Sadly, murder victims have been framed as statistics, especially in high crime cities. Father Bill Terry decided to do something about it and found a simple way to humanize these victims.

Visit our New Orleans page to listen to the Murder Board segment in our full hour radio episode or for further information about what we found in the Big Easy.

Here in Brooklyn, New York, it’s hit 90 degrees nearly every day for weeks. Having grown up on the coast of Maine, I’m used to having lots of convenient bodies of water around to jump in whenever the weather even contemplates getting that hot . . . in this city, it’s not so easy. A sprinkler or an accidentally opened fire hydrant is often your best bet. But, in Austin, Texas—where 90 degrees on a summer day is routine—there is one place to be when the day is broiling: Barton Springs. (more…)

Big Freedia and Katey Red in the Third Ward of New Orleans; photo courtesy of Lyle Ashton Harris for the New York Times

For those of you who enjoyed State of the Re:Union’s story on Bounce music in our New Orleans episode– and the gay and transgender rappers who are the genre’s growing stars– check out the new feature about it from the New York Times! And if you haven’t heard SOTRU’s take, be sure to give a listen (it’s in Segment C!)… You’ll be poppin’ in no time…

The deadline is approaching for the My Community in One Picture and we’d really love to have your submission! All we need from you:

- One photo you feel captures the essence of your community. This can be anything you feel fits, a landscape, a local business, your family, etc. Please note, it doesn’t matter what kind of camera you have or what the quality is.

- Your name, the name of your community, the subject of your photo and the title if it has one.

Please email to brenton@stateofthereunion.com with the subject line of: My Community in One Picture. We are going to start featuring one photo a day on our website beginning August 2nd. Hope to see your photo there!

Will Allen started a food revolution in creating new urban farmers across the country. State of the Re:Union explores one of those farms in Milwaukee called Sweet Water Organics. Check out their incredible process that utilizes aquaponics and hydroponics, as well as their philosophy on taking another step to fighting the phenomena known as food deserts.

For more information on Will Allen’s Growing Power, Sweet Water Organics or our Milwaukee episode, visit our Milwaukee page!

Have a story of urban farming or how food availability has impacted your community? We would really like to hear what you have to say in the comments below.

For the first episode of our new season of shows, we spent the third week of June in the Española Valley of New Mexico, a place none of us had been to before.  It was truly eye-opening and exciting to spend time with farmers, santeros, mechanics, therapists, professors, oral historians, addicts, cashiers, musicians and poets…

The reason we ventured southwest-ward in the first place was because of water.  Specifically the way in which the people of the valley, for well over 400 years, have thought about, shared and used water.  In New Mexico, there are more than 1,000 acequias, which are not only man-made irrigation ditches, but also an entire culture and decentralized democracy in and of themselves. (more…)