Thread by @BriannaCalix

(Thread) Last year, when I worked on @FresnoBee community engagement project about Fresno’s dividing line, #CrossingTheLine, I wasn’t expecting the community response. It was clear: something is happening in Fresno. Something is changing. 1/
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Then the November election happened. And the @CityofFresno council suddenly looked a lot different. Leading up to that, I attended forums held by @FresnoBHC, @FaithInFresno, @LCJandA, @cncedfund, @HIPcalifornia. 2/

And let’s not forget Measure P. Even though it didn’t technically pass (that’s being argued in court), it was easily the most controversial election issue in Fresno’s election. An example of issue vs candidate politics. 3/
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So I started interviewing people about some of these groups & how their work was affecting Fresno & the politics here. I started with @SarahBHC & @airfrezno. They gave me the 30,000 ft view. I interviewed a lot of people & started connecting the dots on some key issues. 4/

I noted a timeline of key groups opening shop here. Thanks to @TimSheehanNews for making that timeline easy to digest. 5/

I also noticed a lot of these groups faced harsh criticism from some of Fresno’s elected leaders. @DrKEForbes did a good job of unpacking why that was happening. Big thanks to @akiraolivia for piecing together vids a few of those moments. 6/

All of this culminated this week, with a fight over #SB1 money. City leaders started talking about equity & social justice & Fresno’s “Tale of Two Cities” 7/
fresnobee.com/latest-news/ar…

And that’s how this story happened. It’s a story about race & politics, at its core. But it’s also a story about residents & advocates using democracy to change what they see around them, in their neighborhoods & this city. 8/
fresnobee.com/news/local/art…

I’m grateful to all the people who sat down with me for hours & talked about some of this stuff. Many shared w me deeply personal stories. And they didn’t even get quoted in the story! But they definitely helped inform the story. That’s just how journalism works sometimes. 9/

You’ll see a brief explainer at the bottom about how this story was reported. That’s bc @FresnoBee is committed to transparency. We’re working w @news_collab on how to be better at that. 10/

Writing a story like this takes a lot of time and resources from @FresnoBee, not just from one reporter. It also shows why #LocalJournalismMatters. Please consider supporting more stories like this by subscribing. /end.
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