Daily Archives: January 7, 2022

As reports of COVID-19 morbidities and mortalities rose in the United States (U.S.), inequities in the healthcare landscape quickly became apparent, with cases, hospitalizations, and deaths due to the virus disproportionately affecting Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino communities. With these disparities in mind, Janssen, the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, knew it was critical to enroll a diverse population of participants in ENSEMBLE, the clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, to ensure that all people who would eventually receive the vaccine were represented.

To ensure diversity and inclusion in the ENSEMBLE trial and based on years of clinical trial experience, Janssen rapidly implemented a multifaceted plan for recruitment and enrollment of participants from underrepresented communities. The approach included intentional site selection, community engagement and awareness building, and educational and training support for investigators. Janssen also took steps to remove barriers clinical trial participants often face, including the use of demographic data to identify and utilize clinical trial sites located in underrepresented communities.

We are committed to developing medicines and therapies that meet the needs of all people, and we know that diseases and drugs may impact people differently based on their race and ethnicity, so the alignment of clinical trial enrollment with patient population demographics is key, said Staci Hargraves, Vice President of Patient and Portfolio Solutions, Janssen Research & Development, LLC, and Executive Sponsor of Janssens Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Clinical Trials program. Simple yet impactful decisions, such as making sure trial sites were located in accessible places within historically underserved communities, made a big difference in our ability to reach more participants.

Once Janssen selected the ENSEMBLE sites and began recruitment efforts, Janssens employees built relationships with trial site investigators and staff to provide cultural competency training to help stimulate dialogue about diversity and maintain focus on enrolling and supporting underrepresented groups. These close collaborations with site leaders allowed Janssen to identify any roadblocks in real time and make changes to the recruitment efforts as needed.

Identifying clinical trial sites in diverse communities was only the first step, because other barriers to recruitment and enrollment also exist. Clinical research in the U.S. has a complicated history when it comes to marginalized populations. Past events such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, combined with ongoing systemic disparities in the healthcare system, have contributed to distrust in clinical research among many people. Building trust is critical, particularly given the urgency the pandemic presented.

We felt it was our role to help people understand how clinical trials work and how trials have evolved to ensure that participant safety and human rights are protected today, said Hargraves.

To build trust with communities of color, Janssen worked with both local and national organizations, including prominent community advocacy groups and leaders, along with healthcare professional organizations. These groups helped Janssen identify trusted voices within communities who could disseminate information about ENSEMBLE and clinical research in general. Janssen also used its Research Includes Me patient education program to conduct local outreach, including the consumer-facing website ResearchIncludesMe.com, and the dispatch of mobile units of bilingual educators to large community events. These tools helped to dispel misinformation about present-day medical research by providing accessible and empowering education about the clinical trial process and the protections given to participants rights and privacy.

Setting the Bar for Diversity in Clinical Trial Enrollment

Collectively, Janssens efforts successfully promoted diverse enrollment in ENSEMBLE. There were 43,783 participants from eight countries across North America (44%), Central and South America (41%), and Africa (15%). More than one-third (34%) of participants were over the age of 60, and 45% were female. In the United States, 74% of participants were White/Caucasian, 15% were Hispanic/Latino, and 13% were Black/African American. Participants with comorbidities were also well-represented in ENSEMBLE, with 41% of participants having obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or HIV-positive status or other immune system disorders.

The Future of Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials

The pharmaceutical industry must continue to confront underrepresentation in clinical trials and devote time and resources to inclusion, however, it is an evolving process. Using lessons learned from ENSEMBLE and experiences with previous clinical research in other disease areas, Janssen will continue to shape the future of clinical trial recruitment by applying strategic operational practices, making thoughtful investments of time and resources, and facilitating collaborations that build trust in clinical research and reduce barriers to diverse enrollment.

We are working together with leaders across the pharmaceutical industry to make diversity, equity and inclusion in clinical trials a reality, Hargraves said. ENSEMBLE is just one example of how collective efforts can result in success.

Further Reading

1. Loree JM, Anand S, Dasari A, et al. Disparity of Race Reporting and Representation in Clinical Trials Leading to Cancer Drug Approvals From 2008 to 2018. JAMA Oncol. 2019;5(10):e191870. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.1870

2. Diverse Trials Act. 117th Congress (2021-2022). S.2706.

3. The Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard. Achieving Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in Clinical Research, Version 1.1. August 2020. https://mrctcenter.org/diversity-in-clinical-research/guidance/guidance-document/. Accessed September 2, 2021.

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Janssen Takes Multifaceted Approach to Ensuring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in its COVID-19 Vaccine Trial - FiercePharma

Like a toddler on a sweetie binge, 2021 served up an unending frenzy of opportunity and devastation. Sometimes the only thing separating these have been a few blissful hours of ignorance, particularly if you work in the travel, tourism and hospitality sector.

Natalia Rosa

When times are bad, and boy have they been bad, were fighting to get off red lists and dealing with the long-term reputational damage of having a bunch of switched-on scientists who keep finding variants and saving the world. Its enough to make you hide under your bed and binge eat Kit-Kats.

Admittedly, tourism has always been one of the only industries in the world that almost every country can lay a claim to in terms of having some sort of differentiated edge; a value proposition that appeals to someone. Its also one of the industries that experiences disruption, quite often through no fault of its own. Hence the noise.

And its getting harder and harder to break through that noise, particularly as were continuously told that 'content is king' despite 4.4 million new blog posts, 350 million new photos uploaded to Facebook and one billion hours of YouTube watched every day.

But the tourism PR, comms and marketing world has changed in times of Covid. Dark social platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Telegram groups have taken over as small online communities are formed around every conceivable niche interest hiking in Stellenbosch, flower lovers of the Namaqualand, best routes to 4x4 with your bestie in Limpopo, etc.

We may be a global village but living la vida lockdown seems to have messed with our brains. Were actively choosing to shrink our communities to smaller, more personalised, more thoughtful online spaces. And were certainly not brimming with trust for brands that sit outside that space.

Content may be king, but if it isnt niched down enough to fit the needs of these micro-communities that are growing at the speed of Japanese bullet train and delivered at the right time, a lot of it just adds to the noise. People arent paying attention. They dont care that you want to tell the world you just launched a new spa range to die for.

According to Manifest, 5% of content generated 90% of engagement, which means 95% of our content is a random act of content. Thats right, folks. Weve been running rings around ourselves like those sugar-high toddlers to push content out that nobody is reading.

Calling all content writers, PR professionals and marketers in the travel, tourism and hospitality sector as the new year arrives: Let 2022 be the year we get more intentional about the content we create. Lets focus on the targeted content that shows those niched audiences we know them; we care about what they care about, and we value their precious time.

Let 2022 be the year of less is more, of emotionally driven content that really connects with the heart of our travellers; that enables and inspires the right customer at the right time to act on behalf of all those travel brands that have borne the brunt of Covid as weve lurched from wave to wave, crisis to crisis. Lurched past tense because heres hoping 2022 will be different.

Not only do they need the best version of us now, more than ever. But also, because everybody deserves to travel, to become a better version of themselves when they do, and because we need to have a reason to get out from under that bed in the morning.

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#BizTrends2022: Tourism tribe, let's be more intentional in 2022 - Bizcommunity.com

This is part of a series of profiles about new faculty who have joined the College of Education in the 2021-22 academic year.

Name: Terri Tilford

Title: Assistant Teaching Professor of Counseling and Counselor Education

Education: Ed.D. in Counselor Education from Western Michigan University, M.A. in Counselor Education from Central Michigan University, B.A. in Communication from Saginaw Valley State University

Experience: Associate Professor of Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Montreat College; Adjunct Counseling Professor, Northwestern University; Adjunct Counseling Professor, Central Michigan University and Western Michigan University; Director of Counseling Services, Winston-Salem University

Why did you choose a career in education?

I am passionate about helping others, and teaching was the most enjoyable way for me to accomplish this goal! Overall, I believe this is part of my purpose in lifeguiding people into a direction for personal life success. Also, I am a third-generation education professional that includes teachers, educational consultants and principals. Several individuals, on both sides of my family, have won awards as outstanding educators in their community and for their state. Thus, in part, education was a part of my upbringing in my home.

Why did you decide to pursue a doctoral degree?

I decided to pursue a doctorate degree because I enjoy learning, and I wanted to be intentional about being at my best in my field of study.

What are your research interests?

My research interests include ways to empower people to reach their potential, positive thinking/negative thought stopping to achieve wellness and community awareness, programming and evidenced-based strategies to support personal life success and mental wellbeing.

What sparked your interest in those topics?

My interest was sparked in these topics because I learned the impact of helping people by watching others and by being intentional about caring for others and helping them to identify their strengths to help them overcome pain, failure and deficits.

What is one research project or moment in your academic career that you are particularly proud of?

I was very excited about being awarded a sabbatical to conduct a national study focusing on successful approaches that help individuals persist and overcome barriers.

What is your teaching philosophy?

My professional philosophy for teaching includes creating a learning environment that helps all students believe they belong in the classroom, including all learning styles with instruction and including evidenced-based theory and practice in the classroom. Also, my teaching philosophy includes creating a learning environment in which students will desire to be lifelong learners and continue to grow to become leaders in counseling as they advocate for equity, inclusion and social justice in their respective communities.

What do you hope your students learn from you?

I hope students learn from me the joy of learning, how to effectively help others and how to identify and develop their niche in counseling.

What makes someone an extraordinary educator?

An extraordinary educator has the ability to be intentional about creating a learning environment in which everyone believes they have a place in the classroom, they are engaged in the classroom and each student is able to integrate what they have learned in the classroom to empower and help others.

Original post:

Meet Assistant Teaching Professor Terri Tilford: 'I Hope Students Learn From Me the Joy of Learning, How to Effectively Help Others and How to...

The Department of Health (DOH) is reaching out to individuals and communities who have experienced health inequities or racism in the health care system.

Advocacy groups and health care professional associations are also invited to comment.

This is an effort to learn how people are harmed due to inequities in the health care system.

DOH says they want to create positive change in the system.

Information gathered from listening sessions will be used in future rule workshops. Individuals, communities, and health care workers will work together to create rules for health equity continuing education. Health care professionals must complete training in health equity as required by Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5229.

DOH recognizes that sharing experiences about this subject may be difficult. We recognize and appreciate the emotional labor that will take place. We will make an intentional effort to create a safe space for participants and staff during this process. Sharing your experience is voluntary and it is up to you how you would like to share. If speaking in a group setting does not work for you, there is an option for written comments. No matter how you choose to take part, please know your willingness to engage in this process is greatly appreciated.

During these sessions, DOH will ask the following questions:

DOH will be holding listening sessions: Each session has the capacity for 250 attendees. If a session fills up please consider attending another one. We want to hear from you.

Microsoft Teams meetingJoin on your computer or mobile appClick here to join the meetingOr call in (audio only)+1 564-999-2000,,114577531# United States, OlympiaPhone Conference ID: 114 577 531#

Written comments about past and current experiences with health inequities can be submitted via email to [emailprotected].

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Listening sessions scheduled to hear about health equity within Washington - KXRO Newsradio

BALTIMORE,January 5, 2022Kennedy Krieger Institutes Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress (CCFTS) and the University of Maryland School of Social Work received a $2.9 million grant to create the Collective for Antiracist Child and Family Systems (CACFS), a program that will provide support and training in antiracist, anti-oppressive practices to more than 2,000 Maryland service providers working to repair the impacts of trauma among Black and Latinx children, youth, and families.

This grant provides an opportunity to help organizations adopt intentional antiracist practices, policies and procedures that will help traumatized children and families recover and thriverather than just recover and survive, said Elizabeth Thompson, PhD, CCFTS director and vice president of Kennedy Kriegers Department of Family and Community Interventions. Dr. Thompson is the principal investigator and director of the project.

The money, provided through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations (SAMHSA) National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, will be awarded over five years time. SAMHSA is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

CACFS staff plan to train, educate and provide technical assistance to social workers and mental health clinicians, supervisors, and administrators from at least 40 child- and family-serving organizations and systems, including child welfare agencies. In addition, staff will implement an awareness campaign using social media, video messages, and a website that promote culturally responsive and racially conscious approaches to healing trauma.

Staff also will create a 16-member CACFS Advisory Board to engage parents, family members, and youth to develop and oversee CACFS plans. This includes helping organizations increase their readiness for adopting practices, policies, and strategic plans that centralize racial equity and healing.

This project will incorporate three race-conscious trauma interventions and work with psychology professors at the Immigration, Critical Race and Cultural Equity (IC-RACE) Lab in Chicago, IL, whose leaders developed two of these interventions.

The program has the potential to make both immediate and long-term progress in communities that have faced health disparities, Dr. Thompson said.

This tremendous partnership brings together three organizations with the expertise and training to assist providers in the field who are working with families impacted significantly by racism, trauma, and inequities, said Brad Schlaggar, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Kennedy Krieger Institute. We are eager to begin work with our partners on this critically important initiative, to provide this much-needed training to mental health clinicians across the state of Maryland, and to be a model for programs throughout the country.

About Kennedy Krieger Institute:

Kennedy Krieger Institute, an internationally known nonprofit organization located in the greater Baltimore-Washington, D.C., region, transforms the lives of more than 25,000 individuals a year through inpatient and outpatient medical, behavioral health and wellness therapies; home and community services; school-based programs; training and education for professionals; and advocacy. Kennedy Krieger provides a wide range of services for children, adolescents and adults with diseases, disorders and injuries that impact the nervous system, ranging from mild to severe. The Institute is home to a team of investigators who contribute to the understanding of how disorders develop, while at the same time pioneering new interventions and methods of early diagnosis, prevention and treatment. VisitKennedyKrieger.orgfor more information about Kennedy Krieger.

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Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Kennedy Krieger Institute and University Of Maryland receive $2.9 million grant to implement antiracist, trauma-informed training - EurekAlert

Water is an important issue to Joe Wertz. As climate and environment editor at Colorado Public Radio, hes overseen a lot of reporting on water in the state and its scientific and political aspects.

Theres this complicated dance of factors that end up with water in the river, Wertz said. And it seems sort of simple, but its not.

CPR will be able to dive deeper into that complexity thanks to a new collaboration with the Institute for Nonprofit News. INN announced in November that it will launch a Rural News Network this year focusing on issues of concern to rural Americans, particularly communities of color.

With 60 INN member news organizations participating, the network will release two pilot projects to test how the collaboration will work for the foreseeable future. The first series will cover water issues; the second will focus on the economics of tribal communities.

Its also important to recognize that these stories really center the impacts and stories of diverse communities, said Jonathan Kealing, chief network officer for INN. It allows us to really put the equity lens on this storytelling thread throughout the project.

INN began planning the project in 2020 in response to interest from its members, Kealing said. The institute had previously convened rural news collaborations, and Kealing wanted to expand on that work.

The success we had in previous coverage of rural issues, rural education, rural health care, and those stories really had an impact in their communities and really helped the newsrooms meet their mission of serving and informing their communities, he said.

INN reached out to its 350 member organizations, and two Daily Yonder in Whitesburg, Ky., and Investigative Midwest in Champaign, Ill. expressed interest in leading and shaping the new project. The outlets, which specialize in rural and agricultural coverage, will provide RNN organizations with deep source networks and access to local community data, said Daily Yonder Editor Tim Marema.

Stories from the first pilot series, Tapped Out: Power and water justice in the rural West, began coming out in November, funded by a $30,000 grant from the Water Foundation that will be divided among participating organizations. RNN members have published the articles on their own platforms, and INN published the entire series on its website. The project extends a previous INN initiative also titled Tapped Out.

The goal for the collaboration is to reach a bigger audience, said INN Member Collaborations Editor Bridget Thoreson. Local and national publications have republished coverage from previous INN collaborations, reaching millions of readers. INN is in early talks with several national news outlets to redistribute RNN articles, Thoreson said.

Were taking work thats already being done and connecting it to get this force multiplier effect, where its really able to reach and represent more people, Thoreson said.

More than 20 public radio stations have expressed interest in joining the RNN. Public radio has a large role to play in spreading the reporting, Kealing said.

I think public media and nonprofit news broadly share values, share a sense of mission and share a commitment to journalism with nonpartisanship and independence, Kealing said. The real strength of radio is just its incredible reach across broad geographic areas. So I think as we move forward, Im really interested and excited about the ways that this project can work with public media organizations across the country.

In December, CPR published an article about how water shortages and policies governing the Colorado River affect tribal communities, who were excluded from negotiations over the river in 1922. The piece aired on CPR, Science Friday republished the article, and host Ira Flatow interviewed CPR climate/environment reporter Michael Elizabeth Sakas Dec. 10.

Another public radio station, KOSU in Stillwater, Okla., is participating in the second pilot program, which will cover economic issues within tribal communities. The pilot will feature 10 news organizations, including three tribal publications, publishing articles that will be released in March. Each organization will cover stories in its region. Indian Country Today, leader of the series and an INN member, will publish a story about tribal economics across rural America.

News organizations that are part of the pilot had to apply to participate. INN received a $114,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation to fund the collaboration.

KOSU, which will receive $8,500 from the grant, had collaborated with INN on prior projects and was part of the Institutes NewsMatch fundraising campaign, said KOSU Executive Director Rachel Hubbard. A 2020 INN survey asked the station whether it was interested in a rural news partnership. KOSU already had an agriculture and rural affairs reporter, and given that Oklahoma has the second-largest Native American population in the country, the station wanted to participate.

This kind of collaboration allows us to stop and be really intentional about how can we work together, Hubbard said. It allows us to stitch together a nationwide story, rather than it being that sort of micro-story that we would just tell in Oklahoma, and help broaden peoples understanding of whats happening nationwide.

KOSU is in the early stages of reporting. The station is collaborating with tribal publications Mvskoke Media and Osage News on a story about Native-owned businesses, and KOSU created a survey asking Oklahomans which tribal businesses it should cover. Hubbard said the pilot wont be able to cover all 39 federally recognized tribes in the state but will be a learning opportunity for future coverage.

Community-driven reporting is an integral part of the tribal economics project, said Dianna Hunt, a senior editor at Indian Country Today who will lead the tribal economics project with Thoreson. Hunt, who is of Cherokee Nation descent, helped select the news organizations that will participate in the pilot series.

The first phase of the project is listening, Hunt said. That part will kick off the project, and then the reporting will follow from the information that they get from their individual communities.

Hunt said that engagement with rural Americans is crucial because local communities will pick the stories that make up the pilot. Building trust is key, she added, because residents in rural and tribal communities lack trust in journalists due to negative stereotyping and parachute reporting by the national media.

RNN will undergo changes after both pilot programs are finished, as the objective is to learn for future collaborations. Kealing said RNNs next collaboration could focus on rural health care and that an announcement could be made this month. Wertz and Hubbard both said they want to continue working with INN, but no future projects are in the works yet.

RNNs format might also change. Kealing said INN might create a desk that compiles data for network members to use in reporting. INN is also prototyping packaging RNN content in a short video format or newsletter.

The biggest appeal we see of the newsletter is that it allows us to push the content out to potentially interested parties, but theres also a direct correlation between newsletter lists and donors, Kealing said. We think we can help newsrooms develop their individual donor strategies and become more sustainable by creating a newsletter where they have the subscriber list and then can hopefully cultivate supporters or recurring donors members out of that program.

However, the Network will need more funding for collaborations to continue. The two grants INN received fund only the pilot programs, and Kealing said INN is raising funds to bring the broader network to fruition.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that Dianna Hunt is a member of the Cherokee Nation. Hunt is of Cherokee Nation descent but is not a member.

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Stations contribute reporting, expand reach of new rural news network - Current

I grew up in what would be considered a rough part of Philadelphia in a neighborhood filled with challenges. There, I found street culture and used drugs as an escape. I was handcuffed for the first time at age 13.

I cycled through several youth detention centers. Those places often made kids more bitter and hardened at heart, including me. Looking back, I cant recall many opportunities for redemption only punishment. I never heard anyone talk about my potential to change.

The Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Task Force recently issued several recommendations to lawmakers. The goal: better ensure that youth who break the law are held accountable in ways that are meaningful but dont cut them off from community support. This means limiting out-of-home placements like group homes or residential facilities and expanding access to diversion opportunities. As someone who was on the street at a young age and later convicted of a grave violent crime, I cant overstate how families and communities can influence, and even reroute, someones life for the better.

As a teenager I never had positive role models, a safe living environment, or anyone available to walk with me through all of the emotions and challenges that I was processing. I turned to the streets looking for the love and community that I wasnt experiencing. I looked to drugs to numb the anger and pain that I felt, and I committed crimes seeking to fit in and be accepted. I was a teen searching for ways to fill voids in my life. When families, community organizations, schools, social services, and local leaders collaborate for the good of our youth, they help to fill the internal and external voids with the health and support that many of our youth are seeking to find.

READ MORE: Five days without a shower, not enough toilet paper, medical emergencies: What I experienced in a Philly jail | Opinion

Sometimes, placing youth in group homes is necessary to keep communities safe and provide intensive services. But the further along you go, outcomes for young people tend to stay the same or worsen. Pennsylvanias rate of juvenile justice residential placement is higher than the national average with many residents having limited criminal histories and cycling through too many facilities. In Pennsylvania, most people in youth residential facilities are identified as being at moderate or low risk for reoffending, with no felony or personal offense on their records. Our young people should be held accountable in settings that are aligned to their behavior and risk of future misconduct places that offer opportunities to safely grow and change.

In Pennsylvania, 64% of young people with a low risk of reoffending do not receive diversion opportunities like apprenticeships, mentoring, and community service. At least two-thirds of youth are referred to the juvenile justice system for misdemeanors or failure to pay court fines and fees. Often, probation or a group home can be ineffective and counterproductive.

As a teen, I cared little about my future and had no concept of my ability to change until years later when I was an adult returning home from prison and someone else believed in me. Years later, it was the employers who saw past my record and provided me job opportunities based upon my character and qualifications. It was my local church that embraced me, saw my humanity, and welcomed me into their community. It was the countless men and women whom I met along the way that provided wisdom, encouragement, and cheered me on as they regularly welcomed me to their dinner tables.

As helpful as these experiences were, I didnt have them until I had gotten too far down the road as a formerly incarcerated adult. What if these were my experiences as a teen? Expanded use of diversion, mentorship, and community service can help young people experience active accountability and start a new life by drawing on the assets of their communities.

That includes communities of faith. As a teen with limited resources and no positive role models, I gravitated toward a life of crime, without hope. Now, as a pastor, I see the impact of the love and support of the family of God. Churches have unmatched capacity to provide intentional guidance for youth who are on the wrong path. Church members provide safe spaces in homes around their families; positive, consistent role models; healthy routines like after-school activities; and affirming relationships with mentors. Churches can also be a wealth of resources for jobs, housing, and life skills. Our physical presence in the lives of our youth brings far more long-term impact to a teen than governmental programs alone.

Our young people must be held accountable for the harms they cause in ways that recognize their great capacity to grow and change. Diversion opportunities like those recommended by the task force, supported by community members and churches, are a strong step forward. Our young people are more than their choices. With guidance and support, we can help them reach their God-given potential.

Jon Kelly is the lead pastor of Chicago West Bible Church.

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I was a troubled teen in Pennsylvania whose future was redeemed. More youth need that chance. | Opinion - The Philadelphia Inquirer

For Primo Espinoza, living in the Valley of Teotihuacan 50 years ago was a completely different experience than it is today. What he remembers to be a neighborhood with few houses is now a complex urban system that surrounds the mighty archaeological ruins of the ancient civilization only 40 kilometers from the modern metropolis of Mexico City.

Being a third-generation inhabitant of San Juan Teotihuacan made Espinoza an expert on the area he calls home. He started his career selling mud and obsidian handicrafts to tourists but ended up working as a digger in the archaeological zone, which is a quick 15-minute walk from his house.

But what Espinoza didnt know until just months ago is that the constructions built 2,000 years ago determined the exact orientation of the street on which he lives: 15 east of north, the same orientation as the massive monuments of Teotihuacan itself.

Soil is not the same when theres a city under it; vegetation changes and makes it easier or not to build over.This is how actions from the past affect our decisions of the present.

That orientation is why every time Espinoza goes out, Cerro Gordo, the mountain that looms over Teotihuacans Pyramid of the Moon, dominates the skyline at the end of his street. The alignment is intentional, corresponding to strict urban planning organized during Mesoamericas Classic period.

A recent lidar mapping study found that Espinozas neighborhood is not uniquearound 65% of all modern construction around Teotihuacan (including land divisions, paved and unpaved roads, boundaries, and permanent structures) are aligned with the ancient structures.

The lead author of the study, anthropologist Nawa Sugiyama of the University of California, Riverside, explained how thousand-year-old underground sediments made people unconsciously follow the same construction patterns through time. Soil is not the same when theres a city under it, she said. Vegetation changes and makes it easier or not to build over.This is how actions from the past affect our decisions of the present.

Lidar technology has been used for years to find hidden ruins of ancient civilizations in Mexico and around the world, but the new research, published in PLoS ONE, focused on understanding the impact of human activities on the Valley of Teotihuacans landscape across time.

People began modifying the landscape more than a millennium ago: Teotihuacans engineers quarried hundreds of thousands of kilograms of soil and rock from the valley to construct the city, which grew to a population of about 125,000 at its height around 300 CE. At the same time, they modified the courses of the San Lorenzo and San Juan Rivers to align them for symbolic and calendric reasons.

In addition to examining the urban planning of ancient Teotihuacanos, researchers were also able to analyze the impact of mining and urbanization in the valley over the past century. For instance, they identified more than 200 early features that have been destroyed since the 1960s.

Tezontle and basalt mines, many of them illegal, dot around 150 hectares in the Valley of Teotihuacan, largely driven by demand for construction material in Mexico City.

Ariel Texis, one of the Mexican archaeologists in charge of verifying the teams lidar findings, got a surprise when he compared the first map to what the hills look like now. We had [the hills] in the map, but they no longer exist, he said, having been replaced by open-air mines.

Much of the mining documented by the lidar study was happening at the same time that a new airport serving Mexico City was being built nearby. Although that project was ultimately canceled, another, only about 10 kilometers from Teotihuacan, is currently under construction.

Its chaotic [on the periphery of the monumental area]there are constructions everywhere, its sad.

For Citlali Rosas, archaeologist-in-chief of the Department of Legal and Technical Protection of the Archaeological Zone of Teotihuacan administered by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), such construction around Teotihuacan is worrying. An airport at that distance, she said, will encourage construction of restaurants, hotels, and other businesses catering to tourists that may put delicate artifacts at risk.

A 1988 presidential decree cracked down on illegal extractive activities in the area, but more could be done, said Rosas. On average, the Department of Legal and Technical Protection suspends around 100 construction projects being carried out without INAHs permission every year.

Its chaotic [on the periphery of the monumental area]; there are constructions everywhere, its sad, said Veronica Ortega, an archaeologist with Mexico Citys National School of Anthropology and History who has spent the past 20 years studying ancient structures around the zone. Ortega was not involved in the new study.

Ortega explained that 60% of the territory of the Valley of Teotihuacan has archaeological remains underneath, but much of the area remains unmapped. Lidar efforts like Sugiyamas would help archaeologists generate a new protection polygon for sediments, artifacts, and remains that lie beyond the archaeological zone.

However, having scientific evidence is not enough, Ortega warned. Stopping the destruction of one of most important cultural heritages on the planet will need broad participation and articulation from Mexicos federal government, municipal authorities, and local communities, she said.

Humberto Basilio (@HumbertoBasilio), Science Writer

The rest is here:

Mapping Teotihuacans Past, Present, and Future - Eos

Survivors of Rikers, family members of inmates and jail reform advocates gather outside of City Hall, 2021. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The movement to abolish prisons and policing in the United States was not born last spring. But after the uprisings against racist police violence that erupted across the nation in 2020, abolitionist ideas have never been more widespread, whether in the pages of previously dismissive and hostile periodicals or in the average citizens social media feed. That a majority of Americans believed that protesters were justified in burning down a Minneapolis police station after the murder of George Floyd offered a striking confirmation of this sea change. More concretely, a 2020 report from Interrupting Criminalization concluded that organizing in almost two dozen cities resulted in the divestment of over $840 million from police departments and a reinvestment of nearly $160 million back into communities, along with a number of victories in removing police from schools, banning military-grade weapons or facial-recognition software, and achieving greater transparency and community control over local police budgets. BOOKS IN REVIEW

Yet, for all these strides, the mainstreaming of calls to abolish the prison-industrial complex has presented its own problems for activists. As Ruth Wilson Gilmore foresaw in 2015, the heightened awareness of the horrors of racialized mass incarcerationin large part due to the publication of Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crowled an emerging bipartisan consensus of criminal justice reformers to commandeer the public conversation, funding, and policy-making around prison reform. Co-opting the vocabulary and rhetorical flourishes of grassroots anti-prison movements, these reformers ultimately prize bipartisan agreement over principled political struggle, valorize top-down technocratic tinkering, and strictly limit their fight to freeing only those relatively innocent nonviolent offenders perceived to be least threatening to the status quo. By defining the problem as narrowly as possible, Gilmore argued, this reformist model appears to take concrete action against the prison-industrial complex but produce[s] solutions thatwill change littleall while diverting attention and resources from more radical visions of change.

The recent George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this year but stalled in the Senate, offers a perfect example of the illusion of reform. Proposed by Representative Karen Bass (D-Calif.) in response to last years protests, the act had the veneer of bold action: It would ban no-knock warrants and choke holds, limit qualified immunity for police, create a national registry on police misconduct, promote the increased use of body cameras, bar racial profiling, and more. It received praise from elected officials and the philanthropic and pundit classes; Van Jones dubbed it sweeping legislation to match the will of the people. As Derecka Purnell wrote, however, for all the fanfare surrounding the act, its proposals were woefully insufficient and could not even have saved George Floyds life. For example, there was no chokehold involved in Floyds death; instead, Derek Chauvin killed him by forcefully kneeling on his neck. Similarly, given that Floyd did break the law by trying to pass a counterfeit bill, it is difficult to argue that police used his race to presume criminality. More generally, the use of body cameras has not reduced police brutality and might well give law enforcement more power to surveil citizens. For all the lavish praise it received, the Justice in Policing Act, even if passed, would amount to little more than superficial changes that allow policing as we know it to continue apace. Even more suspiciously, the bill would ultimately funnel millions more dollars to law enforcement.

Unfortunately, as Kay Whitlock and Nancy Heitzeg make clear in their new book, Carceral Con, the misleading and false promise of criminal justice reform is nothing new. Reform is not, as some might think, a well-intentioned, compromise-oriented approach to social change. Rather, criminal justice reform must be understood as an industry: a powerful, highly resourced, and bipartisan form of political counterinsurgency meant to stifle, contain, and repress demands for police and prison abolition. By failing to address, or sometimes even to acknowledge, the racialized logic and exploitative system that undergirds American criminal punishment, these reform agendas barely scratch the surface ofand often only help to intensifythe carceral states harms.

These arguments are not necessarily new: Black political prisoner and revolutionary George Jackson famously argued that reform is the only a new way for capitalism to protect and develop fascism. Carceral Con builds on such analysespioneered by generations of radicals and revolutionariesby providing a laundry list of evidence that the prison-industrial complex cannot be incrementally reformed; it needs to be defunded and destroyed. The book is explicitly aimed at helping readers identify and see through the seductive buzzwords and policy agendas of reform coalitions that purport to respond to public outrage about policing and prisons but that, in practice, channel that energy into peripheral change. While scholars will find much in Carceral Con enlightening, the book is no standard academic text. Rather, it is a movement-building tool intended to assist readers in critically interrogat[ing] new [reform] proposals as they arise and in choosing the radically different way forward of abolition.

Kay Whitlock is a veteran abolitionist activist and writer, and Nancy Heitzeg is a professor of sociology at St. Catherine University who has written extensively on the school-to-prison pipeline. Both are longtime observers of how reform agendas can dilute movement principles, misdirect precious resources, and ultimately bolster the strength of the carceral regime rather than weakening its clutches. Together they have written a number of pieces on the deceptions and dangers of bipartisan reform, and this book serves as a robust synthesis of their years of research, organizing, and analysis.

After decades of unabashedly tough-on-crime policy, Whitlock and Heitzeg write, a new wave of reform bipartisanship emerged in collaboration with wealthy donors, think tanks, private foundations, and universities, all with the active participation and support of government officials. Though it spans the political spectrum to include figures as seemingly unaligned as Charles Koch and Jay-Z, this new bipartisan movement converged around cost-cutting and a private-sector-oriented agenda that presented the regime of overcriminalization and mass imprisonment as problematic not because of its harm to criminalized individuals, but because of its strain on budgets, its inefficiency, and its failure to produce meaningful public safety.

Yet Whitlock and Heitzeg show that, despite the purported concern with runaway costs and inefficiencies, the promised savings from criminal justice reform are often minor: The policies make only a minuscule dent in prison populations, and the savings are rarely reinvested in underfunded social services such as education, health care, employment, and mental health. In this austerity-based world making, the budgets of police and prisons remain robust, often infused with additional funding as the result of reforms that focus on individual solutions like more training, new agencies, or additional technology.

Still, some observers might ask, how can a reform be bad, even if it doesnt go far enough? To answer that question, Whitlock and Heitzieg present overwhelming evidence that criminal justice reform actually proliferates punishment and harm. This is one of Carceral Cons core utilities for organizers and scholars seeking to sharpen their analysis of reform as not merely ill-advised but proactively dangerous. In Camden, N.J., for example, a bipartisan reform effort to reimagine policing led to the dismantling and reconstitution of the citys maligned police force with new use-of-force regulations and a community-oriented approach that focused on increasing foot patrols and developing community programs. The initiative, however, ultimately lined the pockets of the newand notably whiterpolice department with increased funding and equipment, massively expanding its power and resources to criminalize and punish without meaningfully curbing police abuses in the majority-Black city. This reimagined Camden police force gave out more disorderly-conduct citations than ever before, and complaints against it grew in kind.

Alternatives to incarceration, such as the use of community corrections, probation, or specialty courts in lieu of imprisonment, offer another site for examining how reform keeps criminalized people trapped in the same legal, economic, and political barriers. Probation refers to supervised correctional control in [the] community, with individuals diverted from prison so long as they conform to specific supervisory requirements. But, as Whitlock and Heitzig note, while probationers are not physically imprisoned, they are subject to intensive surveillance and draconian restrictions on their mobility and activities, and they are also required to meet strict reporting requirements, sometimes for years on end. Given the layers of rules and restrictions imposed, lapses are common, and more than 350,000 probation revocations annually lead to prison time. In addition, 30 percent of all probationers are Black, and they are more likely than white or Latinx probationers to be subject to revocations. In Pennsylvania, a state that experienced a tripling of such sentences between 1980 and 2016, probationers describe a system that is supposed to help you but is, in fact, a trap. The restrictions are both endless and unjust: Probationers cannot travel across state lines for job opportunities or school, cannot live with family or friends who have criminal records, and face jail time if they are unable to leave work in order to report to their probation officer.

Criminal justice reformers often suggest expanding probation as a means of decarceration. In Mississippi, for example, Whitlock and Heitzeg discuss how the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a data-driven, bipartisan, public/private project, developed legislation, HB 585, for diverting more individuals into probation. Yet not only does probation entail shifting management to a different venue of control and subjecting criminalized people to a web of rules that carry the likely outcome of reincarceration; in Mississippi, it is largely a privatized, offender-funded enterprise that exists through the extortion of poor defendants via fines and fees. If defendants cannot pay, these private probation agencies can rearrest them. While Mississippis prison population did fall slightly after the legislation was signed into law in 2014, by 2019 it had begun to rise again primarily due to probation and parole revocations, often for extremely minor infractions related to the conditions of probation or parole. In other words, the probation system championed by reformers kept poor and criminalized Mississippians under a strict regime of control, subjected them to economic exploitation, and eventually placed many of them back in prison, thereby failing to deliver on the lofty promises of decarceration and a reinvestment of cost savings.

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The explosion of probation revocations has reached the point where even bipartisan reform groups are calling for restrictions to be eased and probation sentences shortened. But Whitlock and Heitzeg show how this approach often focuses on small procedural and technological processes for managing probation that do little to significantly shrink the far reach of the carceral state. Indeed, while 37 states reduced their probation caseloads between 2010 and 2020, many would-be probationers were simply diverted to another alternative to incarceration: specialty courts. These courts generally promise defendants that their criminal charges will be suspended and their arrest records expunged so long as they comply with court mandates. Often, the specialty courts practice what is termed therapeutic jurisprudence, in which judges work with attorneys, treatment experts, and law enforcement to reroute defendants from behaviors deemed criminal. In practice, however, those subject to these specialty courts face a similar net of restrictions and requirements that, if they fail to meet them, result in probation or prison time.

Such examples are emblematic of how criminal justice reform elevates carceral solutions to the exclusion of other potential responses. Why have a specialty court for chronically unhoused people, Whitlock and Heitizeg ask, when they could instead be given housing, food, and mental health services, or at least referred to non-carceral community-based groups that offer support outside of a carceral context? By positing the criminal punishment system as the only arbiter for problems of harm, reform initiatives narrow the realm of the possible and in the process enforce the legitimacy of a structurally violent system.

Last July, Arnold Ventures, a private philanthropic foundation established by former Enron energy trader John Arnold, used the George Floyd rebellions to promote its approach to police reform. The approach contains much of the social justice rhetoric that abolitionists might agree with, such as investing in services and ensuring that individuals normally handled by law enforcement are able to receive care from non-carceral agencies. Yet a close reading reveals the foundations limiting lens: The footprint of the police should be reduced, but policing itself should not be abolished. Given that Arnold Ventures has millions of dollars to expend and dozens of partnerships with states, counties, and cities across the nation, the powerful creep of co-optation looms large, even as the abolitionist vision increasingly gains public hearings.

Importantly, for Whitlock and Heitzeg, the insidiousness of these reform coalitions lies in what they omit and obscure. Operating through a carnival barkers art of misdirection, the reform consensus cloaks both the historical use of crime hysteria to discipline marginalized populations and the significant power that policy-makers could wield to address the racialized poverty, inequality, and trauma that leads to, and legitimizes, criminalization. No matter how enticing its promises, the reform road charted by organizations like Arnold Ventures starts from and invariably returns to criminalization, policing, and prisons.

It is not enough, then, to view bipartisan criminal justice reform as merely misguided or marred by unintended consequences. Rather, Whitlock and Heitzeg make clear that reform measures must be understood as intentional tools for strengthening the carceral state when the legitimacy of policing and incarceration are thrown into crisis. Such campaigns and the corporate-funded organizations that hawk them should be seen as willfully reactionary entities to be resisted from the start. The shift from reform as good-faith, big-tent coalition-building to a central and insidious arm of the white supremacist carceral apparatus is subtle but importantespecially for abolitionists today, who face understandable questions regarding the flurry of seemingly beneficial campaigns spearheaded by high-profile organizations and figureheads, from Kim Kardashian to the Ford Foundation.

This is a liminal moment, Whitlock and Heitzeg write, with the future of policing and the prison-industrial complex hanging in the balance. To take just one sobering example, cities that had committed to defunding the police in 2020 are already reversing course in response to apparently rising crime, restoring police budgets to their prior excessive amounts and sometimes even increasing them. The always-lurking, well-resourced specter of bipartisan criminal justice reform has the potential to undo or disrupt a moment of unprecedented opportunity for abolitionists. This desolate and dark prospect, Whitlock and Heitzeg suggest, can be defeatedbut its up to us to resist its seductions and compromises.

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The False Promise of Criminal Justice Reform - The Nation

On October 1, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)issued its draft Strategic Plan (Plan) for 2022 2026.1 While the Plan renews EPA's commitmentto its original principles (follow the science, follow the law andbe transparent), it now adds a new foundational principle - advanceenvironmental justice and equity. EPA emphasizes theimportance of this fourth foundational principle by makingenvironmental justice and enforcement of the Civil Rights Act of1964 as the second of the six goals of the Plan, just below thefirst goal to "tackle the climatecrisis."2 The stated purpose of this civilrights-driven goal is to "take decisive action to advanceenvironmental justice and civil rights" and the Planspecifically highlights EPA's commitment to strengthen theExternal Civil Rights Office (ECRO) and its ability to enforcefederal civil rights laws to their "fullest extent" byconducting "affirmative investigations" in overburdenedcommunities and securing timely and effective resolutions toaddress discrimination.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act contains two provisions EPAconsiders as the basis for environmental justice claims andpolicy. First, Section 601 provides that no person shall"on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, beexcluded from participating in, be denied the benefits of, or besubject to discrimination under any program or activity"covered by Title VI. Second, Section 602 authorizes federalagencies to "effectuate the provisions of Section 601 byissuing rules, regulation or orders of generalapplicability."

To effectuate Title VI, EPA has promulgatedregulationsthat are designed to ensurethat recipients of federal funds do not take actions that areintentionally discriminatory or have a discriminatory effect basedon race, color, or national origin. These regulations authorize EPAto conduct affirmative compliance reviews and provide a process foraffected communities to file a Title VI complaint. After acomplaint is filed, EPA has 20 days to determine whether it meritsan investigation and 180 days to issue a preliminary finding.If EPA makes a finding of discrimination, it must request that therecipient of funds address the problem voluntarily. If therecipient does not take voluntary actions, EPA can refuse tocontinue providing federal funds.

Historically, very few Title VI complaints have resulted inconcrete action by EPA. A2016 studyby the U.S. Commission onCivil Rights (Commission) concluded that EPA had failed toeffectively carry out its environmental justice objectives, leavingsensitive communities at risk. The Commission concluded that EPAhad never made a formal finding of discrimination nor withdrawnfunding on the basis of civil rights violations. Similarly,a2015 investigationby the Center forPublic Integrity found that EPA's failure to enforce Title VIextends over at least two decades despite receiving hundreds ofcomplaints. ERCO did not make a single formal finding ofdiscrimination until President Obama's tenure and then ERCOonly issued two formal findings of discrimination.

This somewhat cumbersome and extended process exists, in part,because of the United States Supreme Court's 2001 decision inAlexander v. Sandoval that there is no private right of action topursue Section 602 claims for disparate impacts.3As a result, EPA is the sole body that can pursue theseclaims. There has been some indications that the Bidenadministration or the current Congress may try reverse theimplication of Sandoval. For example, in March 2021, Houseand Senate Democrats introduced theEnvironment Justice for All Act, which wouldamend Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to clarify that Section 601includes both intentional acts of discrimination and actions thathave a disparate impact and add a private right of action underSection 602, essentially overturning the Supreme Court'sdecision in Sandoval. Although passage of this law isuncertain as Congress tackles higher priority issues, successfulpassage would mean that individuals could pursue Title VI disparateimpact actions directly in court, without having to rely onEPA.4

Despite EPA's historical hesitant pursuit of Title VIactions, the tide may be turning as evidenced by statementsin the Strategic Plan and recent actions taken by EPA as discussedbelow. However, so far, all of EPA actions are in the investigatoryand saber-rattling stage. Remaining to be decided is the pivotalissue of what impact EPA may have when it runs into statutes andregulations that limit the scope of a state agency'snon-discretionary review and permitting authority.

Missouri. EPA's ERCO isinvestigating whether the Missouri Department of Natural Resources(MDNR) violated the rights of residents of St. Louis'sDutchtown, a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood, byissuing an air control permit to a Kinder Morgan facility thatseparates fuel products into gasoline and other products. MDNR hadrejected an environmental group's request for an evaluation ofdisparate impacts during the public comment period. Theenvironmental group responded by filing a Title VIComplaintwith EPA, making broad-basedclaims of discriminatory actions by MDNR in its permitting andregulatory actions over numerous years. In a March 30,2021letterto MDNR, EPA announced itspreliminary finding that MDNR's program is not in conformancewith EPA civil rights regulations and indicated additionalinvestigation of the issuance of the permit is ongoing. Missourihas responded that the claims lack merit.

Michigan.On November 16, 2021,residents of a Detroit neighborhood and an environmental groupfiled a civil rightsComplaint with EPA against MichiganDepartment of the Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) withregard to a permit issued to the Stellantis Jeep plant tosignificant expand the facility. To obtain the permit forthis expansion, one of the first new vehicle assembly plant inthirty years, Stellantis was required to offset the new emissionsby reducing emissions at another of its facilities. The increase inemissions at the Detroit plant came, however, as a result ofreducing emissions in a less racially-diverse and higher-incomeneighborhood. Beyond these issues, the Complaint also alleges thatresidents have also been exposed to intense odor issues from theexisting operations at the facility. Stellantis indicates that itis addressing the odor issues and notes that the facility wouldcreate 5000 jobs that would not occur without the offset. Noactions have been taken on the Complaint to date.

Michigan. On September 16, 2021,in response to a Title VI Complaint filed by an environmentalgroup, EPArequestedthat EGLE delay issuance of afinal general permit to Ajax Materials Corporation to install andoperate a new hot-mix asphalt plant in Genesee township, near theFlint, Michigan border. The proposed plant would be locatedless than 1600 feet from public housing. The facility wouldbe constructed on an undeveloped parcel, zoned for heavyindustrial, in a primarily low-income minority community. EPArequested performance of a cumulative impacts analysis of airemissions from the facility and surrounding sources. Notably, EPArequested EGLE to consider an alternative location for thefacility. Although EGLE did provide additional time to reviewthe proposed permit and respond to public comments, the agencyconcluded that it was bound by regulations andissuedthe final permit on November15, 2021. EGLE did note that, in response to public comments,it had included a number of site-specific conditions andrestrictions to safeguard the surrounding community. EGLEconcluded that Ajax had met all conditions for permit issuance andargued that most of EPA's objections were outside the scope ofEGLE's authority to consider. EGLE stressed theimportance of its consistent implementation of permitting rules andhighlighted the limitations of federal and state environmentalregulations to address the alleged concerns raised by theresidents.

Illinois. On January 25, 2021,in response to a complaint filed by a number of neighborhoodgroups, EPA announced a civil rights investigation regardingthe issuance of a permit for a new scrap shredder in a low-income,predominantly Latino neighborhood on Chicago's southeastside. Particular concerns were raised after the owner of thefacility was granted a permit to construct the facility in thisdisadvantaged community after agreeing to close a similar operationin Lincoln Park, a wealthy, largely white neighborhood on thecity's North Side, after neighborhood complaints. In anactioncommendedby EPA, Chicago announced thatit was pausing plants to permit the facility in response to thecivil rights concerns and would conduct a cumulative impactsanalysis. This study is ongoing and will be completed in2022. The owner of the proposed scrap metal facility has suedthe City of Chicago for $100 million in damages for the delayedpermit.

Alabama. On November 9, 2021,the Department of Justiceannounceda Title VI investigationregarding public health funding of wastewater disposal in primarilyBlack communities. The communities reportedly have beenplagued by inadequate sewage disposal for years despite the Stateand Lowndes County Health Departments receiving millions of dollarsin funding under the Rural Septic Tank Access Grant of2019. The investigation will also examine whether the Stateand Lowndes County health departments' policies and practiceshave caused Black residents of Lowndes County to have diminishedaccess to adequate sanitation systems and to disproportionately andunjustifiably bear the risk of "adverse health effectsassociated with inadequate wastewater treatment, such as hookworminfections." This investigation marks the Department ofJustice's first Title VI environmental justice investigationfor one of the department's funding recipients.

Texas. On October 15, 2021,EPAaccepteda Title VI complaint against theTexas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regardingTCEQ's regulation of the Oxbow Calcining plant in Port Arthur,Texas -- which manufactures petroleum coke, one of the largestsources of sulfur dioxide air emissions in Texas, larger than otherrefineries and petrochemical areas in the Port Arthur area.Among other issues, the environmental group'sComplaint noted that TCEQ has notrequired the plant to install a scrubber to control sulfur dioxideemissions, equipment that is found on most modern facilities. TheComplaint requests that TCEQ issue a stronger air pollutioncontrol permit for the plant, with particular focus on compliancewith health-based air quality standards for sulfurdioxide.

Concluding Thoughts:

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Originally posted here:

A Sleeping Giant Awakens (Maybe?) "Environmental" Enforcement Of Title VI Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 In The Era Of The Biden...