Issues and Analysis
News and views on the people, places and topics of concern to Community Supported Film and its project partners
Recent Posts
ON THE MEDIA | A prayer for a humbler media
“It’s time to acknowledge that the enduring belief of American media’s exceptionalism is toxic, and if it continues, it will take down democracy with it.”
ON AFGHANISTAN, ON THE MEDIA | What Taliban’s new media rules mean for female actors
By imposing new restrictions on the media and female actors, the Taliban have once again reaffirmed their misogynistic ideology, rights advocates have said.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers unveiled a new set of restrictions on Afghan media earlier this week, banning television channels from showing dramas and soap operas featuring women actors.
Advocate for Afghans
Click on the following links, or contact your Senator and Congressperson about the following: 1. Hold the Biden administration accountable to continuing the evacuation of Afghans whose lives are at risk because of their association with the United States government,...
Afghanistan’s new hungry: Urban and middle-class
Afghanistan’s economy spirals: For the first time, there are similar levels of food insecurity among urban households as drought-hit rural ones.
Vice President Harris and Dr. Biden: Your Silence on Afghan Women Is Deafening
What we should be shocked about is the near-silence here in the United States from Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Jill Biden — arguably America’s most powerful women — I ask the former prosecutor Ms. Harris and the current professor Dr. Biden: Where are your outspoken voices on justice and education for the women and girls of Afghanistan?
Taliban Prime Minister orders marriage for all women over 20 and widows under 35
The Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Mawlawi Mohammad Hasan Akhund, has announced the following rules for women according to Shariah law: Article 1: To strengthen Islamic values all girls over age 20 must get married. All widows under age 35 must...
On the Media
ON THE MEDIA | A prayer for a humbler media
“It’s time to acknowledge that the enduring belief of American media’s exceptionalism is toxic, and if it continues, it will take down democracy with it.”
ON THE MEDIA | ‘Prison was Horrible but I Will Still do my Work as a Journalist’
International correspondent, Jeffrey Moyo, who was released from detention after being arrested for breaching Zimbabwe’s Immigration Act by helping two foreign journalists work in the country, says press freedom is undermined when journalists cannot work undeterred....
ON THE MEDIA, ON AFGHANISTAN | Handing the microphone to Afghan women
Four Afghan women were killed in as many days in March 2021 – targeted for being women working in television and in medicine. As Afghanistan’s peace process is marked by increasing violence, BBC Media Action held remarkable sessions of their Open Jirga and...
ON THE MEDIA | How African news organizations can build strong alliances across the continent
“There is an increasing need for African voices to be heard in the spaces where policy is made, especially around digital rights and access to digital platforms. So if there is a strong coalition that can help amplify these local voices, that could be a further...
ON THE MEDIA | Press Freedom under Lockdown Across Two-Thirds of the Globe
Press freedom is facing a growing crackdown one year into the COVID-19 pandemic as governments around the world restrict access to information and muzzle critical reporting, media and rights watchdogs have warned. Source: BRATISLAVA, Apr 22 2021 (IPS), by Ed...
ON THE MEDIA | Journalism under siege in Minnesota
As protests continued over a police officer accused of killing Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Minnesota, journalists have been subjected to numerous instances of mistreatment by Minnesota state police. Joshua Rashaad McFadden, a Black freelance photographer...
On Economic and Social Development
Afghanistan’s new hungry: Urban and middle-class
Afghanistan’s economy spirals: For the first time, there are similar levels of food insecurity among urban households as drought-hit rural ones.
Biometric data and the Taliban: ‘The Taliban have been given the keys to the server room.’
The Taliban have inherited databases and technology that could be used to identify people linked to previous regimes or international forces, or members of persecuted groups who have received aid.
ON DEVELOPMENT, ON AFGHANISTAN | Rethinking Humanitarianism: NGOs and counter-insurgency, The case of Afghanistan
What lessons should humanitarians take away from the past 20 years in Afghanistan? Was the role of Western aid agencies helpful or hurtful? Were they impartial or complicit?
Afghanistan needs international support. But what kind? Support Local NGOs!
In its rush to help Afghanistan, the humanitarian world risks superimposing costly, parallel systems that ignore what already exists: a functioning public health sector, Afghan NGOs waiting for support, and aid agencies that have operated amid a complex crisis for years. The West always acts like it knows better at the cost of local empowerment.
ON DEVELOPMENT | UN chief: World is at ‘pivotal moment’ and must avert crises
The world is moving in the wrong direction and faces “a pivotal moment” where continuing business as usual could lead to a breakdown of global order and a future of perpetual crisis.
ON DEVELOPMENT | Signs of Imminent Economic Collapse: Staggering US wealth inequality heaps long-term harm on to minority children
Black children have access to just 1 cent for every dollar enjoyed by their white counterparts, new research shows, and Hispanic kids fare little better Source: Staggering US wealth inequality heaps long-term harm on to minority children
On Migration
Texas: thousands of migrants, mostly Haitian, gather under border bridge in squalid makeshift camp
Thousands of mostly Haitian asylum seekers have gathered under the bridge that connects Del Rio in Texas and Mexico’s Ciudad Acuña, creating a makeshift camp with few basic services in intense heat. More than 50 Democratic lawmakers urged the Biden administration to halt deportations to Haiti.
ON MIGRATION | Here to Stay: How two faded seaside destinations have taken to refugee resettlement
"...there was also the sense that [Syrians] with professional backgrounds and business acumen would revitalize the community.” Residents largely embraced the prospect, quickly establishing a welcome committee with over a hundred volunteers. They collected and sorted...
ON MIGRATION | 44 percent of US Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.
Date: June 17, 2021 New American Fortune 500 in 2021: Top American Companies and Their Immigrant Roots Immigrant entrepreneurs have long been an important part of America’s economic success story. Some of the largest and most recognizable American companies were...
ON MIGRATION | Short film festival focused on stories related to Black and immigrant mental health.
Voices With Impact is hosting an online short film festival focused on stories related to Black and immigrant mental health. The festival kicks off on Monday, June 21 with a virtual premiere...
ON MIGRATION | US Immigrant Communities divided generationally on participating in BLM protests
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — When protests began in a Minneapolis suburb after a white police officer fatally shot a Black man, 21-year-old Fatumata Kromah took to the street, pushing for change she says is essential to her Liberian immigrant community. Meanwhile,...
ON MIGRATION | US-made guns are ripping Central America apart and driving migration north
An iron river of illegal guns flows from the US to Mexico, Central America, and across the hemisphere Source: Opinion: Ioan Grillo, Fri 16 Apr 2021, US-made guns are ripping Central America apart and driving migration north
On Afghanistan
ON AFGHANISTAN, ON THE MEDIA | What Taliban’s new media rules mean for female actors
By imposing new restrictions on the media and female actors, the Taliban have once again reaffirmed their misogynistic ideology, rights advocates have said.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers unveiled a new set of restrictions on Afghan media earlier this week, banning television channels from showing dramas and soap operas featuring women actors.
Filmmakers in exile speak to their and their country’s trauma. – JP Movie Night Screen&Discuss
In a very emotional experience, the event included the participation via Zoom of two recent evacuees and the project’s translator and coordinator. Qasem joined from Iran, Aqeela from France, and jamal from Canada.
Contact Community Supported Film if you would like to organize a Screen&Discuss with the Afghan films in your community.
Advocate for Afghans
Click on the following links, or contact your Senator and Congressperson about the following: 1. Hold the Biden administration accountable to continuing the evacuation of Afghans whose lives are at risk because of their association with the United States government,...
Against the Wall – An Afghan Evacuation Story – Part 1
On Aug 15th, the day Kabul fell to the Taliban, Basir and his family made their first attempt to get into the airport and onto a plane. It would be nearly a month before they escaped into Pakistan. Over the next weeks they would be beaten at Taliban checkpoints, endure crushing crowds and be threatened and sworn at by soldiers from around the world.
Thank you to The DocYard, John Gianvito and Brattle Theater for CSFilm Benefit Screening – Oct 18th
A Special Benefit Screening for Community Supported Film’s Fund for Afghan Evacuation and Resettlement:
Far from Afghanistan (2012), dirs. John Gianvito, Soon-Mi Yoo, Jon Jost, Minda Martin, Travis Wilkerson
Monday, October 18, 7PM at the Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge, MA 02138
Afghanistan’s new hungry: Urban and middle-class
Afghanistan’s economy spirals: For the first time, there are similar levels of food insecurity among urban households as drought-hit rural ones.
On Haiti
Texas: thousands of migrants, mostly Haitian, gather under border bridge in squalid makeshift camp
Thousands of mostly Haitian asylum seekers have gathered under the bridge that connects Del Rio in Texas and Mexico’s Ciudad Acuña, creating a makeshift camp with few basic services in intense heat. More than 50 Democratic lawmakers urged the Biden administration to halt deportations to Haiti.
ON HAITI | Haiti earthquake aid hampered by delays
Even before the quake, millions of Haitians needed urgent food aid, while the south was still rebuilding from a devastating 2016 hurricane.
Help Haiti’s Earthquake Recovery
From the Haitian Artists Institute: Here we share a list of a few trusted, local, Haitian-led organizations working in the affected regions should you want to help the relief efforts. These groups have our full confidence.
ON HAITI | ‘Descent into hell’: Kidnapping explosion terrorizes Haiti
A wave of kidnappings is sweeping Haiti. But even in a country growing inured to horrific abductions, the case of five-year-old Olslina Janneus sparked outrage. Source: Reuters, 4/26/21, Sarah Marsh, ‘Descent into hell’: Kidnapping explosion terrorizes Haiti
Participant in Haitian training now reporter for Reuters – new video
Robenson Sanon participated in Community Supported Film's 2014 documentary filmmaking training. As a radio journalist it was his first work with video journalism. He produced the film Out of the Rubble - an exploration of internationally recognized Haitian artists...
ON HAITI | Haitian mental health needs rise yet again with COVID-19 trauma
Haitians have endured decades of psychological trauma with little to no mental healthcare. Now, the pandemic is pushing many to the brink. Source: Haitian mental health needs rise yet again with COVID-19 trauma
Background Information
Background information on the places and topics CSFilm has covered:
Download our Immigration Facts PDF
US immigration facts
- Facts on U.S. Immigrants, 2017: Statistical portrait of the foreign-born population in the United States (Pew Research Center)
- The Facts on Immigration Today, 2017: US foreign-born population and its impact on the economy, current immigration policy, and voting power of new Americans (Center for American Progress)
- Immigration Data Guide, 2018: links to the most credible, high-quality data on immigrants and immigration in the United States and internationally. (Migration Policy Institute)
- Facts about Immigration – Learn about demographics, economics, laws, crime rates, citizenship requirements and factors that drive immigration (JustFacts)
Immigration information and research
- How the U.S. Legal Immigration System Works (Migration Policy Institute)
- Mini Course on US Immigration five short email lessons on US immigration (Pew Research Center)
- Immigration Research Library (The Immigrant Learning Center)
- Frequently Asked Questions on Immigrants and Immigration in the US (Migration Policy Institute)
- Ten Myths About Immigration – information to help you and your students separate fact from fear. (Teaching Tolerance)
Refugees in the US
- Refugees in America – about refugee resettlement in the US (International Rescue Committee)
Perceptions and communications about immigrants and refugees in the US
- Out of Many, One: A Defining Moment for American Integration – attitudes that shape perceptions of immigration in the US (a report by the National Immigration Forum)
- When Facts Don’t Matter: How to Communicate More Effectively about Immigration’s Costs and Benefits (Migration Policy Institute)
- Defusing Hate: A Strategic Communication Guide to Counteract Dangerous Speech (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
- The Hidden Tribes of America – a project to better understand the forces that drive political polarization and tribalism in the United States, 2018 (More in Common)
Employment, the economy and US immigration
- Immigrants and the economy in the US (PDF)
- Immigrants and the American economy (New American Economy)
- Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions (Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy)
- Work in the United States, Introduction to Sociology (Lumin Learning)
Immigration and refugee policy, undocumented immigrants, and DACA
- The Debate Over Immigration Policy Reform (Council on Foreign Relations)
- 5 Tips for Talking About DACA – the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (The Opportunity Agenda)
- Trump administration’s proposed changes to family-based immigration and refugee admissions (Pew Research Center)
- Crime and Undocumented Immigrants (New York Times)
- The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States (American Immigration Council)
- Gender Bias and Immigration Policy (Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund)
Assimilation and acculturation of US immigrants
- What Does It Take to ‘Assimilate’ in America? (New York Times Magazine)
- Assimilation and Integration of US Immigrants and Their Descendants (Cato Institute)
- Should Immigration Require Assimilation? (The Atlantic Monthly)
- Acculturation, Development and Adaptation of Youth and Young Adults (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Faith and US immigrants
- Immigrants and Religion – data on the religious composition of immigrants (Pew Research Lab)
Women and Immigration
- Immigrant Women and Girls in the United States (Migration Policy Institute)
- New Beginnings: Immigrant Women and The American Experience (National Women’s History Museum)
- Gender Bias and Immigration Policy (Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund)
- For Immigrant Women, Crossing the Border Doesn’t End Their Struggle (The Nation)
Politics and Immigration
- Immigrants have a long history of taking their issues to the people — as political candidates (PRI-The World)
- Immigrants in US Congress, (Pew Research Center)
Points-of-view on US Immigration
- The 14 Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong (Cato Institute)
- The Real Problem with Immigration… and the Real Solution (The Heritage Foundation)
- Immigrants Have Enriched American Culture and Enhanced Our Influence in the World (Cato Institute)
- 5 Ways Immigration Actually Enhances a Country’s Culture (Global Citizen)
Other websites with immigrant stories
- We Are America Project – high school students define via video what they think it means to be American;
- USAHello-Voices – immigrant and refugee stories of integration and overcoming resettlement obstacles
- I Am An Immigrant – stories demonstrating how immigration benefits our communities, economy, and country
- Newest Americans – a glimpse into the world of the newest Americans and a vision of our demographic future (Rutgers University-Newark, VII Photo and Talking Eyes Media)
Resources and Information for Immigrants and Refugees
- USAHello – the resources and information newcomers need to build successful lives for themselves and their families in the US
Background
- Afghanistan’s 36 Years of Turmoil in Review
- Afghanistan’s Conflict Timeline
- Links to Information on Aid, Human Rights and Conflict
- BBC- Afghanistan Country Profile
- United States Institute of Peace
- Afghanistan’s position in the balance of world power
- The Cost of War: Afghan Experiences of Conflict, 1978-2009 (PDF)
Aid and Economic Growth
- Afghanistan National Development Strategy 2010 – 2013
- The World Bank Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund
- Feinstein International Center – “Winning Hearts and Minds?”
- Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit – “Aiding the State?”
- Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Military – Humanitarian Relations in Afghanistan
- Preventing Corruption in Humanitarian Operations: A Handbook of Good Practices
Lessons From Development and Conflict Elsewhere
- PBS Frontline- Nation Building in Bosnia
- Assessing the Kecamatan Development Project, Indonesia (PDF)
- Community-Based Reconstruction in East Timor and Rwanda (PDF)
- Prospects for Community Driven Development in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone (PDF)
- What Everyone Should Know About Filming (And Sharing) Injustice on Social Media (PDF)
US Politics and Afghanistan Current Events
Background
- At a Glance: Haiti (UNICEF)
- Background Notes: Haiti (US Department of State)
- BBC – Haiti Country Profile
Aid and Economic Growth
- Cacophonies of Aid, Failed State Building and NGOs in Haiti: setting the stage for disaster, envisioning the future
- Haiti: the US and Military Aid in Times of Natural Disaster
- Moving Mountains: Challenges in Contemporary U.S. Foreign Aid in the Context of Post-Disaster Haiti
- A Rational Foreign Policy Toward Haiti and How the Media Shapes Public Perception of Haiti
- Ruptures, rights, and repair: The political economy of trauma in Haiti
Lessons From Development and Conflict Elsewhere
- The post-Cold War American interventions into Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo
- The Crucial Role of Civil Society in Disaster Recovery and Japan’s Preparedness for Emergencies
- What Everyone Should Know About Filming (And Sharing) Injustice on Social Media (PDF)
US Politics and Haiti Current Events