Investing in Black Communities

Photo by Dan Smedley on Unsplash

Some good news: Our last edition was all about a new ICE rule that would require international students whose courses were going online-only to leave the country. In the face of massive public pushback (and lawsuits), they have dropped the rule. Take a moment to celebrate! 

Now, onto this week’s workout: In our recent Defund the Police edition, we featured activists Dr. Barbara Ransby and Charlene Carruthers. Their abolitionist vision wasn't just about dismantling harmful institutions but also about building a better future by investing in black communities. Today's edition is about supporting the “invest” part of the invest-divest model that underpins calls to defund the police.

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Learning in the Time of COVID

Photo by Changbok Ko on Unsplash

ICE has announced that full-time international students at US colleges and universities who are taking more than one course or three credits online must transfer institutions (generally impossible in a short time frame) or return to their home countries (which may have their borders closed to travelers from the U.S.). This applies even if a school starts in-person and then switches to online courses because in-person instruction becomes unsafe. This puts international students in the bind of having to risk their own and others’ health in order to comply, if they even can, or losing access to their education.

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Police-Free Schools

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

For years, Black activists have worked to raise awareness of the school-to-prison pipeline and the ways in which police officers in schools make students—particularly students of color—less safe. This week we join them in calling for schools to invest in counselors, restorative justice, and other measures to avoid law enforcement involvement on school grounds.

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