Brands may support anti-racism movement, but advertising still needs to decolonise

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Carl W Jones, University of Westminster

Brands such as Nike and Adidas to PG Tips and Space NK have been expressing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by issuing statements and adverts of support – from Nike playing with their memorable tagline of “Just Do It” by asking consumers “for once, Don’t Do It” to the #Solidaritea hashtag taken up by many tea brands. Many of these messages have been accompanied by promises to take a hard look at each company’s history and current working practises to see what changes can be made to address structural racism. The idea that we need to decolonise various areas of society is finally growing. But the idea itself is, of course, nothing new. Calls and attempts to decolonise curriculums, public transport systems, museum collections, healthcare systems and so on have been around for a while, but finally many appear to be taking it a bit more seriously.

Navajo Nation President: New Mexico still failing students

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By CEDAR ATTANASIO Associated Press/Report for America

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The leader of one of the largest Native American tribes in the U.S. called Wednesday for the governor of New Mexico to end efforts to fight a court ruling that orders improvements in education for members of his tribe and other vulnerable groups. The comments from Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez come ahead of a court hearing next week in which Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will ask a state judge to dismiss a consolidated lawsuit representing Native American and Hispanic plaintiffs. “The lawsuit needs to be pursued so Native students can be provided adequate education programs and services necessary to learn and thrive,” Nez said. “Our students deserve an educational environment that prioritizes their culture and unique needs. It is time for our Native students to have the same opportunities as other students.”

Daughter talks with mother about her activism in 1980’s Mexico democracy movement

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In the summer of 2019, undergraduate journalism students from the University of Texas at El Paso and Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez collaborated to record personal stories of the border. In the 1980s, the elections in Mexico were full of fraud, causing mass protests. One of the strongest movements occurred in the state of Chihuahua. Ana Sofia Rey interviewed her mother Monica about the fight for democracy in Ciudad Juarez. https://soundcloud.com/borderzine-reporting-across-fronteras/familia-rey-conversation-politics
Transcript
Ana Sofia: Tell me a little more about the protests in Ciudad Juárez.

A conversation with maquila workers when a company closes

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In the summer of 2019, UTEP and UACJ collaborated to record personal stories from both sides of the border. In this conversation we hear the experience of two workers. Ana Belen Sanchez and Claudia Rivas worked in a maquila operated by North American Communications, known as NAMS in Juarez. In March 2019, the plant closed abruptly, leaving more than 600 people unemployed. Transcript
Ana Belen: My name is Ana Belen Sanchez, I’m 29 years old.

What the Supreme Court’s DACA ruling means for El Pasoans

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by Elida S. Perez, El Paso Matters

An El Paso man who has been allowed to stay in the United States under the Obama administration’s DACA program celebrated a Supreme Court decision Thursday that allowed the program to continue. But he also noted he and other people who came to the United States as children without legal authorization still face an uncertain future. “At the end of the day we just don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s hard living on a tightrope,” said David Gamez, 24. Josue Tayub is a 36-year-old DACA recipient and nurse who works in the intensive care unit at an El Paso hospital.

How white code talkers don’t see their own racism and go unchallenged

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If you’re white and live outside of the urban centers where most protests have occurred since the murders of George Floyd and Ahmad Arbury, it’s a scene you’ve likely experienced any number of times. It speaks volumes about where we are as a country a half-century after Martin Luther King Jr. laid down his life to try to solve our enduring race problem – a uniquely American bog that today somehow encompasses both reasonable progress and no progress at all. It can happen almost anywhere, anytime. Months before the current crises, I was at a local restaurant’s bar when the talk turned to politics. The owner was carrying on about how much he loved President Trump’s tough talk about solving the homelessness problem, as if that problem hasn’t bedeviled America’s leaders for the past 50 years.