Multimedia Editor / Pop Culture Blogger
Los Angeles, CA
Jorge Rivas is multimedia editor and pop culture blogger for Colorlines.com. A firm believer in the power of visual communications to inform and move people into action, Jorge uses multimedia presentations to help readers build stronger connections to stories. Jorge has covered the public housing crisis in a post-Katrina New Orleans, the effects of deportation on families, and brought live images of the President Obama's inauguration to Colorlines.com readers.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Jorge started in broadcast as an intern at the age of 16 and since worked in the entertainment industry and on international advertising campaigns. Jorge received his B.A. in Raza Studies from San Francisco State University where he studied immigration, healthcare perspectives and the interrelationship of culture, community, and the internet. Prior to joining Applied Research Center (ARC) and Colorlines.com in 2005, Rivas worked on a living wage campaign in Brooklyn, NY through the Minority Activist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP).
Jorge uses his media and ethnic studies background to deconstruct representation of people of color in pop culture, illustrating how pop culture can shape opinions, perceptions and even public policy. Jorge's work has appeared on Elle.com, Essence.com, Racialicious, The Root, Alternet, and Feministing.
Check out Jorge's media appearances here.
Follow Jorge on Twitter at @thisisjorge.
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Interactive
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NYPD Officers Shoot and Kill Three Black Men in One Week
by Jorge Rivas on February 3 2012, 1:46PM
Ramarley Graham, 18, was shot and killed by a NYPD officer yesterday. It’s the third times NYPD shoots and kills a young male this week.
Topics: Criminal Justice, /NOW Blog
by Jorge Rivas on February 3 2012, 12:22PM
“Planned Parenthood thanks each and every person who has contributed to elevating the importance of breast cancer prevention for so many women in need.”
Topics: /NOW Blog, Planned Parenthood
Collection of ‘Planned Parenthood Saved Me’ Stories on Tumblr
by Jorge Rivas on February 3 2012, 12:10PM
Check out this Tumblr that includes stories submitted by “women whose lives were saved or changed because they had access to affordable healthcare like cancer screenings though Planned Parenthood.”
Topics: /NOW Blog, Planned Parenthood
Komen’s Sorry, Planned Parenthood ‘Probably Eligible’ For Funds
by Jorge Rivas on February 3 2012, 11:07AM
Brinker said the entire Komen drops Planned Parenthood controversy is a “mischaracterization” because they “still have three grants they are committed to at least another year through the end of the grant cycle.”
Topics: /NOW Blog, Planned Parenthood
![Santorum Puts a Black Church to Sleep [Photo]](http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2012/02/santorum-puts-black-church-to-sleep-thumb-120x120-5196.jpg)
Santorum Puts a Black Church to Sleep [Photo]
by Jorge Rivas on February 3 2012, 10:29AM
An amazing moment captured by a New York Times photographer.
![Sometimes Even The President Needs a Hug [Slideshow]](http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2012/02/obama-hug-feb-thumb-120x120-5195.jpg)
Sometimes Even The President Needs a Hug [Slideshow]
by Jorge Rivas on February 3 2012, 7:59AM
Only 46% of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing as President but chances are a lot more people will approve of this slideshow of the President getting hugs.
Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog
Spoof Site Pokes Fun at The Economist’s Almost All White Staff
by Jorge Rivas on February 2 2012, 6:18PM
Take a look at “The Economist” staff.
Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog
Report: NYPD Document Tells Cops to Consider Religion When Policing
by Jorge Rivas on February 2 2012, 4:59PM
A document obtained by the AP stands in contrast to statements by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said the NYPD never considers religion in its policing.
Topics: Criminal Justice, National Security, /NOW Blog
Tucson Youth Group Hosts Their Own Chicano Studies Classes
by Jorge Rivas on February 2 2012, 4:20PM
Organizers from UNIDOS, a youth group that opposes the Mexican-American studies ban that went in to effect January 1st in Tucson, have started organizing their own ethnic studies classes.
Topics: Immigration, /NOW Blog, Schools & Youth
![Ameena Matthews Tells Colbert Why It's Important to Save Black Lives in Chicago[Video]](http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2012/02/interruptors2-colbert-thumb-120x120-5184.jpg)
Ameena Matthews Tells Colbert Why It’s Important to Save Black Lives in Chicago[Video]
by Jorge Rivas on February 2 2012, 3:41PM
Ameena Matthews, one of the “violence interrupters” who works with Chicago-based anti-violence group CeaseFire, was a guest on the “Colbert Report” Wednesday night and held her ground firm in the interview.
Topics: /NOW Blog
Komen Official Resigns, Site Hacked, Planned Parenthood Surges
by Jorge Rivas on February 2 2012, 12:38PM
The hackers re-designed a Komen banner ad that promoted its marathon to read “Help us run over poor women on our way to the bank.”
Topics: /NOW Blog, Planned Parenthood
Undocumented Teen Left Orphaned After Florida Pileup Crash Can Stay In U.S.
by Jorge Rivas on February 2 2012, 10:30AM
ICE said Wednesday that an undocumented teen who was injured and lost her immediate family in Sunday’s multivehicle wreck in Florida will not face deportation.
Topics: Immigration, /NOW Blog
Rinku Sen Appears on ‘Nightline’ to Talk Families Separated By Deportations
by Jorge Rivas on February 2 2012, 8:06AM
An estimated 15,000 U.S.-born children will face the threat of permanent separation from their families in the next five years as their immigrant parents move through detention and deportation. Watch Rinku Sen explain the problem on ABC’s “Nightline.”
Topics: Arts & Culture, Colorlines Press, /NOW Blog
Hazing Ruled Not the Cause of Chinese-American Marine’s Suicide
by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 4:12PM
A Hawaii-based Marine pleads guilty to assault in hazing case, gets 30 days in jail, lower rank.
Topics: Criminal Justice, /NOW Blog
‘Precious’ Director Lee Daniels Gets Into Race Argument on Set of New Movie [Video]
by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 2:50PM
TMZ has obtained footage of Lee getting in to some sort of verbal disagreement with producer Avi Lerner in which they both accuse each other of being racist.
Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog
![Why Komen's Decision to Pull Funding Is So Deadly [Infographic]](http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2012/02/mammogram-black-screen-thumb-120x120-5170.png)
Why Komen’s Decision to Pull Funding Is So Deadly [Infographic]
by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 2:21PM
African-American women are more likely than all other women to die from breast cancer.
![Mel Gibson's 'Get The Gringo' (aka My Summer in a Mexican Jail) Gets a Trailer [Video]](http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2012/02/mel-gibson-gringo-thumb-120x120-5169.jpg)
Mel Gibson’s ‘Get The Gringo’ (aka My Summer in a Mexican Jail) Gets a Trailer [Video]
by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 1:20PM
The movie, formerly titled “How I Spent My Summer Vacation,” is about a career criminal who crashes his car into the border wall while trying to escape the U.S. Border Patrol.
Topics: Arts & Culture, /NOW Blog
![South Korean Pop Group Girl's Generation Make U.S. Television Debut [Video]](http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2012/02/k-pop-girls-revolution-thumb-120x120-5168.jpg)
South Korean Pop Group Girl’s Generation Make U.S. Television Debut [Video]
by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 1:02PM
Industry insiders say the record labels behind the pop group are eying the U.S. market.
Topics: /NOW Blog
University of Alabama Economist Study Says HB 56 Will Cost State $2.3 billion and 70k Jobs
by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 12:27PM
A new study from economist Dr. Samuel Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, provides evidence that “HB 56 has been, and will continue to be an economic disaster for the state of Alabama.”
Topics: Immigration, /NOW Blog
Gingrich’s Rick Tyler Says Democrats “Abort Black Babies” [Video]
by Jorge Rivas on February 1 2012, 11:05AM
Rick Tyler, Newt Gingrich’s former communications director who now runs his Sheldon Adelson-funded SuperPac, was a guest on “The Rachel Maddow Show” yesterday and claimed Democrats “abort black babies” and said that African Americans children need the movie “Red Tails” because they don’t have any positive role models in their lives.
Topics: Newt Gingrich, /NOW Blog, Politics
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