SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. - A new institute in New Mexico aims to be a national example in forging what it calls a "collaborative pathway to racial equity."

The Native American Budget and Policy Institute was launched last week to improve public-policy decisions at all levels of government with Native Americans in mind. Cheryl Fairbanks, the Institute's interim director, said research and policy analysis and social-justice advocacy will be emphasized, and that Native American communities deserve to be healthy, educated and empowered.

"Rather than lining up at the welfare line," she said, "we're really empowering our people through education and constructive policies that lead to a healthier community, and really strengthens our tribal sovereignty."

The group just held its first series of meetings to determine how Native American culture, tradition and healing can be incorporated into judicial systems. New Mexico has 23 federally recognized tribes, and there are 25 dialects of eight indigenous languages spoken across the state.

Despite one in 10 residents of the state identifying as Native American, Fairbanks said indigenous peoples have suffered from systemic, oppressive policies over the years that sought to terminate Indian languages and culture. She said the new institute will encourage including a tribal perspective for laws and policies to effect change for future generations.

"So, we're really focusing on that we're not the 'Indian problem,' but we really are the Indian solution - and our institute is really solution-oriented."

The institute is a joint project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy of the University of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.


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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Hispanic Heritage Month began this week, and will be celebrated through Oct. 15.

Oregon has a rapidly growing Hispanic population, according to census data, increasing from 450,000 in 2010 to nearly 590,000 in 2020.

Dr. Carlos Romo, a volunteer for AARP Oregon with a Ph.D. in foreign languages and literatures, said the month is a time to reflect.

"I think we simply have to stop and pause to recognize the contributions, the needs that Hispanics have made, are making and are going to be making for our society, for our community in the United States," Romo explained.

Romo noted the Hispanic population is expected to double in Oregon over the next three decades. Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated starting on Sep. 15 because the date coincides with five countries gaining their independence from Spain: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico celebrates its independence today, Sep. 16.

Romo pointed out Spaniards visited Oregon's coast as early as the 16th century. Cowboys from Mexico came to the state in the 19th century, and in the 1940s, the bracero farmworker program brought a Latino workforce to the state.

Romo emphasized Oregon's Hispanic population works in all kinds of sectors today.

"The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis estimates that there's 3,250 Hispanic-owned firms in Oregon," Romo observed. "So there's a rich history, a rich contribution that Hispanics have made here in Oregon."

DENVER - The rate of people experiencing hunger in Colorado and across the U.S. remained statistically steady overall during 2020, according to initial data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But people of color and low-income workers experienced food insecurity at dramatically higher rates during the pandemic.

Geri Henchy, director of nutrition policy at the Food Research and Action Center, said 40% of single-parent households headed by women did not know where their next meal was coming from.

"A lot of single moms were working at jobs that you couldn't do at home," said Henchy. "They lost their jobs during COVID, and some of them can't find child care so they can go back to work. And so all of this results in these households really struggling to put enough food on the table."

Government aid packages boosting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other programs passed with bipartisan support, are credited for keeping overall hunger rates steady as the economy shed some 20 million jobs.

Critics of proposals making their way through Congress to permanently expand supports for struggling families argue that additional spending is not needed, because overall rates remained at just over 10% of U.S. households.

Henchy said she isn't sure the initial data tells the whole story, in part because getting people to respond to surveyors going door to door during a global pandemic was no easy feat. Even if overall hunger rates did remain steady, Henchy said the need continues to be significant.

"There were already unacceptably high rates of food insecurity in the U.S, and those have continued," said Henchy. "So that's 38 million hungry people and hungry households."

Communities of color were also disproportionately impacted in 2020. Black households experienced hunger at three times the rate of white households.

"Basically 22% of black families, and 17% of Latinx households, were impacted by food insecurity," said Henchy. "And that's considerably higher than the rate of white households, which was only 7%."

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As the nation marks the 20th anniversary of the Sep. 11 attacks, Muslim groups are reflecting on progress in the treatment of American Muslims.

According to the Institute for Policy Studies, the "War on Terror" in the aftermath of 9/11 created a culture that framed Muslims as suspects and taught them to fear the government.

Amina Barhumi, outreach director, Council on American-Islamic Relations-Ohio, said two decades later, many prejudices linger.

"Anti-Muslim discrimination still exists in policies," Barhumi explained. "Secret watch lists still exist. Muslims are oftentimes spoken of from the framework of national security, rather than being ordinary citizens, that just want to live their ordinary American lives."

Roughly 60% of American Muslims reported experiencing religious discrimination between 2016 and 2020. However, a recently released survey of American mosque leaders found fewer than one in five felt American society is hostile to Islam.

There are 1.5 million more Muslims in the U.S. now than in 2007, who account for 1.1% of the overall U.S. population.

Barhumi explained even young Muslims, who weren't alive on 9/11, often face bullying and anti-Muslim content in the classroom. She argued it is important these youths are supported in their religious and cultural identities.

"Young Muslims see themselves as both American and Muslim," Barhumi pointed out. "They no longer should bear the burden of carrying any sort of guilt or shame around 9/11, which is oftentimes how the conversation is being had."

The Family and Youth Institute created an online toolkit to help parents and educators navigate challenging conversations about 9/11 and Islamophobia with young people. It includes information on how to create a safe space for Muslim students, counter bias and better understand the identifies of Muslim youths.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.