“Throughout the 1980s nearly a million Central Americans crossed the U.S. border fleeing violently repressive dictatorships and seeking asylum. Official policy under the Reagan administration greatly hindered Central Americans from obtaining asylum status. Congress forbade foreign aid to countries committing human rights abuses, and, at same time, the U.S. provided funds, training and arms to the Salvadoran and Guatemalan governments. Because admitting these governments’ abuses would bar the U.S. from providing further aid, the Reagan administration instead argued that Central Americans were “economic migrants” fleeing poverty, not governmental repression.

In response to this the Sanctuary movement developed into over 500 churches and congrations in the United States which, by declaring themselves official “sanctuaries,” openly defied the government and committed to providing shelter, protection, material goods and often legal advice to Central American refugees. Part 1 of this podcast from 99% Invisible looks at the origins and faith-based rationale of the movement, and part details the surveillance and crack down of the US government.”

“In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) declared that homosexuality was not a disease simply by changing the 81 word definition of sexual deviance in its own reference manual. The presenter’s grandfather was part of a clandestine progressive wing within the APA that consciously organised in order to hijack the larger, more conservative organisation and force through the change. What’s fascinating in this story from This American Life is the interplay of the ‘change from within’ actors coming up against very visible and confrontational ‘change from without’ activists from the emerging gay rights movement who hijacked the stage during the APA conference.”

“Birmingham, 1963. The image of a police dog viciously attacking a young black protester shocks the nation. The picture, taken in the midst of one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous marches, might be the most iconic photograph of the civil rights movement. But few have ever bothered to ask the people in the famous photograph what they think happened that day. It’s more complicated than it looks. This episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History talks about the complexities of engaging in and remembering activism and efforts for social change.”

“Immigration reform has become a hot-button political issue, with some of the most xenophobic politicians vowing to keep people out of America since ‘they are stealing our jobs.’ Not to be outdone by the racism-laced messaging on part of public representatives, Courtney Vitale wants to set the record straight through her typographic creations. The Philadelphia-based designer wants to put an end to prejudice against other cultures in her own way, culminating in a project ‘End Discrimination.’”

From DesignMantic