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Dear Subscriber,
The reckoning over race going on across the United States is rooted in our country's deepest history. That's true for New York City in particular. Black human beings were monetized and murdered here as slaves, built some of our richest cultural resources and strongest neighborhoods while dealing disproportionately with poverty and homelessness, and have been targeted by aggressive policing and jailing right up to the present day.
From its founding 44 years ago, City Limits has been committed to exposing and combating racism in our city in its many forms: the injustices of the bail system and stop-and-frisk, the burdens of homelessness, disparate graduation rates and unemployment, inequities in health care, and the uneven threats of climate change and COVID-19.
Even as we produced these stories, the makeup of our newsroom and board has not always reflected the communities we covered. We acknowledge that White supremacy—an issue that is reported on by newsrooms—is practiced in newsrooms like ours, too. We are trying to change that.
Our board and staff have grown more diverse over the past five years. Since 2014 we've operated a paid internship program for city youth that aims to diversify the newsrooms of the future. Last year we launched a Spanish-language reporting program designed to amplify the voices of the city's Latino communities. We are trying to be more thoughtful in our language and conscious of privilege as we frame stories.
We know there is more to do. This work is overdue, and we must pursue it while continuing to report on issues like housing, aging, immigration, climate change and criminal justice that are profoundly shaped by racism.
I'm writing to ask you to help us continue that work by becoming a member of City Limits today.
This is not a boastful ask. We know we are only doing what we ought to do, as people and as journalists. But we cannot do it alone. Please join us.
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