6th August 2024

Radio Indígena informs Indigenous farmworkers, seeks justice amid COVID-19 pandemic

As soon as Juvenal Solano learned that nearly 100 agricultural workers in Oxnard had contracted COVID-19, he knew he had to respond. Gathering two interpreters, he immediately went live on Facebook to release a breaking news video in Spanish and two Indigenous languages – Mixtec and Purépecha.

LatAm Journalism Review by the Knight Center • 22nd May 2024

Researchers observe heightened disinformation as sociopolitical conflict shapes local communities across Bolivia, El Salvador and Peru

Across Bolivia, El Salvador and Peru, the spread of disinformation has disproportionately impacted marginalized communities amidst sociopolitical conflict in recent years. Few initiatives have examined the ways in which disinformation spreads in local communities outside of capital cities, many of which lack access to diverse media outlets, reliable Internet connectivity or information in native languages.

730DC • 2nd November 2023

At Double Exposure Film Festival, Stripped for Parts Uncovers How American Journalists Fought a…

The documentary Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink tells the story of a secretive hedge fund’s takeover of America’s local news industry through the eyes of journalists who worked at the papers Alden acquired.

Harvard Public Health Magazine • 25th September 2023

Florida law sows misinformation among immigrants about health care access

Like millions of farmworkers in the U.S., Petra migrated from Mexico to Florida nearly two decades ago, seeking safety and a job. She established her home in Immokalee, a farming community of almost 25,000 people, nearly 40 percent of whom were born outside of the U.S. She was drawn there by the possibility of work in the area’s vast tomato fields.

Civil Eats • 26th June 2023

What Cuts to the Food Safety Net Mean for People’s Lives

This spring, the pandemic-era increases to benefits offered through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ended in most states, substantially reducing the monthly dollar amounts many food-insecure households receive to buy food. Together with inflated food costs, the end of the emergency allotments—and revised work requir...

Civil Eats • 14th June 2023

Immokalee’s Farmworkers Strive for Food Sovereignty

Although Vasquez handled food every day for work, she couldn’t afford to buy groceries. Instead, she began exchanging food with friends and learning about Immokalee’s community-based resources through word of mouth.Immokalee is known as the tomato capital of the United States, yet 28 percent of the town’s 24,500 residents—the majority migrant farmworkers from Central America, Mexico, and Haiti—live below the federal poverty line and without easy access to healthy foods. This poverty rate is more...

El Nuevo Herald • 13th June 2023

La ayuda mutua e intercambio de conocimientos alimentan a la comunidad de trabajadores agrícolas de Immokalee

Después de dejar tres hijos en Guatemala, María Vásquez pasó 15 años trabajando en la industria agrícola en Immokalee, Florida. Trabajó en el campo durante tres años recogiendo jalapeños, sandías, pepinos, melones, tomates y calabazas antes de pasar 12 años procesando tomates en un almacén de Lipman Family Farms.

Pulitzer Center • 31st May 2023

Community Care Sustains Immokalee’s Migrant Farmworkers

Immokalee’s majority-Central American, Mexican, and Haitian farmworker community of 24,557 people produces 90% of domestic tomatoes each winter, yet socio-economic, legal, and linguistic barriers limit their access to adequate health care. The nearest hospital is 45 minutes away, and community members often lack transportation to reach clinics in town. Some migrants travel seasonally to follow the crops, and many residents live in cramped and molding trailers.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Im...

PBS SoCal • 12th August 2022

Salton Sea Policy-Making Excludes Vulnerable Purépecha Community Members

Meriguildo Ortiz migrated to the Eastern Coachella Valley from Michoacán, Mexico just over 30 years ago. Like the majority of Purépecha immigrants — indigenous to the southwestern region of Michoacán — he works in agricultural fields, picking citrus each day. Now, Ortiz lives in North Shore with his wife and four children, volunteering as a community leader to support approximately 30 Purépecha families in North Shore and 50 families in Mecca.Residing less than a mile from the Salton Sea, Purépe...

The American Prospect • 26th November 2021

Challenging Georgia on Latino Voting Rights

Sergio Botello immigrated to Hall County, Georgia, from Mexico almost 30 years ago and recently became a citizen. His English is limited, and so when he was finally able to register to vote, he feared making unintentional mistakes that might attract the attention of county voting officials. He could not find sample ballots in Spanish, and he also lacked information about the issues and the candidates in his native language. But a few years ago, Botello moved to Gwinnett County, about 30 minutes...