Daily Archives: July 31, 2020

Tree women of the Otavalo indigenous community of Ecuador stand on the Arbolito park in Quito, Ecuador during the 10th day of social protests that took place in October, 2019. Isadora Romero hide caption

Tree women of the Otavalo indigenous community of Ecuador stand on the Arbolito park in Quito, Ecuador during the 10th day of social protests that took place in October, 2019.

RUDA, named after the potent rue plant, is a collective of 11 female and nonbinary documentary photographers from Latin America. It formed in September 2018 as an answer to the lack of female representation in the region and the need to portray social developments from the female and local gaze.

While challenging sexist and colonial narratives deeply rooted in the region, these women, image makers, are creating a safe space to put themselves on the international map as photojournalists.

A peaceful march takes place in Valparaso in Chile, where more than 100,000 people from all corners of the country walked to the national congress and demonstrated. The sign reads: "War? No! We're the people demanding justice and dignity." Paz Olivares Droguett hide caption

A peaceful march takes place in Valparaso in Chile, where more than 100,000 people from all corners of the country walked to the national congress and demonstrated. The sign reads: "War? No! We're the people demanding justice and dignity."

Each member of RUDA comes from a different Latin American country, where they currently reside: Bolivia, Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Members are based in their respective country.

Mayeli Villalba from Paraguay and Isadora Romero from Ecuador met in Asuncin when Romero was invited to a local festival and stayed in the country working on a personal project with Villalba. After discussing the lack of representation in the community, they decided to form the collective. Both invited other female photographers from the region with whom they share the same ethos to join RUDA. As a group, they have formed a multinational alliance with the intention of generating and disseminating narratives reflective of their personal experiences.

Photography has a history of being controlled by the male gaze and while female photographers have existed and thrived, who gets visibility is still in the hands of men, according to data from the World Press Photo State of Photography study.

(Left) A woman protests wearing the Chilean flag at the Valdivia Square in Chile. (Right) Protesters raise their hands in Bogot, Colombia. Paz Olivares Droguett / Ximena Vsquez hide caption

(Left) A woman protests wearing the Chilean flag at the Valdivia Square in Chile. (Right) Protesters raise their hands in Bogot, Colombia.

As a result and for the most, society's collective visual archive has been built on a masculine imaginary view of the world. This is further emphasized through images that make it to the front of the world's leading newspapers and win prestigious awards perpetuating an often victimized view of Latin America.

A Waorani woman during the protests of October of 2019 in Quito, Ecuador. Isadora Romero hide caption

A Waorani woman during the protests of October of 2019 in Quito, Ecuador.

On Oct. 2, 2019, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno announced a series of economic measures, affecting the population at large. Most Ecuadorians turned to the streets to protest. The unprecedented demonstration around the country, led to social revolts around the region, in Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia respectively. Demonstrations in which women and the indigenous communities took a prominent role. RUDA members have been set to cover the demonstrations in their own way.

"We are concerned about the absence of diversity from which the stories of our peoples are told and disseminated," the group told NPR in an email about confronting a reality in which the power structures and production spaces are in the hands of foreign media (non-Latin American) and foreign correspondents telling the stories from the region.

In addition, this lack of diversity and representation deprive a wide variety of sectors of society of the right to tell their own stories and those of their people. Stories told directly from the experience of events, and therefore from the closest and most personal understanding of situations.

As a team, RUDA is interested in deepening its knowledge of problems and opportunities in Latin America, understanding that, although these developments have their differences in each country, the core structures and challenges are often the same.

Protestors on the streets of Quito, Ecuador in October, 2019. These protests were recorded as among the most violent in the country with clashes between protesters and the police that left 11 people dead. Isadora Romero hide caption

Protestors on the streets of Quito, Ecuador in October, 2019. These protests were recorded as among the most violent in the country with clashes between protesters and the police that left 11 people dead.

Protesters on a truck on their way to "El Arbolito," one of the most important concentration points during the social protests in Ecuador, October 2019. Isadora Romero hide caption

Protesters on a truck on their way to "El Arbolito," one of the most important concentration points during the social protests in Ecuador, October 2019.

Latin America is a vast and diverse region with thousands of narratives, stories and peoples. What kind of experiences as Latin American female photographers connect you to one another?

Koral Carballo (Mexico): We're connected because we are women and/or non-binaries, who are at a disadvantage by the patriarchal gaze within photography. For generations it was believed that there were no women capable of covering risky situations or that we could not fulfill assignments in hostile environments. Today, there are institutions that have empowered these voices, and celebrate the stories told from a patriarchal and white look.

Wara vargas (Bolivia): We have a common desire to show and highlight women's roles across the region. Indigenous, female leaders are becoming stronger and stronger as they raise their voices and change history in the region. All of us in RUDA want to show the struggle behind each woman protesting during these revolutionary times.

Isadora Romero (Ecuador): We're connected through the lens from which we see everyday life as a political act. We're connected through the stories that, even though they might not make it to the front page of a newspaper, are nevertheless worthy of being told.

Finally, we're connected through our understanding of the economic systems and historical structures that have been managed in a similar manner all over the region, such as: colonialism, dictatorships, war on drugs and mass migration.

Fires are seen in the city of Valparaso, Chile in October, 2019. Paz Olivares Droguett hide caption

Fires are seen in the city of Valparaso, Chile in October, 2019.

How do you think the use of Instagram has helped you work as photographers during moments of popular movements?

Paz Olivares Droguett (Chile): Instagram has become an important tool to publicize part of our work. It is a very synthetic language, typical of social networks, but at the same time it is visually effective.

The immediacy and popularity of its use has created communication channels that do not necessarily depend on great economic powers. It has become an opportunity to have a voice and be able to act as developments unfold in our countries.

Isadora Romero (Ecuador): During the protests in Ecuador and Chile, Instagram became a fundamental tool to understand and expand on stories that only traditional media present to the public. It has been a tool that has allowed us to denounce human rights abuses, congregate people and share experiences. As an alternative source of information, it serves a huge purpose for the general public to corroborate stories.

A Bolivian woman smokes after being attacked by teargas used by the police to control and suppress the protest. Bolivians went to the streets to call for the resignation of interim president Jeanine Aez Chvez in November, 2019. Wara Vargas Lara hide caption

A Bolivian woman smokes after being attacked by teargas used by the police to control and suppress the protest. Bolivians went to the streets to call for the resignation of interim president Jeanine Aez Chvez in November, 2019.

If there is an absence of diversity from where the stories of our peoples are told and spread, we run the risk of hegemonizing our history.

What kind of visual narrative do you want to manifest or change?

Paz Olivares Droguett (Chile): The visual and aesthetic hegemony in Latin America still has a lot to do with the idea of the "photographic safari", where European or North-American photographers with often a tourist visa, return time and time again with their cameras to tell the world "what this region is like and what we need to improve.'' But many have not yet learned that we have our own thinking, our own culture, and that we produce our own visual archive without a need for validation from the north.

Isadora Romero (Ecuador): We want to go against the production of imagery whose sole purpose is to win traditional competitions. We want to talk about everyday stories, which are at the core of our societies.

Paz Olivares Droguett (Chile): I would like to propose a hopeful vision, but without being naive. Basically, another type of relationship with the stories we tell, one in which real links are generated, in which photography is understood as a vehicle and not necessarily as an end. Where communication is more of a collaborative act that combines voices, rather than an egocentric job that seeks recognition and validation.

In addition, I want us to keep on questioning ourselves about what kind of structures we are holding with our images. Structures from where we continue to discriminate against minorities, from where we victimize the victims, from where we repeat a discourse of eternal suffering.

We want to talk about social empowerment, we want to talk about the dignity of our peoples, about alternative ways of building ourselves as societies, from the collective and the eternal interest for the other and for ourselves.

Women from the Otavalo community cover their faces in front of tear gas during the October, 2019 protests in Quito, Ecuador. Isadora Romero hide caption

Women from the Otavalo community cover their faces in front of tear gas during the October, 2019 protests in Quito, Ecuador.

Anything else you would like to share?

We are a collective under construction. In the short time that we have been together, we've seen the urgency of narrating what is happening in our region at this time. Just as the urgency of knowing where we are located as photographers and as Latin Americans.

Being a representative of each country allows us to debate about our general realities as a region and as individuals in our countries, by doing so, we're continually expanding our perspectives.

It's a lifelong lesson.

Original post:

Female, Latin American photo collective covers the region in a personal way : The Picture Show - NPR

Why Global Citizens Should Care

Back in 2018, at the historic Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Global Citizen Fellowship Programme was announced, powered by the BeyGOOD initiative.

Inspired by Nelson Mandelas passion for youth development and education, as well as his legacy of empowering future generations, the inaugural class of the Global Citizen Fellowship joined the Global Citizen Africa team in 2019.

Now, the Fellowship programme is kicking off for its second year with an extraordinary class of 10 young people who we cant wait to introduce.

"With all that is happening in our world, educating, empowering, and employing our youth to use their voice and vocation to makepositive impact is essential to creating lasting change,says IvyMcGregor, Director of Social Responsibly at Parkwood Entertainment, headquarters for BeyGOOD.

McGregor adds:The model BeyGOOD has designed through the Fellowship programme, in partnership with Global Citizen, has become a pathway for sustainable economic impact.We are proud to welcome the class of 2020 they have entered at such a critical time, pivotal to dynamic outcomes and overall success.

Designed to empower young people with work experience, the programme is not only supporting the vision of a South Africa that nurtures its youth.

The Global Citizen Fellowship is also equipping young people with the skills they need to play a role in social justice, helping their communities achieve the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and amplifying causes that they believe in.

Global Citizen is a leading advocacy organisation that has already impacted 880 millionlives, while the BeyGOOD initiative has a legacyof empowering young people, women, and marginalised communities. By working together through the fellowship programme, the partnership offers young people an opportunity of a lifetime.

Take, for example, how the programme is structured. It has multiple phases designed to offer each of the 10 fellows a fully immersive experience.

Eachfellow will also have the benefit from personalised mentorship from leaders in entertainment, business, government, and civil society all aimed at enabling them to realise their potential to become global agents of change.

The programme will cover subjects such as leadership, advocacy, international development, and global citizenship.Meanwhile, Fellows will also have the opportunity to take part in a series of masterclasses given by industry leaders. The programme also features educational field trips designed to help Fellows develop into value-centred, community-driven leaders.

Furthermore, Fellows will be placed within the Global Citizen Africa team, which will offer invaluable hands-on work experience within the Marketing, Rewards, Campaigns, Policy, and Content teams.

This is aimed at providing Fellows with the skills and resources needed to help them secure work at the end of the year-long programme.

The second cohort of the Global Citizen Fellowship programme was chosen after a rigorous selection process that started with 765 applications; only 30 candidates were chosen to continue with a series of tests. From these scores, the judging panel assessed 20 applicants.

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The judging panel was made up of Clayton Naidoo, Managing Director of Sub Saharan Africa at global technology giant CISCO; the Executive Director of Africa Leadership Institute, Jackie Chimhanzi; Moky Makura, Executive Directorof Africa No Filter; businesswoman and producer, Bonang Matheba; fashion brand and designer extraordinaire, Rich Mnisi; and Isha Philips, Global Citizens Senior Human Resources Lead.

Noted individually for their incredible personal achievements, collectively, the judging panel brought their experiences leading global organisations and brands, and are revered for being leaders and experts in their fields.

The judges were lookingfor candidates whose potential was complemented by their understanding of developmental issues. Candidates also had to show how they have already started effecting change in the spaces they occupy, for instance, through supporting community causes or standing up for social issues

I think all applicants are unique in their own right and have the power to go out into the world and affect positive change, said Mnisi.

So, without further ado, meet the Global Citizen Fellowship programme class of 2020.

Chibwe is passionate about skills development and youth empowerment.

Charity Chibwe, from Ivory Park in Tembisa, Gauteng, believes that building a global community of active citizens is the key to ending extreme poverty a mission that she is passionate about.Chibwe, who is 24, wants to use her time in the fellowship programme to learn skills that will empower young people economically.

This way, she adds, shell be able to impart knowledge and experience that other young people in her community needs.[Small businesses] can help reduce the number of young people who are unemployed, she says.

She is speaking from experience. She has already tried her hand at running a small business that earned up to R2,000 a month. However, she could not sustain it as the money from the business was used to look after her family.

I would like to see myself being my own boss, running a successful business, and creating opportunities that benefit young people, she says.

Rakhetsi is interested in issues that include citizenship, girls and women, education, and food and hunger.

Born in Mamelodi in Pretoria, Aaron Rakhetsi applied for the fellowship because he wants to turn his digital activism into community service.He is particularly interested in issues of citizenship, health, education, women and girls, and food and hunger.

I'm very passionate about education because I know its importance in one's life. I know what it feels like to give up on going to university because of my financial background, and I do not want anyone to experience this, Rakhetsi explains.

He adds: I believe in equality of the sexes and I believe that women and girls should be given the same opportunities that men receive, and be treated as their equals.

As one of the most unequal countries in the world, South Africa faces significant challenges, like hunger. For example, even though the country is food secure, 27%of children experience stunting and malnutrition.

Rakhetsi, who is 24, has future plans that include urban farming, which will allow him to uplift the youth and women while feeding his community.

Ndwandwe is determined to fight gender-based violence in South Africa. a

The mere honour of being chosen to make a positive change is a driver for me to do the best that I can to deal with the issues of the world, saysZamokhule Ndwandwe, 24, about being a Global Citizen Fellow.

Ndwandwe is from Sam Reno in Western Cape. Her ambition of ending gender-based violence (GBV) comes from personal experience.

Im a victim of a taxi robbery that occurred in 2019. I was kidnapped for 15 to 30 minutes by criminals who want money and sex from people, she recalls.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in March 2019, declared GBV a national crisis,in South Africa.

Ndwandwes kidnappersonly took her belongings, but for many girls, women, and gender non-binary people in South Africa the story often ends in tragedy something that sparkedNdwandwes determination to combat GBV.

She says: Right now, my country is going through a very difficult time of what I would call women and children genocide, and I would love to come across other young leaders from other countries who might be able to advise on how to curb this terrible epidemic.

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Moloi's passion is menstrual health management and ending period poverty. She is also passionate about educations and women's rights.

Hope Moloi, 22, became a Global Citizen in order to play her part in the movement of people who want to help end extreme povertyby 2030.

Moloi, from Alexandra in Gauteng, applied for the programme because she wants to gain skills that will help lead community activities that support girls and women, in particular menstrual health management.

Girls miss school due to not having pads, which has a negative impact on their studies. By giving pads to girls, well be keeping girls in school, says Moloi.

Moloi wants to use her time in the programme to learn skills that will help her amplify her voice as an advocate, and later, to launch a non-governmental organisation that leverages corporate partnerships for social good. Her organisation will champion girls rights and access to quality education.

Women earn less than meneven with the same qualifications and experience, while girls and women also have to live with the effects of GBV, Molio says.

She adds: Every person has a right to education. Education is important and can change lives to be successful.

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Xaba is looking for ways to help her community beat the systemic causes of poverty and inequality.

Nomthando Xaba, from Soweto, Johannesburg, supports causes that she is passionate about by taking Global Citizen actionsthat are aimed at helping end the systemic causes of poverty and inequality.

However, she wanted to do more.

Ive always wanted to find a way to give back, and while taking Global Citizen actions is [impactful], I also want to find other ways of working towards ending extreme poverty, she says.

Xaba, 25, is passionate about education, and believes that empowered young girls make future leaders.

This is why she wants to study towards becoming a teacher.

She adds: Since I dont have a qualification yet, I want to teach young girls about sexual health because our schools only focus on the basic things. Girls are not given the platform to express themselves and talk about their experiences.

Morake is passionate about equality and human rights.

I wanted to be part of the Fellowship programme because I want to empower others, and promote education and equality in my town, Letshego Morake says about the decision to take his chances and apply for the programme.

Morake comes from the small town of Heuwel, in Thaba-Nchu in Bloemfontein, where opportunities are scarce, and information that can help young people empower themselves even more so.

I want to be the one to bring change as Im a huge fan of Beyonc [the founder of the BeyGOOD initiative]. She inspires me in so many ways, and has definitely had a very huge impact in me bettering myself.

Morake, who is 23, is an advocate for access to education. A lot of people from where I am from have given up on it due to lack of funds to continue with their studies. They are also discouraged by the fact that other people who have studied still do not get jobs after graduating.

Equally close to his heart is equality.

Im a young gay boy who lives in a town where its still seen as wrong to freely be myself. I want to live in a country where people are proud of each other, support each other, and love each other," he says.

He adds: I want to be an active voice for the people who do not see themselves worthy of anything, host campaigns and rallies, create awareness on social media, and just have an impact on the lives of those who cannot stand upfor themselves because they are scared to.

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Tsolo is interested in gender equality, ending period poverty and helping girls reach their full potential.

Growing up in Sebokeng, an undeveloped community in Vanderbijlpark in the south of Gauteng, Tsolo always knew that her purpose was impacting and transforming lives.

This is why I identify with BeyGOOD and Global Citizen. This is a network of people who are impacting their work and changing lives. Being part of this network will not only expand my reach in changing lives, it will also provide me with the opportunity to grow others and help them change their lives for the better, Tsolo says.

Tsolo, 24, adds that South Africa is facing what she calls the triple trouble of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.

She adds: Being part of the Fellowship will assist me in gaining skills and knowledge on how I can make my solutions sustainable. I also want to uplift comuunities.

She wants to use her year as a Global Citizen Fellow to learn more about universal access to education, especially the public schooling system.

[At the moment] the public schooling system is failing those who go through it, she says From experience and observation I have seen that the system is setting up the children for failure; it needs radical transformation.She is also passionate about gender equality and access to clean water and safe sanitation, including menstrual health management. Young girls across the country miss out on important school days because they are on their period. They dont afford to buy pads because they live on social grants, and have to choose between buying bread and buying a packet of sanitary pads.

A social grant is a monthly payout funded by the government to support child-headed households, pensioners, children, and people living with disabilities.

Tsolo added: [Menstrual health management] is an issue closest to my heart because Ive seen young girls use unsanitary materials to get through their cycle days, which has led to multiple health risks.

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She also wants to lend her voice to causes that support the dignity and human rights of immigrants.

With the conflicts and issues faced by various African countries, I believe that as a continent, there is more that needs to be done regarding how South Africa deals with immigrantswho are fleeing from their countries in search of a better life, she said.

As well as taking part in the Fellowship programme, Tsolo also runs a non-governmental organisation called Her Pride. It offersservices that help students develop their confidence and life skills.

The organisation has already reached more than 2,000 students.

We provide academic support, entrepreneurship training, career planning, and more. We have been able to expand our small reach to providing care packs to the Lifeline and Thuthuzela women and children centres.

Lifeline offers free counselling over the phone, while Thuthuzela centres offer support and medical care to victims of sexual violence.

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Shabalala in inspired by the spirit of Ubuntu, and believes that we are accountable for each other's well-being.

Sengie Shabalala, 22, believes ending inequality and extreme poverty is a valuethat we should all live by.The popular South African saying"umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu calls on all of us to work together, she says.The saying is essentially a call to action urging each of us to be accountable for another persons well-being.

Shabalala says being a Fellow is an opportunity to gain knowledge that shell use to uplift others. Shabala, who is from Benoni in Gauteng, wants to galvanise communities to start taking action against GBV.

Being a woman, GBV affects me and one starts being afraid [of the possibility of experiencing GBV]. I decided to take action in my community, and raise awareness, she says.

Dlulane believes that economic empowerment puts women in a position to take ownership of their lives.

BuhleDlulane, from Soweto, is determined to tackle gender inequality by promoting girls and womens empowerment.[This] comes from my passion for gender equality and business. I believe that women are equal and effective in influencing the economy, from the formal sector to the informal sector, she says.

She adds: I believe that earning a decent living allows women to improve their own lives, are less inclined to stay in abusive relationships, and have the power to make their own decisions without abusive influence.

Dlulane, who is 21, says gender equality has a massive role to play in ending extreme poverty because women tend to lift others in their families and communities as they rise.

We are all aware that by women being educated and working they inevitably improve their own lives and the life of their families, she says.

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And so it then became important for me to understand why such powerful economic participants are not paid equally, not represented in powerful positions within companies, why there is a hesitance to allow them equal rights and access to basic amenities.

Moreover, she adds, with understanding the problem comes the biggest question of all: what she can do to change the status quo.

All of us have a responsibility to build the society in which we dream of living in, and the only way for change is effective participation. I do believe that there is no better time than now for us as young people to start thinking about personal, professional, and communal transformation, she says.

Dlulane is inspired by Rwanda and South Africa, two countries she calls home.

South Africa and Rwanda have a need for do-ers; people that are willing to apply their knowledge in everyday global challenges, she says. And there is a need to equip young people with the necessary skills in communication, personal, and professional development to be able to build the confidence to take action.

Lephuma is taking up space, and working towards a future where girls and women are equal to men, with equal access to opportunities and leadership roles.

Ntombizodwa Lephuma, 24, wants to take up space. Meaning make impact that will have a reverberating impact like her hero, Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi.Hailing from Centurion in Gauteng, Lephuma is a linguist with the goal of pursuing a postgraduate degree in education.

I want to teach young girls the power education has and how it will better equip us to be better business women, she says, I need the skills from the BeyGood fellowship to assist me and better equip me.

She wants to raise generations of girls who shape their futures, and in doing so, transform their societies.

View post:

Meet the Class of 2020: The Global Citizen Fellowship Powered by BeyGOOD Kicks Off Its Second Year - Global Citizen

Because of Syracuse success at one year anniversary, Cities for Financial Empowerment awards FEC funding to bring on additional full-time counselor

Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and partners celebrate the one-year anniversary this month of the launch of the Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center (Syracuse FEC). The city service, led by the Department of Neighborhood and Business Development (NBD), provides free one-on-one, professional financial counseling to city residents.

Because of the programs success in the City of Syracuse, the Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund announced that it will increase funding to Syracuse in the year ahead to enable the City to bring on an additional full-time professional financial counselor. The CFE Fund is a national organization that works with mayoral administrations to improve the financial stability of lower to moderate income households by embedding financial empowerment strategies into local government.

Financial Empowerment Center 12-month overview

The work being done through the Syracuse FEC has already impacted hundreds of families by providing the kind of financial knowledge and guidance that leads to a better quality of life for many Syracuse residents, said Mayor Walsh. The Syracuse community and many partner organizations have embraced the FEC, which is why we have had so much success in our first year. For many residents in Syracuse, having access to this financial resource will help plant the seeds that can lead to financial stability for future generations to come.

Funded by the CFE Fund, Greater Syracuse H.O.P.E., the Allyn Family Foundation, and the CNY Community Foundation, Syracuse FEC focuses on helping individuals set personal financial goals and eliminate barriers that inhibit financial stability. Home HeadQuarters and United Way of Central New York are also key Syracuse FEC partners.

According to data in 2018 from the U.S. Census Bureau, 30.5% of city residents live below the poverty line, making the need for targeted, expert help to manage financial resources essential.

The first year goal to have 180 outcomes was exceeded by 360% with FEC clients achieving 575 measurable results. With the help of Syracuse FEC counselors, 244 (42%) clients reduced delinquent accounts; client credit scores were improved by at least 35 points; and 82 (14%) clients reduced non-mortgage debt by at least 10%.

Kerry Quaglia

Jasminn Ray, Jenna McClave, Kazmira Pitzrick, and Thom Dellwo, Syracuse FEC counselors, have managed to advise residents consistently since the launch with in-person meetings but also remotely throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Between the group of professional counselors, nearly 2,000 sessions were held with clients. The public health crisis has increased the need for financial advice in light of widespread job loss and disproportionately affected communities of color, making the added counselor crucial to residents recovery.

Syracuse FEC client, Brendon M., has received assistance through the Home HeadQuarters location. My counselor, Jenna, is the best around. Shes calm, she explains everything to you that you dont understand, and she has a great game plan. She helps with my ultimate goal of achieving financial freedom for me and my family.

Home HeadQuarters is a proud Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center partner, said Home HeadQuarters Chief Executive Officer, Kerry Quaglia. Every day, we see the tangible outcomes surpass every expectation for the program. To date, more than $600,000 in total debt has been reduced for those City of Syracuse residents who have taken advantage of this amazing and free opportunity. We cant wait to see what year two brings for our community.

On average, clients participated in 2.4 sessions to improve credit, decrease debt, increase savings and begin banking by opening safe and affordable bank accounts (31 (6%) clients opened new banking accounts). Increasing cash reserves, 104 (18%) clients were able to save one week of their pay or at least 2% of their income.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and Allyn Family Foundations Director Kate OConnell

Greater Syracuse H.O.P.E., an organization helping to address poverty through systematic change, has seen its clients make upward improvement in their credit scores after utilizing Syracuse FEC services. With a goal to reach a total of 150 clients in identified H.O.P.E. census tracts in the city by the end of 2020, 110 (73%) clients have already received support. A significant increase in credit scores for 21 clients by an average of 35 points has also been recorded, in addition to over 30 clients saving an average of $3,000.

The financial industry is an intimidating place for middle and lower-income individuals and families, said Ocesa Keaton, executive director of Greater Syracuse H.O.P.E. High-interest rates, credit denials, and emergencies often result in de-stabilizing families into poverty. The Syracuse FEC is a way to remove barriers and help people transition through financial challenges.

Meg OConnell, executive director of the Allyn Family Foundation stated The Allyn Foundation applauds the work over the past year of the FEC. OConnell continued, The ability for families and individuals to become financially independent is a critical component to our work, and the Syracuse FEC is accomplishing this goal by helping families eliminate debt, repair credit, and build savings.

One year ago, City of Syracuse formally announce the Financial Empowerment initiative on the steps of City Hall.

A testimonial from a FEC client, Jessica V., stated how she took advantage of the one-on-one counseling to learn how to build her credit score and create a foundation in preparation for homeownership. The counseling I received gave me much more knowledge on spending and savings tactics. I would highly recommend the FEC to anyone who is seeking to improve their finances or just learn more in general about money/debt handling, said Jessica.

The United Way of Central New York is proud to partner in Syracuses Financial Empowerment Center. We are committed to the shared efforts to make it possible for every individual and family to become self-sufficient, securing and maintaining education and income to support their basic needs and build wealth, Nancy Eaton, president, United Way of Central New York, Inc. stated. We join in celebrating the outstanding first year of implementation of the life-changing work being done through the FEC.

The Central New York Community Foundation has been honored to support the Financial Empowerment Center because it has provided much needed support for families as they seek to thrive financially especially in a time of great economic uncertainty, said Frank Ridzi, vice president of community investment, Central New York Community Foundation. The center provides innovative ways for our nonprofit network of service providers to work together for the common good.

Remote counseling is available by way of virtual meetings, email or phone calls. To make an appointment, residents can visit http://www.syrgov.net/FEC, call 315-474-1939 ext.5, or email fec@homehq.org.

Excerpt from:

Syracuse Financial Empowerment Center Helps Syracuse Residents Reduce More Than $600k In Debt and Increase Over $300k In Savings - URBAN CNY

In the wake of a mass movement against racial injustice and police brutality in America, affiliates of Stanford Medical School are speaking up about their experiences with institutionalized racism in the field of medicine and championing diversity initiatives at Stanford.

Students from underrepresented minority groups make up 20% of all graduate students at Stanford and 6% of all postdoctoral scholars at the School of Medicine. Similarly, underrepresented minorities make up 6% of professoriate faculty and 13% of staff.

Associate Dean of the Office of Student Medical Affairs Mijiza Sanchez-Guzman, who serves on the School of Medicines diversity cabinet, said that being one of few people of color in a department is a common source of anxiety for many underrepresented minorities in medicine.

Theres not a lot of us in the field, and so for the ones of us that are here, theres a minority tax, Sanchez-Guzman said. Its the stress of having to serve on every committee and having to do everything its a lot, its a burden.

A leaky recruitment pipeline

Affiliates cited recruiting as a pivotal step towards fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, stressing the importance of starting at the application process.

There is a leaky pipeline when it comes to education leading to the field of medicine, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Lahia Yemane told The Daily. There are many points where we are losing folks from underrepresented backgrounds. It goes back all the way to what your teachers are telling you that you can and cannot do in elementary school.

She added that bias and racism in college advising contribute to racial disparities in medicine.

There are a lot of people who start out as pre-med and drop out, Yemane said. Unfortunately many of these end up being minority students because they are faced with barriers to succeeding. Advisors are the gatekeepers and often tell students when they get a B or C on that test that they shouldnt be pre-med anymore.

Yemane told The Daily that these barriers include academic backgrounds that do not prepare minority students for college pre-med classes, financial barriers and racial stereotypes that peg these students as weak.

Medical school and medical training are in general very expensive, Yemane said. That in and of itself is a deterrence. To make a commitment to medical school, there are enormous costs.

The price of medical school is apparent as early as the application process; both medical school programs and residency programs often require applicants to fly to campus for in-person interviews, which can end up costing thousands of dollars. According to Yemane, this is emblematic of the process and the result: most medical students come from families from the top two quintiles for income status.

The system is not set up for folks that dont have a lot of money, and theres bias through each step of the process, Yemane said.

School of Medicine Scholar in Residence Arghavan Salles M.D. 06 Ph.D. 14 echoed Yemane in saying, There are a lot of factors that make it so that the people going into medicine are the same group over and over again.

You have to fly to every interview on your own budget and stay at a hotel. And of course its very competitive so people go to as many interviews as they can. All of that creates barriers for people who dont come from wealthy families, she added.

Sanchez-Guzman pointed out that at Stanford, potential students also have to worry about studying in a place with high housing and living costs.

Students and residents alike say, I dont know if I could afford to live here on a resident salary, and thats real, Sanchez-Guzman said. As administrators we can try to work with University leaders and offset or subsidize some of these burdens, but due to the high cost of living in the Bay Area its ultimately out of our control.

However, she said, this does not mean that the University should give up.

Recruitment is paramount because when people from underrepresented backgrounds can see themselves here, theyre more likely to want to come here, Sanchez-Guzman added.

When they see people who look like them thriving, not being burdened by being on every diversity committee, and living their best lives, they are likely to think, okay, I could see myself there. And often that is what makes the difference.

Salles said that medical institutions need to do a better job of reaching out to traditionally underrepresented communities in order to select diverse applicants from a pool of potential students or faculty members.

We have a huge challenge recruiting Native people, Salles told The Daily. The percentage of faculty across the country in academic medicine who are indigenous is less than 1% of all faculty, and Black and Latinx faculty members are each only 2% of our total population.

She noted that these statistics pale in comparison to the make up of the national population, which is 13% Black and 18% Latinx.

We have either not made the career welcoming to people who are not White or Asian, or we have not removed barriers for those people to get into the profession, Salles concluded.

You cant be what you cant see, Yemane added.

Cultural change must follow

Affiliates stressed that the recruitment process is only the first step. Cultural change must follow.

We need to figure out a way to make sure that people who are coming in with a different perspective actually feel included, Salles said. Recruiting people who look different is a challenge but its not insurmountable there are excellent candidates at every level. But those people come to the institution, and if the culture around them expects them to fit in to be just like everybody else, thats where the diversity fails. Theres a common saying that diversity without inclusion is really exclusion, and I think thats what were seeing at a lot of places.

Its one thing to get people through the door, but its another to have them stay and really feel valued, Yemane added.

Affiliates said that a true culture shift will only come when the University takes proactive measures towards progress, such as pipeline programs and supporting existing diverse faculty and students. .

Id rather work more proactively rather than reactionary, Sanchez-Guzman said. I feel like a lot of work that weve been doing is in response to whats happening in the community and the country rather than just doing what we should be doing.

This issue obviously started over four-hundred years ago, Yemane said. And now its not that there has to be a tragedy for us to do something. We already know that discrimination is happening and we need to be figuring out how can we as an academic institution do better.

Fifth-year medical student Osama El-Gabalaway B.A 15 M.S 16, who is the outgoing chair of Stanford University Minority Medical Alliance (SUMMA) added that the Universitys reaction should be thoughtful and inclusive.

After tragic crises boil over the country or locally, the University twiddles its thumbs, and puts out half-baked PR statements, El-Gabalway said. One of our goals is to bring the stakeholders into the room where the decisions are made. For example, if there is a Muslim ban, the University should bring Muslim facutly and students to the table and center their voices.

A history of racism, pushed under the carpet

Affiliates said that the University could not succeed in creating a diverse and inclusive environment without acknowledging and addressing the legacy of racism in modern medicine.

We want anti-racist history within medicine, El-Gabalway said. Every section of the curriculum should dedicate time to the history of exploitation of people of color.

He pointed to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in which researchers experimented on Black men, intentionally withholding treatment from a control group, and the forced sterilization of indigenous communities as evidence of what he calls a discipline built on exploiting minorities.

Sometimes they say oh a risk factor for this disease is race, El-Gabalway said. But its not race its racism that creates the health disparities. That gets kind of pushed under the carpet here. Theres huge amounts of historic distrust and huge amounts of health disparities, so without Black doctors and people within the institution fighting for the change that they know their communities need, none of that trust can be restored or fixed.

Programmingto process and heal

Many affiliates have taken matters into their own hands, championing their own diversity initiatives at Stanford. El-Gabalway said that progress was often frustratingly slow in his experience fighting for an inclusive curriculum and diversity resources and funding.

El-Gabalaway was one of many students who advocated for the Diversity Center of Representation and Empowerment, or D-CORE, which provides a space where any member of the Stanford Medicine community interested in issues of inclusion and diversity can hold meetings or just hang out and study, according to the D-CORE website.

The D-CORE came on the heels of the last BLM wave, El-Gabalway said. There were a ton of notes that were shared between Ph.D. students, masters students and medical students, and these groups joined and put together a proposal of 10 points for the administration.

One of these points, El-Gabalway said was a physical space on campus for students of color in the medical school to congregate and organize.

Other requests outlined in the October of 2016 letter included hiring a full-time Chief Diversity Officer, mandatory diversity training for all community members and a published strategy for recruiting more faculty members form underrepresented groups.

Dean Minor responded to the letter by implementing the D-CORE over the course of the 2016-2017 school year, officially opening the space in October of 2017.

While the D-CORE was a success for student advocates, securing funding presented more of a challenge, El-Gabalway said.

There were points where we ended up having to beg from different departments, which was a painful, slow, labor-intensive and arduous process, El-Gabalway added.

He added that advocates have experienced pushback when asking for pay for students who are working on fostering diversity and inclusion.

The burden is on the students to make change, El-Gabalway told The Daily. The challenge is getting the University to compensate students who often go unpaid for the labor they put into this.

Every time we bring this up, the administration says, your payoff is seeing this place become a better school, El Gabalway continued. And while that seems nice thats not really a sustainable method. The administration makes students put in all the work and when things go bad, the students take the fall.

They are using students to shield themselves from the really hard responsibility of creating sustainable change, El Gabalway added.

Community members have also been working to foster diversity at the residency level. Yemane is the co-director of Stanford Medicine Leadership Education and Advancing Diversity (LEAD), a program she helped found in 2017 with the goal of creating diverse leadership at Stanford Medicine through training and mentorship.

The 10 month program meets once a month for two hours. In this time, residents engage in case-based discussions, attend interactive lectures on diversity and leadership and work in small groups to create workshops with the values of equity and inclusion in mind. Past group projects include designing curriculum about Limited English Proficiency (LEP) patients and researching implicit bias in performance evaluations.

The program started in the Department of Pediatrics, but expanded to other departments very quickly, doubling in size to 25 departments after a year. by the second year

Every year as we get bigger and bring in more folks, we also bring in a sense of community, Yemane said.

Yemane says that the program also provides students with the opportunity to share personal stories of microaggressions and discriminating, allowing them to process and heal.

A marathon, not a sprint

As an avenue for making progress towards fostering an inclusive culture, Salles has championed creating an accessible and streamlined process for reporting incidents of discrimination.

These issues are very complicated because if you think about just one incident where something inappropriate is said to someone, reporting those types of incidents is not straightforward and often does not benefit the person who is doing the reporting, Salles said.

As long as that continues to be the case, people will be hesitant to report, and as long as people arent reporting we dont know whats happening. If we dont know whats happening, we cant make change, she added.

She argued that appointing a diversity officer or commissioning a committee to look into discrimination was not enough to eradicate racism and other forms of discrimination.

When incidents happen, the University creates commissions and task forces and committees hoping that something comes out of those, but these bodies arent always empowered to make change, Salles told The Daily. People often create a Chief Diversity Officer role and they think that dedicating salary to a human is going to solve the problem, but that one person cannot change the culture of an institution.

Salles added that these commissions need to include diverse perspectives.

We see a lot of people creating committees or task forces where they dont include people from all different backgrounds, so we need to make sure theres diversity at each level Salles said. The more we can take into account different perspectives the better the solutions will be.

Affiliates also stressed the importance of mentorship.

In many places they just match new hires up with people in their department, and although they have something in common, its hard for them to speak freely because those are the same people that are going to be involved in assessing them for a promotion or a performance review, Salles said.

Thats why its so important to help people from underrepresented backgrounds identify mentors who understand University policies and procedures, she added. Black and Latinx faculty dont get promoted at the same rate as white faculty, so helping people understand early on what milestones they need to meet for promotion would be really helpful.

Mentorship is one of the big keys to helping keep people of color and underrepresented in medicine folks in academic medicine, Sanchez-Guzman added.

El-Gabalway called upon the University to implement mandatory anti-racism training and fully-funded diversity positions as integral solutions.

When the School of Medicine was trying to devise a split curriculum, they brought in consultants and experts and did paid focus groups, El-Gabalway said. So we know theyre capable of doing things, and we want them to attack anti-racism training with the same rigor and same funding that they do with other things.

El-Gabalway requested research assistantships within the Center of Excellence and Diversity in Medical Education, funded teaching assistantships and funding for student research projects that explore racism in the field of medicine.

University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne recently announced a number of initiatives intended to combat anti-Black racism at Stanford, including new diversity and inclusion fellowships and added support for research on race.

The University releases metrics, but doesnt act upon them, El-Gabalway told The Daily. We want them to present precise strategies. They love the term precision medicine and we want them to weaponize that term to attack the lack of Black and minority faculty with the same rigor as other issues. We want to see them attack retaining faculty of color.

Finally, El-Gabalway asked the School of Medicine to provide mental health support for Black and other minority trainees.

Oftentimes, even after George Floyd, we were using Black faculty we know to do healing circles, El Galabaway continued. They do that out of labor of love, but we want that to be compensated because. Its not fair that we expect Black faculty to do these tasks without compensation or recognition for what that is worth.

Yemane stressed the importance of capitalizing on this time in history at which equity and inclusion are at the center of discourse.

We need to be sure to not lose this moment and to really affect change, she said. A lot of people of color are cautiously optimistic right now. Its nice to hear the words, but we want to hear that there is true action and change. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and to really be anti-riacst is going to take active work.

Salles echoed Yemane, stressing substance over form.

Its really important for people at the top of an organization to not just say the right thing but to really be devoted to these problems, Salles said. That dictates the culture of the organization all the way down. When people see someone saying the right things but never doing the right things, then they dont really believe that that person is truly committed to that issue.

That feeling of it being disingenuous is really damaging to minoritized groups or marginalized groups.

She concluded by arguing that diversity and equity are important because they empower institutions to work at their best.

I think that were seeing more and more that ultimately having a workforce that is diverse is the best way to deliver care, Salles said. Even if all you care about is providing quality care to patients, you have to realize that having a diverse workforce is key to that mission.

Contact Sarina Deb at sdeb7 at stanford.edu

The rest is here:

Medical school affiliates on lack of diversity, burden of the 'minority tax' - The Stanford Daily

Anil AnandCome 5, August, 2020, it will mark the first anniversary of the historic decision to partially abrogate Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and erasing the undesired Article 35A which was most obnoxious in terms of gender bias, other issues apart. There are preparations afoot in the ruling dispensation- both the BJP-Governments as well as the organisation per se, to celebrate the day as a mark of achievement.There may be enthusiasm among the decision makers as it has fulfilled their long standing political agenda overlooking the finer Constitutional nuances and sensitivities of a complex state. Interestingly and even intriguingly the euphoria is missing among the people in the state turned Union Territory, Jammu and Kashmir. A similar mood exists in the other Union Territory carved out of the erstwhile state- Ladakh, though for different reasons.Article 370 and 35 A are no more the burning issues as it is a done deal now although questions would continue to be raked about the manner in which this-end was achieved by the Government of the day in a hasty manner. After all Parliament passed the relevant amendment Bills within a day or so with lofty promises that all ills afflicting J&K would go away in one stroke.So, should August 5, 2020 be celebrated as mark of a national achievement? For the ruling elite the answer is a straightforward yes. And why not! It is another matter, as the media reports suggest, the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir is finding it hard to muster public support to hold a grand show on this day. There are reasons behind that both in Jammu and Kashmir respectively.On political firmament battlelines have already been drawn with BJP and its supporting parties on one side and the entire opposition led by Congress on the other demanding restoration of statehood. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and veteran Congress leader, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad recently held a detailed meeting with Prime Minister Modi in this connection and the partys UT unit is planning to back his demand for statehood through organising various programmes on or before August 5.The one dark aspect of the entire exercise of August 5, 2019 was demotion and dissection of a bubbling state into two Union Territories to be directly administered by Delhi under the pretext that the new form and shape of both UTs- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, will usher the areas into an unprecedented era of growth, employment and economic upliftment, without any mention of the political empowerment particularly of Jammu and Kashmir and more so that of Jammu region. At the turn of first anniversary of the event it can be safely said- from the first hand experience- that nothing of the sort has happened so far.As the August 5, 2020 approached there was frenzy in the State Administration and Lt Governor went on a project inauguration spree. It is good that some of the long standing projects such as the first phase of a ropeway in Jammu were inaugurated. The sole aim seems to be to create a discourse that gels with the upliftment of Jammu premise. However, the real bread and butter issues are still awaiting attention.The big positives of the partial abrogation of Article 370 and eradication of 35 A was the empowerment of some important groups who were so far deprived of their certain basic rights. These include the West Pakistan refugees- it is shameful to address them in this manner even 73 years after Independence but follies of the past and domination of Kashmir centric politics affixed this tag on them, and the Balmiki community who came to Jammu under special circumstances decades back to render their services but became victims of politics. There is a strong reason to celebrate this aspect.All such silver-linings are getting buried under the burden of a demotion which certain quarters are seeking to celebrate. The history of Jammu and Kashmir, as a state, is full of intrigues both in the pre and more so in the post-Independence era. The episode of removal of special Constitutional provisions and the accompanying demotion, also have their fare share of intriguing aspects.The one most glaring intriguing aspect- there are others galore- is the growing clamour for restoration of the statehood as the day of celebration is drawing nearer. It is becoming starker by the day as even some top leaders of the ruling BJP have been talking in terms of going back to the statehood. Are these statements inspired by electoral politics and ambitions or do the BJP leaders really mean it? No one really knows.There are three to four schools of thought airing their views on the current status and situation of Jammu and Kashmir. Firstly, there is the cheering brigade that not only includes the members of the ruling dispensation but also peripheral elements who are mostly guided by political aims and religious overzealousness. They are going at length to find merit in demotion which they have every right to.The second grouping is of those who are justifying demotion and division of the state but intriguingly counting on the virtues of the Dogra rulers and their generals. There is a dichotomous situation developing here in which ruling BJP has lot to explain as they have sought to use the name of these rulers for political purposes purely on the basis of the religious identity of the Dogra rulers. How could they justify the separation of Ladakh as UT when at the same time remembering the great General Zorawar Singh and his army for having led the amazing conquests up to Tibet? Or how could they even justify formation of UT of even Jammu and Kashmir while praising erstwhile Maharaja Gulab Singh for making Kashmir and northern areas part of his domain? There is some confusion somewhere which they need to clear and more importantly people need to understand the gameplan.The third school of thought relates to those who are not satisfied with the current scenario of a decimated Jammu and Kashmir, and have become strong votaries of further divisions and sub-divisions. They are well within their Constitutional right to raise such demands no matter how much impracticable these are. This includes creation of a separate state of Jammu and carving out more Union Territories that includes one for the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community.The fourth and the most dangerous school of thought is that how could Jammu and Kashmir stay together when the two regions have nothing in common. The proponents of such thought have failed to appreciate the fact that the same Dogra rulers, whom they are praising, governed this diversity with aplomb, without suggesting that there were no problems on ground for them. If two persons dont agree with each other, they cannot exist together, seems to be the argument which is fallacious.Where do these demands stand vis-a-vis growing clamour for return to statehood for Jammu and Kashmir which has beenfurther fuelled by important functionaries of the ruling dispensation? Will this reversion of status only include Jammu and Kashmir or Ladakh included?My personal view is that reverting back seems a difficult if not impossible proposition at this juncture. Although there is a strong case for statehood but by doing so the current ruling dispensation, both at the governmental and political levels, will only be admitting its folly. Course correction is always an option in politics and matters of governance and this should be taken as a healthy and positive sign but the current system, as reflected during the last six years, is in a different mould. Unless, they wish away the system of solo ride and show intent to carry everyone along particularly in a divert situation such as Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.There can be one possibility of the Narendra Modi Government thinking of reverting back to the statehood status. This could by merely changing the nomenclature from Union Territory to state with all other things remaining the same as existing today. Again, if this happens, it would be to address the political exigencies arising out of an impending electoral battle in Jammu and Kashmir and BJP much keen to ensure their victory. Such a move would be fraught with further dangerous consequences given the current hostilities both at the Line of Control ( LoC) with Pakistan and Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.In this entire scenario Jammu has to find its place in every aspect of life. During the last over seven decades Jammuites have only been demanding their share in terms of political and economic empowerment without questioning other regions rights. The comparisons were bound to set in when the regions aspirations were totally and absolutely ignored. The common thread between previous and current dispensations has been to show greener pastures to people of Jammu region without accruing anything on ground.There are broader issues of identity, dignity and political empowerment involved. This holds true for all and more for Jammu as its people have already shown a human face at a personal cost for the last seven decades to accommodate migrants and displaced persons of all varieties and religions. Mere inauguration of peripheral projects is no answer to these vital questions.This is time to take a much wider view of Jammu and Kashmir rather than adopting a piecemeal and divisive approach. More divisions would mean more problems on the border with two hostile neighbours to contend with. More divisions would also mean dishonouring the memory of Dogra rulers as enunciated above.feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com

Originally posted here:

J&K UT: 1st anniversary and unanswered queries - Daily Excelsior

coronavirus, courier mail, coronavirus, covid-19, queensland, two women, spreaders

Trust, community and a sense of common purpose is all that stands between the Australian public and a deadly second wave of the novel coronavirus. Splashing the names, faces and personal details of people who have defied border closures to carry COVID-19 from outbreak areas on the front page of Brisbane's Courier Mail under the incendiary headline "Enemies of the state" not only undermines this fragile balance, it poses a far greater risk to our collective health than the virus. While scientists race for a vaccine and effective treatments, looking to the virus for flaws, epidemiologists and public health doctors have their eyes on the bigger prize, and that's the host. Us. How we behave dictates whether COVID-19 can survive; adapting swiftly, and in unison, holds our best hope of success. The essential ingredient to a successful public health strategy is trust, at every level. Containment is an unglamorous enterprise at its heart, and it pivots on a very simple mantra: test, trace, isolate, treat. We know that this formula works because we have done it before, leading the world with our response to HIV. In contrast to other Western nations, Australia's strategy was predicated on consultation, partnership with, and empowerment of affected communities, not moralising and criminalisation. That approach, now upheld as an exemplar in health promotion, focused on education, counselling and case management, with public health orders and detention used rarely, as a last resort. Then, as now, detractors demanded punitive measures, insisting that people would only do the right thing (in that case, wearing condoms) if it were a crime not to. It is a testament to the leaders of the day, and to those at the forefront of the community-led response, that they resisted the impulse, instead placing faith in the population to do the right thing, which they did, because they were invested in both the process and the outcome. Known as responsive regulation, research has shown that these least-coercive approaches work best in earning, and maintaining, public trust. Trust is everything at this critical moment in our coronavirus response, and it ought not be squandered in the tabloid thirst for clicks, scapegoating and demonising infected people with reductive, xenophobic tropes that only serve to deepen race and class divides. Dog-whistle doxxing puts all of us at risk. It sends the message to marginalised communities that, if they come forward for testing, their identities are fair game for moralising, mere grist to the mill of the culture wars. Privacy becomes a luxury afforded only to a certain class and character of person, those who can afford ski trips and summer cruises. Everyone else is an "enemy of the state" to be pilloried in the public square as a warning to us all. The insistence that, because the women in question were allegedly involved in a criminal enterprise, they deserve the treatment meted out to them, is a dangerous precedent to contemplate. It implies that due process is not a right but something to be adjudicated by the mass media and withheld on a populist whim. Privacy is central to the provision of health care, and the therapeutic relationship. People seek care on the proviso that their confidence is sacred, and the same applies in public health. Co-operation with mammoth efforts to test, trace and isolate COVID-19 cases rests on a tacit understanding that information shared with officials will be handled sensitively and discreetly. Without this assurance, the dance is lost, and so too our best - indeed only - chance at containing the novel coronavirus. Trust begets testing begets tracing begets success. This matters not just at an individual level but, as we have seen with HIV, in engaging marginalised communities. The Queensland Human Rights Commission has warned of a "second wave of COVID-related racial hostility", with members of Brisbane's African community reporting increasing harassment in the wake of the coverage, and the women themselves receiving death threats and calls for summary execution. Sensationalised media coverage has long been the engine room of HIV stigma, but we engage in naming and shaming at our peril, losing sight of the structural drivers that have allowed this pandemic to rip through the same populations the world over: a growing precariat of essential workers without a safety net. SARS-CoV-2 does not discriminate in who it infects, but we socially select for its spread, and then seek to condemn on the basis of circumstance. READ MORE: Blaming individuals is cheap and easy, for the media and politicians alike. It doesn't require any kind of critical thinking or impulse for reform, it allows governments to evade responsibility for failings that have contributed to or driven the outbreak. Daniel Andrews' "we are all in this together" turns to "disappointment in these individuals not doing the right thing". But blame becomes a feedback loop, encouraging punitive responses which generate further media coverage, reinforcing blame. It offers justification for sending police into housing estates, detaining citizens under military guard, suppressing protests and "surveillance creep", which is difficult if not impossible to wind back. It also serves as a perverse incentive, emboldening individualistic rhetoric that privileges personal freedoms above the common good (let's call it the "Bunnings Karens effect"). Once we set foot down that path, it will be extremely difficult to recover the collective mindset we need to overcome this crisis. Trust in the process isn't all that matters, we also need to trust one another. Breaching public health orders places that fragile bond in peril, but polarising communities and feeding vigilante impulses poses a far greater risk. In a time of crisis, the media plays an essential civic role. Eschewing that for tired culture-war tropes is not only seriously poor judgment, it's myopic self-service with potentially fatal consequences.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/tPntrWhUbGLyDWYCTv46rt/97868c6c-c7c1-44ff-b73d-28415725ac0d.jpg/r12_758_4793_3459_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

OPINION

July 31 2020 - 2:40PM

Trust, community and a sense of common purpose is all that stands between the Australian public and a deadly second wave of the novel coronavirus.

Splashing the names, faces and personal details of people who have defied border closures to carry COVID-19 from outbreak areas on the front page of Brisbane's Courier Mail under the incendiary headline "Enemies of the state" not only undermines this fragile balance, it poses a far greater risk to our collective health than the virus.

While scientists race for a vaccine and effective treatments, looking to the virus for flaws, epidemiologists and public health doctors have their eyes on the bigger prize, and that's the host. Us. How we behave dictates whether COVID-19 can survive; adapting swiftly, and in unison, holds our best hope of success.

The essential ingredient to a successful public health strategy is trust, at every level. Containment is an unglamorous enterprise at its heart, and it pivots on a very simple mantra: test, trace, isolate, treat.

We know that this formula works because we have done it before, leading the world with our response to HIV. In contrast to other Western nations, Australia's strategy was predicated on consultation, partnership with, and empowerment of affected communities, not moralising and criminalisation.

That approach, now upheld as an exemplar in health promotion, focused on education, counselling and case management, with public health orders and detention used rarely, as a last resort. Then, as now, detractors demanded punitive measures, insisting that people would only do the right thing (in that case, wearing condoms) if it were a crime not to.

It is a testament to the leaders of the day, and to those at the forefront of the community-led response, that they resisted the impulse, instead placing faith in the population to do the right thing, which they did, because they were invested in both the process and the outcome.

Known as responsive regulation, research has shown that these least-coercive approaches work best in earning, and maintaining, public trust.

Trust is everything at this critical moment in our coronavirus response, and it ought not be squandered in the tabloid thirst for clicks, scapegoating and demonising infected people with reductive, xenophobic tropes that only serve to deepen race and class divides.

Dog-whistle doxxing puts all of us at risk. It sends the message to marginalised communities that, if they come forward for testing, their identities are fair game for moralising, mere grist to the mill of the culture wars.

Privacy becomes a luxury afforded only to a certain class and character of person, those who can afford ski trips and summer cruises. Everyone else is an "enemy of the state" to be pilloried in the public square as a warning to us all.

The insistence that, because the women in question were allegedly involved in a criminal enterprise, they deserve the treatment meted out to them, is a dangerous precedent to contemplate. It implies that due process is not a right but something to be adjudicated by the mass media and withheld on a populist whim.

Privacy is central to the provision of health care, and the therapeutic relationship. People seek care on the proviso that their confidence is sacred, and the same applies in public health.

Co-operation with mammoth efforts to test, trace and isolate COVID-19 cases rests on a tacit understanding that information shared with officials will be handled sensitively and discreetly. Without this assurance, the dance is lost, and so too our best - indeed only - chance at containing the novel coronavirus.

Trust begets testing begets tracing begets success.

This matters not just at an individual level but, as we have seen with HIV, in engaging marginalised communities. The Queensland Human Rights Commission has warned of a "second wave of COVID-related racial hostility", with members of Brisbane's African community reporting increasing harassment in the wake of the coverage, and the women themselves receiving death threats and calls for summary execution.

Sensationalised media coverage has long been the engine room of HIV stigma, but we engage in naming and shaming at our peril, losing sight of the structural drivers that have allowed this pandemic to rip through the same populations the world over: a growing precariat of essential workers without a safety net. SARS-CoV-2 does not discriminate in who it infects, but we socially select for its spread, and then seek to condemn on the basis of circumstance.

Blaming individuals is cheap and easy, for the media and politicians alike. It doesn't require any kind of critical thinking or impulse for reform, it allows governments to evade responsibility for failings that have contributed to or driven the outbreak. Daniel Andrews' "we are all in this together" turns to "disappointment in these individuals not doing the right thing".

But blame becomes a feedback loop, encouraging punitive responses which generate further media coverage, reinforcing blame. It offers justification for sending police into housing estates, detaining citizens under military guard, suppressing protests and "surveillance creep", which is difficult if not impossible to wind back. It also serves as a perverse incentive, emboldening individualistic rhetoric that privileges personal freedoms above the common good (let's call it the "Bunnings Karens effect").

Once we set foot down that path, it will be extremely difficult to recover the collective mindset we need to overcome this crisis.

Trust in the process isn't all that matters, we also need to trust one another. Breaching public health orders places that fragile bond in peril, but polarising communities and feeding vigilante impulses poses a far greater risk.

In a time of crisis, the media plays an essential civic role. Eschewing that for tired culture-war tropes is not only seriously poor judgment, it's myopic self-service with potentially fatal consequences.

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Naming and shaming COVID-19 spreaders will drive this virus further underground - The Canberra Times

Mountain Brook High School graduate Caroline Moore really wants to be a feature film producer.

So much I could scream it from the nearest rooftop, she said. Being the woman behind the curtain, making sure that a story has the proper footing to stand tall, is my dream, she said.

Moore is well on her way to reaching that goal.

Graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama this spring, Moore earned a degree from the College of Communication and Information Sciences in communication studies with a concentration in creative producing and a minor in business administration.

While attending Alabama, Moore gained production experience by working for Crimson Tide Productions (CTP) in the schools athletic department during her four years at UA.

In addition, she gained admission to one of the most prestigious graduate film programs in the world in the School of the Arts at Columbia University in New York, which shell attend this fall.

Moving to the Big Apple fulfills another of Moores dreams. This is really a culmination of what I have wanted since I could remember, she said.

When Moore was 4 or 5 years old, she told her grandmother she was going to be a dancer in New York but that her grandmother shouldnt worry because she could come visit her.

I made good on my word in some ways, I suppose, Moore said.

She also has a strong conviction regarding the social importance of film and aspires to do more than merely entertain her audiences.

I see a film as much more than a way to spend two hours, she said. It acts as a mirror in that it should reflect our culture, the bad and the good, in a way that cannot be ignored and is revered for the honesty it portrays.

While working at CTP, Moore amassed valuable training and experience more than she can fully express that will help her in the film business, she said.

It really started from the ground up: the etiquette of a production, the chain of command, when to stick to it and when to break it, the excitement a group of people with one common goal can feel, she said.

Working about 20 hours a week, Moore didaudio and video production for all sports and often worked for ESPN and the SEC Network.

The job was both fun and challenging, and Moore made a lot of good friends and found some valuable mentors.

I always felt like my skills were being furthered by those people we refer to as full-time staffers, Moore said.

Justin Brant and Wyatt Caruthers encouraged her to pursue audio engineering, and she was inspired by Kaye Proctor, who was shining the light ahead for all females in CTP, Moore said.

The work at CTP taught Moore how important the energy of the crew is to the sustainability of the production, she said.

CTP also provided her with some lessons about the tough side of production work. I learned how to take a hit when it came to errors because we were students, Moore said. We needed to be tossed into the madness in order to persevere, to give our utmost effort and, for lack of a better phrase, leave it all out on the field or court, depending on the sport.

It makes sense that she was involved in sports. Moore, who graduated from Mountain Brook High School in 2016, was a four-year starter on the Spartans softball team.

Sports run deep on her fathers side of the family, she said. Moores grandfather, Bud Moore, was a college football head coach and is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

While at CTP, Moore came to honor and value the people with whom she worked and realized how important it is to be invested in people and their purpose within the production and outside of it, she said.

A production, whether its sports or narrative film, requires humans of all different backgrounds and different positions to meld together and make it great, Moore said. I learned what a team looks like at CTP, and I aspire to build one as strong and diverse as I have had the pleasure of serving on.

This belief in teamwork feeds directly into Moores vision of what film producers do.

Producing is making sure that the ideas are heard and people know what they are getting into and they are excited about it, Moore said.

A producer must put herself in everyone else's shoes, understanding the integrity of their position and giving them the credit they deserve, she said

Moore is confident she has the personal attributes, including good people skills, that she needs to succeed in the film industry.

My effort is contagious, and I think that is an integral part of why I want to manage story and people together, she said. I am a very active listener, and I invest myself in conversations and things that are important to other people in order for them to know how invested I am in them as a person.

She has a forceful personality and can feed off of other peoples energies, Moore said.

She looks forward to working with the many eclectic creative professionals in the business. I cant help but think that I would fit and communicate well with them, she said.

A strong sense of values undergirds Moores approach to her creativity, as well. Ive never been good with putting up with intolerance or injustice, and it definitely shows, she said.

Storytelling is also a critically important way to bring people together, Moore said.

If I dont create and build connections between people, then I might as well cease to exist, she said. My empowerment hinges on that of human storytelling. I have no desire to stand idly by and be the only character in my own story because that isnt what life is. Life is in the crossovers and connections and the parts that we cant handle alone.

This applies to social movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement, which needs those connections between all peoples to make their platform stronger than it already is,'' Moore said.

Film is part of that platform, she said, citing the documentary I am Not Your Negro and the TV series When They See Us as examples.

Film is a reflection of the culture we fight to make our own, she said. I am in service to these stories and the people they shine light on. My purpose in life is to empower people, and film is how I choose to do that.

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On her way: MBHS grad Caroline Moore to attend film school in NY, dreams of producing films - Village Living