The 21st Show

‘Queer Money Matters’ Series; Illinois’s Gang Databases; ‘Beyond Opening the Gates’ Documentary

By Niala Boodhoo, Libby Foster and Alan Montecillo
 

Mindy Tucker/WNYC

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On The 21st: Daily expenses can cost a lot of money. The co-host of WNYC’s 'Nancy' podcast joins us to talk about life gets even more expensive for LGBTQ people. Plus, Cook County has a database that’s supposed to keep track of gang members. But it has a lot of mistakes and some say the bad data has even led to false arrests. Now, police agencies and elected officials are re-thinking what they should do with this information. And, a group of University High students in Urbana have put together a new documentary that dives into the complicated history of affirmative action.

For years, law enforcement agencies in Chicago have used gang databases with tens of thousands of names that can be accessed by more than 350 government agencies.

But they’ve been riddled with mistakes for a long time. The databases include people who were supposedly more than a hundred years old. There have even been lawsuits, filed by people who say that this information has led to false arrests that disproportionately affect communities of color.

ProPublica Illinois’ Mick Dumke first reported on this last year. And as more and more information about these databases has come out, changes could actually be on the way.

Not only has Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart decided to stop using the database, county commissioners have now approved a law that would require that county data to be destroyed altogether.

Plus -- 

Thinking about money can be stressful for all of us. Whether it’s figuring out how we’re ever going to be able to take that vacation, pay rent or retire, for most us of, thinking about money comes with a lot of anxiety.

But, for the LGBT community, those conversations can be even more complicated. A new poll finds that half of LGBT adults associate money with anxiety. That’s ten percent higher than straight, cisgender people.

That data is from a new survey released by the Nancy Podcast and the research firm Morning Consult. It explores the financial challenges faced by the queer community.

Nancy is also releasing five new podcast episodes this week in a new series called Queer Money Matters.  So far they’ve explored how having children or facing discrimination in the workplace can affect LGBT people financially. Today’s episode tackles marriage.

For more on what they’ve covered and what’s to come, we spoke with Tobin Low, who along with Kathy Tu is one of the hosts of the Nancy Podcast. He joined us from WNYC. 

And -- 

A new oral history project from Illinois Youth Media is tackling the topic of affirmative action, both its complex history and modern day implications. The project is called Beyond Opening the Gates and you can stream it online now. 

This coming Monday, March 11 at 4 pm, the team behind this project is hosting an event at the U of I’s College of Education to talk more about affirmative action and what it means for all of us today.

We were joined by Kathryn Dullerud who is a graduate of University Laboratory High School and the producer of Beyond Opening the Gates. Nowadays she’s a freshman at the University of Southern California. 

Also joining us in the studio was Professor Rochelle Gutierrez, who shared her experiences in the documentary. Rochelle is with the Department of Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

Story source: WILL