August 2021

By Annie Reneau, Upworthy, August 19, 2021 Tony Hillery was living the high life, running a limousine company and wearing Prada suits, when the financial crisis of 2008 hit. He lost his business and lines of credit and felt like he was too old to start over. He kept reading about underfunded schools with no art, gym, or music—a sharp contrast to the private schools his kids had attended. So one day, he decided to take the subway to Harlem to see what he could do. "I couldn't have been more...

At some level, I have learned to accept that US immigration policy is racist. And at some level, I’ve learned to accept that it is “legal” for US immigration policy to be racist, at least from a Hobbesian perspective, which holds that the state can do whatever it wants in whatever lands it controls by force. This country has always had a “preferred” class of immigrants it wants to attract, while trying to stem the tide of those deemed undesirable by the white powers that be. We didn’t like...

By Summer Sewell, The Guardian, August 20, 2021 Black farmers throughout the south call Cornelius Blanding daily to ask when the money might come from the US Department of Agriculture . Updates aren’t coming any other way. Blanding and his staff at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives do their best to stay on top of a federal debt relief program that should have started to pay farmers in June. They field calls and answer questions with limited information from the USDA, knowing only that...

The most power is in the conversations and daily practices that occur each day. Each person’s self awareness and developing awareness of how trauma impacts behavior and relationships can provide an opportunity for healing and breaking the cycle of creating more trauma.

Founders of the Diaper Bank of Skagit County celebrate the adoption of their project by the United Way of Skagit County. On July 1 st ,2021 the United Way of Skagit County became the new home of the Diaper Bank of Skagit County . Founded by retired community members Calista and Dean Scott, the Diaper Bank is a Certified Diaper Bank Member of the National Diaper Bank Network, and one of more than 200 diaper banks across the nation and 8 in WA. DBSC became a non-profit in 2018 and reached a...

By Leah Wright Rigueur, The Atlantic, August 11, 2021 My first two children entered the world to the sound of my laughter—peals of uncontrollable laughter. When my third child was born on a cruelly hot night last summer in a sterile delivery room, his experience was no different. My reaction to birthing a child may have seemed bizarre to a besieged and battle-weary hospital staff in the midst of a pandemic, but I believe that my joy was a normal response to my scenario. Celebratory joy felt...

By Ana B. Ibarra, Cal Matters, August 16, 2021 Imperial County, tucked into the southeast corner of California, learned early on what it meant to be a COVID-19 hotspot. The virus bulldozed through the agricultural county last spring, then again in the winter. About one in six residents has been infected, and 745 people have died. But Imperial County has one statistic that is giving local health officials hope: 86% of its eligible population has been vaccinated with at least one dose. It’s...

As humans, we have a basic, primal need to belong. Belonging is defined as ‘the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group . It is when an individual can bring their authentic self to others, including friendships, family and work.’ Feeling disconnected, unimportant, or not cared about can translate into feelings of loneliness. This has led to much of the suffering our society is experiencing today. Cigna...

By Andrew Freedman, Axios, August 18, 2021 President Biden will nominate Charles F. Sams III to be the next director of the National Park Service, where, if confirmed by the Senate, he'll face the growing toll of global warming on the U.S. iconic park system, the White House stated Wednesday. Why it matters: Sams is of Native American heritage, and the Park Service has never been led by an enrolled tribal member before. In addition, the Park Service has not had a Senate-confirmed leader...

By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, The Washington Post, August 19, 2021 The Biden administration moved Thursday to grant 323,000 people who are severely disabled automatic federal student loan forgiveness to the tune of $5.8 billion, setting the stage for reforms to a process that is widely criticized as cumbersome and onerous. “The Department of Education is evolving practices to make sure that we’re keeping the borrowers first and that we’re providing relief without having them jump through...

By Jessica Perez and Abby Boshart, Housing Matters, August 18, 2021 Rent relief gained national attention last week, when the federal eviction moratorium lapsed before a new protection was enacted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for areas with high rates of COVID-19 spread. As of June, state and local rental assistance programs had distributed only around $3 billion of the more than $47 billion in federal funding allocated for emergency rental assistance (ERA). Although...

By JJIE Staff, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, August 19, 2021 Juvenile offenders participating in a 30-year-old project diverting youth from detention to community-based programs were less likely to cycle back into incarceration than those not enrolled in such projects, according to an evaluation recently released by the San Francisco organization launching that pioneering program. By comparison, 51.3% of youth in the diversion program and 73.7% of those on probation recidivated ,...