Author: Henry Taylor

Selected Media

Black Americans face higher COVID-19 risks, are more hesitant to trust medical scientists, get vaccinated

By John Gramlich and Cary Funk

Read the full article from the Pew Research Center here.

“The disparity is particularly wide in some states. In Kansas and Wisconsin, black people account for 6% of each state’s population but 29% and 26% of deaths, respectively – the biggest proportional disparities out of the states for which demographic data on coronavirus deaths is available…Meanwhile, a little over half of black adults (54%) say they would definitely or probably get a coronavirus vaccine if one were available today, while 44% say they would not.”

Selected Media

Births of a Nation, Redux

By Robin D. G. Kelley

Read the full article from Boston Review here.

“We keep telling ourselves that Trump was elected as a backlash to a Black president, but really he was elected as a backlash to a Black movement. President Obama presided during the killing of Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, Tanisha Anderson, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland—ad infinitum. It was the mass rebellion against the lawlessness of the state—in Ferguson, in Baltimore, in Chicago, in Dallas, in Baton Rouge, in New York, in Los Angeles, and elsewhere—that prompted Trumpian backlash.”

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The Just City Essays

Story by Toni Griffin, Ariella Cohen, and David Maddox

Read the essays on NextCity.org here.

“Over the past decade, there have been numerous conversations about the “livable city,” the “green city,” the “sustainable city” and, most recently, the “resilient city.” At the same time, today’s headlines—from Ferguson to Baltimore, Paris to Johannesburg—resound with the need for frank dialogue about the structures and processes that affect the quality of life and livelihoods of urban residents. Issues of equity, inclusion, race, participation, access and ownership remain unresolved in many communities around the world, even as we begin to address the challenges of affordability, climate change adaptation and resilience. The persistence of injustice in the world’s cities—dramatic inequality, unequal environmental burdens and risks, and uneven access to opportunity—demands a continued and reinvigorated search for ideas and solutions.”

Selected Media

The Voice of Black America?

By Rachelle Hampton

Read the full article from Slate here.

“Getting cast as the political spokesman for all Black people requires exactly two qualifications: be Black and have an audience that is primarily Black. Whether or not your audience views you as a serious political thinker is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter whether your opinions are actually widely held in the community you claim to represent. For the politicians looking for campaign pit stops and the media outlets looking for sound bites, the only thing that really matters is a young Black audience.”

Selected Media

Perry lecturer calls for ‘true studies’ of racial health disparities

By Grace Lazzara

Read the full article from UBNow here.

“What, then, does drive disparities? ‘While we live in a country together, we experience that country in very different ways,’ LaVeist said. He displayed an infographic of the subway system in Washington, D.C., that showed that the particular subway lines people took effectively predicted their life expectancy because they correlate to ‘where people live.’ He also cited a study of Baltimore that tallied corner stores selling not much more than cigarettes and bottles of 40-oz. malt liquors, which LaVeist called ‘elixirs for the ills of poverty.’ Such stores existed almost exclusively in highly segregated, predominantly Black, low-income communities.”

Selected Media

Save Money, Save Lives: An Analysis of the Fiscal Impact of the HALT Solitary Confinement Act

From Partnership for the Public Good

Read the full report here.

“In New York State, a majority of state lawmakers support passage of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act (S.1623/A.2500), to restrict the use of solitary confinement in prisons and jails in line with international human rights standards. This report provides a fiscal analysis of the implementation of the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, estimating that implementing the HALT Act can save New York State and local governments an estimated $132 million dollars annually, or $1.3 billion dollars over 10 years.”

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Shrinking Jails, Rising Costs: Erie County’s Wasteful Jail Budget

By Colleen Kristich

Read the full brief here.

“This policy brief presents data on the makeup of the Erie County jail population, which has reduced by 48% since 2017. It examines the capacity of both jails and determines that one jail could be closed, with savings redirected to other community-based harm reduction services. The brief compares Erie County spending on jails with spending on mental and public health, and makes recommendations for County leaders to further reduce the jail population and solicit public input into the jail closure process.”

Selected Media

Juan González: The Media Has It Wrong. Record Latinx Turnout Helped Biden. White Voters Failed Dems

By Juan Gonzalez

Watch the video and read the full article from Democracy Now here.

“‘The main story is that people of color, especially Latinos, flocked to the polls in numbers that far exceeded what the experts had expected, while the total number of votes cast by white Americans barely increased from the last presidential election,’ says González. ‘How come none of the experts are asking why white voters underperformed the Democratic Party?'”

Selected Media

Trump’s Pathology Is Now Clear

By James Hamblin

Read the full article from The Atlantic, here.

“To look on, inert, as Americans suffer and die is one thing; to deny that it is happening is another. This is a clear and ominous glimpse of how the pandemic will continue to play out if Trump remains in power. During America’s final lurch into the election, the president has become an even darker caricature of himself, laying bare his willingness to abandon Americans’ health and well-being for his own self-preservation. He is now even more dangerous as a vector of disease than when he was actively shedding the virus.”

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