Welcome again to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our group speaking. Tell us what you suppose at [email protected].
Juneteenth in Greensboro
Juneteenth, an annual celebration of the top of slavery within the US, has solely been a federal vacation since 2021. So how did Greensboro, North Carolina, make it a paid metropolis vacation a 12 months earlier than that? A narrative co-published by Subsequent Metropolis and Triad Metropolis Beat digs in. As with many different fashionable celebrations of Juneteenth, the method was pushed by Black artists and activists. For the town, it got here all the way down to brass tacks: how a lot would it not value so as to add yet another paid vacation? Not that a lot, because it turned out.
“It means lots for the town to try this for us,” artist-activist Princess Johnson stated. “They solely used to do these issues for the Fourth of July. However now, all people is aware of it’s Juneteenth.”
Turning up the warmth
Summer time is making its official entrance within the northern hemisphere. And whereas meaning enjoyable issues like seashore days and ice cream, it additionally means extreme warmth and its hazards. Warmth-related deaths within the US have elevated by 900 % because the Nineteen Sixties — and this concern disproportionately impacts Black individuals and Indigenous individuals. This week, Editorial Director Rebecca Worby shared a narrative from Capital B, a Black-led nonprofit information group, about how Black neighborhoods are making ready for a sweltering season.
Becca says:
I’m pondering lots about heat-related risks as a lot of the US plunges right into a warmth wave. This story appears at how Black communities are taking issues into their very own fingers, together with by warmth preparation workshops, resource-sharing and networks that examine on susceptible individuals.
What else we’re studying
🗺️ When Local weather Catastrophe Strikes, Slums Are Susceptible. Higher Maps Assist — shared by RTBC founder David Byrne from Bloomberg Businessweek
⚖️ Utah’s tribal reentry court docket is a hit that Arizona and Wyoming wish to mannequin — shared by Rebecca Worby from KUER
🏞️ In California, Tribal Members Are Reclaiming the ‘Land of the Flowing Water’ — shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from the New York Occasions
In different information…
Our sequence on sensible methods cities are fixing the issues attributable to automobiles has gotten lots of people speaking.
If you happen to missed it, it’s not too late to study how congestion pricing makes cities extra livable, the marvel of London’s low-traffic neighborhoods and why automobiles in cities throughout Europe are slowing down.
