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This edition of OptOut's weekly news roundups covers labor progress, the Christian right, juvenile justice, the history of oil in Russia, and lots more.
But first, congrats to The Marshall Project for winning two Sigma Awards for data journalism! One of the awards went to reporters Nicole Lewis and Andrew R. Calderón for their investigation of voter registration rates of formerly incarcerated people.
Your Weekly Independent News Roundup
Labor
The American labor movement keeps winning.
The Amazon Labor Union at a Staten Island Amazon facility broke many of the traditional rules of labor organizing and won a landmark victory, reports New York Focus.
Undergraduate labor unions are taking off, reports Jacobin.
The strikewave continues in Los Angeles as strippers demonstrate for better labor conditions. Knock LA reports:
Also in CALIFORNIA: Defector has a proposal for the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, where the Oakland A's play—and where dozens of feral cats have settled.
Also about BASEBALL: Capital & Main interviews politics professor Peter Dreier about baseball great Jackie Robinson's civil rights advocacy.
Extremism
In case you needed a reminder of how extreme the U.S. right is (you don't, I know, sorry), Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk recycled the central white nationalist "great replacement" theory on his podcast. Kirk has become a major figure in the political right, raking in tens of millions of dollars a year from GOP megadonors, palling around with his friend Donald Trump, Jr., and joining the influential Council for National Policy.
Emma Vigeland of The Majority Report breaks it down.
More on the right: Skipped History critiques a New York Times article about Christian worship rituals infusing GOP political rallies that somehow "barely mentions race" and provides hardly any historical context.
And one more related article: Exposed by CMD used a leaked recording from a Council for National Policy meeting to expose the Christian right's election plans this year, based on tactics used in the successful 2021 campaign of Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. CNP members plan to rile up parents, continue attacking transgender people, and discourage Black residents from voting.
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Race and the Justice System
On Making Contact, host Monica Lopez addresses racism in the juvenile justice system.
Nearly two thirds of all children in the U.S. juvenile justice system are kids of color. That’s according to a recent report by the Children’s Defense Fund. In this episode of Making Contact, we’ll hear from Dr. Kris Henning on the disparities faced by Black youth in the juvenile justice system.
Tim Black discusses the controversy over a central Black Lives Matter organization and its finances.
The War in Ukraine
WhoWhatWhy profiles several Ukrainians who have returned home even as the war with Russia continues.
Spencer Snyder, in partnership with Ankur Shah, takes us through more than 200 years of Russian oil history. In a follow-up video, Snyder and Shah bring this history into the present, explaining the climate impacts and describing its relevance in today's war.
In Other News
CT Mirror reports that hundreds of Connecticut physicians are making the case to expand Medicaid to undocumented kids over eight years old. (The program will already be available to undocumented children eight and under starting next year.)
“As health care providers, we recognize our responsibility to care for all patients, regardless of race, income or immigration status. Unfortunately, our state laws do not reflect that same commitment. While the uninsured rate in Connecticut is roughly 5.9%, an estimated 52% of undocumented immigrants in our state are uninsured.”
On the Your Call show this week, host Rose Aguilar speaks with guests about Keystone, a new documentary about the land, humans, flora, and fauna, with a focus on bison.
The near extinction of bison has altered North America's delicate eco system, affecting all of its inhabitants. Replacing bison with cattle has further thrown the ecosystem out of sync and accelerated the collapse of the American prairie. What happens when bison are restored to tribal lands?
Thanks as always for keeping up with the OptOut news network! See you soon.
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