New York state leaders have rejected the Trump administration’s directive to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in public schools, stating they will uphold these programs even if it risks the loss of federal education funding. “Diversity is a superpower here in New York City, we are always going to honor that,” New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
On Thursday, a New York county clerk refused to file a Texas court judgment of over $100,000 against a New York doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas. “New York is grateful for his courage and common sense,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said on Thursday in response to the county clerk’s decision to reject the filing of the judgment. The case centers on…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
A push to claw back a process-oriented change in New York’s criminal legal code shows just how readily Democrats will capitulate to carceral demands in 2025. After years of advocacy, New York lawmakers passed a suite of criminal legal system reforms in 2019. The hard-won changes included the elimination of cash bail for most misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges and an overhaul of the…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Decades before Covid-19, the AIDS epidemic tore through communities in the US and around the world. It has killed some 40 million people and continues to take lives today.
But early on, research and public policy focused on AIDS as a gay men’s disease, overlooking other vulnerable groups—including communities of color and women.
“We literally had to convince the federal government that there were women getting HIV,” says activist Maxine Wolfe. “We actually had to develop treatment and research agendas that were about women.”
This week on Reveal, reporters Kai Wright and Lizzy Ratner from the podcast Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows take us back to the first years of the HIV epidemic in New York City.
One of the most influential activists for women with AIDS was Katrina Haslip, a prisoner at a maximum-security prison in upstate New York. In the 1980s, Haslip and other incarcerated women started a support group to educate each other about HIV and AIDS.
Haslip took her activism beyond prison walls after her release in 1990, even meeting with leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One of the main goals was to change the definition of AIDS, which at the time excluded many symptoms that appeared in HIV-positive women. This meant that women with AIDS often did not qualify for government benefits such as Medicaid and disability insurance.
The podcast series Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows is a co-production of The History Channel and WNYC Studios.
This is an update of an episode that originally aired in February 2024.
This post was originally published on Reveal.
A strike wave has spread throughout New York State prisons. Since February 17, 14,000 guards in 40 of the state’s 42 facilities have joined wildcat walkouts, neglecting and endangering incarcerated people throughout the state. Since February 19, National Guard troops have been deployed to replace striking guards. These actions are illegal under New York State’s Taylor Law…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
A federal judge on Friday did not immediately sign off on the U.S. Department of Justice’s bid to abandon federal corruption charges brought against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and instead appointed an outside attorney to present independent arguments on the government’s motion to dismiss. U.S. District Court Judge Dale Ho wrote that “to assist with its decision-making via an adversarial…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Central New York’s Tompkins County, home to Ithaca, found itself in the federal government’s crosshairs last month when the Trump administration made the county a focal point of the president’s push to force localities to dedicate resources to mass deportations. Sheriff Derek Osborne did something routine: He released a man from jail after he’d served his sentence. But Immigration and Customs…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
On Monday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed legislation into law (S.36A/A.2145A) that reinforces protections for prescribers of abortion pills in the state. The new law permits abortion pill bottles to display the name of the prescribing health care practice instead of the individual provider’s name in an effort to safeguard New York providers from civil and criminal liability in other states.
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) has issued a warning to health care centers across the state that are considering ending their gender-affirming care programs due to a recent executive order from President Donald Trump: Doing so will violate state law. Last fall, New York voters passed a constitutional amendment expanding protections against discrimination for several groups…
| A screening of the feature documentary “Dissidents” will take place on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. EST. The event location is Firehouse Cinema, 87 Lafayette Street, New York. “Dissidents” tells the story of three Chinese dissidents who continue to fight for democracy against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through art, protest, and grassroots organizing despite being exiled from their own home and despite the CCP’s transnational attempts to threaten them with violence, criminal charges, and arson. The film features Juntao Wang, a primary organizer of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests; Weiming Chen, a human rights artist whose sculpture criticizing Xi Jinping was burnt down; and asylum seeker Chunyan Wang, who was arrested for attempting to deliver a petition letter to Chinese vice premiers during the US-China trade talks. |
| VIEW THE TRAILER |
| After the film, there will be a panel discussion featuring: Yaqiu Wang, research director for China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan at Freedom House Joey Siu, Hong Kong activist and executive council member at the World Liberty Congress Weiming Chen, human rights artist known for the Liberty Sculpture Park in CaliforniaYi Chen, director of “Dissidents” at C35 FilmsPema Doma, Executive Director, Students For a Free Tibet The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Please be sure to RSVP on Eventbrite as soon as possible, as reservations are granted on a first come, first serve basis. |
| RSVP HERE |
https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/call-for-applications-hrf-uyghur-workshop-9101325?e=f80cec329e
This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.
“Organizing tenants has the potential to shape the political landscape for decades to come.”
This post was originally published on Dissent Magazine.
On Friday morning, a New York state judge officially sentenced former President Donald Trump, six months after he was convicted on 34 criminal charges relating to hush money payments he made through his business to conceal an extramarital affair ahead of the 2016 election. In issuing his decision — which carries with it no judiciary punishment, fine or probationary rules — Justice Juan…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
An independent watchdog group called on New York state officials to investigate racist discrimination and “rampant abuse” by staff at the Marcy Correctional Facility back in 2023. On December 9, a group of guards at the state prison viciously beat prisoner Robert Brooks, a 43-year-old Black man who died in hospital the next day. Body camera footage of the fatal assault was released to the…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Around the holiday season, seeing my name on the prison’s “Package-Room List” always invokes feelings of being loved, familial connectedness and gratitude. When I saw saltwater taffy in my food package, I knew my mom had visited Virginia Beach, where her parents lived and where I spent most of my summers swimming in my grandparents’ backyard lake. When she sent Junior’s cheesecake…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit accusing a New York doctor of prescribing abortion drugs to a Texas resident in violation of state law. This lawsuit is the first attempt to test what happens when state abortion laws are at odds with each other. New York has a shield law that protects providers from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions, which has served as…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Global CITIZENS FESTIVAL 2024
New York
Friends, New Yorkers, global citizens.
Human rights defenders are champions for our future – shining a light on repression, on injustice and on solutions to humanity’s greatest challenges.
In return, they are often smeared, intimidated, imprisoned, and worse.
According to data gathered by my Office, last year, 320 human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists in 40 countries were killed. Many of them while protecting nature and the environment.
Across the globe, environmental human rights defenders are leading efforts to tackle a climate crisis that is growing ever more ferocious, more terrifying, and more present.
They are standing up for the marginalized, for the natural world, and for the planet.
For the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
They deserve our gratitude and our protection.
My office is proud to support the Leaders Network for Environmental Activists and Defenders (LEAD), a new initiative focused on meaningful and safe participation of defenders in climate and environmental discussions.
But they need your support too. So I urge you to join my office.
Take action to protect civic space and help us to build a more sustainable and more equal future.
This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.
Hundreds of Amazon drivers at a delivery station in Queens, New York, marched on their bosses Monday to announce they are joining the Teamsters. They are demanding the logistics giant recognize their union and negotiate a contract. “To march today and walk in there with everyone behind us, all of us standing together as a union, it was so amazing,” said Latrice Shadae Johnson, who earns $20…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
After Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a crime, many believed that the Florida resident would be barred from voting in the 2024 election because of the state’s harsh felony disenfranchisement law, which denies voting rights to more than 1 million people. However, Trump’s eligibility to cast a ballot this fall will depend on how he is sentenced in New York for…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
As growing concerns of authoritarianism grip the U.S., residents of Long Island’s Nassau County are pushing back on a new government initiative deputizing armed civilians. In March, Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman began recruiting armed citizens and training them to respond to natural disasters, unrest, and other emergencies. Local justice-oriented groups…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Immediately following a highly contested Supreme Court ruling that presidents and ex-presidents should be granted presumed immunity status for potentially illegal actions they took in office that were within the realm of their constitutional powers, former President Donald Trump’s legal team started the process to attempt to get his recent conviction in a New York state court overturned.
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Immediately following a highly contested Supreme Court ruling that presidents and ex-presidents should be granted presumed immunity status for potentially illegal actions they took in office that were within the realm of their constitutional powers, former President Donald Trump’s legal team started the process to attempt to get his recent conviction in a New York state court overturned.
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Founded in 1989, the Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) is a model of human rights capacity building. HRAP capitalizes on its affiliation with Columbia University and its location in New York City to provide grassroots leaders the tools, knowledge, access, and networks to strengthen their organizations and promote human rights.
HRAP’s comprehensive program of advocacy, networking, skills-building, and academic coursework provides advocates the opportunity to hone practical skills, develop a deeper understanding of human rights, and foster mutually beneficial relationships with organizations and individuals in their fields.
Before I came to HRAP, I knew that people were suffering in Bosnia and that people were dying in Sudan. But when I came to HRAP, I met Advocates from Bosnia, Sudan, and other countries – people who are living and making a difference in their countries.
See also: https://www.york.ac.uk/cahr/human-rights-defenders/past/natalia-zviagina/
https://www.york.ac.uk/cahr/human-rights-defenders/past/tewodros/
After what New Yorkers and environmental campaigners called a “betrayal” by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this week, the Democrat is now under pressure to sign the Climate Change Superfund Act, which state legislators finally passed early Saturday morning. Noting that the 95-46 New York State Assembly vote happened after 3:00am and followed the Senate passing the bill…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Bill and Nancy Rasweiler thought they were making a smart decision when they decided to lease their land to Shepherd’s Run, a large-scale solar project that promised a steady income and offered them a way to contribute to renewable energy efforts. But when they presented their plan to the town of Copake, New York, they were met with widespread backlash.
“We never expected this kind of resistance,” Nancy Rasweiler recalled. “We thought it would be a win-win for everyone.” Instead, the Rasweilers found themselves at the center of a heated debate over the area’s future.
Residents in Copake are deeply divided: While some see it as a necessary step toward renewable energy, others fear it will harm the environment and disrupt their rural community. It’s been seven years, and the project’s future is still uncertain.
This week on Reveal, investigative reporter Jonathan Jones travels to Copake to explore the resistance to Shepherd’s Run, how the divide is affecting the town and what this fight means for renewable energy projects across the country.
This is an update of an episode that originally aired in January 2024.
This post was originally published on Reveal.
On Thursday afternoon, in The People vs. Donald Trump — the New York-based trial featuring, for the first time in United States history, an ex-president in a criminal proceeding— a jury of the former president’s peers delivered a unanimous verdict: that he was guilty of all crimes he was accused of committing. Trump faced 34 charges relating to concealing hush money payments to women he had…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) appeared on Tuesday at the New York City courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is currently taking place, pushing false talking points regarding the trial that are frequently peddled by the former president. Trump faces 34 charges regarding his attempts to hide payments to women with whom he had extramarital affairs…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
The police fatal shooting of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old Bangladeshi teen who lived in Queens, New York, has set off protests and demands for justice from the family. Rozario had called 911 in late March asking for help as he experienced a mental health crisis, but two New York police officers who arrived at the family’s home shot him at least four times within minutes after entering the Rozario…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
A New York judge has upended an effort to strengthen protections against discrimination in the state constitution, an action that will likely be appealed soon. The measure in question is described as New York’s Equal Rights Amendment, as it updates the state’s constitution to expand anti-discrimination protections for groups of people who previously weren’t covered. Currently…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
After being warned by the judge in his New York trial over continued violations of his gag order, former President Donald Trump errantly framed himself as being deprived of his First Amendment speech rights, and appeared to vow that he would break the order sometime in the near future. Trump has been accused of hiding hush money payments to women with whom he had extramarital affairs…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.