Sectarian conflict in Bahrain has torn friends and families apart, splitting the country into Sunni versus Shi’a. To soften the divisions, Bahrain Foundation for Reconciliation and Civil Discourse has hosted at least one event every month since its founding in 2012, inviting people from all ideologies to participate. These events include dialogue dinners, seminars, and even exchange trips to Northern Ireland and South Africa to learn about reconciliation experiences in those countries.

Two words for Hillary if she wants to connect with the financially struggling: “Postal banking”

https://www.salon.com/2016/02/28/two_words_for_hillary_if_she_wants_to_connect_with_the_financially_struggling_postal_banking

Gail Cornwall

Salon

28 February 2016

Text / 800-1500 Words

Postal banking used to be the norm in the United States, just as it is throughout Europe, helping poor and immigrant families save money, transfer funds, and even get small loans. The model is ripe for a comeback. Today, check cashers and payday lenders slap big fees on services that could easily be provided - without a profit-seeking motive - through the postal system infrastructure.

Jordan's young protesters say they learned from Arab Spring mistakes

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2018/0605/Jordan-s-young-protesters-say-they-learned-from-Arab-Spring-mistakes

Taylor Luck

Christian Science Monitor

5 June 2018

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Protesters opposing a proposed income tax hike in Jordan stayed away from polarizing language and avoided proposing structural changes to the political system, a shift away from rhetoric used during the Arab Spring. “This is a Jordanian movement for the core causes that affect all Jordanians: taxes, unemployment, and corruption,” said Mohammed Hussein, a 26-year-old protester. “We do not want a group to hijack this movement for their own agendas.”

Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/01/magazine/climate-change-losing-earth.html

Nathaniel Rich

The New York Times Magazine

1 August 2018

Multi-Media / Over 3000 Words

In the late 1970s to late 1980s, activists, scientists, and politicians began to address the climate change crisis. For a decade, they attempted to ask the U.S. to commit to an international agreement to reduce emissions, and they almost succeeded. “In a single decade, they turned a crisis that was studied by no more than several dozen scientists into the subject of Senate hearings, front-page headlines and the largest diplomatic negotiation in world history.”

Hole in the Fence

https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/border-trilogy-part-1

Matt Kielty

Latif Nasser

Tracie Hunte

Bethel Habte

WNYC

23 March 2018

Radio / Over 15 Minutes

In the 1980s the Mexican economy falls and a surge of undocumented immigrants begin crossing the Rio Grande river into El Paso, TX. Border Patrol agents begin stopping and questioning high school students near the border in Bowie High School. After one of the high school teachers finds out, the students began to organize, eventually suing border patrol for infringing on their constitutional rights. Ultimately, the high school students win a landmark civil rights case. “We couldn’t believe we took on the federal government and won.”

How Denver's Disability Activists Transformed the City

https://www.5280.com/2018/06/how-denvers-disability-activists-changed-the-city

Natasha Gardner

5280 - The Denver Magazine

1 July 2018

Text / Over 3000 Words

Disability activists have used nonviolent direct action for decades, including lying in the street to protest inaccessible public transit and crawling up the steps of the U.S. Capital to support the Americans with Disabilities Act. “We have never gone out a door that we do not have a solution for,” says ADAPT member Dawn Russell. “That’s ADAPT 101.”

A Pop-Up Pencil Museum Underlines a History that Has Almost Been Erased

https://hyperallergic.com/451616/jackie-mock-the-pencil-museum-richmond-terrace-staten-island

Allison Meier

Hyperallergic

13 August 2018

Text / Under 800 Words

Commemorating the nearly forgotten history of one of New York City’s first factories, Jackie Mock’s installation “The Pencil Museum” places items related to the history of Eberhard Faber’s pencil company in outdoor vitrines. This installation is part of Art In the Parks, a series of public art installations placed in parks that are often without cultural programming.

Native Language Schools Are Taking Back Education

https://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/native-language-schools-are-taking-back-education-20180419

Abaki Beck

Yes! Magazine

19 April 2018

Text / 800-1500 Words

One night Jessie Little Doe Baird had a dream. Her ancestors told her it was time to bring back the Wôpanâak language to her community. The dream helped launch the the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project, which later led to the Mukayuhsak Weekuw preschool. 20 students are enrolled and the entire curriculum is in the Wôpanâak language.

Chicano Artists Challenge How We Remember the Alamo

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-chicano-artists-challenge-remember-alamo

Josh Feola

Artsy

9 July 2018

Text / 800-1500 Words

A San Antonio art exhibition challenges the prevalent myth that the Alamo was a selfless Anglo sacrifice for independence by using historical records, past Chicano art, and contemporary art to show the battle was to protect slavery in Texas. The artwork celebrates Chicago justice and connects racism and xenophobia of the past with modern political narratives. The exhibit also elevates overlooked historical facts and underrepresented voices while confronting America’s history of racial and colonial oppression, a battle that is far from complete.