Will DiBella's WRIT-150 Blog

 This source is a resolution from the North Carolina Democratic Party that states the party’s role in inciting and organizing the riot that overthrew the government in 1898. The source is obviously a good one because it comes directly from the Party after a report on the 1898 race riot conducted by Wilmington. The resolution also acknowledges and distances the party from the actions taken by the people in charge back then and “celebrates its role in making the political process more inclusive for African Americans in the 20th Century and honors the actions of each modern Democratic President and Governor, all of whom made significant strides toward desegregation”. I think this source is a good one to use because it explains what happened, acknowledges the wrong that was done, and proposes solutions to improve the lives of those affected. It even highlights how this event wasn't really known about until the Wilmington Race Riot Commission was established in 2000. https://www.proques

 I am choosing to cover the Wilmington 1898 coup. It is, to date, the only successful military coup that has taken place on United States soil but I had no idea that it existed until I took APUSH in my sophomore year of high school. This despite me living in the same state it took place in over a century ago. Essentially what happened was a bunch of white supremacists stormed and overthrew the legitimately elected biracial government of Wilmington, North Carolina and installed a white supremacist gvoernment to continue to oppress blacks. This was allowed to occur by both the state and federal governments. Newspapers at the time falsely reported that it was a race riot started by blacks but it’s widely recognized nowadays that it was, in fact, a white supremacist coup. This will help to drive home just how racist America was back in the day and even though slavery had been outlawed, blacks were still second-class citizens and white supremacists were determined to keep it that way.

 I found these resources by searching for public health databases on USC Libraries. There were a lot to choose from so I tried to pull from a mix of global databases, like the World Health Organization, and local resources like the Los Angeles Department of Public Health. After finding these databases I searched using keywords like transgender, public health, and healthcare. These terms are often associated with plenty of issues and so it was easy to locate specific articles and resources that detailed a variety of issues that transgender individuals face. One article in particular that I think will be extremely helpful will be “Breaking down barriers to healthcare access for transgender people in Argentina” as it provides not just looks at specific issues that transgender people face but also individual accounts from people directly affected by access or lack thereof to gender-affirming healthcare. Another useful resource is data from the LADPH on the disproportionate impact on transg

 The group I am choosing to write about is the LGBTQ+ community and the issues they face in all types of healthcare, from getting treatment for obesity to HIV/AIDS to mental illness that affects the entire community. In particular, transgender individuals are more likely to commit suicide because of gender dysphoria and being kicked out of their homes. I know that lots of LGBTQ+ individuals have trouble getting healthcare because they are afraid to come out of the closet for fear of retribution or disownment from their family and friends. Getting gender-affirming treatment is especially difficult for transgender individuals. There are many hoops to jump through in order to receive what could be life-saving treatment for many by matching their body to what their mind is. Even basic things like a binder for some trans men or anti-hormonal pills to stave off puberty can be incredibly difficult to acquire due to outdated ways of thinking all across the medical and political community. I ne

 After World War II, the federal government determined that the best way to improve the country was to invest heavily in the highway system. Early in urban development African Americans were put into small corners of cities, the least desirable areas that no white person wanted to live in. These neighborhoods were targeted as urban blight and removed as the government subsidized slum clearance and urban renewal. This article explains how the “separate but equal” decision made in Plessy v. Ferguson led to the government allowing and even encouraging redlining and segregating African Americans due to the subsidies provided to build highways as urban renewal. City leaders targeted African American communities to be destroyed to build these highways which contributed to the development of the suburbs and how since white taxpayers left city centers the city couldn’t provide for the African Americans left who didn’t have the money to take care of themselves. Ultimately cities should tear dow

New Orleans’ Claiborne Avenue was once a wide street with a collection of diverse citizens that provided an important color to New Orleans’ downtown. Creoles, Haitian refugees, white Creoles, and Caribbean and European immigrants all called Claiborne home. It wasn’t particularly wealthy but it was an important part of New Orleans’ diversity. It was an example of good urbanism with oak trees planted along the ground, growing to provide shade in the hot, swampy summers of the South. It also included green spaces and a waterfront for its residents, had mixed commercial and residential buildings, and people walked all along it, not needing cars to get anywhere. However, America’s car dependency soon destroyed this vibrant community. An expressway was built right through Claiborne and poverty, blight, and crime now run rampant. It was hit especially hard by Katrina in 2006. The best way to right the wrongs done to Claiborne is something that should happen all across the country: the removal