systemic

On the morning of Feb. 18, 2022, Cassandra Black Elk, a 26-year-old indigenous woman in South Dakota, woke up to find her three-week-old daughter, Starlight, unresponsive in the bed next to her. It was every mother’s nightmare, but for Black Elk, this was just the beginning.  Within 10 minutes of arriving at Black Elk’s home, police began questioning her, demanding she tell them how she had harmed her baby. No one had hurt the baby, she told them. She had put her two eldest to bed, fed the youngest one a bottle,…

A new report from Human Rights Watch found that Meta’s policies have been “silencing voices” in support of Palestinians on Instagram and Facebook in a “wave of heightened censorship” amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The human rights-focused advocacy group documented more than 1,050 takedowns and suppression of content posted by Palestinians and supporters on Meta platforms between October and November, including 1,049 posts involving peaceful content in support of Palestinians and one in support of Israel.…

A former Niantic employee filed a lawsuit against the AR gaming company on Friday, alleging that it devalued the work of female employees and women of color, denied equal pay to women employees and women of color. The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, accuses Niantic of creating a “boys club.” The employee was laid off as part of last week’s job cuts at the company, which affected about 230 staffers.The employee, who is an anonymous Jane Doe but is described in the complaint as an Asian female, started work…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The latest reminder that police officers around the country routinely deny Black people their constitutional rights comes from the Justice Department. This time, it's about Minneapolis, the site of a police officer's video-recorded murder of resident George Floyd. More than three years after…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A deeper level and different kind of coordination, collaboration, and cooperation are needed to narrow the gap in employment opportunities between youth and young adults with and without disabilities. A collection of research articles in the latest special issue of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation presents strategies to improve the transition from school to work for young people with…

From left, Christian Z. Goering, Trish Lopez and Holly Sheppard Riesco. Credit: University of Arkansas A group of researchers at the U of A recently examined the media portrayal of education policy in Arkansas surrounding a 2019 decision to continue or terminate the state's takeover of the Little Rock School District. Their…

Two prominent film-makers of colour have accused the British Film Institute of failing to meaningfully address systemic racism.Faisal Qureshi, who produced the hit film Four Lions, said although the BFI had admitted to racism, it had taken limited steps to address it, such as through an independent investigation into the organisation’s culture.Qureshi added that instead of actual solutions such as a ringfenced budget for creatives of colour, the BFI had spent a lot of money on anti-racism training of what he said was of…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain In 2007, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (the Caring Society) and the Assembly of First Nations filed a complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act, arguing that the Government of Canada's inequitable provision of child welfare and other services to 163,000 First Nations children was discriminatory on the grounds of race and national ethnic origin.…

A change in food prices might immediately address the lack of economic access to food but will not address the root causes of food insecurity. Credit: Shutterstock Increasing food prices and stagnant incomes have been identified as major obstacles to achieving food security. About one in six, or 15.9 percent, of households in Canada experience food insecurity. …

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain To increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEMM fields, higher education institutions and STEMM organizations should go beyond a focus on simply increasing the numeric participation of minoritized racial and ethnic groups and act to change their organizational cultures and environments, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.…