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

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  • This library lets you borrow people instead of books. It just may help bridge our bitter divisions

    Human Library is a nonprofit learning platform that allows people to borrow “human books” instead of books. Each person represents a group that faces prejudice or stigmas because of their lifestyle, ethnicity, beliefs, or disability. The group has held in-person and online events in over 80 countries where participants can ask difficult questions that they might feel embarrassed to ask otherwise. The experiences encourage empathy and are nonpartisan. The library has over 1,000 “human books” who speak over 50 languages and has provided speakers for major corporations conducting diversity trainings.

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  • Why Albuquerque's latest experiment in policing doesn't involve officers

    Albuquerque established a new city department, Albuquerque Community Safety, that handles some of the 200,000 calls to 911 every year for a range of low-level, non-violent problems that don't require a police response. Since its launch in August 2021, the department has fielded just two teams of behavioral health specialists on call during the day. The city plans to expand the team's hours and responsibilities, though some are uneasy about exposing the unarmed workers to the potential for violence. The city has a long history of police shootings of mentally ill people, and ACS is meant to curb that threat.

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  • Meet the amazing people rewriting the narrative about LGBTQ youth homelessness

    The Ali Forney Center is the largest of several organizations across the country serving LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness. It has seventeen sites and serves about 2,000 young people a year, nearly half of whom come from out of state. In addition to setting people up with stable housing, the drop-in center serves daily meals and offers showers and laundry. Advocacy programs and case managers help the youth find permanent jobs, further their education, or put funds aside to secure stable long-term housing. They also offer counseling services, support groups, and temporary employment for many young people.

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  • A record number of cities used ranked-choice voting this week. Will it make elections more inclusive?

    Ranked-choice voting has been adopted by a record number of municipalities. The system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, and votes for the bottom candidates are reallocated to the voters second choice until one candidate wins a majority. The system has expanded opportunities for independent and third-party candidates to win elections and, in some jurisdictions, has led to greater numbers of people of color and women winning elected office.

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  • In Portsmouth police reforms, some see 'model' for other communities

    Residents, community leaders, and the Police Commission came together to instate police reforms. Data will now be collected from every police stop of a civilian to provide a better understanding of who is being stopped and how that effects the entire criminal justice system.

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  • Taking Mental Health Crises Out of Police Hands

    Until Oakland joins the list of cities sending counselors and social workers on emergency calls concerning mental health crises, a grassroots program called Mental Health First is diverting a small number of emergencies from police involvement to a community-based response. Hundreds of volunteers, many with their own experiences with mental illness and crises, answer dozens of calls per month in which they de-escalate, counsel, and direct people to needed services – all without the threat that a misunderstood person could be harmed by police untrained in correctly handling such crises.

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  • How a Group of Black Doctors Got Philadelphia Vaccinated

    More than half of Philadelphia’s Black residents were vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine due to the efforts of the Black Doctors Consortium: A group of health-care professionals that was present within the community through mobile-testing sites, general health checkups, and a presence that built trust during the pandemic. When the vaccine became available the Black Doctors Consortium was able to draw large numbers of people to their vaccination site.

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  • Building a just energy business future in Detroit

    WeSolar makes solar power accessible to low-income residents by building and investing in community-solar farms and signing residents up for credits from investor-owned utilities. The startup, the first community solar business led by a Black woman, saves customers as much as $250 on their utility bills by signing up for community solar. Convincing residents, many of whom have had bad experiences with predatory utility schemes, requires working with church and community groups to earn trust. Community solar also requires legislation that allows for shared renewable energy projects.

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  • Plagued by fighting and other disturbances, RCSD reconsiders police presence

    During the 2020 social justice protests, Rochester city school leaders quickly acted to remove police officers from the schools. A long-time goal of school-discipline reformers, ending the use of school resource officers was meant to create openings for responses to student violence other than arrest or suspension. Eighteen months later, the school superintendent sought to increase a police presence in schools in light of a rise in fights among students. Reform advocates accused the district of failing to follow through with effective alternatives to the punitive responses to discipline problems.

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  • Dozens of states have tried to end qualified immunity. Police officers and unions helped beat nearly every bill.

    Fifteen months after Colorado became the first state to strip law enforcement officers of their legal immunity from civil lawsuits for misconduct on the job, only one lawsuit has been filed over a notorious incident and no real evidence has materialized that police department staffing will be gutted by resignations or recruiting problems. The 2020 social justice protest movement inspired dozens of proposed laws to end the practice called qualified immunity. All but Colorado's bill failed, based on dire warnings from police unions. The Colorado law exposes officers to damages up to $25,000.

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