D.C. police recruits are learning about Black history, go-go music and half-smokes. Leaders think it will make them better officers.

Peter Hermann

May 29, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Unsuccessful at filling its police officer ranks with more people of color from the neighborhoods where they'll patrol, the D.C. police department takes its largely white recruit classes into those neighborhoods for lessons on local history and culture. Residents talk to the new officers about their need for safety but their fear and resentment of police abuses. They also educate them about local customs that outsiders might see as a threat until they have a deeper understanding of the culture.

Read More

Go to Original Story

UGA Multicultural Organizations Find Success With Drive-Ins for In-Person Events

Tylar Norman

April 27, 2021 |

Grady Newsource |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Athens, Georgia

To maintain community connections, University of Georgia’s Multicultural Services and Programs hosted socially-distanced drive-in events on UGA fields. The Vietnamese Student Association hosted its annual Night In Saigon, where attendees could watch the performances from their cars, with masks on if their windows were down. Over 200 people attended the Black Affairs Council’s BACYard Bash event celebrating Black culture. A COVID-19 committee walked around the event to ensure people wore masks and remained six feet apart. Food trucks served attendees to comply with food preparation restrictions.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Rababben Birni (2): Addini Ya Raba Mazauna Jos, Kwallon Kafa Tana Hadasu

Nathaniel Bivan

April 24, 2021 |

HumAngle |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Jos, Plateau State

Tare da yan wasan kungiyoyin kwallon kafa na “Reconciliation” (Sulhu), “Peace” (zaman lafiya), “Love” (Soyayya), “Humanity” (Mutuntaka) da “Forgiveness” (Yafiya); wadanda kungiyar “Face of Peace Global” ta shirya, sun fara kokarin cire duk wani tsoro da rikicin addini ya dasa a garin a tsawon lokaci. Bayan shekaru 18 ana rikici tsakanin musulmi da kiristoci ta yadda har mutane suka koma zama a mabanbanta garuruwa, kocinan kungiyoyin kwallon kafa sun hada yan wasan da aka cakudasu ta fuskar addini da makotaka.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Connections over controversy: criminal justice department and BSU team up to add BLM flag to display

Katarina Rothhorn

April 21, 2021 |

The North Wind |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Marquette, Michigan

Northern Michigan University's Black Student Union turned its unhappiness with the display on campus of a "thin blue line" flag into a series of deep and open conversations that led to a compromise and a new set of collaborations. The university's criminal justice department had put the flag on display. One BSU member approached the department chair to ask that it be removed. But that led to a long, respectful conversation, followed by meetings of students on both sides. A Black Lives Matter flag was added to the display and the two groups are planning a joint educational program on the issue.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Yadda Garuruwan Jos Ke Kokarin Hadin Kai Bayan Shekaru Cikin Rikici (1)

Nathaniel Bivan

April 20, 2021 |

HumAngle |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Jos

Tare da taimakon wata kungiya mai zaman kanta, al’ummar wasu garuruwa guda biyu da suka fada rikici a 2001 sun samu hanyar da za su zauna lafiya da juna. Wasu harare da mayar da martani da ya faru a tsakanin kiristocin unguwar Balkazai da kuma musulman unguwar Mai Damisa sun janyo asarar daruruwan rayuka da gidaje. Manyan da kungiyar ‘Youth Initiative Against Violence and Human Rights Abuse’ ta horar suna bawa matasa labaran zaman lafiya da ya wakana a Jos. Samarin da kungiyar ‘Jos Stakeholders for Peace’ ta horar kuma sun yarda su ajiye makamansu.

Read More

Go to Original Story

The Polarised City (2): Jos, Divided By Religion, United By Football

Nathaniel Bivan

April 19, 2021 |

HumAngle |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Jos, Plateau State

With team names like Reconciliation, Peace, Love, Humanity, and Forgiveness, the football league organized by Face of Peace Global has begun to chip away at the religious-based fears and hostility that tore their city apart for a generation. Following 18 years of sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians in which people settled into starkly separate zones, the football coaches recruited teams deliberately mixed across religious and neighborhood lines. Divisions did not dissolve instantly, but players say that over time they have grown to trust and like their teammates, small steps toward peace.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Inside the ‘TA to BA' Educator Fellowship: How One Rhode Island Initiative Is Elevating Experienced Paraprofessionals — and Creating a More Diverse Teacher Force

Asher Lehrer-Small

April 12, 2021 |

The 74 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Rhode Island

The "TA to BA" fellowship is Rhode Island program is helping veteran TAs become full-time teachers while diversifying the workforce. Through the program, fellows enroll in college classes and are able to present their lengthy classroom teaching experience and turn it into a certification, which will also allow them to be better compensated for their work. Equity Unbound, which developed the fellowship, is also looking to get approval as an alternative licensure program to decrease certification barriers for Teaching Assistants.

Read More

Go to Original Story

The Polarised City (1): How 2 Jos Communities Struggle To Unite After Years Of Crises

Nathaniel Bivan

April 12, 2021 |

HumAngle |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Jos

With help from nongovernmental organizations, the people of two communities who clashed violently since 2001 found ways to coexist peacefully since 2019. Violent attacks and reprisals between the Christians of Unguwar Balakazai and Muslims of Mai Damisa claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed homes repeatedly. Elders trained by the Youth Initiative Against Violence and Human Rights Abuse told youth stories about peace in Jos in the past. Youth ambassadors trained by the Jos Stakeholders for Peace Centre met and agreed to lay down their weapons.

Read More

Go to Original Story

Africa's Wikipedia Editors Are Changing How the World Sees Their Continent

Tolu Olasoji

April 12, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: South Africa

WikiAfrica Education increases information about Africa’s diverse languages, cultures, and politics from the voices and perspectives of African people. AfroCuration events enlist the help of young people to create and edit content for Wikipedia. The volunteers receive lessons on democracy and freedom movements and then use that information to create profiles of key events and history-makers. Strategic partnerships provide technical support and other resources, which have enabled hundreds of young people to produce hundreds of new entries and translate many existing entries into indigenous languages.

Read More

Go to Original Story

In the wake of hate, the law is not always enough

Meg McIntyre

April 11, 2021 |

Concord Monitor |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Dover, New Hampshire

Hate crime laws apply to a narrow range of conduct, and often fail as a response to bias incidents that constitute hate speech but are not in themselves a crime. When high school students working on a history class project produced a video with a song treating the KKK and racist murders as a joke, the school and community responded not with prosecutions but with community dialogues to air differences of opinion about the incident. Students of color then formed a group, Project D.R.E.A.M., that expanded the conversations to the entire school, educating a mainly white community about the impact of racism.

Read More