Rekindling Indigenous Knowledge; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, November 29, 2024

 Jalyn Williams, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Rekindling Indigenous Knowledge

"Following a painful period of westward removals, the Delaware Tribe and Delaware Nation resettled in Oklahoma, and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community resettled in Wisconsin. They are the three federally recognized Lenape Tribal Nations in the United States. 

Partnering to find solutions

Together, the three Tribes resolved to create a fellowship program to provide opportunities for Tribal citizens, particularly young adults, to discover new facets of their heritage by visiting the places their ancestors lived and taking part in immersive educational programming focusing on the ecology and cultural resource management of the Lënapehòkink."

At a routine meeting with agency staff in 2022, Lenape representatives remarked on the difficulty of providing Traditional Ecological Knowledge about land they were removed from generations ago. While a grant from the National Park Service had funded trips for Lenape to visit their ancestral homeland in the Delaware Watershed, that program had been discontinued. 

The Tribes would have to seek a different route to Lënapehòkink...

Fortunately, Ryder directed the Tribes to a new funding source that could help – the America the Beautiful Challenge grant. Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in conjunction with the U.S. Department of the Interior and other agency partners, the program encourages applicants to develop diverse, landscape-level projects that showcase cumulative benefits to fish and wildlife, engage with and benefit underserved communities, and connect people with nature.

Ryder and her team provided technical assistance to help the Tribes apply for the grant and in November 2022, they received $723,200 in funding. The grant’s match requirement was covered by a contribution from Native Americans in Philanthropy, a network of Native and non-Native nonprofits, Tribal communities, foundations and community leaders committed to sharing resources in the Native tradition of reciprocity.

Together, the three Tribes resolved to create a fellowship program to provide opportunities for Tribal citizens, particularly young adults, to discover new facets of their heritage by visiting the places their ancestors lived and taking part in immersive educational programming focusing on the ecology and cultural resource management of the Lënapehòkink."

Houston school district to turn libraries into disciplinary centers; The Guardian, July 29, 2023

 Erum Salam, The Guardian; Houston school district to turn libraries into disciplinary centers

"The largest school district in Texas announced its libraries will be eliminated and replaced with discipline centers in the new school year.

Houston independent school district announced earlier this summer that librarian and media-specialist positions in 28 schools will be eliminated as part of superintendent Mike Miles’s “new education system” initiative.

Teachers at these schools will soon have the option to send misbehaving students to these discipline centers, or “team centers’” – designated areas where they will continue to learn remotely...

Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, condemned the district’s move and said the solution to the problem of behavioral conduct was not to revoke access to books, especially in these underserved communities.

He said: “Are there students who need additional support? Yes, and I am 100% supportive of that. But it’s not an eithe/or. You don’t close the libraries, remove the librarians, and simply have the books on the shelf. What about all the other students? What are you saying to them?”"

What if "Sesame Street" Were Open Access?; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), October 25, 2019

Elliot Harmon, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); What if "Sesame Street" Were Open Access?

"The news of iconic children’s television show “Sesame Street”’s new arrangement with the HBO MAX streaming service has sent ripples around the Internet. Starting this year, episodes of “Sesame Street” will debut on HBO and on the HBO MAX service, with new episodes being made available to PBS “at some point.” Parents Television Council’s Tim Winter recently told New York Times that “HBO is holding hostage underprivileged families” who can no longer afford to watch new “Sesame Street” episodes.

The move is particularly galling because the show is partially paid for with public funding. Let's imagine an alternative: what if “Sesame Street” were open access? What if the show’s funding had come with a requirement that it be made available to the public?"