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Friday, January 24, 2020

I Was Ready for College. College Wasn’t Ready for Me.
by Brandann R. Hill-Mann
College isn't built for non-traditional students like me: Moms, disabled vets, and others who aren't privileged 18-year-olds.

Jail Isn’t A Drug Treatment Center. Stop Promoting It As One.
by Elizabeth Brico
‘Rock bottom’ isn’t the way out of substance use disorders.

Graduate School Debt
by Ben Miller
From our partner, the Center for American Progress: Policymakers cannot keep looking past the 40 percent of federal student loans that are used for graduate studies each year.

The Rising Cost of Inaction on Work-Family Policies
by Sarah Jane Glynn
From our partner, the Center for American Progress: The current lack of access to affordable child care and comprehensive paid family and medical leave costs workers $31.9 billion in lost wages annually.

What We’re Reading

On the Inside. Beth Shelburne took a tour through one of America's most infamous prisons. What she saw at Angola was the disturbing reality of what's usually hidden behind prison walls. Walls like those in Texas, where hundreds of prisoners are trapped in long-term solitary confinement. Meanwhile, our our thirst for weird news dehumanizes people like those who end up incarcerated for "oddly enough" crimes.

Extractions. ProPublica takes a look at how Microsoft and Facebook dodge taxes. Both companies have evaded billions in liability and reaped the rewards of incentives and other preferential treatment. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry extracts massive profits but it has a dirty secret in the form of radioactive waste products that sicken workers and communities. Another firm, Clearview AI, extracts wealth more intimately: With your face.

Storytelling. Instagram influencers have lucrative careers bringing followers into their carefully-constructed worlds, but there's a racial pay gap. Speaking of performances, being a cowboy is kind of boring, and we have Hollywood to thank for the romanticized, and white, impression of the profession. And in an epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, communities are telling their stories, and the wider world is finally listening.

"Everything About My Entire Existence Is Kind of Political"

Photographer Quil Lemons explores Black masculinity in hypersaturated, intensely focused, dramatic images, many of which come with a feminine edge. Flowers, hearts, makeup, thongs, and other femme elements inhabit the frame, alongside bold colors and energetic poses. Lemons wonders what Black masculinity might look like without colonialism, and what Black art might look like without gatekeepers.

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