Race/Related: A Holiday Message

Join the discussion View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Sunday, December 25, 2016 [The New York Times] [Join Race/Related »] [The New York Times] Sunday, December 25, 2016 [Front row, from left: Alexandra Garcia, Logan Jaffe, Sandra Stevenson and Sona Patel; second row, from left: Angelica McKinley, Antonio de Luca, John Woo, and Rodrigo De Benito Sanz; third row, from left: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Damien Cave; fourth row: Darold Cuba, Haeyoun Park, Marc Lacey and Cynthia Collins.] Front row, from left: Alexandra Garcia, Logan Jaffe, Sandra Stevenson and Sona Patel; second row, from left: Angelica McKinley, Antonio de Luca, John Woo, and Rodrigo De Benito Sanz; third row, from left: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Damien Cave; fourth row: Darold Cuba, Haeyoun Park, Marc Lacey and Cynthia Collins. Earl Wilson/The New York Times One of the most striking things about working at The Times is how often people talk about the institution – could be criticism, or praise – without really knowing the people who make it what it is. So we figured we’d do a little humanizing. The photo above is our quick attempt at a holiday card, from us to you. Everyone in the picture has worked on some Race/Related project this year, often more than one, and they represent an array of departments. So there’s Alexandra Garcia and John Woo from Video; Sona Patel and Cynthia Collins, our audience development and social media leaders; Angelica McKinley, Antonio de Luca and Rodrigo De Benito Sanz, who do various brilliant and beautiful things in digital design; and, of course, Nikole Hannah-Jones, a writer of enormous force and grace from The Times Magazine. Then there’s me and Marc Lacey, The Times’s national editor and our most senior Race/Related leader, along with Haeyoun Park from graphics and Darold Cuba, a founder of a new project called [Hacking Racism] who finds his way into all kinds of corners of The Times (and still owes us a promising story… hint, hint.) Oh and down in front, there’s Logan Jaffe, one of our POV mediamakers, and Sandra Stevenson, our amazing photo editor, who (among other things) guides our new [Instagram account], which you should sign up for. Now. This is just a small part of our extended family. We’re missing Rachel L. Swarns, who was busy finishing her [powerful piece] texploring the insurance policies on slaves that shaped the 19th-century beginnings of New York Life Insurance (you can read about the challenges she faced in this [essay]); and John Eligon, who was tying up [his story] on Chicago’s street gangs; and Michael Luo, who recently left for a position at The New Yorker. Newer members of the team, like Adeel Hassan and Annie Correal, were also not able to make it for the photo, nor were the dozens of other busy people  throughout The Times who have made this newsletter and our coverage better with input, encouragement and ideas. We know that The Times itself is far from a model of diversity when it comes to race. We know that our team and our institution still have a lot to learn. But as we look back on the year, we hope that we can say this newsletter, with you, our readers, has become a gathering space for enlightened discussion. We’re grateful to all of you who subscribed and shared your thoughts with us. Next year, there will be even more to cover and talk about. If you get a chance, please tell us what you’d like to see in The Times and in this newsletter at [racerelated@nytimes.com]. And Happy Holidays. – Damien Cave  Around the Web Here are some of the stories that we’re talking about, beyond The Times. [Bryan Stevenson] is saving inmates from execution in Alabama and memorializing the darkest episodes of America’s past. [Tomashi Jackson] found that the language Josef Albers used to describe color perception mirrored the language of racialized segregation. Inside the Alt-Right: A look at a radical movement whose leaders hail the rise of Donald Trump [[video]]. A racist woman [goes on a tirade] at Hispanic shoppers in Kentucky. You’ve likely heard of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s [Hatewatch]. Now a group of journalists is maintaining the [Hate Index]. How much do you know about the black [“Happy Birthday” song]? The traditional image of Santa, as a jolly and white character is deeply embedded in American culture, but [black Santas] have been around for a lot longer than you might think -- and even played a role in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.  In The Times The Times publishes many stories that touch on race. Here are a few you shouldn’t miss, chosen by Race/Related editors.  [Kaos, 23, a member of the Black Disciples whose given name is Ron. “If we’re sitting here bored, getting high and we got guns around, it ain’t nothing else to do,” he said of the relentless cycle of violence.] Ruddy Roye for The New York Times [Bored, Broke and Armed: Clues to Chicago’s Gang Violence] By JOHN ELIGON Gang members spend their days worrying about rivals and how to make money — and turn to shooting to settle even the pettiest disputes. [The bottom half of one of New York Life’s 19th-century ledgers lists an insurance policy taken out on a slave named Harriett. The ledger is held by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.] George Etheredge for The New York Times [Insurance Policies on Slaves: New York Life’s Complicated Past] By RACHEL L. SWARNS In its 19th-century beginnings, New York Life Insurance sold 508 policies covering slaves. Their descendants are grappling with it. [K.T. Jones has an aggressive type of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Getting immunotherapy in a clinical trial has kept him alive far past expectations. But few black patients participate in clinical trials.] Al Drago/The New York Times [In Cancer Trials, Minorities Face Extra Hurdles] By DENISE GRADY As immunotherapy research takes off, the patients getting the treatment have been overwhelmingly white. Researchers know this and say they are trying to correct it. [Bayan Mohammad, a fifth grader, at school in Toronto. Bayan and her family arrived in Canada last winter as refugees.] Lynsey Addario for The New York Times [Wonder and Worry, as a Syrian Child Transforms] By CATRIN EINHORN AND JODI KANTOR Canada welcomes Syrian refugees like no other country. But for one 10-year-old’s parents, is she leaving too much behind? [More than a billion people regularly use WhatsApp, which lets users send text messages and make phone calls free over the internet.] Doug Chayka State of the Art [For Millions of Immigrants, a Common Language: WhatsApp] By FARHAD MANJOO With the ability to communicate securely and free, the messaging app has become a mainstay for those who have left their homes for the unknown. [Mohammad Ali Chaudry, president of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, on the four-acre lot the organization has proposed as a site for a new mosque. The Justice Department has sued Bernards Township, which includes Basking Ridge, saying it violated federal law by rejecting the proposal.] Karsten Moran for The New York Times [The Mosque Next Door: City Law vs. Houses of Faith] By LISA W. FODERARO Across the country, more and more towns have used local zoning laws as barriers to new mosques and Islamic schools, underscoring what civil rights advocates say is a growing wave of intolerance. [Newborns in a nursery. Hispanic surnames are gaining ground in the United States with Hispanic immigration and more Hispanic births.] Getty Images [Hispanic Surnames on the Rise in U.S. as Immigration Surges] By SAM ROBERTS The ascendancy of Lopez and Gonzalez reflects both the surge of immigrants from Latin America and the fact that Hispanic surnames tend to be less diverse. [A protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock in North Dakota on Dec. 4.] Jessica Lehrman for The New York Times [‘Respect the Feathers’: Who Tells Standing Rock’s Story?] By JOHN ANDERSON More than 30 teams of filmmakers have turned up to document the protests, the Sioux say, and some are neither Native American nor all that respectful. [Donald J. Trump attended a service at the Great Faith Ministries International church in Detroit in September.] Sam Hodgson for The New York Times Opinion [What Donald Trump Doesn’t Know About Black People] By MICHAEL ERIC DYSON The unifying force in the United States is whiteness. [Japanese-Americans from Bainbridge Island boarding trains in Seattle for the internment camp at Manzanar, Ca., in March, 1942.

] Bettmann/Getty Images Opinion [My Family Was Interned. Now They’re With Trump.] By AMANDA SAKUMA They responded to years in confinement by rapidly assimilating into American culture — and supporting the president-elect. [Inmates at the Gadsden County Jail in Quincy, Florida.] Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times Editorial [Unequal Sentences for Blacks and Whites] By THE EDITORIAL BOARD A Florida newspaper exposes a judicial system where skin color determines time behind bars. Illustration by Javier Jaén First Words [Who’s Responsible When Extremists Get a Platform?] By JOHN HERRMAN Social media companies aren’t just an open marketplace for ideas — they’re also amplifying the most dangerous ones. Illustration by Tomi Um The Ethicist [What Should You Do When Customers Make Racist Remarks?] By KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on how to handle customers’ bigoted views and whether to approach your neighbors about their dog hoarding. [John Edgar Wideman] Jean-Christian Bourcart Nonfiction [The Eerie Tragedy of Emmett Till’s Father, Told by John Edgar Wideman] By GAIL LUMET BUCKLEY In “Writing to Save a Life,” John Edgar Wideman tells the tragic story of a forgotten father. [Ben Harney and Sheryl Lee Ralph, who starred in the original “Dreamgirls” on Broadway in 1981, at a restaurant in the theater district.] Danny Ghitis for The New York Times A Word With [Sheryl Lee Ralph and Ben Harney on the Long Reach of ‘Dreamgirls’] By KARU F. DANIELS For the 35th anniversary of the hit musical’s Broadway opening, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Ben Harney look back on a “dream come true” and its aftermath. [China Machado, dinner dress and jacket by Ben Zuckerman, New York, Nov. 6, 1958. Ms. Machado, the first nonwhite supermodel, died on Sunday. She was 86.] Richard Avedon/The Richard Avedon Foundation On the Runway [China Machado, Breakthrough Model Until the End, Dies at 86] By VANESSA FRIEDMAN Ms. Machado was the first nonwhite supermodel, and it’s a legacy the fashion industry has to wrestle with. [Sa’iyda Shabazz and her son visited the black Santa at Macy’s Herald Square store last week.]  [Seeing Santa in Black and White] By SA’IYDA SHABAZZ Would my mixed-race son feel that he was represented by a black Santa or a white one? Adger Cowans Lens [The Heartbeat of Our Being, in Black and White] By MAURICE BERGER Whether depicting the spectacle of people barreling forward in a snowstorm or the faces of his subjects, mostly black but also white, Adger Cowans’ lyrical images portray life as resonant with feeling. ADVERTISEMENT  What Do You Think of This Newsletter? How are we doing? Email us at [racerelated@nytimes.com]. If you like what you’re reading, please share it with your friends on [Facebook] or [Twitter] and suggest they sign up [here].  ADVERTISEMENT  Our next newsletter will be published on Jan. 8, 2017. Have a happy new year. FOLLOW RACE/RELATED [Instagram] [Instagram] Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »] | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »] ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Race/Related newsletter. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Subscriptions] | [Change Your Email] | [Privacy Policy] | [Contact] | [Advertise] Copyright 2016 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018