DACA is important to your Black-Ass Life
Welcome to our first official newsletter. We have the low down on DACA and our first submitted text from a Black-Ass mama! Please send texts from your parents, topics we should cover and especially Kanye updates to thisblackasslife@gmail.com. Calling our newsletter “This Black-Ass Life” means we need your submissions to have the fullest representation possible.
Let's get started!
I. The facts
After eight years of protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA), President Trump decided to rescind the program because he is terrible. This is bad for Black people because:
DACA is the policy that allows undocumented children who entered the country to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.
Out of 565,000 Black undocumented immigrants, 12,000 of them are DACA recipients.
Black undocumented people are three times more likely to be deported. Combined with the fact that we are also likely to be funneled into the criminal justice system, Black DACA recipients are incredibly vulnerable.
A Closer Look: With DACA Gone, Black Immigrants Find Themselves in the Cross Hairs
Why is this important?
If you live in Florida, where 20 percent of the Black population is an immigrant or in New York, where almost 30 percent of the total Black population in the state is foreign-born, you probably know an impacted person.
So the Trump Administration is essentially targeting the most vulnerable of us. That means your friends, cousins, barbers, professors, neighbors -- you probably know someone who is at risk of deportation.
What can my Black ass do?
Let people know that while the Department of Homeland Security is no longer accepting new DACA applications, existing DACA recipients with permits that expire on or before March 5, 2018 are still eligible to apply for renewal, as long as they submit those applications by *October 5.*
If you’re an attorney, click here to volunteer at a clinic near you.
If you’re based in the DC/MD/VA area, click here to volunteer at a clinic near you (you don’t have to be an attorney).
Donate to the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (http://blackalliance.org/)
FYI: Executive Director, Opal Tometi is co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter
II. Other things
Fashion inspo alert:
These twin fashion influencers from Eritrea who are trailblazing with their looks and fight against ableist barriers in the fashion industry - they’re both deaf. Check them out here and follow them on Insta to steal looks like I (Mitu) do here.
Our Black-Ass song of the week (Jumoke):
Olamide’s Wo!! (Nigeria; 2017) is the current number 1 song in Nigeria. I have a love-hate relationship with Olamide. Probably the best Yoruba rapper alive/ever, but his lyrics are a misogynistic rapey-ish minefield. Wo!! is fun and minefield-free though.
Kanye check-in (Mitu):
Jumoke is indulging me and allowing me to stan for Kanye twice a month in this newsletter. So here’s my one-sentence Ye update: Kanye and Kim celebrated their wedding anniversary at IHOP.
Things we are looking forward to / things we are not looking forward to:
Not looking forward to Taylor Swift’s new album and the publicity around it. She tried it by coming for Kanye’s tilted stage and then doubly tried it by biting Beyonce’s formation video and triply tried it by suffocating us with her pervasive presence.
We are looking forward to The BET Hip Hop Awards (October 10) because we always need to see more Asahd Kahled and hopefully someone will explain the award names to us? Examples include: Hustler of the Year, People’s Champ, MVP of the Year and Made-You-Look Award.
III. Mama knows
Our first submission! Stephanie’s mama knows the secret to success:
Stay Black & have a great week! We’ll hit your inbox next on October 16.