0:08 – Texas began a new phase of reopening during Covid-19 on Monday, May 18, despite logging its single largest increase in cases just two days prior. We speak with R.G. Ratcliffe (@rgratcliffe), writer at large for Texas Monthly magazine.
0:19 – A new investigation by journalist Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) of Reveal says the Office of Refugee Resettlement is refusing to release jailed migrant children to their willing sponsors. She follows the story of a boy and the family ready to receive him.
0:34 – A year ago, the East Oakland DREAMers had a budget of a little over $1,000. Now, they have given out over $85,000 in grants to undocumented Bay Area youth and mixed status families who are in need during the Covid-19 lockdown. Kateri Dodds Simpson, program director for East Oakland DREAMers, joins us to talk about their work.
1:08 – The Oakland City Council today will consider the demands of the Black New Deal, a list of demands drafted by over 50 Black Oakland leaders and signed by over 20 allies that address the structural racism and disparities that have lead to more infections and deaths among Black people from Covid-19. Oakland councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas (@nikki4oakland) and Cat Brooks of the Anti-Police Terror Project and Justice Teams Network discuss the city council resolution. Interested members of the public can participate in the city council meeting by viewing the agenda here.
1:34 – SF Mayor London Breed has rolled out a program of sanctioned, fenced-off outdoor encampments called “safe sleeping sites” rather than comply with a unanimous Board of Supervisors vote to procure thousands of hotel rooms to shelter unhoused people during the coronavirus pandemic. We hear reaction from District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney (@MattHaneySF), who says Breed’s administration has offered an array of excuses to avoid proactively placing unsheltered people in hotels.
Photo: Anti-Police Terror Project