In The Thick

Maria and Julio unpack the tough week of news from the United States surpassing a half million COVID-19 deaths to the Biden administrations' bombing of Syria. They also talk about the continued detention of migrant children, and Maria and Julio call for a radical reimagining of immigration. Finally they recap this past week's confirmation hearings for the Biden administration. ITT Staff Picks: - "While making a broad change such as eliminating privatized immigration detention will take time, Congress can begin by banning immigration detention policies that incarcerate innocent people and switch to community-based alternatives," write Monica Reyes and Katherine Randall in this Latino Rebels OpEd.  - ITT All-Star Jenni Monet writes about the historic confirmation hearing for Interior Secretary nominee Rep. Deb Haaland in her latest for Indigenously. Make sure to subscribe to Jenni's *free* newsletter as this Friday's will include a special update about Rep. Haaland's hearings and what it means for Pueblo women raised under unique, ancestral patriarchy.  - Britni de la Cretaz reports in them about the House passing of the landmark LGBTQ+ civil rights bill, the Equality Act.  Credit: (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maria and Julio welcome Alana Casanova-Burgess, reporter and producer for WNYC's "On The Media", and Cristina del Mar Quiles, reporter for the Center for Investigative Journalism (Centro de Periodismo Investigativo) to talk about Puerto Rico and "La Brega," a new seven-part bilingual podcast series co-produced by WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios. They discuss Puerto Rico's status including the issue of statehood, the humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and the impact of modern day colonialism on the island. You can listen to "La Brega" starting Wednesday, February 24. Subscribe here! - ITT Staff Picks: Cristina del Mar Quiles writes for the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo about a lawsuit from the family of Jaideliz Moreno Ventura. Ventura was 13-years-old when she died from a medical emergency last year in Vieques, which hasn't had a functioning hospital since Hurricane Maria more than three years ago. - Julio Ricardo Varela dives into the latest on Puerto Rico's vote for statehood in last November's plebiscite in this piece for Latino Rebels. - Rosa Cartagena tells the history of the fight for suffrage in Puerto Rico and the sufragistas who shaped it via this piece for Smithsonian Magazine.  Credit info: (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File)  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's Sound Off, Maria and Julio unpack the latest in Texas as the state and its vulnerable communities have been devastated by a winter storm and freezing temperatures. They also talk about the official announcement of Biden's immigration bill that would grant an 8-year pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants, and they get into the already forgotten impeachment trial and acquittal of Donald Trump.  This list from TIME shows how you can help winter storm victims in Texas. ITT Staff Picks: - "Low-income Texans of color bore some of the heaviest weight of the power outages as the inequities drawn into the state’s urban centers were exacerbated in crisis." Former ITT producer Juan Pablo Garnham and Alexa Ura write about the winter storm's impact on POC communities in Texas, via the Texas Tribune. - "The crisis has piled onto an already tense environment inside some Texas jails that had been struggling to deal with the coronavirus pandemic even before the loss of power and water this week." This piece from the Washington Post looks at the layers of impact on incarcerated individuals.  - This piece looks at the uncertain odds of passing Biden's new immigration bill– even with a Democratic majority, via Politico.  Photo credit: AP Photo/David J. Phillip  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maria and Julio are joined by Charles Blow, columnist for The New York Times and author of the new book, "The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto." They talk about Black political power and Charles' call for a reversal of the Great Migration to create Black regionalism in the South. They also discuss how white supremacy plagues the entire country, not just the South, and how to confront this anti-Black violence in this moment of racial reckoning during —and beyond— Black History Month. ITT Staff Picks: - "Blow explores how the white backlash towards the Great Migration that never really ended has created a situation where racism in these Northern "destination cities" of the Great Migration makes life untenable for Black Americans," writes Hope Wabuke in her review of Charles Blow's new book in NPR. - In Vann Newkirk II's latest for The Atlantic he writes that American democracy is hanging on by a thread: "Opposition to Black electoral power propels an antidemocratic front that will not likely dissipate with Trump gone. In fact, conservative lawmakers are currently targeting the very changes that helped more citizens vote in 2020." - Adapted from Robin D. G. Kelley's foreword to "Black Marxism: The Making of a Radical Tradition" in Boston Review: "These new abolitionists are not interested in making capitalism fairer, safer, and less racist—they know this is impossible. They want to bring an end to 'racial capitalism.'" Photo credit: Beowulf Sheehan  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maria is back to join Julio in her first ITT Sound Off in 2021! They break down the latest with the Senate impeachment trial for former president Donald Trump and process just how horrifying the attack at the Capitol on Jan. 6th was. Maria and Julio also discuss the devastating reaches of white supremacy in the country from the Biden administration's deportation of Haitian immigrants to the recent wave of hate incidents and violence against the Asian-American community. ITT Staff Picks: - One of the breakout stars of the Senate Impeachment trial was Rep. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands. She opened her presentation by saying: “I’ve learned throughout my life that preparation and truth can carry you far, can allow you to speak truth to power. I’ve learned that as a young Black girl growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, a housing community on St. Croix, sent to the most unlikeliest of settings, and now as an adult woman representing an island territory speaking to the U.S. Senate.” - “Anti-Blackness is baked into the immigration system and ICE has merely operationalized it. In fact, the federal agency has spent Black History Month deporting Black immigrants," writes Tina Vasquez for Prism, "Since Feb. 1, over 500 Haitians have been deported in an effort to deport 1,800 to Haiti by mid-February.” - Michelle Kim writes about the Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in the Medium Awaken Blog: “White supremacy wants us to remember the unhealed wounds we inflicted on each other, historical and ongoing anti-Blackness in the Asian community and anti-Asian incidents perpetrated by Black individuals, but not the stories of solidarity that have existed in equal measure, but are somehow left out of our history books and media coverage.” Photo credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maria and Julio reconnect with David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez, an artist and former juvenile lifer, who they talked to during a 2018 ITT Live show in Chicago. Maria reflects on meeting Suave over 20 years ago, and how their journalist-source relationship has evolved since. And, Suave talks about his journey from incarceration to redemption in Pennsylvania, the state that was known as the epicenter for juveniles serving life without parole. You can listen to Suave's full story in a new podcast from Futuro Studios distributed by PRX. Subscribe here!  ITT Staff Picks:  - Jamaal Bowman writes about the school-to-prison pipeline and how disproportionate disciplinary standards push Black and Brown students into a system of mass incarceration in this piece for The Washington Post. - "It’s hard to estimate how many juveniles are serving long sentences equivalent to life. In most states, no agency is mandated to count how many kids are sent away until they will likely die, though youth advocates in Louisiana, for example, estimate there are more than 200 in that state’s penitentiaries alone," writes Eli Hager for The Marshal Project's Justice Lab. - As of January 2021, "Ohio is the 24th state, plus D.C., that will stop imposing sentences of juvenile life without parole," reports Daniel Nichanian for The Appeal. Photo credit: Maggie Freleng/Futuro Studios  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To end the week, Julio is joined by guest co-host Jamilah King, reporter and host of the Mother Jones podcast. They talk about President Biden's latest executive orders on immigration and the confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas as the Secretary of Homeland Security. They also get into what's happening in Congress, including the House vote to strip Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of committee assignments. And, they hear a bit from a Latino USA interview between Maria Hinojosa and Dr. Anthony Fauci, as they give a coronavirus update. ITT Staff Picks:  - Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Fin Gómez break down President Biden's latest executive orders on immigration, including his plan to reunite more than 600 children still separated from their parents, via CBS News. - Amanda Becker asks if the Republican Party is big enough for both Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in this piece for The 19th News. - Christina Caron writes for The New York Times about the possibility of Superbowl watch parties turning into superspreader events, and she outlines guidance from experts on how to stay safe.  Photo credit: AP Photo/LM Otero, File  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ITT has a sneak peek for our listeners of a new podcast that Futuro Studios is producing with PRX: Suave. This podcast follows the story of David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole as a teenager. This podcast is close to ITT co-host Maria Hinojosa's heart. She met Suave 27 years ago and has been following his journey of incarceration and redemption ever since. Subscribe now! Art by Virgilio Tzaj.  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maria and Julio break down the week's news with two ITT All-Stars. They are joined by Wajahat Ali, contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and Jenni Monet, founder of the newsletter Indigenously. They talk about how white supremacy shows up among members of Congress, Biden's initial actions on climate policy and Indigenous affairs, and how the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate Black, Indigenous and Latino communities. ITT Staff Picks:  - The New York Times Editorial Board calls on Republican leaders to reject QAnon, a right-wing conspiracy movement.  - Tim Naftali, associate professor at New York University, writes about why Trump is the worst president in U.S. history in this piece for The Atlantic.  - Jodi Archambault, former special assistant to the president for Native American affairs under President Barack Obama, writes for The New York Times about how the coronavirus has put tribal elders, and the languages they pass down, at risk. Photo credit: Erin Scott/Pool Photo via AP, File  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's Sound Off, Julio and guest co-host Jamilah King, reporter and host of the Mother Jones podcast, talk about the latest in impeachment news following the Capitol Hill attack. They also dig into the complications of vaccine rollout, and hear from Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network, about the Biden administration's immigration policy.  ITT Staff Picks: - "They are no longer private citizens — they are government officials now, and their words carry even more weight." ITT All-Star Andrea González-Ramírez writes about the "anti-Squad" that found its way to Congress, via GEN by Medium. - "Unless Washington and its allies quickly do more to address what’s happening in the planet’s poorest places, however, virtually everyone everywhere will soon face a lot more pain," writes Jonathan Tepperman about the failing global vaccine rollout, for Foreign Policy. - In this op-ed for The New York Times, Jean Guerrero looks at the millions of deportations carried out during the Obama administration that left immigrant communities fractured. Photo credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer  

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.