The headlines worth celebrating in June.

The World Cup is giving immigrant groups in the U.S. a moment in the spotlight.

Atlanta's Haitian community celebrates Haiti's first World Cup run in 52 years.
Hundreds gathered at Lakou Fet, a watch party and cultural festival in Midtown Atlanta, marking Haiti's return to the World Cup for the first time since 1974. Organizers plan to make the event annual. Capital B News >

Ghanaian immigrants who now call Worcester home are galvanized by the World Cup. Worcester, Massachusetts is home to one of the country's largest Ghanaian communities, where immigrants gathered to cheer the national team. Community members describe the network as family and the tournament as a chance to put Worcester on the map. WGBH >

"It's wonderful for us as a community": Cape Verdeans relish new recognition after World Cup heroics.
Cape Verdean communities from Rhode Island to Brockton to Boston are celebrating their island nation's first World Cup run, including draws against Spain and Uruguay and a spot in the knockout round. Community leaders and the New Bedford-based Cape Verdean Association describe a new sense of global recognition, set against New England's deep Cape Verdean history. Boston Globe >

Progressive candidates had major wins in primaries across the country.

Socialists set the agenda in New York City primaries.
All three congressional candidates Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed won their Democratic primaries: Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila Chevalier. Two democratic socialists held or flipped state-level seats, despite about $8.4 million in outside spending against Mamdani's picks. Intercept >

A democratic socialist advances in the Los Angeles mayor's race.
LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman took second place in the open primary and a spot on the November ballot. A surge of mail-in voting ended the campaign of Trump-endorsed reality TV figure Spencer Pratt. Raman will face incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Intercept >

Pro-Palestine candidates win up and down the New York ballot.
Aber Kawas became the first Palestinian American elected to office in New York. David Orkin unseated a conservative Democratic incumbent in a state legislative race, and Samantha Kattan and Diana Moreno won Assembly seats. Jacobin >

California progressive Randy Villegas wins despite $2.2 million spent against him. A progressive college professor and first-time candidate backed by Bernie Sanders, AOC, and the Working Families Party, won the Democratic nod in California's Central Valley 22nd District. CalMatters >

Adam Hamawy, an Army surgeon who served in Gaza, wins his New Jersey primary. A first-time candidate endorsed by AOC, Bernie Sanders, and the Sunrise Movement, Hamawy won by running on Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, and ending military aid to Israel. The Intercept >

Bernie Sanders-endorsed candidates sweep the June 2 primaries.
A slate of Sanders-endorsed progressives won June 2 primaries across several states: Rep. Analilia Mejia took NJ-11 with over 80 percent, former San Francisco supervisor Jane Kim advanced in California's insurance commissioner race, and union leader Sam Forstag won the Democratic primary in Montana's 1st District. In These Times >

Janeese Lewis George wins the Democratic primary for D.C. mayor.
Democratic socialist and D.C. Council member George won the June 16 Democratic mayoral primary, beating business-backed Council member Kenyan McDuffie. She is favored to succeed Muriel Bowser in November. Notus >

Communities moved to create safer spaces for those currently and formerly incarcerated – and prevent facial recognition from causing more harm.

A trans woman organizes the first Pride event inside a Kentucky prison.
Jayda DaShay Jett Hester organized what is believed to be the first LGBTQIA+ Pride event at the Lee Adjustment Center. The teach-in covered the history of drag, Pride, and the flags, and ran as the LGBTQIA+ support group's weekly meeting. Prism >

Illinois moves to raise compensation for the wrongfully convicted.
Legislators passed a bill raising wrongful-conviction compensation to up to $50,000 per year of incarceration with no cap. In addition, a state appellate court ruled that exonerated people in Cook County must automatically receive certificates of innocence. Bolts >

Erie County, New York bans businesses from using facial recognition.
The county passed one of the country's most restrictive facial recognition laws, barring businesses from using the technology. The ban followed a disclosure that Wegmans had deployed facial recognition in some of its stores. Prism >

Tourism and testimony fueled cleaner air and protected snow leopards from extinction.

Ecotourism turns the snow leopard from target to icon in Ladakh.
An ecotourism and homestay model in Ladakh, India has turned the snow leopard from a killed predator into a conservation draw and a source of local income. Revenge killings have dropped as homestays help fund predator-proof corrals. The region now holds one of the highest concentrations of snow leopards anywhere. Atmos >

Court voids Trump EPA's cancellation of $2.8 billion in environmental justice grants.
A federal judge in South Carolina ruled the EPA's termination of the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program was illegal and voided the action. The Southern Environmental Law Center and Public Rights Project brought the case for community groups whose pollution-monitoring and public-health projects had been defunded. Inside Climate News >

Illinois passes environmental justice air-permit law after a years-long fight.
The Illinois legislature passed a bill letting the state EPA weigh cumulative pollution burdens and an applicant's past violations when reviewing air permits in environmental justice communities. The measure grew out of the Southeast Side Chicago fight against the General Iron scrap facility and creates a state office of environmental justice. Inside Climate News >

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Communities are still organizing for health care and reproductive rights, even as access is under attack.

South Fulton opens a 24-hour ER in a healthcare desert.
The city hosted a Men's Health Expo with free screenings for Black men in an area left without nearby emergency care since Atlanta Medical Center closed in 2022. Grady Health System opened a new 24-hour freestanding emergency department in Union City this month, with a $900 million hospital approved for the area. Capital B News >

Louisiana man becomes first in the Gulf South cured of sickle cell with gene therapy. Daniel Cressy, 23, rang the bell at a New Orleans children's hospital after CRISPR-based gene therapy made him the first patient in Louisiana and the Gulf South treated and declared free of sickle cell disease. The disease overwhelmingly affects Black Americans and has long been underfunded. Capital B News >

Organizers in Idaho, Nevada, and Virginia are putting abortion rights on the ballot. Canvassers in all three states are gathering signatures to place abortion-rights measures before voters in November. Truthout >

Illinois governor signs a law shielding abortion patients' medical records. The Reproductive Health Records Privacy Act, which keeps patients' electronic records on abortion and other reproductive care from being shared with out-of-state entities without consent, will go into effect on July 1, 2027. Capitol News Illinois >

Direct action is chipping away at the Trump administration’s war against immigrants.

ICE halts plans to open several immigration jails.
After sustained local organizing, ICE abandoned plans to build a detention center in Romulus, Michigan and will sell the property, along with seven other buildings bought to expand deportations. Organizers in Metro Detroit and New Jersey credited grassroots pressure. Truthout >

Judge orders a Palestinian American faith leader released from ICE detention. A federal judge ordered the release of Salah Sarsour, a Milwaukee mosque president detained by ICE in March, finding he had a substantial First Amendment retaliation claim tied to his pro-Palestinian advocacy. The release followed months of organizing by his family, faith community, and elected officials. Truthout >

A federal lawsuit against Los Angeles over its sanctuary ordinance was dismissed.
A federal judge threw out the Justice Department's lawsuit against Los Angeles, which had challenged the city's ordinance barring the use of local resources for immigration enforcement. Documented >

From the census to the statehouse to the rent board, organizing produced wins.

The Black Census Project launches its largest count yet.
Scalawag reported on the 2026 Black Census Project, which builds on a 2023 survey of 200,000 people, the largest survey of Black communities since Reconstruction, and aims for 300,000 this round. The piece centers Valdosta, Georgia, where organizing drove a 47 percent jump in voter turnout between 2022 and 2024. Scalawag >

Georgia Republicans cancel redistricting special session after protests.
Georgia GOP leaders called off a planned session to redraw the state's voting maps after demonstrations at the Capitol. Sen. Raphael Warnock and a coalition of civil rights, labor, and faith groups had argued the effort would dilute Black and brown voting power. Capital B News >

New York rent board freezes rent for about 1 million apartments.
New York City's Rent Guidelines Board voted 7–1 to approve a 0% increase for roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. It was the first rent freeze applied to two-year leases, taking effect for renewals starting October 1. Truthout >