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

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  • How a Spanish project keeps migrant mothers away from trafficking networks

    Women migrating to Spain from Sub-Saharan often fall prey to traffickers of sex workers and forced laborers, but gaps in aid to them exist because most migrants are young men traveling alone. Since 2018, the Ödos Project has provided shelter and counseling to women traveling with children, to give them a stable entry point in the country to lessen the risk of trafficking. The young women at Ödos often come with histories of gender-based discrimination and violence in their home countries, typically Ivory Coast and Guinea Conakry. Workshops include how to seek asylum.

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  • Transgender Pakistanis find solace in a church of their own Audio icon

    Pakistan's only church for transgender Christians has given its members the safety, acceptance, and joy they are often denied in the conservative, predominantly Muslim country. Called the First Church of Eunuchs – the name, considered derogatory by some, echoes the term for transgender women in South Asia – was formed by the country's only transgender lawyer, herself a Muslim, as a refuge for transgender Christians, who are often shunned, bullied, and abused by others, including other churches. The government recognized transgender as a third gender, but that has not changed all attitudes.

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  • Biden victory in hand, Black church get-out-the-vote workers assess the future

    Faith leaders from communities of color mobilized voters to support candidates and policies that empower Black and Brown people. Events such as “Souls to the Polls” and the coalition-run Black Church 75 initiative, registered new voters and urged them to the polls around issues such as police brutality and racial injustices. Support from Black church members is credited with helping elect Democratic candidates, including Democratic senators in Georgia, as well as passing ballot initiatives, such as Measure J in Los Angeles that would decrease police funding in favor of mental health and housing resources.

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  • New Orleans actively releases videos of police shootings. Is it paying off with trust?

    Once viewed as one of the nation's most brutal and corrupt police departments, New Orleans Police Department has earned steadily improving public support with a host of reforms. One reform that it took voluntarily, and in contrast with common practice in Louisiana, is to quickly release body-camera videos of police shootings and other uses of force. Though its effect is hard to untangle from other initiatives, video releases have become routine. In one case, a video prompted an official apology after proving rubber bullets were used against protesters. This helped lead to new restrictions on crowd control.

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  • Richmond art studio helps people with disabilities stay connected

    Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development provides classes and studio space for artists with disabilities. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization now offers six hours of daily virtual services to the 67 artists it serves, including sculpting, drawing, ceramics, and fashion making classes. Social activities, like bingo, cooking, meditation, and movement classes, are also offered online. The programming keeps the artists connected during the isolation of the pandemic and staff regularly text and call the artists who opt out of the virtual programming to maintain that connection.

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  • Revolutionizing Representation in Documentary: The Making of 'Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen'

    The production model of the documentary Disclosure prioritized diversity, inclusion, and empowering transgender people both on screen and behind the scenes. Over 120 trans people contributed to the film. Nine trans Fellows, many of whom have since made their own films, received stipends, mentoring, hands-on training, and networking opportunities. Trans representation behind the camera increased interviewee openness and all interviewees were compensated for their time. While a controversial practice in documentary film making, it was implemented to avoid exploitative and extractive storytelling practices.

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  • Worker-led programs like Milk with Dignity are key to protecting dairy farm workers

    A first-of-its-kind worker-led program in Vermont is helping dairy migrant workers to "hold farmers, corporations, and suppliers in the dairy industry accountable for the rights of workers in their supply-chains through a legally-binding agreement." Although not all dairy farm operations have joined in the program as participants, it has been enacted on 64 farms and helped bolster wages and housing situations for migrant farmers.

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  • Stopped: Profiling the Police Town Hall

    Missouri requires police to record the race of drivers from every traffic stop, a response meant to expose and ultimately reduce racial profiling in law enforcement. But, 20 years after that law took effect, Black drivers are 95% more likely to be stopped by police than white drivers, the biggest gap since the state started collecting the data. The policy was rendered meaningless because the data are collected inconsistently, high rates of noncompliance with the policy go unpunished, and individual officers' records go uncounted. As a result, there's no accountability for racist traffic enforcement.

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  • From prison to star employee

    Frustrated by a tight labor market, two locally owned Grand Rapids employers discovered the virtues – economic, not just moral – of hiring formerly incarcerated people, whose gratitude for an opportunity translated into excellent performance and less risk of adding to rapid turnover. The employers helped guarantee success by paying for support services that made post-prison transitions easier. The employers then talked hundreds of other local employers into doing the same. Besides providing a business advantage, the program changes lives and is evidently contributing to much lower rates of recidivism.

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  • In Denver, Unarmed Mental Health Workers Respond To Hundreds Of 911 Calls Instead Of Police

    Since Denver launched its Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program in June, it has handled more than 600 calls for help with a mental health clinician and a paramedic instead of sending police officers. Modeled on Eugene, Oregon's CAHOOTS program, STAR is based on the notion that low-level emergencies involving mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse do not require police responses, and in fact can more often end peacefully by removing police from the equation. STAR started small, with one van on duty during weekday hours. Police support the move, and often call in STAR for assistance.

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