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City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell was elected mayor of New Orleans on Saturday.

Progressive Community Organizer Prevails in New Orleans Mayoral Race

By News & Current Affairs

City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell is the city’s first female mayor. By Daniel Marans — City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell, who successfully fought an effort to raze the Broadmoor neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina, defeated former Municipal Court Judge Desiree Charbonnet in a runoff election. Both women are Democrats. “Cantrell has staked her mayoral campaign on providing equality to all the elements of the New Orleans community that were previously shut out ―…

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Status of Drug Policy Reform in the Era of Trump — November 13th Edition of Vantage Point Radio

By Vantage Point Radio, Video/Audio, War on the “War on Drugs” Posts

Topics: Reflections on the Drug Policy Alliance International Conference and the Status of Drug Policy Reform in the Era of Trump. Guests: Ethan Nadelmann, Co-Founder and Former Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance, New York, NY, Rev. Kenny Glasgow, National President/Founder, The Ordinary Peoples Society (TOPS), Dothan, Alabama, Susan Burton, Acclaimed Author and President/Founder of A New Way of Life, Los Angeles, CA, Maria McFarland Sanchez-Moreno, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance, New York, NY

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A U.S. special forces soldier trains Nigerian soldiers during Flintlock 2016, a U.S.-led international training exercise with African militaries in Thies, Senegal,

U.S. Troops are Conducting Secret Missions All Over Africa

By News & Current Affairs

By Nick Turse — U.S. troops are now conducting 3,500 exercises, programs, and engagements per year, an average of nearly 10 missions per day, on the African continent, according to the U.S. military’s top commander for Africa, General Thomas Waldhauser. The latest numbers, which the Pentagon confirmed to VICE News, represent a dramatic increase in U.S. military activity throughout Africa in the past decade, and the latest signal of America’s…

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Tami Thomas-Pinkney with her daughter Trinity Handy on their front lawn in Port Arthur, Texas, across from one of the city's temporary dumpsites. (Photo: Julie Dermansky)

Why Is a Dump for Hurricane Harvey Debris Next to an African American Community?

By News & Current Affairs

Tami Thomas-Pinkney’s house in Port Arthur, Texas, was not damaged when Hurricane Harvey soaked the city with up to 28 inches of rain on August 29. But now, a month and a half after the storm, she is preparing to move. Across the street from her family’s home is a temporary dumpsite for storm debris, which she says is endangering her family’s health and making her home unlivable.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., stands next to Mathew Ahmann at the 1963 Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C.

How MLK Inspires Today’s Battle to Provide Clean Air, Water and Energy to Poor Communities of Color

By News & Current Affairs

King highlighted the link between systemic racism and unhealthy environmental conditions. By Jeremy Orr, AlterNet — As we approach the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I often reflect on the circumstances surrounding his death. He wasn’t murdered while boycotting the segregated bus system in Montgomery, during the March on Washington for economic justice, or while marching for voting rights in Selma.

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