Daily Archives: April 11, 2022

Graduation should be a joyful occasion for high school seniors. But for some Indigenous students, this special time of year can be fraught with uncertainty or controversy over their ability to wear tribal regalia during their schools commencement ceremonies. Whether an eagle feather or plume, beadwork, sealskin cap, moccasins, or other forms of traditional dress, tribal regalia plays a unique role for graduating Indigenous students. These items are often gifted to students by parents or tribal elders in recognition of this pivotal, once-in-a-lifetime achievement. Many Indigenous students believe that graduation from high school cannot be properly or fully celebrated, from a spiritual and cultural perspective, unless they are permitted to wear certain ceremonial regalia.

Nevertheless, some schools prohibit Indigenous students from wearing these items at graduation, claiming that it would violate the schools dress code and speculating, without any basis, that it would disrupt during the ceremony. Today, in a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, we asked officials to take action before the upcoming graduation season to ensure that Indigenous students rights of cultural and religious expression are protected.

Indigenous students have long been mistreated and disadvantaged in educational settings. For example, the Indian Civilization Act of 1819 and other federal laws enacted through the 1960s allowed the U.S. government to establish Indian boarding schools across the country. As Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, explained last year, the purpose of Indian boarding schools was to culturally assimilate Indigenous children by forcibly relocating them from their families and communities to distant residential facilities where their American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian identities, languages, and beliefs were to be forcibly suppressed.

Even though these schools are no longer in operation, Haaland recognized that their legacy remains, manifesting itself in Indigenous communities through intergenerational trauma, cycles of violence and abuse, disappearance, premature deaths, and other undocumented bodily and mental impacts. And the reach of that horrific legacy today is evident by the numerous barriers that Indigenous students face in making it through the educational system. For a variety of historical and systemic reasons, Indigenous students are much less likely to graduate from high school than their non-Indigenous peers.

Policies that further strip Indigenous students of their cultural and religious heritage in the name of assimilation, such as those prohibiting tribal regalia at graduation, only compound the violence and oppression that these students and their communities have suffered. Students who have resisted these dictates have had their sacred items confiscated or have been excluded from graduation altogether. While a handful of states have passed laws in response to these restrictions, the protections do not always apply to all Indigenous students, and many students still struggle to exercise their rights.

More must be done at the federal level to protect Indigenous students rights. Given the federal governments past abuse of Indigenous students in the educational context, the Department of Education has a special obligation to address ongoing deprivations of these students educational and expressive rights. Officials have tools at their disposal to remind schools of their legal obligations and to investigate schools that do not comply.

Specifically, the Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights is charged with enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits both intentional discrimination and rules that have a discriminatory effect, even if unintentional, on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any school program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. As we explain in our letter, purportedly neutral graduation dress codes will often have a disproportionate and discriminatory effect on Indigenous students.

While Title VIs protections will not apply in every situation, many schools seem unaware that policies denying Indigenous students the right to wear tribal regalia during graduation ceremonies could violate this federal law. Thus, we are asking the Department of Education to notify qualifying schools, via written guidance or some other mechanism, that they must remain sensitive to the rights of Indigenous students as graduation approaches, and we are urging officials to immediately investigate any complaints from seniors whose schools prohibit wearing tribal regalia at graduation.

Indigenous students already face enough obstacles. They should be able to celebrate their graduation while remaining true to their cultural and religious heritage.

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Indigenous Students Should Be Allowed to Wear Tribal Regalia at Graduation - ACLU

"Resettling 100,000 refugees with no clear guidance on how long some will remain in the U.S will require a concerted and intentional effort by federal, state and local governments as well as voluntary organizations," said Miriam Kuttikat, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work.

By Brian McNeill

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than 4 million people have fled the country and an estimated quarter of the Ukrainian population has been internally displaced. President Joe Biden has pledged that the United States will accept as many as 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, in addition to providing $1 billion in humanitarian aid to other countries in support of the refugees.

Miriam Kuttikat, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Virginia Commonwealth UniversitySchool of Social Workand director of VCUs newCommunity Engaged Migration Research Lab, researches factors that affect the health and well-being of migrant families and has conducted research aimed at supporting their needs.

As the U.S. prepares to resettle thousands of Ukrainians, Kuttikat

recently discussed what support they likely will need and what challenges might lie ahead.

For the Ukrainian refugees who will be resettled in the U.S., what support will be most important for their health and well-being?

The following supports have been identified as important to their health and well-being:

What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenges surrounding the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees?

While the U.S. has pledged to take on 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, the current refugee resettlement system is not designed to respond to abrupt crises for a short period of time; it is a process that typically takes several years and involves a lot of planning and consulting among key stakeholders. It is also designed to ultimately lead to U.S citizenship. Resettling 100,000 refugees with no clear guidance on how long some will remain in the U.S will require a concerted and intentional effort by federal, state and local governments as well as voluntary organizations. The abrupt nature of the crisis means that governments and voluntary resettlement organizations do not have the luxury to execute a resettlement plan well ahead of time, as it normally would. This will transfer back onto the local host communities that will ultimately receive these incoming refugees.

The U.S.s ability to provide responsive mental health services to 100,000 Ukrainians that have suffered trauma exposures, such as war and displacement, is limited. Many of the refugees arriving will be separated from their families, especially given that men 18-60 years of age are prohibited from leaving the country. This causes additional stressors for families, so understanding the effects of not only acute experiences of trauma, but also intergenerational and historical trauma, is necessary and should inform any policies that impact this particular population.

Along with the need for responsive mental health resources, American host communities must also be made aware of and consulted with on the arrival of refugees. Oftentimes, local stakeholders, such as hospitals and schools, may not have sufficient warning of an influx of refugees in their communities, which makes attending to their unique needs a bit difficult. Again, because the Ukrainian situation is an abrupt humanitarian need, the opportunity for careful planning that would normally go into refugee resettlement is lost. Alerting host communities and preparing them with the resources needed to address the needs of resettled refugees would be helpful.

Ukrainian refugees may also arrive in the U.S. with varying levels of English language proficiency, education levels and work skills. In addition to working with resettlement agencies to find suitable housing, it may be somewhat challenging for agencies to appropriately match refugees with jobs that honor their level of skills. As we know, transferring credentials from Ukraine, such as nursing credentials, medical degrees or some other licensure degree, may be difficult in the U.S.

Because some refugees are arriving outside the traditional resettlement pathways, this may present ongoing legal issues related to immigration status for some people that arrive under the humanitarian parole or visa programs. The U.S. immigration system is difficult to navigate, and the special humanitarian parole and visa programs are even more complex. Cost-free legal resources would provide increased support for refugees who arrive outside the traditional resettlement program.

Suitable housing is already a big issue, and a major stressor for immigrants within the first three years of relocating to the U.S. While immigrants are typically given limited financial help upon arrival, considerations must be made to ensure that suitable housing will be found to accommodate all 100,000 Ukrainians entering the U.S. Our hope is that there will be a plan put into place to help these individuals socially, emotionally, psychologically, as well as economically.

What's one thing you'd like policymakers to know about how to best help the refugees amid this humanitarian crisis?

It is imperative that policymakers take a trauma-informed approach to help refugees successfully resettle in the U.S. and reevaluate current policies that might impede this process. Further, it is important to carefully consider where refugees resettle and for dispersal policies to focus on the well-being outcomes rather than solely on economic considerations. Lastly, it is important for policymakers to prioritize how best to keep families intact. Separation from family members introduces additional stressors while keeping families together offers refugees protective factors, namely in the form of social support.

How does this refugee resettlement compare to others we've seen in the U.S.?

The typical refugee resettlement process is very different from what we are seeing with the proposed Ukrainian resettlement. Under the traditional program, refugees are nominated by the United Nations and the process can take several years. President Biden has announced a plan for the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees using multiple legal pathways, including the traditional U.S. resettlement program. The other proposed method is through the humanitarian parole program.

A second difference is the evacuation methods. Unlike Afghan refugees, the U.S. will not airlift Ukrainian refugees.

A third difference is processing time. In the Congo, the average wait for refugees entering the U.S. is 14 years, while the Biden administration is trying to expedite the paperwork [for Ukrainians]. Alongside this, when the U.S welcomed other refugees, such as those from Afghanistan, the timeline was much shorter than what is expected for Ukrainian refugees, where it could take up to a year and a half to have these individuals resettled into the U.S.

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Up to 100000 Ukrainian refugees will be resettled in the U.S. What support will they need? - VCU News

LiveBy, Inc., the leader in geographical data and hyperlocal content in residential real estate, recently released the new ratings for top brokerage websites and scoring on the caliber of hyperlocal insights in their 2022 Local Insights Ratings. Companies such as Long Realty, BHHS Fox & Roach, LIV Sothebys, and BHGRE Metro Brokers are topping the list in their respective markets.

LiveBy reviewed websites for nearly 2,000 of the industrys top brokerages and weighted their local insights rating, based on eighteen data points, across three primary data categories. And now LiveBy is serving up a Competitive Analysis, by state and market, to give a better indication of who consumers are more likely to seek out for community information when searching online.

Over the years, we have been asked to provide consults on brokerage/franchise websites and the community information they are offering, so we decided to start providing annual evaluations and ratings, says Jeff Nieto, Chief Strategy Officer of LiveBy.

Especially in todays market climate, brokerages can get caught up in the race to get property listings in front of consumers, although this is only a bottom-of-the-funnel approach. The average consumer begins searching for their next home 12-18 months before they are prepared to physically move.

Why should brokerages care about that statistic? If your website is set up primarily to capture leads at a listing-level, that means your brand is roughly a full year behind in potential nurturing.

Early in the home search, a consumer is not likely to sign up as a lead on a listing because they are not prepared to live in that home yet, nor do they want to risk being contacted by an agent too soon. In the mind of a consumer, the location is most important in the early stages. They are both trying to analyze how their current neighborhood is performing in the market and most importantly, where do we want to live next? If a brokerage wants to fight the online battle with the portals, they need to exploit what they are better at hyperlocal expertise. Everyone wants to claim they are the local expert, although a consumer, conducting online research, does not know that, or rather believes that unless you are proving it with content on your website.

Through our analysis, there appears to be a large gap in brokerages providing insights about the communities they serve. While it is imperative to do so, it is not a simple task, and it makes sense why LiveBys entire company is focused on this effort, said Travis Saxton, EVP of Technology, T3 Sixty.

LiveBy is also trying to help change the narrative on how the industry largely misrepresents neighborhood data. Many brokerages use the terms like discover the perfect neighborhood and local expert on their websites but are providing zip code-level data for those neighborhoods or just pushing consumers to a filtered home search with no real helpful content to inform decisions.

It is no surprise the brokerages with the most intentional, hyperlocal data insights on their websites correlate with the same brokerages topping transaction and volume rankings.

What to see how your companys website stacks up in our website ratings? Check it out here.

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Who provides the best hyperlocal content to consumers? - Inman

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Cryptocurrency has a problem: there are too many men.

Twice as many men as women invest in cryptocurrency: Roughly 19% of women ages 18 to 29 say they have invested in, traded or used a cryptocurrency, compared with 43% of men in the same age range, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

But this isnt only where women are lagging behind men: there are also not as many women working in the blockchain and crypto industries. A 2019 report revealed the percentage of women in those sectors, including developers, investors, and casually interested individuals, hovers between 4% and 6%.

Heres why this is a problem: The early days of an industry are often when the fortunes are made and those big winners typically influence the direction the industry goes in the future, from whom to invest in to what to build next. So now is the time for women to make their mark on the crypto industry and its future, and their absence now could diminish their influence and benefits in the long run, experts say.

Its so important for women and people of color to be a part of crypto and blockchain right now because were building the next generation of the financial ecosystem, says Charlene Fadirepo, founder and CEO of Guidefi, a fintech platform that she had built in 2019 to make it easier for women and professionals of color to find their ideal financial advisors. Crypto and blockchain came from finance and tech, and those are the industries that dont have a lot of women and people of color. This is why we have big gaps of diversity.

But there is some good news: In an industry that innovates at the speed of light, theres still plenty of opportunity for the women who are currently helping to shrink that gender and diversity gap.

A growing group of artists, coders, entrepreneurs, and investors is convinced that cryptocurrency is here to stay, and that women cant afford to delay learning about it and deciding whether it fits into their financial strategy and risk tolerance. These women arent waiting for an invitation to make their mark on the industry, and theyre doing everything they can to bring more women along with them.

They are trying to shrink the gender gap in crypto by organizing events and communities, educating on social media platforms, launching companies, writing about crypto, crafting inclusive public policy, and sharing their experiences. Most of all, they want you to know that women belong in cryptocurrency.

Heres how these six women are transforming the face of crypto, and why you might want to start following them if youre interested in the future of cryptocurrency.

When Charlene Fadirepo first heard of Bitcoin a few years back, it sounded risky. But her work kept bringing her back to it.

It wasnt until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that she finally went down a crypto rabbit hole and became hooked on learning more. Communities of early adopters and enthusiasts are a big part of the learning curve for many crypto newbies, but Fadirepo couldnt find one that felt welcoming to her. So she built her own.

I spent a lot of time on Clubhouse and in Twitter spaces, and I saw the ugliness of crypto bro culture, says Fadirepo, an ex-government regulator turned financial and crypto advisor.

That dilemma, as well the questions she started getting from her clients on crypto, led her to launch a crypto course and build on top of her existing community through Guidefi. Fadirepo started Guidefi after experiencing difficulty in finding the right financial advisor for her own family.

I would just encourage folks that are encountering those spaces to find a space that works for you.

It started out of necessity, says Fadirepo. I was looking for a financial advisor of color and unfortunately, women financial advisors and financial advisors of color are just very difficult to find in the United States. Once you start advising people on their wealth, you have to think of all sides of wealth, which includes digital wealth.

Fadirepo says theres a reason women investors might prefer their own spaces, like Guidefis digital community, to learn from one another. She says its not unheard of in many online crypto communities theoretically open to all, but not so much in practice to hear crypto bros mansplaining to others or making inappropriate comments. While spaces that are more conducive for women and people of color invested in crypto can be harder to find, they do exist, she says.

I would just encourage folks that are encountering those spaces to find a space that works for you, she says. You dont have to stay somewhere when youre unwanted or unwelcome.

It was the summer of 2021 when Maliha Abidi discovered that NFTs offer her a way to combine her passion for art and social justice for women.

Abidi, a Pakistani-American artist who was born and raised in Pakistan and migrated to California at the age of 14, is one of many artists who has recently taken their talents to the digital space by minting and selling non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, on digital marketplaces. She launched her first NFT collection Women Rise at the end of last year, which includes 10,000 unique NFT art pieces with the intention to celebrate women in Web3 and bring more women into the space. Web3 is typically described as the next iteration of the Internet based on blockchain technology, and emphasizes decentralization and greater utility.

Her first-ever NFT collection functions as an empowerment campaign to bring 100,000 girls and women into the worlds of Web3, blockchain, and crypto by the end of 2022. The NFTs she created represent women from around the world, with traits that go beyond the diversity of just skin colors, according to Abidi.

The idea comes from the work that Ive been doing for the past 10 years, says Abidi. It was not an experiment for us. It was more like this is what we want to do. We were very intentional with it.

Were trying to use the innovation, technology, and resources of Web3 to advance womens rights and by extension human rights.

The NFT collections mission has a social justice component, too. Around 7.5% of proceeds made through Women Rise go to a mix of global organizations supporting gender equality, girls education, and mental health; 2.5% go to Malala Fund, an organization working to educate girls, especially in the most marginalized communities of the world; and 5% of royalties are used to support NFT communities on an ongoing basis.

Abidi says her experiences as an immigrant play a huge role in her artwork, which mainly focuses on womens rights, mental health, and racial and societal issues. Shes also authored three books that focus on stories of women from all over the world.

One of Abidis goals is to create a first-of-its-kind school in the metaverse, which could serve as a kind of virtual school and education program for hundreds of millions of children across the world.

Were trying to use the innovation, technology, and resources of Web3 to advance womens rights and by extension human rights, says Abidi.

Crypto is about more than just making money for Cleve Medisor. It can offer a pathway to economic empowerment for women and people of color, says Mesidor, an expert at the intersection of public policy and crypto. Thats why shes focused on rallying more women and people of color to participate.

Prior to her career in crypto, Mesidor was a Barack Obama presidential appointee, charged with promoting White House economic programs and national public-private partnerships to advance innovation and entrepreneurship. By 2016, Mesidor was disenchanted with politics and started learning about crypto. Within a year, she was working in the crypto industry full-time. Shes now executive director of the Blockchain Foundation and leads the National Policy Network of Women of Color in Blockchain.

While the gender and racial gaps are real, Mesidor says there is a lot of mainstream adoption being driven already by Black and Latino communities. Right now, crypto may appear male dominated, but the future of crypto is gender and racially inclusive.

She points to recent data, which shows that Black and Latinx communities are engaging in crypto at higher rates than white Americans. A Pew Research poll noted that while only 13% of white Americans report investing or trading cryptos, 18% of Black Americans and 21% of Hispanic Americans do.

Right now, crypto may appear male dominated, but the future of crypto is gender and racially inclusive.

According to Mesidor, part of the reason may be because of the historic barriers that Black and Latinx communities, particularly women in those communities, have faced in traditional financial markets like the stock market and the real estate market. She says the uptick is a positive sign, but it also signals a greater need for financial education around crypto and investing in general.

As a person whos been in the industry for almost six years now, we have not done enough to educate people and move past formal hype, says Mesidor. Yes, its important for people to do their research, to look beyond the noise, but as the industry, we need to do more to make sure people have trusted sources to go to when they are looking for information.

Investing is one of the most powerful tools for building financial freedom and wealth, but Kiana Danial says its something not enough women are talking about. Thats especially true when it comes to cryptocurrency, she says.

Women or men have equal rights to take control of their finances, says Danial, a personal finance expert and the founder of Invest Diva, a company that teaches women how to invest. And cryptocurrency is one aspect of financial literacy because its a method of diversification. If you want to educate people the right way in the cryptocurrency market, then you want to have more women.

Thats why Danial has built a career around teaching other women how to invest. Through her books, courses, and social media content, a lot of her work focuses on financially empowering women and helping them understand all of the different ways they can start investing, from stocks and index funds to crypto. She says much of her motivation stems from her own prior experience working in a male-dominated field and not knowing enough about her own finances. Ten years ago, Danial says she was fired from her Wall Street job because her coworkers wouldnt take her seriously. She says it was because shes a woman.

Women or men have equal rights to take control of their finances.

Compared to the traditional financial industry, Im actually very pleased to see so many women involved in crypto, says Danial. I understand that theres still an issue, but I think we were headed in the right direction.

Kiana Danial heard about Bitcoin in 2011 and began tracking crypto markets in 2016, but didnt actually start investing until the end of 2018. Danial says theres a great opportunity for women to diversify their holdings with cryptocurrency, but as with any new investment, its important to do your research, and understand all of the risks. Over the last year, NextAdvisor has spoken to dozens of investing experts and most recommend following the 5% rule, as in not contributing more than 5% of your portfolio to risky assets like crypto.

Im very fortunate to be part of education, says Danial. The reason why Im passionate about this and continuously push to educate and write books and get more involved is because I want women to see a role model.

A former senior editor at Forbes, Laura Shin was among the first mainstream journalists to cover crypto full-time and recently published a book focused on the rise of Ethereum, called The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze. Shes also the host of the crypto podcast Unchained, which has over 15 million downloads and views.

Though Shin didnt realize it initially, she says other women have told her that her work as a journalist has influenced them to pursue careers in crypto and learn more about the technology.

I didnt realize that I was having that effect. Many women over the years have said to me, it means so much to us to see a woman out there, says Shin. Im really glad that its had that effect because a lot of women have said that it emboldened them to go on and do the work that they do in crypto.

Many women over the years have said to me, it means so much to us to see a woman out there.

As someone who spends her days writing about all things blockchain and crypto, Shin knows the industry is still in its infancy and everyone is learning from each other.

Thats why its imperative to have more active discussions around the numerous factors that result in there being so few women in crypto sooner rather than later, she says.

The problems are so deep rooted, says Shin. We can talk about it from the crypto lens, but I feel like it needs to go way back if were going to really fix things. I do think people are trying to tackle it, and a lot of the male leaders recognize that it would be great if we had more women.

You dont need a tech or science degree to learn about crypto or blockchain technology. Just look at Wendy O.

Wendy O began investing in crypto with no experience in 2017, but in five years, she has become a crypto expert and amassed a large following of crypto enthusiasts across several social media platforms. O has managed to draw in audiences of over 200,000 followers on TikTok, 260,000 on Twitter, and 157,000 subscribers on YouTube. She takes a balanced approach toward her commentary and coaching on crypto across her social media platforms, constantly reminding her online community, which she says is nearly 30% female and solely focused on crypto, to invest strategically based on their risk tolerances.

Shes been able to turn her massive social media following into a business where shes paid to review crypto services, speak at live crypto events, consult businesses on crypto, and more. O, who used to work in the health care industry, says her new career path in crypto has given her the flexibility she wants as a mom to work from home while raising her young daughter.

If youre reading this, youre smart enough to get into crypto. Doesnt matter what gender you are. Just start dipping your toes into the water.

If youre reading this, youre smart enough to get into crypto. Doesnt matter what gender you are. Just start dipping your toes into the water.

O serves as living proof that women are perfectly capable of entering the crypto space with no prior knowledge and can thrive in it, but her journey hasnt always been smooth sailing. She says she was bullied online for being a woman, which is why doesnt share her full name on social media.

From the end of 2018 to the middle of 2020, people would trash me and most of the people that trashed me were men, says O. My mere existence upsets people, especially on Twitter.

But it didnt deter her. If anything, it made her louder and more present in the crypto community, she says. And O encourages other women to carve out their own space in crypto like she did, whether its a blog, a TikTok, a discord group chat, or even a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which is an online member-owned community without centralized leadership.

We should take action and create these places that make us feel safe and where we feel like we can get educated and learn, she says. Theres nobody in crypto saying you cannot create a space with people that are similar to you.

Read more from the original source:

6 Women Who Are Changing the Face and Future of Crypto - NextAdvisor

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. Fourteen Indiana student athletes including Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson have signed with Hoosiers For Good, a new program launched in March partnering Hoosier athletes with charitable organizations that can benefit from their name, image and likeness.

Each of the 14 athletes are paired with a local charity to help raise awareness through the athlete's social media and in-person appearances through autograph sessions, speaking engagements, etc.

Their NIL deal with Hoosiers For Good is for the duration of the spring. Hoosiers For Good will sign a new class of student athletes in the fall.

We are proud to announce this substantial and unique support for these Indiana charities and the people and communities they serve, said Hoosiers For Good Legal Counsel Fred Glass.

It is worth expressly noting that we are not announcing, and cannot announce, that any or all of these students are definitely staying at IU for their next season of eligibility. The agreements we announce today do not, and cannot, include any requirement that they be enrolled at IU in order to provide these NIL services.

Below is a list of the 14 athletes and their respective charities signed with Hoosiers For Good:

Scroll to Continue

We are excited to announce our first class of Hoosiers For Good student athletes, said Hoosiers For Good executive director Tyler Harris. From the outset, we have been intentional in identifying student athletes who have a platform and the ambition to positively impact communities in Indiana through charitable participation.

"We believe this first class of Hoosiers For Good student athletes, and all subsequent classes will drive real value for our charitable partners.

The total NIL compensation for the student athletes is at $470,000 made possible by donors. Agreements are not seen as one size fits all but instead reflects the reach and impact each student athlete uses to promote and impact their assigned charity.

As a student athlete I am always looking for ways to impact my community, and I'm so excited to be a part of the work that Indiana Wish is doing to grant wishes for kids," said Indiana women's basketball forward Mackenzie Holmes.

"Supporting Indiana Wish and these kids and families gives me the opportunity to be a part of something thats much bigger than myself."

Hoosiers For Good uses an Incubator Program to encourage any student athlete interested in helping their community and using their voice for good to submit a proposal for funding.

From there, the organization's mission is to support local charity work while influencing the next generation of community leaders in the form of student athletes.

I'm excited to partner with Stop the Violence Indianapolis and Turnstone as a Hoosiers For Good athlete, said Indiana mens basketball forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. I am truly blessed to raise awareness for these causes that empower people throughout Indiana.

Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes (54) shoots in front of Princeton's Abby Meyers (1) during the second half of the Indiana versus Princeton women's NCAA second round game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday, March 21, 2022.

Iowa Hawkeyes guard Tomi Taiwo (1) tries to stop a shot by Indiana Hoosiers guard Grace Berger (34) during the second quarter of the BIG Ten women's championship game Sunday, March 6, 2022, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Oct 31, 2020; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) throws the ball as Indiana Hoosiers offensive lineman Matthew Bedford (76) blocks against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second half at SHI Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

USA Today

Nov 13, 2021; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Jack Tuttle (14) before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Indiana forward Jordyn Levy (9) holds back Purdue defender Skylurr Patrick (31) during the second half of an NCAA women's soccer match, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021 at Folk Field in West Lafayette.Nikos Frazier / Journal & Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mar 17, 2022; Portland, OR, USA; Indiana Hoosiers forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (23) dunks the basketball against the Saint Mary's Gaels during the second half during the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Mar 17, 2022; Portland, OR, USA; Indiana Hoosiers forward Race Thompson (25) is defended by Saint Mary's Gaels forward Kyle Bowen (14) and forward Matthias Tass (11) during the first half during the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Oct 30, 2021; College Park, Maryland, USA; Indiana Hoosiers defensive back Tiawan Mullen (3) before the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Purdue safety Sanoussi Kane (21) breaks up a pass intended for Indiana tight end AJ Barner (88) during the third quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette.Nikos Frazier / Journal & Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

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14 Indiana Student Athletes Sign With Hoosiers For Good to Make Difference in Their Communities - Sports Illustrated

FAYETTEVILLE -- Nancy Gallardo met some of her neighbors Wednesday, and her house isn't even built yet.

Gallardo, along with her two sons, Gabriel, 12, and Mateo, 7, and her 2-year-old daughter, Sofia, will live in a house built through their own sweat equity with Habitat for Humanity. The home will be part of the Willow Bend neighborhood under construction east of South College Avenue between 9th and 11th streets.

Gallardo's home will be one of three Habitat for Humanity will help build in the 81-home, mixed-income neighborhood. Habitat uses a model that involves prospective homeowners putting in more than 300 hours of work, known as sweat equity. The homeowner buys the home with a zero-interest loan under an affordable mortgage.

Willow Bend also has its own method of getting families into homes. The neighborhood, developed by nonprofit Partners for Better Housing, uses a shared equity program to make a third of the homes affordable to lower-income families. The homes are sold at market rate. However, the Pay It Forward shared equity program enables lower-income families to receive down-payment assistance that functions as an interest-free loan and lowers monthly payments.

The two organizations have a shared goal to make home ownership possible for a diversity of incomes. A meeting of the minds came about because Habitat had families and Willow Bend had land, said Brandon Swoboda, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Washington County.

"They wanted to create a mixed-income community; we had the families for them to be able to help them to do that, and they had the affordable land for us," he said. "It was a great marriage."

Habitat for Humanity bought the land where Gallardo will build her home in February for $210,000, according to Washington County property records. Gallardo will take ownership once the house is built.

So far, 10 homes are finished at Willow Bend. The goal is to build 27 homes per year until the neighborhood is complete.

The shared goal between the two organizations is made all the more important considering the housing crunch the region is facing, said Monique Pierre, chief executive officer of Partners for Better Housing.

Benton and Washington counties saw record numbers of homes sold during the second half of last year and at the highest average prices ever, according to the most recent Skyline Report. Over the past five years, the average price of a home sold in Benton County went up nearly 56% and increased 54% in Washington County.

Front porches, not garages, line the streets at Willow Bend. The project is trying to set a standard in the region to create better communities, Pierre said.

"We're doing that by being realistic about what's on the horizon, and being intentional about how we create sustainable communities," she said.

As Gallardo stood outside mingling, Michal Richter and Carlos Mendez walked up from two houses down to say hello. They exchanged phone numbers, and the pair invited Gallardo into the neighborhood's Slack channel, a group messaging app.

Gallardo said life isn't easy, especially as a single mother. She was glad to know she'll be bringing her children into a neighborhood with a strong sense of community.

Gallardo applied with Habitat for Humanity in the fall. At the time, she and her children were sharing a single bedroom at Gallardo's mother's house. The family has since moved into a two-bedroom apartment, but Gallardo said she was eager to experience the stability home ownership will bring to her and her children.

Gallardo said she plans to go to school to study health care administration. She works at the business office at Highlands Oncology.

"This has just opened up more doors for more possibilities," Gallardo said. "Now, I won't have to worry so much about expensive rent rates or expensive mortgage rates."

On the web

For more information about Habitat for Humanity, go to:

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For more information about Partners for Better Housing and Willow Bend, go to:

https://www.partnersforbetterhousing.org/

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Organizations team up to help build home for family at Willow Bend in Fayetteville - Arkansas Online

Welcome back to our Workplace newsletter. Today: how one company tackles technical training in a hybrid workplace, the NLRBs response to Amazon, and why Google is pouring $100 million into upskilling.

Michelle Ma, reporter (email | twitter)

As execs continue to discover the elusive secret to making hybrid work work, training employees looks vastly different from the days when we regularly crowded around a conference table for a programming lunch-and-learn or an interactive manager training.

Some companies have moved toward painfully tedious hours-long Zoom training or asynchronous video tutorials, while other leaders with the L&D budget have resorted to simply offering all their employees subscriptions and stipends to go learn on their own. Envoy, a company focused on creating a more efficient way to manage our new world of work, chose a hybrid route for distributing training to employees. Its also pivoted its manager training to focus more on how to work with hybrid teams.

Envoys Chief People Officer Annette Reavis gave Protocol a peek under the hood at its learning and development strategy, and shared how its thinking about technical training in the hybrid workplace.

Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Lets start by getting a baseline for what kind of training programs Envoy has in place. How are you currently thinking about training and skilling to engage employees?

We have different training programs and we think about them more around learning [and] continuing to expand people's learning There's official training and then there's on-the-job training, so making sure you have what you need from your colleagues and the necessary skills.

We also do a fair bit around leadership, too. We have an internal program called Envoy Lead that takes our top talent, and we put them through a series of learning. Part of it is around learning strategy skills and how to read financials, up to how do you lead a team through change. And then we also do manager training. So we've got those new managers, people that want to come in and either learn how to manage, or they've managed somewhere before, but they need to learn it the Envoy way.

How have you tackled manager training as people learn how to work in a flexible environment? Have you tailored training for managers specifically around managing a remote or hybrid team?

We ask the talent that joins our company to come in two to three days a week. So managers know that they've got focused time, and then they'll be able to [come] in with their team. One thing we talk about in that manager training is having a team day and being focused around what you do for that day, and really separating what you can do together from what you can do when your talent is remote.

And so trying to train folks on, OK, you've got a team day everyone's here. That's when you do your team meetings. That's when you do your one-on-ones, that's when you have lunch together. That's one piece. And then when they're remote, you're really more focused on execution. I think it's a little harder if you never had any time together, but we're lucky in that we have people that have some time together and then time to work remotely.

So the job training that's needed in order to do a job, is that better done in the office when people are together, or on people's own time, when they're remote?

It's generally done better together. It's hard to have unstructured problem solving when you're not together because a lot of times if you think about when you schedule your remote meetings, you're very focused, you know what you're going to do, you know you've got 25 minutes and hopefully five of those [are] spent getting to know each other in the meeting. But when you're together, you have that unstructured problem-solving, and that is where a lot of the learning happens. Again, not 100%, because I'm not saying you don't learn when you're remote. But if we think about how it's really set up best, it's when you're together that a lot of that happens.

How dependent is Envoy on outside courses and learning and development service subscriptions?

We really do less of that because we are so fortunate to work with some of the smartest people in the world. Envoy has such top talent here that we actually can learn from each other. Not saying some of those courses arent great, but sometimes they just move too slow, if you think about a course, even over a week, and what you can learn in a few hours if you're actually sitting across from someone. And so, again, with the pace and the way everything's moving, we're really focused on: How can we learn from each other?

Now, the other thing we do have though is we offer everyone an L&D credit. They can spend $1,000 on outside learning. And again, we do that so people can be really focused on learning stuff specific for their job.

Your career in tech has spanned HP, Meta and now Envoy. Tech changes so quickly and people in highly skilled roles often have to upskill and learn as they go. From your perspective, how has the training a decade ago changed from what training is offered now?

It's more intentional. I think what stayed the same is that on-the-job training. Its just different in the sense that what you needed to learn 10 years ago is different from what you'll need to learn now. Even from a coding perspective, or from a project manager perspective, it's different. The pace is much faster than it was 10 years ago. And we thought it was really fast then. But I think on-the-job training has become even more important because so much of what we learned in school is baseline, but as you said, technology is changing all the time. Schools cant even keep up with it.

So how are we making sure that people have the opportunity to learn in-house? For example, at Facebook, we did a lot of technical training where the engineers would come together and problem-solve again, take that unstructured problem-solving A lot of that was on the job, real-time learning. I see that a lot more now than 10 years ago. It was almost [always], Go take this class or do that class, whereas now it's really much more on-the-job learning as you're coding or working with people.

Amber Burton, reporter (email | twitter)

If you havent been following the Amazon union battles over the last two weeks, heres a quick update to get you up to speed. In Staten Island, a group of workers called the Amazon Labor Union won a surprising and sweeping victory against Amazon on April 1. Then, on Thursday, Amazon filed paperwork that shows it is planning to challenge the results and accuse the union of coercing voters. Meanwhile, the NLRB needs to review 400-plus contested ballots to determine a winner in a Bessemer, Alabama, Amazon facility. And at the end of this month, a second union election will start in another facility in Staten Island.

There are big implications for all employers here. Amid the election drama, NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released a memo this week calling to make captive-audience meetings illegal. Employers typically use these small meetings to try to deter people from voting for a union (Amazon used them in both Staten Island and Bessemer), and now Abruzzo wants to end the practice. Past labor precedent has allowed employers to hold these meetings while making it very difficult for unions to do the same, even though technically employers are not legally allowed to interfere with union organizing.

I believe that the NLRB case precedent, which has tolerated such meetings, is at odds with fundamental labor-law principles, our statutory language, and our Congressional mandate. Because of this, I plan to urge the Board to reconsider such precedent and find mandatory meetings of this sort unlawful, Abruzzo wrote.

Todays labor market is tighter than ever. Heres how 10,000+ companies have changed the way they recruit for tech roles. We're sharing the latest trends in job requirements, job titles, applicant gender and more. How do you stack up?

Learn more

Google launched a $100 million career certificates fund. Digital bootcamp Springboard is committing $10 million in scholarships to underrepresented students. And theres a reason theyre doing that, according to new reporting from my colleague Amber Burton. The tech talent gap is real, and companies are realizing that one way to narrow it is by helping underserved communities. Win-win.

Read the full story.

Its hard out there for tech companies with open roles. Weve known that for a while, but tech services company Commit interviewed 200 senior tech leaders of U.S. startups and found:

Our research shows that tech job openings have grown 81% over the past two years, while the median applicant pool has shrunk by 39%. With the tech hiring market tighter than ever, recruiting strategies that worked just a few years ago aren't cutting it in 2022.

Learn more

Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to workplace@protocol.com. Have a great day, see you Tuesday.

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'It's more intentional.' How to train employees who might live a half a world away. - Protocol

If you ever want a straight answer, just ask a veteran.

When the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced last month its recommendation to close the VA medical center in Leeds, citing the age of its buildings and a projected decline in the number of veterans in our region, local veterans reacted with both disgust and disbelief.

I immediately went into panic mode, said Christine Hatfield, a Navy and Air Force veteran who is one of them, describing the moment when she heard the news about Leeds. This will be absolutely devastating.

Many veterans like Hatfield would be homeless if it were not for a widely renowned homelessness prevention program started years ago by the Soldier On organization through a VA partnership at Leeds where veterans can live next to and have access to VA care and services.

Closing Leeds will also mean closing a regional hub for veterans requiring care and would come at a time when the largest group of veterans today are Vietnam veterans in their 70s or older. As these veterans age they will require significantly more care and more resources. In addition to the many veterans residing in Soldier On facilities, veterans from surrounding Hilltowns and from throughout rural western Massachusetts have come to rely heavily on Leeds.

Over the years, Ive met countless veterans, many from the Vietnam era, who would tell me the VA in Leeds literally saved their life. Now they tell me they cant imagine starting all over again with new providers in the community who very likely wont understand their time in service.

What is even more inexplicable, given the irony of the VAs recommendation, is the amount of taxpayer money spent more than $50 million and counting in the last decade to modernize and upgrade buildings on the Leeds campus.

On a recent and bone chilling March morning, while veterans were talking about the news that Leeds was on a VA closure list, workers were adjusting and configuring even more scaffolding on buildings. With new parking lots being built into the hill and ongoing and multi-faceted renovations and modifications taking place throughout the sprawling 105-acre campus, few local veterans anticipated the ball being dropped on their facility.

For the residents in Soldier On, the ethereal combination of housing, health care, behavioral health and peer support on the Leeds campus cant be moved or shifted easily or certainly more efficiently elsewhere. Whats in Leeds, they say, is centrally, safely, and securely located within walking or electric wheelchair distance.

Thats important for veterans like Robert Benoit and James Oliver who have both physical and mental health disabilities that require them to get regular care and support from VA programs on a near daily basis. They have lived on the Leeds campus in Soldier On for more than a decade and say whats been built over the years at Leeds works because everything is in familial proximity. So, why they ask, should anyone bust up what works?

Its a small town up here, said Benoit. Were a family really a community of veterans who care about one another. Whether its intentional or not, closing Leeds would be making life a whole lot worse for many, many veterans.

Oliver agrees. Who knows where and what wed be doing if it were not for this place, he said. Probably living on the street or in someones basement.

Now they rely on hope and promises from area elected officials that veterans at Leeds wont be abandoned. The process to close any federal facility is lengthy, takes many steps, and will include public hearings. Elected officials say it will be years for all of this to play out, and nothing is yet final.

But they will be battling a lobbying effort started some time ago by political forces to privatize VA, to reward select people and companies with profit, and to shutter facilities just like Leeds. Its been an incremental, insidious, and underhanded movement, which culminated in congressional legislation in 2018 that mandated the infrastructure review and one that the Biden administration cant stop.

People who truly understand VA health care know that dismantling such a highly integrated system and outsourcing treatment is a terrible idea.

The private sector, already struggling to provide adequate access to care in many communities, is ill-prepared to handle the number and complexity of patients that would come from closing or downsizing VA hospitals and clinics, particularly when it involves the mental health needs of people scarred by the horrors of war, wrote Dr. David Shulkin in the New York Times after he was fired from his post as Secretary of Veterans Affairs by a tweet from President Trump.

The truth is that Leeds was built in the 1920s to provide neuropsychiatric care for veterans returning from the trenches of a world war started in Europe. It has served our region well and proudly for nearly 100 years. And veterans know better than anyone that only the dead have seen the end of war. What will the next 100 years bring us?

I am getting so sick and tired of people talking about the declining veteran population, said state Sen. John Velis at a wind-swept rally hosted last month by the Massachusetts Nurses Association to protest the Leeds announcement.

Velis, a major in the Army Reserve, a veteran of Afghanistan, and a straight shooter, was incredulous. Is anybody watching the news lately by any chance? We live in a very, very dangerous world.

John Paradis, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, lives in Florence.

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My Turn: The devastating effect of dropping a wrecking ball on the VA in Leeds - The Recorder

I always wanted for my family what I observe in so many other Jewish families: that feeling of deep connection that comes from being part of a Jewish community.

To build bonds, I said yes when asked to teach a Yom Kippur study session at a local synagogue. I said yes when asked to provide feedback to rabbis on diversity initiatives. I said yes to a shuls search committee and to the invitation to plot and plan how to transform into a multiracial, anti-racist congregation.

Ten years later after all the diversity committees, reviewing of draft congregant surveys and sermons, I look out at my community and there is little, dare I say nothing, to show for these efforts.

The same affluent, cisgender, white men chant from the bimah. There are no former campers of color working at the shuls summer camps. There are no Black, Asian or Latino Jewish teenagers behind the desk to welcome folks to the front office. And its not just the synagogues Ive interacted with there is essentially no racial diversity in leadership anywhere in our progressive shuls in our progressive towns in our progressive states.

And I dont see it changing any time soon, since rabbinical hiring processes tend to prioritize the rarefied, traditional training that few clergy of color have, to date, fully acquired.

I recently had a very difficult conversation with a senior congregational rabbi Ive worked with for years. Beyond her good intentions, we talked about their failure to implement any tools or strategies that institutionalize efforts toward ensuring a multiracial, anti-racist synagogue community. I told them that goodwill and intentions are not strategies.

I pointed to the absence of institutional policies and how their absence thwarted their stated objectives of ever having the shul and its leadership reflect the racial diversity of the Jewish community. I explained that the lack of progress literally none that could be measured was in fact regressive and harmful to the community.

Lack of policies and practices to ensure a multiracial, anti-racist community, and failure to create and support pathways to diverse role models and diverse leadership reinforces a false narrative of who is a Jew and a Jewish leader in the United States, harming and arresting the development of us all.

My experience isnt unique. I know there are hundreds if not thousands of Jews of color working with passion and fever to transform their communities into ones that embody anti-racist values and reflect the racial diversity of the American Jewish community.

I am so grateful to them. I also share their frustration. We must work through congregational and organizational leaders to activate and eventually institutionalize durable multiracial, anti-racist change. Yet it is our leaders who inadequately respond to racism and white supremacy in the Jewish community.

When youre Black, queer or female or all three every moment of institutional power attainment comes with a parallel consciousness about the significance of responsibilities that come with that power. With the opportunity and authority to deal in power also comes a sense of yirah, Hebrew for awe or fear. It is an extraordinary and sometimes heavy responsibility to hold power power that can both help and harm.

Many of our white leaders come from predominantly white communities. They are products of those environments. They are often born into power pathways designed to serve them, pathways indelibly informed by policies and practices related to race, gender, affluence and Jewish communal history.

And when one is of an environment, it can be hard to see the self from outside of that environment. Until we, collectively, are able to responsibly own and hold power, it will be difficult to be in an honest and intimate relationship with our power.

Last year, Beyond the Count a study commissioned by the group I lead, the Jews of Color Initiative found that 80% of Jews of color have experienced discrimination in the U.S. Jewish community. Of the more than 1,000 Jews of color surveyed, just 13% said Jewish leaders are doing an adequate job responding to racism in our communal organizations.

Decades and decades of quiet reinforcement of racism, a paucity of communal leaders of color, and a lack of bold, catalyzing public commitments has created communal hardship that our leaders can and must remedy and repair.

We must begin by planting our feet firmly on the side of courageous and righteous justice. Among other things, this means we own our communal influence, take risks, and speak truth to power. Leveraging the learnings about the impact of racism and white supremacy on Jews of color, we as leaders have the opportunity and responsibility to commit publicly to halting the legacy of racism and white supremacy in our organizations.

This must be done even when we dont yet know how to halt this legacy, and it must be done publicly to build accountability. It is powerful to own and name harm and to walk away from parts of our past that dont serve us as the Jewish people.

But I want to ask more of leaders, and more of myself.

First, those of us with institutional authority must employ bring to all we do a view of leadership informed by racial equity and justice. Leading a diverse population requires intentional training and skill. And that training must include works, voices, pedagogy and conceptual frameworks from people of color. This training is vital; it imbues us with the capacity to stand in front of our communities and explain with integrity, clarity and care the value-proposition for the Jewish community to see and understand itself as multiracial.

Second, sitting leaders must construct their succession plans for the next three, five, seven and 10 years with racial diversity as a clear goal. Chief executive officers, presidents, executive directors and board members should not only be thinking about how to attract the best visionaries and organizational developers, but those who also reflect the perspectives and experiences of the Jewish community theyll be working with now and well into the future.

I dont have a strategic plan for how we, as the current collective of national Jewish leaders, will make transformative communal change. Instead, I have an invitation.

Leaders: look at the data. Look at our communities, and commit right now to do everything in your power to reduce the percentage of Jews of color telling us they experience racism and discrimination in the organizations we run.

Lets increase that paltry 13% statistic that reflects the number of Jews of color who believe we as leaders are doing an adequate job responding to racism in our communities.

Lets feel the feelings alarm, sadness, disappointment, even a sense of failure.

And then lets keep it moving. Ten more years is too long for any Jew of color to further endure racism in our organizations, to not receive adequate and appropriate care from leaders, and to not see a reflection of ourselves on the bimah or in the C-Suite.

To contact the author, email editorial@forward.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward.

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Despite 10 years of promises, Jewish leaders have failed to make space for Jews of color - Forward

Rep. Ritchie Torres (photo: Jeff Reed/City Council)

As congressional representatives seek re-election this year, there is one member of Congress who doesnt need to worry about having an opponent: Rep. Ritchie Torres. At the time of this writing, there is no word of a candidate circulating petitions to challenge Torres in this Junes Democratic primary. As political insiders well know, it is rare for an incumbent in New York not to have a challenge.

Many may have taken notice of Torress popularity in his congressional district, as is evident in this Data for Progress poll. According to the poll, Torres enjoys a 73% favorability rate in the 15th Congressional District.

The rise of Ritchie Torres is one that I foresaw in these pages some years ago. I believe the rest of the country will continue to share our New York experience of Torres as a thoughtful legislator who has an uncanny ability to dig through complex policy issues and who articulates his positions clearly and concisely.

Equally fascinating to me has been Torres political philosophy since 2013, a posture of pragmatic progressivism. The pragmatic part of this posture has earned Torres the scorn of some other progressives.

Contemporary political progressivism in the United States. has several variants. The current trajectory of progressive politics can perhaps be distinguished between those on the socialist left and those on the liberal left, who consider themselves more pragmatic.

By pragmatic I am not referring to the philosophical school of thought of pragmatism made popular by the likes of William James and John Dewey in the 20th century. Rather, I refer to pragmatic as an electoral and governing approach to politics that seeks to achieve social ends through the most practical means possible.

These two distinguishing markers of political progressivismthe socialist left and the liberal left are hardly a recent phenomenon. Since the 20th century, progressive politics has been quite diverse. Interestingly enough, the socialist left once had a similar influence in New York and national politics to what it has now, though the impact is perhaps a bit greater now if we consider the number of socialists that are being elected to local office. The recent electoral successes of socialists are due to their intentional efforts to work within the Democratic Party instead of functioning as a third party as they did decades ago.

Perhaps the most prominent and influential socialist figure in 1930s electoral politics was Norman Thomas, a member of the Socialist Party of America. Thomas charm, charisma, and intellect helped to catapult the socialist agenda into the national political discourse.

Yet this socialist influence began to wane with the social progress achieved through FDRs New Deal initiatives. What replaced it for the next few decades was the influence of the liberal left.

What has been deemed liberal left I call pragmatic progressivism. And it is in this wing of progressive politics that Ritchie Torres resides. Pragmatic progressives seek most of the same goals as other progressives: universal healthcare, adequate funding for education and housing, fair wages, among others. The pragmatic element in this type of progressivism acknowledges that to function, politics must maintain a healthy equilibrium between competing interests.

The key difference between the socialist left and pragmatic progressives lies in the paths they take to achieve progressive aims. Pragmatists assert that the attainment of progressive goals may entail negotiating with those competing interests that are at different points along the political spectrum. Therefore, pragmatists make no bones about the fact that they must work within an imperfect and indeed broken system full of people with different opinions and constituencies that make these negotiations necessary. Pragmatists see these negotiations as necessary for the work of progress.

If Norman Thomas was the face of the socialist politics that preceded current socialist movements, like the contemporary Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), then the theologian and ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr, in the same era, represented the pragmatic progressivism exemplified today by Ritchie Torres.

In the 1930s, Niebuhr was part of the Socialists of America party and even ran for office twice on their ballot. The realities of World War II and the social and economic impact of FDRs New Deal changed his politics, leading him eventually to co-found New Yorks Liberal Party and later the Union for Democratic Action, which eventually became the Americans for Democratic Action. Niebuhr understood that the seeking of political perfection was far from realistic; therefore the necessity to seek compromise. He believed that the idealism of the socialist left, as was evident by their propensity to clamor for pacifictic alternatives during World War II, was indeed an attempt to seek the perfect. Yet, Niebuhr would assert that the perfect cant be the enemy of the very good.

Torres reflects in word and deed the type of progressive politics espoused by Niebuhrseeking progressive goals by balancing realities of politics and governance.

When have we seen Rep. Torres inclination toward this kind of pragmatic progressivism? Lets take a look at his stance on the Defund the Police movement prominently espoused by those on the socialist left. Speaking to Jose Diaz-Balart on MSNBC last month, Torres said, ...any elected official whos advocating for the abolition and/or even the defunding of police is out of touch with reality and should not be taken seriously. Torres prefers to speak of a reform the police type of movement, one that acknowledges the necessity of policing for ensuring public safety while acknowledging also that there are structural deficiencies within police departments that need deep and sustained reform. Torres says, What most New Yorkers want is not less policing or more police, but better policing more accountable and transparent policing.

Perhaps this stance of Torress points to his inclination to work within a broken system in order to seek necessary changes from within rather than seeking a total abolition of a system that doesnt work for many, particularly for communities of color. Hence, Torres has developed positions and backed legislation that seek to attack root causes of crime like poverty and housing instability, and pursues policies to address them.

Torres position on the Defund the Police movement and his penchant for reforming systems from within deficient structures could perhaps be seen in a police reform bill fight in 2017, during his tenure in the New York City Council.

The 2017 Right to Know Act, a controversial and much-debated set of police reform bills, sought to deter police abuse and to ensure transparency in any interaction between an officer and an individual.

There were two bills in the Act, one introduced by then-City Council member and now Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and the other introduced by Torres. After hearings and negotiations, Torres made changes to his bill.

The Reynoso bill was championed by many police reform advocates, earning the praise of Monifa Bandele, a spokesperson for a prominent coalition, since Reynosos bill would bring transparency and accountability regarding searches during non-emergency policing encounters that have no legal basis other than a persons supposed consent."

Of Torres bill, Bandele said: This NYPD bill being advanced by Torres is neither the Right to Know Act nor a compromise, but political backroom dealing and a surrender of legislative independence to the NYPD and the Mayor. Bandeles statement reflected the sentiment of other reform advocates, who felt that the updated version of Torres police reform bill conceded too much to the NYPD.

Torres indeed negotiated particulars of the bill with NYPD representatives and the mayors office. But he insisted that any concessions made to the de Blasio administration would ensure the needed transparency in a number of interactions between police and individuals.

Torres earned the scorn of both police reform advocates and the police unions. History has shown that this type of criticism from both extremes is often the result of political decisions made by pragmatic progressives. Acknowledging the need for negotiations between disparate political interests and views in order to achieve progress on behalf of the citizenry never earns them friends at the extremes and most devoted parties, but does win them broad support among the more pragmatic general population.

Torres has done this again with his position on the status of Puerto Rico, siding for statehood for the Caribbean island, a position favored by conservatives on both the island and the mainland. A little over two weeks after winning his congressional race in a historically majority-Latino (and Puerto Rican) congressional district that was once represented by Herman Badillo, Torres penned an op-ed declaring his support for Puerto Rico statehood. His statehood stance can be succinctly captured by his declaration that As Americans, we must speak out forcefully against the de jure disenfranchisement of our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico, for it represents a deep rot at the very core of American democracy, not to mention a manifestation of the very systemic racism against which millions have stood in protest.

Using the lens of systemic racism to critique the current status of Puerto Rico is in essence utilizing a progressive principle (the fight against systemic racism and the acknowledgement of Puerto Ricos colonial status) in order to stand on the side of statehood, a position long held by mostly conservatives in Puerto Rico.

This position places Torres on the opposite side of the issue from the other two Puerto Rican congressional representatives in New York City, Reps. Nydia Velzquez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both of whom have introduced the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act of 2021. The bill seeks to give Puerto Ricans on the island the opportunity to finally determine their status through an elaborate process that would include publicly-financed elections and a convention with delegates elected by the Puerto Rican people. Torres believes that Puerto Ricans have already determined their will by a recent referendum in which voters selected statehood as their preferred option.

While the police reform bill and Torres position on the status of Puerto Rico may cause some to question his progressive bona fides, it is also important to remember his championing of a myriad of progressive issues. For instance, Torres has introduced a bill that would require the Federal Home Loan Banks to drastically increase investments in affordable housing, community development, and small business lending. And of course, on the issue of public housing, few elected officials in New York have been as relentless and consistent on the need to revamp our public housing facilities through massive federal investment. More recently, Torres led a push, supported by Ocasio-Cortez, demanding that billions in funding be secured for public housing and rental assistance.

It is difficult to peg Torres solely on one end of even the progressive spectrum. Throughout his career as an elected official, Torres positions have reflected the thinking of a pragmatist who acknowledges the need to balance interests for the greater goal of achieving progressive values.

***Eli Valentin is an adjunct professor at Iona College. He writes regular columns for Gotham Gazette, largely focused on Latino politics in New York City, and is a frequent guest political analyst at Univision NY. On Twitter @EliValentinNY.

***Eli Valentin is a political analyst and author of the forthcoming book, Reinhold Niebuhr: A Political Life. On Twitter@EliValentinNY.

***Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? EmailThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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The Pragmatic Progressivism of Ritchie Torres - Gotham Gazette