Search result for Miranda Leo

Black activists take on Dominican government and society in quest for justice and recognition

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – AfroDominican activists are fighting against the Dominican Republic’s discriminatory legislation and social attitudes that negatively impact Black Dominicans and Haitian migrants.

Reconoci.do coordinator and co-founder Elena Lorac speaks about racial discrimination at a "3 Causales" march in Parque Independencia on March 4, 2023. (Photo by Morgan Casey/Cronkite Borderlands Project)

As Arizonans remember loved ones lost to drug overdose, advocacy group stresses “Every death caused by overdose is preventable.”

PHOENIX – The Arizona advocacy group Sonoran Preservation Works commemorated International Overdose Awareness Day 2023 on Aug. 31, with a vigil held at the Desert West Community Center in Phoenix.

Overdose awareness day

Baseball has huge on- and off-the-field impact in the Dominican Republic

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Dominicans make up 11% of Major League Baseball rosters, many a product of this baseball-mad country's youth system, where children as young as 7 train in hopes of one day playing in the U.S. and lifting themselves and their families out of poverty.


Migrant deaths climbed with temperatures in July; overall numbers still low

WASHINGTON - Migrant deaths in the Arizona desert spiked in July, when the remains of 42 undocumented individuals were found, the most for that month in more than a decade, advocates and medical officials said.


Independents, with a lowercase i, are now Arizona’s biggest voter group

WASHINGTON - The largest political party in Arizona is no longer a party. The latest numbers from the Arizona Secretary of State's office show that independent voters edged out Republicans in July to become the largest single group of voters in the state.


Haitian workers endure harsh living, working conditions in company settlement

Undocumented or stateless, after the Dominican Republic stripped their citizenship status, Haitian workers and those of Haitian descent find it difficult to leave harsh living and working conditions at Central Romana's sugar cane fields.


Haitian sugar cane workers in the Dominican Republic suffer amid U.S. embargo on Central Romana

LA ROMANA, Dominican Republic - Haitian and stateless sugar cane workers in the Dominican Republic continue to suffer worsening conditions of forced labor that has led to a U.S. embargo on sugar produced by Central Romana Corp.


Hot enough for who? Report says other states may be more vulnerable to heat

WASHINGTON - Phoenix could hit 115 degrees this weekend, but a new report says the greater heat threat may be outside the Valley - and even in other states. The Census study looked at income, housing and other factors to find those most at risk for heat-related harm.


Economic growth in Dominican Republic fueled by investment and migrant labor

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic is one of the fastest-growing countries in Latin America thanks to a boom in tourism and foreign investment. But it relies heavily on migrant labor from Haitians, who are often mistreated inside the Dominican Republic.

New construction abounds in the capital city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Here, a skyscraper is under construction on March 6, 2023. (Photo by TJ L’Heureux/Cronkite Borderlands Project)

What’s next in art? Da Vinci digital exhibit in Scottsdale example of growing trend

SCOTTSDALE – The Lighthouse Artspace Phoenix in Scottsdale has extended its run of “Leonardo: The Universal Man exhibit,” a 360-degree immersive art experience that uses music, narration and video. But the show is just the latest in a string of similar experiences. An ASU art history professor says this kind of projection mapping is art's next big trend.

The “Leonardo: The Universal Man” exhibit at Lighthouse Artspace Phoenix in Scottsdale debuted in March and was originally scheduled to run through June, but it will likely extend into July, a spokesman said. (Photo by Evelin Ruelas/Cronkite News)

A new border wall threatens fragile mangroves in the Dominican Republic

At the Dominican-Haitian border, immigration policy wreaks havoc on a fragile wetland preserve.


‘Blue Zone’ comes to south Phoenix to increase longevity

PHOENIX – Life expectancy in south Phoenix during the pandemic is lower than other neighborhoods. Early last year, the Blue Zone initiative was introduced to the city which capitalizes on the development and improvement to the environment and the health and well-being of those in the community.

A volunteer at the TigerMountain Foundation, Brandon Bates, tends to the soil at the TigerMountain Foundation community gardens on April 25, 2023. (Photo by Logan Camden/Cronkite News)