Wendi C. Thomas
@wendicthomas.bsky.social
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Journalist. Disrupter. Dreamer. Dog mom. MLK50.com founder. ProPublica fellow. Memphis is home. 💚💕💚💕
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Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
1 day ago
“You are not entitled to a response from us, or anyone, ever,” is what a US Education Department spokesperson wrote to one of our reporters,
@megomatz.bsky.social
, after she repeatedly tried to get comment from the department and its officials. My column on the condemnation of good journalism.
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Our Reporters Reached Out for Comment. They Were Accused of Stalking and Intimidation.
Our journalists reach out to people they’re writing about to ensure fairness. But in this environment, they’ve found their efforts to do so are more likely to be vilified than appreciated.
https://www.propublica.org/article/propublica-reaching-out-reporting-obstacles
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Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
13 days ago
A story that should shock our collective conscience: After Trump Cuts to Kenya Food Aid, Children Died of Starvation
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After Trump Officials Cut Food Aid to Kenya, Children Starved to Death
“Brutal and traumatizing”: Interviews and a trove of internal documents show government officials and aid workers desperately tried to warn Trump advisers about impending disaster and death.
https://www.propublica.org/article/kenya-trump-usaid-world-food-program-starvation-children-deaths
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Holly McCall
22 days ago
"I work on Beale Street and it is dead,” said Joe Calhoun, who operates the Withers Collection Museum, a designated landmark on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail.
@anitawadhwani.bsky.social
reports on the economic fallout in Memphis from the presence of a law enforcement task force.
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Some Memphis businesses suffer amid federal Task Force presence • Tennessee Lookout
MEMPHIS — Saturday lunch is usually peak busy at La Guadalupana restaurant, one of the city’s oldest sit-down Mexican taquerias along a busy commercial strip in the city’s diverse Berclair neighborhoo...
https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/12/08/some-memphis-businesses-suffer-amid-federal-task-force-presence/
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Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
22 days ago
Trump hung up on a ProPublica reporter after being asked whether his Florida mortgages were similar to those of others he had accused of fraud. 🤔
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Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal
The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing ...
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-mortgage-fraud-florida-principal-residences
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It’s Giving Tuesday! Will you consider making a gift to
@mlk50.com
? All donations matched today up to $4,250.
givebutter.com/rootedinmemp...
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MLK50 Year-End Fundraising Campaign
We're raising $50,000 to fuel community-centered, accountability reporting in Memphis.
https://givebutter.com/rootedinmemphis/wendithomas
28 days ago
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Ooh,
@gingerthompson.bsky.social
has something coming? I CANNOT WAIT.
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28 days ago
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Care about our unhoused brothers and sisters? You’ll want to read this.
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2 months ago
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Signs from the No Kings demonstration in Memphis. I’ve seen a crowd estimate of 7,000.
2 months ago
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Wendi C. Thomas
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism
3 months ago
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism obtained a report on one day’s worth of activities of the ‘Memphis Safe Task Force.’ It contradicts claims made by the governor about how the task force is focused on violent criminals.
mlk50.co/4qkfz6b
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Bill Lee said people arrested by task force are “violent criminals and known gang members.” Data show that’s not true.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during a Tuesday morning press conference with Memphis Mayor Paul Young at the temporary command center for the Memphis Safe Task Force. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK…
https://mlk50.com/2025/10/15/bill-lee-said-people-arrested-by-task-force-are-violent-criminals-and-known-gang-members-data-show-thats-not-true/
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Wendi C. Thomas
Leah Millis
3 months ago
The
@chicago.suntimes.com
photographer who risked their personal health and safety to take this photograph is Anthony Vazquez. Please credit photographers and media outlets. In this age of misinformation, a photo with no context could be anything at all.
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Wendi C. Thomas
The Associated Press
3 months ago
FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to illegal immigrants.
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FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to 'illegal immigrants'
This is false. Democrats say they are pushing for the inclusion of key health care provisions in the next congressional spending package.
https://bit.ly/3IVjHIL
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Wendi C. Thomas
ProPublica
4 months ago
Do you work at the Office of Management and Budget? Do you know someone who does? Are you a current or former federal worker with information that you can share about Russell Vought? If the answer to any of these is "yes," please contact
@andykroll.bsky.social
www.propublica.org/tips/
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In the face of intense public opposition, the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce has gone to unusual lengths to promote Musk’s facility: sending out a mailer, for the first time in recent memory, that includes misleading facts. My latest on
@mlk50.com
and
@propublica.org
Local Reporting Network.
4 months ago
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5 months ago
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Wendi C. Thomas
Donna Ladd said what she said. 😘
7 months ago
Imagine learning more about nonprofit journalism world and editing pieces that world reads and Mississippians need while training with the brilliant
@ashtonpittman.bsky.social
and other
@mississippifreepress.org
editors in a wonderful newsroom. This is a dream job for right candidate. Pass it on.
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Wendi C. Thomas
ProPublica
7 months ago
NEW: A nearly 90% funding cut proposed by the Trump administration would likely shut down and devastate the 37 tribal colleges and universities created to serve the students disadvantaged by the nation’s historic mistreatment of Indigenous communities. By
@mattkrupnick.bsky.social
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Trump Wants to Cut Tribal College Funding by Nearly 90%, Putting Them at Risk of Closing
ProPublica found that Congress was underfunding tribal colleges by a quarter-billion dollars per year. Rather than fixing the problem, proposed federal funding cuts unveiled this week would devastate ...
https://www.propublica.org/article/tribal-colleges-universities-trump-cuts-funding?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=6-3
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Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
7 months ago
Such fantastic impact!! Illinois Bans Police From Ticketing, Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School
@jodiscohen.bsky.social
@jsmithrichards.bsky.social
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Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School
The legislation comes after a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that even though state law bans schools from fining students directly, districts skirt the law by calling on police to i...
https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-bans-police-ticketing-students-school-price-kids-pay?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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Under his eye.
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8 months ago
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Wendi C. Thomas
ProPublica
8 months ago
NEW: Columbia University has agreed to a $750M settlement with nearly 600 patients of Robert Hadden, a former doctor who sexually abused them while working at the school. A 2023 ProPublica investigation revealed how the school shielded the OB-GYN for decades.
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Columbia Will Pay Survivors of Abusive Doctor $750 Million After ProPublica Revealed University’s Failures
The sweeping deal means the Ivy League school’s settlements will total more than $1 billion for over 1,000 claims of sexual abuse by former patients of OB-GYN Robert Hadden, who worked at the universi...
https://www.propublica.org/article/columbia-university-750-million-settlement-robert-hadden-sexual-assault?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=5-8
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ProPublica
8 months ago
NEW: A Tennessee lender told legislators its new product, the Flex Loan, would help residents. In the 10 years since getting approval for it, the company has sued over 110,000 borrowers. With
@tennesseelookout.com
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This Lender Said Its Loans Would Help Tennesseans. It Has Sued More Than 110,000 of Them.
The Flex Loan, a type of payday loan pioneered by Advance Financial, has burdened low-income borrowers while generating huge profits for lenders. Tennessee lawmakers declined to rein in the lending…
https://www.propublica.org/article/flex-loans-tennessee-advance-financial?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=5-5
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Charles Ornstein
8 months ago
This seems like a huge deal. F.B.I. Director Kash Patel said on Friday that agents had arrested a county judge in Milwaukee on charges of obstructing immigration enforcement.
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F.B.I. Arrests Wisconsin Judge, Patel Says
Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested on suspicion that she “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from” an immigrant being pursued by the authorities, the F.B.I. director said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/us/politics/fbi-arrest-judge.html?smid=tw-share
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reposted by
Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
9 months ago
DON’T LOOK AWAY! The Trump administration is catapulting us into a data black hole and the consequences could be massive. Halting data collection on drug use, maternal mortality, climate change, more, by
@alecmac.bsky.social
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Trump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More
By slashing teams that gather critical data, the administration has left the federal government with no way of understanding if policies are working — and created a black hole of information whose con...
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-doge-data-collection-hhs-epa-cdc-maternal-mortality?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
9 months ago
Blue Cross denied payments for thousands of procedures involved in breast reconstruction. But it approved special deals for treatment for executives’ wives. 😳
@tchristianmiller.bsky.social
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“Slow Pay, Low Pay or No Pay”
Blue Cross authorized mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay the full doctors’ bills. A jury called it fraud and awarded the practice $421 million.
https://www.propublica.org/article/blue-cross-blue-shield-louisiana-insurance-lawsuit-breast-cancer-doctors?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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Wendi C. Thomas
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism
9 months ago
Committed to Justice. Rooted in Truth. Nobody does journalism like us. Support MLK50 with a $15 donation today.
mlk50.co/3FrRsNG
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This was a nice surprise. Thanks, Choose 901!
choose901.com/wendi-c-thom...
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Wendi C. Thomas Joins ProPublica as a Distinguished Fellow—And That’s Huge for Memphis
A Journalism Powerhouse Returns Memphis’ own Wendi C. Thomas is back in the national spotlight, and this time, she’s rejoining ProPublica’s Distinguished Fellows program. The founder of MLK50: Justice...
https://choose901.com/wendi-c-thomas-joins-propublica-as-a-distinguished-fellow-and-thats-huge-for-memphis/
9 months ago
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I’ve been sitting on this good news for a minute. Anyone who knows me knows how badly I’ve wanted to return to reporting and to get to do it with these folks? DREAM. 👏🏽 COME. 👏🏽TRUE. 👏🏽
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9 months ago
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reposted by
Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
10 months ago
NEW: Some U.S. Citizens Have Already Been Caught in Trump’s Immigration Dragnet. More Will Be.
@nicolefoy.bsky.social
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Some Americans Have Already Been Caught in Trump’s Immigration Dragnet. More Will Be.
Federal immigration authorities have a history of wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens. Advocates warn that the Trump administration’s immigration policies mean that more citizens will get caught up in ...
https://www.propublica.org/article/more-americans-will-be-caught-up-trump-immigration-raids?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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If you appreciate an independent press, pay attention.
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10 months ago
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Wendi C. Thomas
Dan Diamond
10 months ago
1) A couple weeks ago I got a tip: NIH had pulled down a mural of Dr Fauci, this person had heard. I was able to find NIH sources who confirmed, yes, *something* had been removed from a wall. But they couldn’t quite agree on what was hanging there before — a masked Fauci? — or when it came down.
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Eric Umansky
10 months ago
Yesterday, I published an investigation into a secretive & abusive NYPD unit led by Mayor Eric Adams’ buddies. Adams has embraced the unit, the Community Response Team, even after NYPD officials raised red flags. This is what that has wrought. **All caught on video we obtained.** THREAD.
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Alejandro Alvarez
10 months ago
Strategically parked around the corner …
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Charles Ornstein
11 months ago
How Elon Musk and the Right Are Trying to Recast Reporting as ‘Doxxing’
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Elon Musk and the Right Are Recasting Reporting as ‘Doxxing’
Right-wing influencers are criticizing journalists who have published public information about government employees.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/business/media/elon-musk-doxxing-marko-elez.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
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Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
11 months ago
Yesterday, the Trump administration canceled $900 million in contracts overseen by the Institute of Education Sciences, which partners with scientists and education companies to compile and make public data about schools each year.
@jodiscohen.bsky.social
@jsmithrichards.bsky.social
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Elon Musk’s Team Decimates Education Department Arm That Tracks National School Performance
The Trump administration canceled $900 million in contracts overseen by the Institute of Education Sciences, which partners with scientists and education companies to compile and make public data abou...
https://www.propublica.org/article/department-of-education-institute-education-science-contracts-doge?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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Charles Ornstein
11 months ago
Agencies continue to suspend funding, despite multiple court orders blocking the federal freeze. Experts say the Trump administration’s actions set the stage for challenges to Congress’ authority — and the limits of the presidency.
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The Courts Blocked Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze. Agencies Are Withholding Money Anyway.
Agencies continue to suspend funding, despite multiple court orders blocking the federal freeze. Experts say the Trump administration’s actions set the stage for challenges to Congress’ authority — an...
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-funding-freeze-workarounds?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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Charles Ornstein
11 months ago
Unquestionably, major policy changes, edicts and directives handed down by the new Trump administration will upend lives. But I've also been struck by the widespread efforts to erase/whitewash history. Stick with me for a pretty shocking series of events from just the past few weeks.
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Charles Ornstein
11 months ago
Putting January 6 into the memory hole: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish? Brilliant essay by
@alecmac.bsky.social
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Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish?
The Trump administration’s decision to delete a DOJ database of cases against Capitol riot defendants places those who seek to preserve the historical record in direct opposition to their own governme...
https://www.propublica.org/article/january-6-erasure-doj-database-trump-history?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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Overheard my 81-year-old 🇯🇲 mother wondering out loud where her naturalization papers are. Those papers are more than 60 years old. So yeah. That’s how I’m doing.
11 months ago
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Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
12 months ago
ICYMI, a new ProPublica data tool: Look up the demographics of private schools across the country and see how they compare to the public schools nearby.
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Private School Demographics — ProPublica
Look up the demographics of private schools across the country and see how they compare to the public schools nearby.
https://projects.propublica.org/private-school-demographics?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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Wendi C. Thomas
Charles Ornstein
12 months ago
Must read. In Alaska, Trials Are Delayed for So Long that Victims Die Without Justice
@kylehopkinsak.bsky.social
@adn.com
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Anchorage Police Say They Witnessed a Sexual Assault in Public. It Took Seven Years for the Case to Go to Trial.
In Alaska, where the time to resolve most serious felony cases has nearly tripled over the past decade, one case was delayed so long that both victims died. A former prosecutor called it “a travesty o...
https://www.propublica.org/article/anchorage-alaska-pretrial-delays-sexual-assault?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky&utm_content=charlesornstein
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Wendi C. Thomas
Ann Marie Lipinski
12 months ago
About Mark Zuckerberg’s ludicrous claims: “Facts are not censorship. Fact-checkers never censored anything. And Meta always held the cards. It's time to quit invoking inflammatory and false language in describing the role of journalists and fact-checking."
www.politifact.com/article/2025...
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Meta ending fact-checking for community notes model
Meta will end its eight-year partnership with independent American journalists, including PolitiFact, to identify false
https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/jan/07/meta-ending-third-party-fact-checking-partnership/
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Wendi C. Thomas
Ann Marie Lipinski
about 1 year ago
My colleagues and I made you a journalist’s gift guide—things to wear, read, play, plan and write with. My contribution was an autobiography of 20th century newspaper courage that some modern media owners we know could use a dose of.
www.niemanlab.org/2024/12/the-...
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The 2024 gift guide for journalists
A news board game, a "power" read-it-later app, journalist-curated jewelry, so many books, and more.
https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/12/the-2024-gift-guide-for-journalists/
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I hate Draymond Green with the heat of a thousand suns.
about 1 year ago
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Here’s the thing. If you come to MY HOUSE and cheer against MY TEAM and then MY TEAM beats the brakes off your team, have the decency to stay until the end of the game so I can talk MAD SH*T and taunt tf out of you.
#gogrizz
about 1 year ago
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Wendi C. Thomas
Chris Morran
about 1 year ago
In Amite County, MS, about 900 kids attend the local public schools — which, as of 2021, were 16% white. More than 600 kids attend two private schools — which were 96% white. New, from
@jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social
@natlash.bsky.social
@mrsimon22.bsky.social
@propublica.org
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The Story of One Mississippi County Shows How Private Schools Are Exacerbating Segregation
A new ProPublica analysis shows a stark pattern across states in the Deep South: Alongside majority-Black public school districts, a separate web of private academies are filled almost entirely with w...
https://www.propublica.org/article/segregation-academies-public-schools-amite-county-mississippi?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-bsky
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ProPublica
about 1 year ago
NEW: Women experiencing pregnancy loss in states with abortion bans told us they wished they had known what to expect and how to advocate for themselves. We created this guide for anyone who finds themselves in the same position. ⤵️
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If You’re Pregnant, Here’s What You Should Know About the Medical Procedures That Could Save Your Life
Women experiencing pregnancy loss in states with abortion bans told us they wished they had known what to expect and how to advocate for themselves. We created this guide for anyone who finds…
https://propub.li/3BEH1XJ
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Can’t say enough good things about the Institute for Nonprofit News. MLK50 wouldn’t be as strong as we are without them and their leaders/leadership. Thanks for featuring us in this video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG6U...
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INN: Building the future of news
YouTube video by Institute for Nonprofit News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG6U-APOT98
about 1 year ago
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Wendi C. Thomas
Ashton Pittman
about 1 year ago
Two women-founded newsrooms you should follow:
@damemagazine.bsky.social
@mlk50memphis.bsky.social
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Make a donation to
@mlk50memphis.bsky.social
today and support Black-led, independent journalism that challenges the status quo!
#GivingTuesday
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about 1 year ago
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