History in the making
Deb Haaland for Interior, new virus strain, stimulus package, and a reading list
Welcome to The Breaking Point, a weekly(ish) newsletter that explores the historical legacies of injustice based on the news cycle and culture trends to understand what in the world is going on.
Happy holidays, everyone!! I hope you all are taking some much needed rest and, of course, major health and safety precautions this holiday season. I know it’s been a rough year, but we can get through this together. This week’s newsletter is going to be super duper brief since I don’t want to take up too much of your time.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
A new fast-spreading strain of the coronavirus has millions of people in London and other parts of England on strict lockdown measures, while other European countries have banned UK travelers from entering their borders. Experts say that the new variant is more transmissible than previous virus strains and has contributed to the huge surge in coronavirus infections in recent days.
A couple of hopeful news, nonetheless, is that we now have a vaccine for the deadly virus and that the U.S. Congress finally passed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill. Though the economic relief package is not exactly enough, President-elect Joe Biden assured Americans that this is merely a “down payment” on a bigger and better bill to come after his presidential inauguration next month.
Besides addressing the virus and other existing crises, though, Biden has also been busy appointing his cabinet members. In a historic move last week, the president-elect tapped Rep. Deb Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo member in New Mexico, to serve as the first Indigenous Cabinet secretary in U.S. history.
After a long history of abusing and neglecting tribal communities, nominating Haaland to be the secretary of Interior is a significant and symbolic move. She will be in charge of the U.S. department — previously led by politicians who tend to cater the needs of oil and gas corporations — that manages 500 million acres of land and also the Bureau of Indian Education and Bureau of Indian Affairs, which oversees roughly 55 million acres of tribal land held in trust by the federal government for Indigenous people. Here’s what Nick Tilsen, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation in South Dakota and CEO of NDN Collective, told me for a story I wrote last month:
“We’re heading to a time in this country where reparations are real. What reparations look like for Indigenous people is having Indian lands back to Indian hands, and that’s starting with public lands. When we say land back, it means fundamentally undoing the things that have been done to Indian people, so appointing an Indigenous person as interior secretary is a really huge step in the right direction of getting the country’s relationship right with Indigenous people.”
I also talked to Rep. Deb Haaland, herself, on the phone about the significance of having a native person to lead the Interior department. “We have to get back to a place where tribes do have a voice,” she told me. For more on my reporting, see the following stories:
The case for a Native American secretary of the interior, Vox
Biden makes historic Cabinet pick with Deb Haaland for interior secretary, Vox
Figure of the week: $600
The amount qualified Americans will receive in their stimulus checks, according to the latest COVID-19 relief package. But some might not receive their checks this time around, see why. (Source: CNBC)
Story breakers 📖
Hundreds of Thai workers found dying in South Korea with numbers rising by Nanchanok Wongsamuth and Grace Moon, Thomson Reuters Foundation News
‘A shining moment’: Congress agrees to restore Medicaid for Pacific Islanders by Dan Diamond, Politico
A Black VMI cadet was threatened with a lynching, then with expulsion by Ian Shapira, The Washington Post
Americans were told to stay home. Black women are most at risk of losing theirs by Chabeli Carrazana and Ko Bragg, The 19th News
Judges Are Locking Up Children for Noncriminal Offenses Like Repeatedly Disobeying Their Parents and Skipping School by Jodi S. Cohen and Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica
‘The Fight Against Fossil Fuel Infrastructure is the Fight for Healthy Communities’ by me, Rachel Ramirez, KCET
thanks for reading, and don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already. see you next week!