Leah Samuel

1 week ago | planetdetroit.org | Leah Samuel

Overview: -Marcia Spivey says her Detroit neighborhood, Regent Park, needs community engagement. -"I just made the conscious decision and effort to be the change that I wanted to see in my community."-Spivey is a member of Planet Detroit's spring 2025 Neighborhood Reporting Lab. This story is published as part of Planet Detroit’s 2025 Spring Neighborhood Reporting Lab, supported by The Kresge Foundation, to train community-based writers in profile writing.

Aug 28, 2024 | harvardpublichealth.org | Leah Samuel

Sixty years ago this week, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Food Stamp Act of 1964, making formal—and permanent—a program designed to build a bridge between two groups of people: farmers who had surplus crops, and low-income people who couldn’t afford nutritious food. It was a cornerstone of Johnson’s War on Poverty and now stands as a crucial part of the United States’s public health infrastructure.

May 15, 2024 | harvardpublichealth.org | Leah Samuel

Wanjira Mathai was just six years old when her mother, Wangari Maathai, founded the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots effort to fight deforestation through planting trees. Nearly 30 years later, Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for that work, and her daughter had become a respected environmentalist and leader in her own right.

Feb 21, 2024 | baystatebanner.com | Leah Samuel

The Massachusetts State Senate has added a bust of abolitionist activist Frederick Douglass to its chamber on Beacon Hill. It’s the Senate’s first state-commissioned bust of an African American. Officials unveiled it on Feb. 14, which is widely considered to be Douglass’ birthday. “We are proud to honor a man who left an indelible mark on our Commonwealth and nation. Frederick Douglass takes his rightful place as a founding father,” said Senate President Karen Spilka of Ashland.

Dec 31, 2023 | bunow.com | Leah Samuel

This article will NOT contain spoilers, so that anyone who has not watched Miraculous can learn about it!Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir has been my guilty pleasure since about 2017, but the show has been around since 2015. It’s an animated superhero romance show in which the two main characters are in love with each other without knowing it. The show is inspired by popular American superheroes with Ladybug being similar to Spider-Man, and Cat Noir being akin to Cat Woman.