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There's a new approach to police response to mental health emergencies. Taking the police out of it

Chris James

April 02, 2021 |

CNN |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

San Francisco's Street Crisis Response Team replaces or aids police officers in responding to calls about people in nonviolent behavioral health crises. A collaboration of the city's fire and health departments, the program puts three-person teams – social workers, paramedics, and peer counselors – on patrol to respond to calls or to look for people in crisis. The $4 million pilot project has taken 800 calls in its first four months, connecting people to the care they need without the violence that can occur when police are first responders. The city hopes to expand its hours to 24/7 soon.

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The invisible shield: how qualified immunity was created and nearly destroyed the ability to sue police officers in America Pt. I

Herb Boyd Damaso Reyes

April 01, 2021 |

New York Amsterdam News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The Civil Rights Act of 1871, as a direct response to white resistance to Reconstruction-era reforms in the former Confederacy, gave people the right to sue government officials for depriving them of their civil rights. But a series of court decisions from the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s through the 1980s undercut the law's intent, so much so that police officers ended up with "qualified immunity" from liability for rights violations – effectively avoiding accountability, even when they act in bad faith.

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Indigenous Food Sovereignty Movements Are Taking Back Ancestral Land

Melissa Montalvo

March 31, 2021 |

Civil Eats |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Quapaw, Oklahoma

More and more Indigenous communities throughout North America are reclaiming their ancestral lands as a way to access traditional foodways. For example, a group of Mi’kmaq tribes in Nova Scotia bought a majority share in one of the largest seafood businesses on the continent, allowing them to use the company’s fishing licenses to harvest more scallops, lobsters, and crabs. The Quapaw Tribe in Oklahoma is restoring their land that had been polluted by mining. Under the Quapaw Cattle Company, they are able to sustain more than 1,000 cattle and bison as well as growing two crops.

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Algorithmic Redlining Is Real. Why Not Algorithmic Greenlining?

Vinhcent Le

March 31, 2021 |

Governing |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Urban planning algorithms have contributed to the racial wealth gap by prioritizing funding for communities that don’t need extra funding, but which would create a higher return on investment. The algorithm bias negatively impacts neighborhoods that are typically Black and poor. Detroit’s water and sewage utilities were disconnected as a result of an algorithm, highlighting the “fundamental pitfall of algorithms, as well as the risks that they can be misused or produce unintended consequences.”

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The secret ingredient in Paris' green public housing

Colin Kinniburgh

March 30, 2021 |

Grist |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France, Paris

Paris Habitat, the city’s main social housing agency, used hempcrete — a concrete-like mixture of hemp, lime, and water — as insulation in one of its apartment complexes. This material helps maintain temperature and reduces a building’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of using hempcrete can be expensive but making the material is more environmentally friendly, and has shown that it can be implemented for affordable housing and not just for those who already have the means to pay for it.

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How Chinatown's Community Bank Has Survived Crisis After Crisis

Oscar Perry Abello

March 30, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Community banking empowers marginalized communities that are not able to secure financing for homes and businesses through traditional financing. Establishing community banks allows members of these communities to bypass structural and institutional barriers in order to invest in themselves. Abacus Bank has a long history of advocating for businesses and families in Chinatown.

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Inside the community patrols in San Francisco's Chinatown

Samantha Michaels

March 30, 2021 |

Mother Jones |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Rising alarm over hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans, particularly the elderly, drew many volunteers to the community patrols that have organized over the past year in the Bay Area. Chinatown Safety Patrol, started just weeks before the Atlanta spa murders, suddenly attracted dozens of people willing to watch over and help elderly neighbors, giving them the confidence to go about their lives on the streets. The patrols serve as a deterrent to predatory violence. They also can deescalate conflict. Their main function is to protect residents in ways that the police can't or won't.

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Teen invents playing cards that are gender-equal -- and diverse

Scottie Andrew Maria Morava

March 28, 2021 |

CNN |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

16-year-old Maayan Segal and her father launched Queeng, a deck of cards that represents gender equality and includes a range of racial and cultural identities. The first iteration sold over 50,000 decks but was re-designed after critics cited the lack of racial diversity. The hand-drawn cards include a range of skin tones and facial features, and king cards are replaced by male and female “Monarch” cards, "Dutchess" or "Duke" cards replace queen cards, and "Prince" or "Princess" cards replace jack cards. There are also female jokers. Five days after its release, Queeng 2.0 already sold over 4,000 decks.

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After crime plummeted in 2020, Baltimore will stop drug, sex prosecutions

Tom Jackman

March 26, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

When Baltimore prosecutors stopped prosecuting most lower-level crimes to ease jail crowding during the pandemic, they discovered that making many fewer arrests did not fuel a crime wave. In fact, crime dropped substantially, counter to what most other cities experienced during the same time. The experiment showed that not prosecuting for drug possession, prostitution, trespassing, and other minor offenses has minimal, if not positive, effects on crime. The policy was made permanent and officials will now connect people with needed health and social services instead of jailing them.

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Obawole: Neglected by banks, rescued by PoS agents

Samson Akintaro

March 25, 2021 |

New Telegraph |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Obawole, Lagos State

Agency banking and point-of-sales terminals provide financial services to Obawole, a community under-served by banks despite its proximity to Nigeria's banking center. Agents are third parties representing banks. They provide services such as accepting deposits and making withdrawals, replacing often-decrepit and unreliable ATM machines. Technical failures and distrust can mar relationships with the banking public, but the services provide a needed convenience, and create jobs as well.

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