Tuesday, March 28, 2017
There Was no Pull
From VPR -
Why Is Vermont So Overwhelmingly White?
By ANGELA EVANCIE & REBECCA SANANES
“In terms of immediacy, there isn't an established community of color here in Vermont. And there is a historic reason for that,” says C. Winter Han, an associate professor of sociology at Middlebury College and the author of the book Geisha of a Different Kind: Race and Sexuality in Gaysian America. “Because clearly there were many places that at one time in history were not very diverse, like Chicago or New York or Philadelphia — there really was a time when those cities were almost uniformly white. And yet over time, for different reasons, for different groups, they became much more diverse.”
Professor Han says these transformations weren’t arbitrary.
“There is this pattern of migration that most places where people go, they go because there's already an established connection between the place that that is sending migrants and the place that is receiving them.
This theory of immigration is often referred to as “push and pull.” And if you take the long view of Vermont’s history, when it comes to a particular demographic — African-Americans — there was no "pull" to Vermont.
http://digital.vpr.net/post/why-vermont-so-overwhelmingly-white#stream/0
Why Is Vermont So Overwhelmingly White?
By ANGELA EVANCIE & REBECCA SANANES
“In terms of immediacy, there isn't an established community of color here in Vermont. And there is a historic reason for that,” says C. Winter Han, an associate professor of sociology at Middlebury College and the author of the book Geisha of a Different Kind: Race and Sexuality in Gaysian America. “Because clearly there were many places that at one time in history were not very diverse, like Chicago or New York or Philadelphia — there really was a time when those cities were almost uniformly white. And yet over time, for different reasons, for different groups, they became much more diverse.”
Professor Han says these transformations weren’t arbitrary.
“There is this pattern of migration that most places where people go, they go because there's already an established connection between the place that that is sending migrants and the place that is receiving them.
This theory of immigration is often referred to as “push and pull.” And if you take the long view of Vermont’s history, when it comes to a particular demographic — African-Americans — there was no "pull" to Vermont.
http://digital.vpr.net/post/why-vermont-so-overwhelmingly-white#stream/0
Zydeco is Calling
From the New york Times -
Accordions, Étouffée and Nonstop Dancing in a Zydeco Capital
By CHRIS WOHLWEND
As 8 a.m. approached on a spring Saturday, a crowd of 70 to 80 patiently waited outside the front door of a cafe in the hamlet of Breaux Bridge in the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun country. Inside, Cedryl Ballou & the Zydeco Trendsetters were finishing their sound-check as bartenders filled cups with Bloody Mary and mimosa mixers.
As the door opened, the distinctive sounds of accordion and washboard announced that another zydeco breakfast had begun in this town along Bayou Teche.
The dance floor began to fill with the first accordion runs and was packed by the start of the second tune. Many of the dancers had begun lining up outside as early as 6:30 a.m.
Eggs, zydeco and dancing are a year-round Saturday morning tradition in Breaux Bridge, but on this particular morning in late April last year, the crowd also included a smattering of partyers from the Festival International de Louisiane in nearby Lafayette, including a group from the French-speaking Caribbean island of Martinique.
The breakfast crowd is a microcosm of Louisiana’s culture, both Creole and Cajun, a culture heavily seasoned with zydeco music. And that is what the festival, which began in 1987, is about. Lafayette will welcome an estimated 300,000 revelers over five days, April 26 to 30, with the peak attendance on Friday and Saturday. The music will include zydeco along with its antecedents and influences from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and Southeast Asia.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/28/travel/louisiana-zydeco-music-capital-accordions-etouffee-dancing.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0
Accordions, Étouffée and Nonstop Dancing in a Zydeco Capital
By CHRIS WOHLWEND
As 8 a.m. approached on a spring Saturday, a crowd of 70 to 80 patiently waited outside the front door of a cafe in the hamlet of Breaux Bridge in the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun country. Inside, Cedryl Ballou & the Zydeco Trendsetters were finishing their sound-check as bartenders filled cups with Bloody Mary and mimosa mixers.
As the door opened, the distinctive sounds of accordion and washboard announced that another zydeco breakfast had begun in this town along Bayou Teche.
The dance floor began to fill with the first accordion runs and was packed by the start of the second tune. Many of the dancers had begun lining up outside as early as 6:30 a.m.
Eggs, zydeco and dancing are a year-round Saturday morning tradition in Breaux Bridge, but on this particular morning in late April last year, the crowd also included a smattering of partyers from the Festival International de Louisiane in nearby Lafayette, including a group from the French-speaking Caribbean island of Martinique.
The breakfast crowd is a microcosm of Louisiana’s culture, both Creole and Cajun, a culture heavily seasoned with zydeco music. And that is what the festival, which began in 1987, is about. Lafayette will welcome an estimated 300,000 revelers over five days, April 26 to 30, with the peak attendance on Friday and Saturday. The music will include zydeco along with its antecedents and influences from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and Southeast Asia.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/28/travel/louisiana-zydeco-music-capital-accordions-etouffee-dancing.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0
Monday, March 27, 2017
Moving Forward
From Slate -
A Way Forward
What Democrats should do to capitalize on the defeat of Trumpcare.
By Jamelle Bouie
It almost goes without saying that Democrats have an unprecedented gift. By simply describing the AHCA and the GOP effort to pass it, they can tie their opponents to dysfunction and cruelty. They can show, in vivid terms, what the Republican Party would do to the public if it had the chance—if it could get itself together. Democrats have no excuse; they should blast the Republican Party with its failure and use the opportunity to tout a comprehensive plan for improving the Affordable Care Act. This could take several forms. They could embrace Sen. Bernie Sanders’ call for universal Medicare; they could introduce a public option to the exchanges, coupled with more generous subsidies; they could announce a plan to federalize and expand Medicaid even further; or they could do a little of each, writing a simple proposal that opens Medicare up to older Americans not yet on there, provides greater subsidies in the health care exchanges, and closes any coverage gaps with Medicaid. And in the short term, they can pressure individual states to adopt the Medicaid expansion as it exists. Whatever the path they choose, Trump’s health care quagmire gives Democrats a chance to move the ball forward and show Americans a real path toward affordable insurance and universal coverage.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/03/what_democrats_should_do_to_capitalize_on_the_defeat_of_trumpcare.html
A Way Forward
What Democrats should do to capitalize on the defeat of Trumpcare.
By Jamelle Bouie
It almost goes without saying that Democrats have an unprecedented gift. By simply describing the AHCA and the GOP effort to pass it, they can tie their opponents to dysfunction and cruelty. They can show, in vivid terms, what the Republican Party would do to the public if it had the chance—if it could get itself together. Democrats have no excuse; they should blast the Republican Party with its failure and use the opportunity to tout a comprehensive plan for improving the Affordable Care Act. This could take several forms. They could embrace Sen. Bernie Sanders’ call for universal Medicare; they could introduce a public option to the exchanges, coupled with more generous subsidies; they could announce a plan to federalize and expand Medicaid even further; or they could do a little of each, writing a simple proposal that opens Medicare up to older Americans not yet on there, provides greater subsidies in the health care exchanges, and closes any coverage gaps with Medicaid. And in the short term, they can pressure individual states to adopt the Medicaid expansion as it exists. Whatever the path they choose, Trump’s health care quagmire gives Democrats a chance to move the ball forward and show Americans a real path toward affordable insurance and universal coverage.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/03/what_democrats_should_do_to_capitalize_on_the_defeat_of_trumpcare.html
If You Need (or Want) a New iPhone
From USA Today & Reviewed -
Target will give you $300 if you buy a new iPhone this week
By Brendan Nystedt , Reviewed.com
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewedcom/2017/03/27/target-will-give-you-300-if-you-buy-a-new-iphone-this-week/99687416/
Target will give you $300 if you buy a new iPhone this week
By Brendan Nystedt , Reviewed.com
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewedcom/2017/03/27/target-will-give-you-300-if-you-buy-a-new-iphone-this-week/99687416/
Lesson Learned: Fight Back
From the Huffington Post -
School Tries To Censor BLM Article. These Students Had The Final Say.
The high schoolers recruited the help of their regional ACLU.
By Zahara Hill
Two California high schoolers fought back ― and won ― when their principal tried to censor a yearbook article on Black Lives Matter earlier this year.
Throughout the fall semester, Vanessa Mewborn, 16, and Ariana Coleman, 17, interviewed students and faculty at Buckingham Charter Magnet School in Vacaville, California, about their thoughts on the BLM movement for a yearbook article.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/these-students-fought-back-when-their-principal-tried-to-censor-blm-discussion_us_58d932a8e4b03692bea7faec?section=us_black-voices
School Tries To Censor BLM Article. These Students Had The Final Say.
The high schoolers recruited the help of their regional ACLU.
By Zahara Hill
Two California high schoolers fought back ― and won ― when their principal tried to censor a yearbook article on Black Lives Matter earlier this year.
Throughout the fall semester, Vanessa Mewborn, 16, and Ariana Coleman, 17, interviewed students and faculty at Buckingham Charter Magnet School in Vacaville, California, about their thoughts on the BLM movement for a yearbook article.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/these-students-fought-back-when-their-principal-tried-to-censor-blm-discussion_us_58d932a8e4b03692bea7faec?section=us_black-voices
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