Tag: Week in review

Casa News: August 28, 2016

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What happened in the world this week? Read on for the FARC treaty, the beginning of the end (maybe) of private prisons, the lead emissions-crime rate link, border vigilantes, and more dirt on Trump (can’t help myself).

After half a century of guerrilla warfare, the Colombian government and FARC have negotiated a peace accord.

To no one’s great surprise, Donald Trump was probably discriminating in housing since he got his start in real estate.

The Department of Justice announced it will stop using private prisons. What will this actually mean? Find out more here.

When I first heard this theory about the link between crime rates and lead emissions from gasoline, I thought it sounded insane. But then I read this and it’s not as unbelievable as it sounds. Not brand new, but HIGHLY worth reading.

Vigilantes policing the border suggest disturbing similarities to slave catchers who caught and disciplined escaped slaves a few centuries ago. More on this in the weeks to come…

Week in review

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This was a terrible week in the world. Hundreds died in a bombing in Baghdad. Back-to-back police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. And then 5 cops in Texas were shot and killed.

Here are some numbers about guns and racism.

A friend wrote this about what white (or white-passing) people should do after murders like those of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and it helped me process and think: What To Do When It’s Not All About You. I also recommend the article she links to.

Also on the subject, if you didn’t watch Jesse Williams’ acceptance speech for the BET Humanitarian Award, you really should.

That’s all I’ve got this week other than my reflection from Friday, here.

 

Casa News

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What’s going on in the world this week? Here are a few links that caught my attention:

Is the Democratic Party headed for an implosion as disastrous as the Republican one? Read here.

This open letter by Professor Roksana Badruddoja to students in her Race & Ethnicity course explains white privilege and why white people should be aware of it and let it make us uncomfortable.

In terrible immigration news of the week, the U.S. keeps mistakenly deporting its own citizens. File under: racialization of citizenship.

Here’s a video about the work of awesome musician (and friend) La Muna, who recently released an entire album of songs inspired by the voyages of migrants she met on the U.S.-Mexico border (also check out the album here).

Central America is becoming an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign, and this piece explains what’s going on.

Links of the week

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Casa Marj started out as a food blog, but I have long envisioned it as a magazine with political and lifestyle posts too. In my casa, political commentary and food go together like peanut butter and bananas. (Really well.)

So, here are a few of the links that stood out to me this week.

The sanctuary movement is coming back to Los Angeles, reports the LA Times! This is great. This is a movement where churches shelter undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation. In case you didn’t know, Rosa Robles Loreto recently took sanctuary in a Tucson for over a year to avoid deportation and was able to leave without being deported in December 2015. See here and here for more on Rosa’s case

In case you missed it: Is Hillary Clinton the candidate she is because women politicians have much stricter standards to live up to than men? This piece (ok, rant) which went viral this week makes some great points on the double standards that women in politics face. Or, why Bernie is allowed to be unkempt while Hillary has to be buttoned-up.

On the other hand, is Hillary simply the “embodiment of corporate feminism” that tramples over the rights of many women who don’t fit the white, upper-class Feminist model? Women politicians may face much stricter expectations than men, but does that really excuse gutting welfare and expanding mass incarceration?

You decide.

This essay about a “F*ck Off Fund” is a great read, especially for young women starting their independent lives, such as myself.

And here is Marc Anthony talking about Latino pride and why Donald Trump needs to go. (OK, aside from totally agreeing with what he’s saying, maybe I just put this here because I am going through a Marc Anthony phase. You will too once you listen to this song, oldie but GREAT.)