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

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  • 19th Amendment: The six-week 'brawl' that won women the vote

    Three generations of activists marched, protested, lobbied, and campaigned for more than seven decades to win the right to vote for American women. In 1920, national and local activists worked to convince Tennessee legislators to support the 19th amendment and become the 36th and final state needed to ratify it. Local suffragists were the most visible forces, lobbying their representatives to support the amendment, while national activists built alliances, identified legislators known to take bribes, and exerted political pressure at all levels of government, including among presidential candidates.

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  • What Vermont and Its History Might Teach the Nation About Handling the Coronavirus

    Vermont has seen very few cases of COVID-19 compared to its neighboring states after implementing early preparedness protocols. While part of the success could be due to the small and homogeneous population of the state, the credit also goes to the governor ceding communications to health care officials and local media suspending comments on coronavirus-related pieces to mitigate the spread of misinformation.

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  • How Lightfoot and housing activists reached an uneasy détente in the battle for Woodlawn's future

    After tense negotiations and protests, the Coalition for a CBA (Community Benefits Agreement) and the mayor of Chicago agreed to an ordinance guaranteeing a percentage of affordable housing for tenants making below 50% of median income. The coalition expects gentrification to accelerate due to the nearby $500 million Obama Presidential Center, making housing unaffordable for current residents. In addition to negotiations, the coalition organized a blockade of the mayor’s office and set up a “tent city” to emphasize their message. Not all residents want the ordinance and neither side got everything they want.

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  • Community peacemakers in Chicago offer a proven alternative to policing

    Nonviolence Chicago uses street-outreach workers to mediate disputes and connect residents of violence-prone neighborhoods to needed services. Its work, amounting to tens of thousands of contacts per year with people involved in violence, has contributed to efforts that reduced homicides and nonfatal shootings in the Austin neighborhood by nearly half from 2016 to 2019. By replacing the police with former gang members and others with street credibility, and working with both victims and shooters, Nonviolence Chicago wins the trust of residents.

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  • ‘When Someone Hires Me, They Get the Boss Herself'

    A new model for cooperatives guarantees a living wage for house cleaners, removing the uncertainty and exploitation typically associated with the gig economy. Up & Go is an app that brings entrepreneurs together as owners of the cooperative - sharing offices and customer service representatives. Wages for their work have almost doubled in comparison to the jobs they found through fliers. Training has also given workers the knowledge to stay safe in addition to keeping their clients from exposure during the pandemic.

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  • Black lives matter, LGBTQ groups find common ground in fight against police brutality

    Black Lives Matters and LGBTQ protests, set to take place on the same day, merged into a single much larger march demanding civil rights. Racism in the LGBTQ community and homophobia in the Black community have previously led to divides, but people who are members of both the Black and LGBTQ communities have advocated inclusivity and broad representation. Both groups have created space to question how multiple oppressions work in society and where there is overlap between the two. Ultimately, members were able to find common ground advocating against police brutality and systemic discrimination.

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  • The remote British village that built one of the fastest internet networks in the UK

    A village in the UK didn't have access to internet, so the community joined together to build the infrastructure for broadband in their area. Although "building resilient, fibre-fed networks in rural areas" wasn't easy or cheap, it has made a difference, especially during the pandemic, in helping the community feel less isolated.

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  • When working for justice, the promotora model builds power in communities even during a pandemic

    The New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia (NSM) adjusted its promotora model of organizing, which relies on neighbor-to-neighbor interaction to assess community needs, due to Covid-19. The immigrant justice nonprofit now runs zoom meetings and phone banks to talk with hard hit immigrant communities. NSM, fundraising with a coalition of 40 other groups, also provides financial support to immigrant families who cannot access federal aid. They gave money to 150 families, with 100 more on the waitlist. They hired a few laid off community members and try to give promotores some money, but funding is limited.

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  • The housing policy that's turning back gentrification

    A "right-to-purchase" policy has enabled nonprofits to purchase residential buildings in gentrified neighborhoods in order to prevent the displacement of those relying on rent-controlled housing. Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) is a Bay Area nonprofit leading the cause to counter gentrification and prevent developers from purchasing residential buildings that house low and moderate-income households. MEDA has purchased and managed 32 buildings and is one of fewer than 10 nonprofits in the area that exercise the "right-to-purchase" policy.

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  • Keeping safe while serving, church groups tackle pandemic and protests

    After receiving a call from the local hospital saying they needed help in containing the spread of coronavirus, members of Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Missouri began sewing masks for those in low-income and minority neighborhoods. The church is now part of a larger movement known as Masks for the People that helps distribute masks to "incarcerated people, essential workers and minority communities, all of whom are more likely to be hospitalized with coronavirus, according to the CDC."

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