Deborah Vagins on Voting Rights, Justin Elliott on Red Cross

This week on CounterSpin: USA Today had one headline, “50 Years Later, Selma Still Inspires,” paired with another reading: “Why Ferguson Reports Changed No One’s Mind.” Somewhere in there is a way for the media to talk about the fight over voting rights and black people’s access to basics of democracy as an ongoing story, not just a historical one. We’ll talk about voting rights–then and now–with Deborah Vagins, senior legislative counsel at the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office.

DisasterAlso on the show: You may think of the American Red Cross as the venerated deliverer of humanitarian services. Red Cross CEO and former marketing professor Gail McGovern calls it “a brand to die for.” (She really said that.) Might the conflict between those visions account for some of the problems the organization had in the wake of Superstorm Sandy? A new investigation by ProPublica and NPR sheds light on that. We’ll hear from its co-author, ProPublica‘s Justin Elliott.

LINKS:

–“Reflections From the Bridge: Where the Stain of Slavery and Segregation Met a Young Man’s Courage and a Preacher’s Dream,” by Deborah J. Vagins (Huffington Post, 3/11/15)

Voting Rights Project: ACLU

Red Cross: ProPublica


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