F-F-F-Fat… Obesity in America [Mini-infographic]
A new report released by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says that half of all U.S. adults will be obese by 2030 unless they change their eating habits.
More facts and figures courtesy of Reuters’ Factbox: The trends behind America’s obesity epidemic http://bit.ly/OGUM3S
Here’s How Deadly Breast Cancer is For Women of Color in the U.S.
Anyone who knows me, knows that breast cancer issue is particularly important to me, since my my mom was diagnosed back in 2005. Also, that same year I was a wire reporter (my first real journalism job) who reported and drove my mom to her chemo and radiation appointments. I had a very understanding editor. Safe to say, she’s a survivor and kick ass mom. At the end of this year, there will be more than 2.6 million survivors across the nation.
While breast cancer is widely known as a particularly heartbreaking disease, reports have shown that the impacts on women of color, particularly African American women, are especially devastating. Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other group of women. To address this concern, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released three videos targeting black women as part of its outreach to women of color for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Click the infographic to go to Colorlines.com to see full version.
Lost in Detention
The project I started while I was a post-fellow graduate at American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop, which was later adopted, expanded, and updated by Frontline, was released last week, and two years after the Administration announced sweeping reforms in immigration detention. “Lost in Detention” takes a look into today’s vast immigrant detention system and documents the far-rearching impact of the Obama administration’s controversial immigration enforcement policies. Much of my research and reporting was focused on FOIA requests for detention and arrest records as well as a timeline of facilities that were used by ICE since the 1980s:
The Workshop requested data going back a decade about people held by the U.S. government for deportation, including detainee names, when and where individuals were booked in and booked out of detention, and what prompted their arrest. We asked for this information in several Freedom of Information Act requests to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security, one of the nation’s largest, federal, law-enforcement agencies.
What arrived at our doorstep in 2009 was a mess of confusing and incomplete information that didn’t help us answer our original questions. After months of trying to pry data from the agency about those being detained, it was clear that the government didn’t always know where the detainees were held, how long they were detained, or how much they paid to house and feed them. In fact, our records showed that in some cases officials might not have known whether detainees were actually in custody or even if they were dead or alive.
Kudos to IRW and Frontline! Check out the documentary.
Watch Lost in Detention on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.
Poverty Rate Hits New High As Racial Inequality Deepens
Here’s my latest infographic for Colorlines on current U.S. poverty rates based on the latest statistics from the Census Bureau. This graphic only scratches the surface of poverty and people of color affected. A more interesting look would be to dive down into the city data. The Guardian used the same poverty data and incorporated it into Google Fusion Tables to make an interactive graphic. It’s a big wonky to use but still a good visual.
Click to view in Colorlines.
How States Broke the Record on Immigration Bills in 2011
Here’s my latest infographic:
Earlier this month, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s H.B. 56, which is considered the nation’s most harsh state-level immigration-enforcement law. It grants police broad powers to detain people they suspect are undocumented, makes it a crime to aide undocumented persons, bars sanctuary policies, and forces school to check students’ immigration status among other things.
But Alabama’s immigration law is only one of hundreds enacted this year by state legislatures. With the immigration reform debate stalled in Washington, state lawmakers—particularly those on the right—have moved aggressively to fill the void.
Click the infographic to read more about the numbers on Colorlines.com.
How Long Do Immigrant Families “Wait in Line”? Sometimes Decades
It’s a popular turn of phrase: undocumented immigrants should just follow the rules and “get in line.” What they don’t point out is that it’s a really, really long line, thanks to the broken immigration system. Here’s a look at who’s waiting for family and work visas.
Click on the infographic I did for Colorlines to read the full story.
Note: Currently, working on an infographic that primarily looks into work visas. If you have any stories or information to share, please contact me at Stokelyb@gmail.com
