Prism Guest Writer

Formerly incarcerated residents in Alachua County, Florida, are navigating reentry and caregiving as a universal basic income program comes to a close.

by Makaelah Walters

This article was originally published at Prism

For more than a year, Murray Wilson has bathed, fed, and clothed his 75-year-old mother, whose chronic inflammatory condition confines her to a bed most days.

He became his mother’s caregiver upon his release from prison in July 2021.

Disabled students face different challenges than their non-disabled peers when entering the workforce, and career services should be equipped to prepare them accordingly  

by Vilissa Thompson

This article was originally published at Prism

With the academic year in full swing, this is when those headed for graduation are usually thinking, what is next for me?

Universities depend on graduate student workers’ labor but won’t provide adequate pay without the pressure of collective bargaining efforts.

Prison copays have hidden costs that ultimately harm incarcerated people’s health.

by Cecille Joan Avila

This article was originally published at Prism.

CW: Mentions of death by suicide, trauma from incarceration, and medical neglect.

When Ronald Marshall would hear about someone who was sick, he’d gather several days’ worth of food from his prison locker box and bring it to the sick person to encourage them to get care.

by Helen Li

This article was originally published at Prism.

On the eve of the scheduled union election on Aug. 25 and 26, Keenan Dailey, 35, and the rest of the Trader Joe’s Boulder, Colorado, organizing committee faced some difficult decisions.

by Ray Levy Uyeda

This article was originally published at Prism

Most days, La‘a PoePoe rides his bike a quarter of a mile from his home in Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i, to the nearby Kupeke loko i‘a, or fishpond in English, where he’s the kia‘i loko, the guardian. Fishponds are created by an ancient Hawaiian ecological and food production practice that involves fostering a healthy and safe carve-out within the ocean.

by Ray Levy Uyeda

This article was originally published at Prism

Fall is a tough season for Da’Ton Harris, a wildland firefighter who spends multiple weeks at a time attempting to tamp down fires without hoses. Harris and his crew of 20 other firefighters with the Urban Association of Forestry and Fire Professionals, where he’s a superintendent, are responsible for cutting down a forest to its soil so that, theoretically, there’s less fuel to burn.

by Ray Levy Uyeda

This article was originally published at Prism

Fall is a tough season for Da’Ton Harris, a wildland firefighter who spends multiple weeks at a time attempting to tamp down fires without hoses. Harris and his crew of 20 other firefighters with the Urban Association of Forestry and Fire Professionals, where he’s a superintendent, are responsible for cutting down a forest to its soil so that, theoretically, there’s less fuel to burn.

by Umme Hoque

This article was originally published at Prism.

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will soon hear two cases that have the potential to permanently change the racial makeup of college classrooms.

This fall, SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), which argue that the affirmative action policies at both schools are discriminatory.

by Kio Herrera

This article was originally published at Prism.

On June 15, 2022, Rhode Island’s Department of Education reached an agreement with the plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit filed by parents and students claiming the state’s public schools had violated their constitutional rights by failing to adequately prepare students to be active and productive civic participants in society.

Cook v.

by Meredyth L. Yoon and Azadeh Shahshahani

This article was originally published at Prism.

Neal, a Jamaican citizen who owned and operated a yacht servicing company for 25 years in South Florida, has spent the last 17 months in a prison that’s been converted into a detention center for immigrants in Georgia.

by Lajward Zahra

This article was originally published at Prism

It’s 106 degrees Fahrenheit, the kind of heat that makes the air here in El Paso, Texas, feel like sandpaper. Sitting in the shade at one of Sun Metro Bus’ 3,437 bus spots across El Paso doesn’t make the heat much more bearable, but it at least provides respite from the glaring sun.

by Neesha Powell-Ingabire

This article was originally published at Prism

Medicaid expansion in Georgia is likelier than ever as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams ties in the polls with Gov. Brian Kemp.

Kemp and his two Republican predecessors have refused to adopt Medicaid expansion, while Abrams, a former state representative, recently told a crowd, “I’m going to talk about Medicaid expansion every chance I get.

by Umme Hoque

This article was originally published at Prism

People across the country are melting in the summer heat as they wait for access to a vaccine for monkeypox, the nation’s latest health crisis.

by Pamela Appea

This article was originally published at Prism.

Julie Ramos first realized her husband’s forgetfulness was far more serious than she had previously suspected the day he and their then 6-year-old daughter got lost in Mexico City while walking in a familiar location near their relatives’ home. Ramos, who is using a pseudonym, ended up having to call the police to find her husband and daughter.

by Lily Levine

This article was originally published at Prism.

When Erin Primer first heard the news that California was implementing a Universal Meal Program, she didn’t think it was true. For Palmer, the director of food and nutrition services at San Luis Coastal Unified School District (SLCUSD) and a long-time advocate of universal meals, the announcement came as a colossal victory.

This story was originally published at Prism.

by Helen Li

Nikki Taylor wanted to work at a Starbucks in the Memphis, Tennessee, area because of its progressive image and medical benefits. She had heard that the store made official company Pride-themed T-shirts and supported the movement for Black lives.

by Ray Levy Uyeda

This article was originally published at Prism.

Last year saw the hottest and driest year in California in over a century. Since 2000, many western U.S. states have endured what scientists refer to as a megadrought not seen since 1500. In May, California’s Democratic Gov.

by Maurizio Guerrero

This article was originally published at Prism

Immigration advocates are sounding the alarm about the number of immigrants disappearing for prolonged periods while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Services. They also disappear in the borderlands—both in the U.S. and Mexico, which now hosts thousands of asylum-seekers waiting for their claims to be processed in U.S. courts.

by Jenn Fang

This article was originally published at Prism.

Based on the recent leak of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion draft, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to strike down Roe v. Wade this year and eliminate constitutional protections for abortion access. The effects will be catastrophic for many marginalized communities, including Asian Americans, whom public health and political opinion data often overlook and treat as a monolith.

by Sayou Cooper

This story was originally published at Prism.

The Chicago City Council has officially implemented a citywide curfew for minors. On May 17, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed an executive order that would alter the city’s 30-year-old curfew for minors. Last week, the curfew became permanent after approval from the Chicago City Council, with the measure approved by a 30-19 vote.

This story was originally published at Prism.

By Jenn Fang

The Asian American community comprises over 19.9 million people—a statistic that masks incredible ethnic, linguistic, and sociopolitical diversity—but they are still often treated as a monolith.

by Tina Vásquez

This article was originally published at Prism.

Many are still trying to untangle the case of Lizelle Herrera, the 26-year-old Texan who was arrested April 7 for an alleged self-induced abortion that occurred in January.

by Frances Nguyen

This article was originally published at Prism

The night before the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol, Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan came across an envelope tucked inside her father’s Bible. Inside was a receipt for $2.12: the poll tax her father paid in 1948 to vote in Tennessee, a financial barrier meant to exclude Black voters in the decades after Reconstruction.

by Vilissa Thompson

This story was originally published at Prism.

Over the past two years of the pandemic, we have witnessed the rise of telehealth services, but now that popularity is waning in the cultural push to “return to normal,” threatening to leave behind many for whom telehealth has become a lifeline.

by Sydney Pereira

This article was originally published at Prism.

Five years ago, the only full-service grocery store in the Walnut Hills neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, closed.

It was a blow to the neighborhood, which was home mostly to Black residents. Community activists, including Mona Jenkins, asked grocery chains to bring a new store to their area, but she says they weren’t interested.

by Cat Brooks

This article was originally published at Prism.

On March 13, 2020, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was asleep with her partner Kenneth Walker when they were startled awake by three white Louisville, Kentucky, police officers breaking down their door during a no-knock warrant raid. The medical technician was killed, and her home was never searched. No one has been held accountable.

by Tina Vásquez

This article was originally published at Prism

Health care providers employed by North Carolina’s Piedmont Health Services (PHS) are awaiting the results of their union election, a pivotal step that is part of their larger push to address challenges that impact their ability to properly care for their patients. Their efforts are part of a larger trend.

by Montse Reyes

This article was originally published at Prism.

“I am so sorry. What a horrible, hard time to be a trans teenager.”

Owen Egerton, an Austin-based filmmaker and writer, received that text from a friend the morning of Feb. 23, after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released an order directing health agencies to investigate gender-affirming care for trans youth as child abuse.

by Williesha Morris

This article was originally published at Prism

A recent spate of book bans have accelerated at schools across the U.S., and students, activists, and educators from marginalized communities are aggressively speaking out against them—especially since many of the recent bans have disproportionately targeted BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors.