Kiran Misra
As seen in:
Medium,
MSN,
The Startup,
The Guardian,
Harvard University,
Newsweek,
U.S. News and World Report,
SAGE Publishing,
Slate,
Miami Herald
and
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Kiran Misra
PLAP Open House - Harvard Law School
Join us in the PLAP office to learn more about the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project and chat informally with some amazing current PLAPpers who would love to tell you about their experience! Food will be provided! You can also fill out our interest form here for more information.
The Social Structure of Private Donations to Police
In the past few decades, local governments have increasingly turned to private donations to sustain their funding (Brecher and Wise 2008; Gazley, Cheng, and Lafontant 2018; Nelson and Gazley 2014; Schatteman and Bingle 2015; Smith 2010). These donations have the potential to give private actors outsized influence over public policy while also incentivizing quid pro quo arrangements between donors and public agencies (Cordelli 2022).
Ultra-low complexity neural networks for next generation video decoding
Video compression enables the transmission of video content at low rates and high qualities to our customers. In this paper, we consider the problem of embedding a neural network directly into a video decoder. This requires a design capable of operating at latencies low enough to decode tens to hundreds of high-resolution images per second. And, additionally, a network with a complexity suitable for implementation on mobile and power constrained devices.
Super-resolution video coding with additional residual data coding
Super-resolution video coding describes the process of coding video at lower resolution and upsampling the result. This process is included in the AV1 standard, which ensures the same super-resolution process is employed on all receiving devices. Regrettably, the design is limited to horizontal scaling with a maximum scale factor of two. In this paper, we analyze the benefit of enabling two-dimensional upsampling with larger scale factors.
Reduced complexity multiscale CNN for in-loop video restoration
Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have shown promising improvements in video coding efficiency when included in traditional block-based codecs as a loop filter. Unfortunately, these coding gains are often accompanied by significant increases in complexity, measured by the number of multiply-accumulate (MAC) operations, that make them intractable in practice. As a result, there is considerable interest in reducing complexity for these CNN-based approaches.
Multiscale convolutional neural networks for in-loop video restoration
The Amazon Search team creates powerful, customer-focused search solutions and technologies. Whenever a customer visits an Amazon site worldwide and types in a query or browses through product categories, Amazon Search services go to work. We design, develop, and deploy high performance, fault-tolerant distributed search systems used by millions of Amazon customers every day. We’re seeking a Principal Scientist with a deep expertise in Search Science.
“Redemption on the Cheap”: Will Anti-Asian Hate Crime Legislation Work?
It’s like your other email briefings. But Browner. Join thousands and get the best newsletter that curates the global news on South Asia(ns) every Sunday.
‘What difference would that make?’
click to enlarge Data from the People's Budget Chicago Anna Jo Beck Since 2010, Chicago aldermen have been using participatory budgeting to give ward residents a say in how some of the money in their ward will be spent.
Sharone Mitchell Jr. on Coming “Home” – South Side Weekly
In March, the Cook County Board unanimously voted to confirm Sharone Mitchell Jr. as the county’s new public defender. Mitchell, the former director of the Illinois Justice Project, had previously worked for the public defender’s office for six years as a trial attorney handling misdemeanor, felony, and civil cases. A Chicago native, Mitchell attended Morgan Park High School and worked at Cabrini Green Legal Aid while at DePaul Law School.
How suburban influence defeated a resolution to condemn the Indian government
click to enlarge Big G Media / Unsplash The first public comment at February’s City Council meeting wasn’t about vaccine access, or the Office of Inspector General report on the Chicago Police Department’s brutality during last summer’s protests, or even the mayor’s decision to ease business capacity and social distancing restrictions while the pandemic raged.
How suburban influence defeated a resolution to condemn the Indian government
The first public comment at February’s City Council meeting wasn’t about vaccine access, or the Office of Inspector General report on the Chicago Police Department’s brutality during last summer’s protests, or even the mayor’s decision to ease business capacity and social distancing restrictions while the pandemic raged. First was Nirmala Reddy, who spoke against Resolution R2020-583, which would recognize India’s Independence Day and condemn human rights abuses in the country.
Mass Incarceration Draws Its Own Maps and Creates a Country in Its Image
In 2008, a man named Danny Young received just two votes for his candidacy to the City Council in Anamosa, Iowa: one from his wife and one from his neighbor. Both were write-ins, but he still won handily.
Chicago's Decision To Jail People During COVID-19 Fueled Death And Trauma
This article has been published in partnership with South Side Weekly and was supported by Shadowproof’s Marvel Cooke Reporting Fellowship. A few days before Easter, Karl Battiste called his daughter Karla with a headache. He wasn’t feeling well and was worried about the spread of COVID-19 in Chicago’s Cook County Jail, where he was incarcerated at the time.
Death to the Inspirational News Story
Earlier this month, Alondra Carmona, a high school student in Houston, learned that her mother had been laid off from her job at the Port of Houston. Her mother had kept the layoff a secret from her daughters for months, not wanting to worry them, but now the family was behind on rent and facing eviction. Carmona was a senior in high school and had been admitted to Barnard College with a scholarship.
'A death sentence': US prisons could receive Covid vaccines last despite being hotspots
© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: David Madison/Getty Images In January, over 39,000 people detained across America became the first incarcerated recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine in the United States.
¿Los reos deberían tener acceso temprano a la vacuna del covid-19? Illinois dice “sí"
Este artículo, publicado originalmente en inglés por Injustice Watch, está disponible en español gracias al proyecto “Traduciendo las noticias de Chicago”, del Instituto de Noticias Sin Fines de Lucro (INN). La cárcel del condado de Cook se convirtió en un epicentro nacional de Covid-19 al principio de la pandemia, con cientos de oficiales correccionales y personas privadas de libertad que dieron positivo.
South Asian Americans Tap Into Their Community To Kickstart Their Political Careers
New York, NY - JULY 21: Suraj Patel, who is challenging the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, in the Democratic primary for NY states 12th US Congressional seat, speaks with voters at Sunny & Annies Gourmet Deli at 94 Avenue B in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. (Photo by William Mebane/ for The Washington Post via Getty Images) Suraj Patel’s 2020 campaign website featured three ads: one in English, one in Spanish and one in Gujarati.
Illinois says incarcerated should get early COVID-19 vaccine
Illinois says incarcerated should get early COVID-19 vaccine CHICAGO — Cook County Jail emerged as a national COVID-19 hotspot early in the pandemic, with hundreds of correctional officers and incarcerated people testing positive. As the virus continued to spread, incarcerated people repeatedly campaigned for better protections. Relief could now be in sight.
Illinois Says Incarcerated Should Get Early COVID-19 Vaccine
By KIRAN MISRA of Injustice Watch CHICAGO (AP) — Cook County Jail emerged as a national COVID-19 hotspot early in the pandemic, with hundreds of correctional officers and incarcerated people testing positive. As the virus continued to spread, incarcerated people repeatedly campaigned for better protections. Relief could now be in sight. Staff at Cook County Jail will began receiving vaccinations Wednesday, and detained people will soon follow, according to Cook County Health officials.
Should incarcerated people get early access to Covid-19 vaccines? Illinois says 'yes.'
Cook County Jail emerged as a national Covid-19 hotspot early in the pandemic, with hundreds of correctional officers and incarcerated people testing positive. As the virus continued to spread, incarcerated people repeatedly campaigned for better protections. Relief could now be in sight. Staff at Cook County Jail will begin receiving vaccinations Wednesday, and detained people will soon follow, according to Cook County Health officials.
How to Survive Your First Year as a Freelancer
Here’s what I learned in my first year and how you can do better! 2020 was my first year getting paid to do journalism. This year, I have seen an abundance of advice for journalists, probably vastly outpacing the desire for it. These include misconceptions that you need to work in a newsroom to build up your network of editors before going freelance (I didn’t) or that you need a degree in journalism to do it (I also didn’t).
The Biden FCC Needs to Tackle Exorbitant Jail and Prison Call Prices
Anthony Alvarez, age 82, talks on the phone to his 80-year-old sister at California Men’s Colony prison on Dec. 20, 2013, in San Luis Obispo, California. Andrew Burton/Getty Images This article is part of the Future Agenda, a series from Future Tense in which experts suggest specific, forward-looking actions the new Biden administration should implement. As the world has turned to videoconferencing in the pandemic, communications in and out of jails and prisons have, too, gone virtual.
How to Survive Your First Year as a Freelancer
Here’s what I learned in my first year and how you can do better! 2020 was my first year getting paid to do journalism. This year, I have seen an abundance of advice for journalists, probably vastly outpacing the desire for it. At the same time, I receive a lot of questions about what you actually have to do in order to make freelance journalism work.
Our Communities Don't Need To Prove Our Worth To White Supremacists
When people in marginalized communities try to prove our “worth” to white supremacists, it’s a time-consuming distraction from the real work ahead of us.
Diwali in the Time of Covid-19 Offers a Chance for Introspection, Celebration
After a long, hard year, the Festival of Lights is a welcome reset Photo: India Photography/Getty Images After an exhausting year dominated by a pandemic and an equally tiring election cycle rife with racist and xenophobic attacks, a weekend of new beginnings and celebration feels overdue. Enter Diwali. Also known in the West as the Festival of Lights, this celebration will be observed this year by millions of Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists on Saturday, November 14.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Make History for Women, South Asian American, Black Voters
Election 2020 A supporter holds a sign while listening to Kamala Harris, Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, speaks at a “Get Out The Vote” rally at Morehouse College on October 23, 2020, in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo: ELIJAH NOUVELAGE/AFP/Getty Images South Asian Americans make up around 2% of the American population and comprise an even smaller percent of registered voters in the United States.
How Cook County Jail Became the Country’s First Jail-Based Polling Place
Many incarcerated people have the right to vote, but steep barriers can make it nearly impossible. In Cook County, Illinois, that’s starting to change. By Kiran Misra Jonathan Manning voted for the first time this October, heading to the polls early to cast his vote. His experience was pretty typical for a voter in Cook County, Illinois. He registered at the polling site, filled out his ballot, and fed it into the ballot machine.
Should Protesters be Prosecuted? Foxx and O’Brien Differ – South Side Weekly
In December 2016, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx was tasked with leading the second-largest prosecutor’s office in the country. The first African-American woman to hold the office, she promised to be a progressive prosecutor, one of a wave of similar district attorneys (DAs) and state’s attorneys across the country.
A Day in Delhi's Resettlement Colonies
Story By Image by Kiran Misra. India, 2019.
How Nikki Haley Rose Through Republican Ranks
President Donald J. Trump and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley arrive Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, to the UN Headquarters in New York City, where they participated in the Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead) At both the Democratic and Republication National Conventions, Indian American identity has been front and center.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Presidential Ticket Isn’t Unilaterally Embraced by South Asians
Some are proud. Some are not. Here’s how identity politics play out.
'Indian Matchmaking' on Netflix Avoids Discussing Caste, Class, and Color
Radhika and Akshay in “Indian Matchmaking.” Photo: Netflix My roommates in Rome, co-workers in Washington, D.C., and friends in New Delhi all have something to say about Netflix’s new reality series, which pulls back the curtain on a facet of arranged marriages in India and the South Asian diaspora, matchmaking.
#NoCopAcademy and the Movement to Defund the Police
How youth organizers in Chicago laid the groundwork for contemporary calls to defund the police By Kiran Misra On July 3, 2017, former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a plan for the construction of a new “public safety training facility” on the west side of the city, a $95 million expenditure toward what was already one of the most well-funded police operations in the country.
My Fellow Asian Americans, We Need to Stand in Solidarity With Black Lives Matter
Three and a half years ago, Sunayana Dumala posted a pained question on Facebook: “Do we belong here?” Days before, Dumala’s husband, Srinivas Kuchibhotla, had been shot and killed as the victim of a racially motivated hate crime. Dumala and Kuchibhotla had immigrated to the United States from India years earlier.
Britain’s Forgotten Immigrants
Indian troops wait in base as they prepare to leave, during WWI. (Imperial War Museum Archives, London) As a child standing in London’s Brick Lane, I recall staring up at the street signs when something caught my eye. The white background illuminated the familiar wavy forms of Bengali letters — lettering that belonged to the confines of my home, on my mother’s books, on newspapers in cardboard tubes that delivered headlines from Bangladesh, expired by the time they arrived.
‘Filling out the census is like wearing a mask’
click to enlarge Unsplash / United Nations "If your aim is to see your neighbors die, don't fill out the census," census researcher Andrew Reamer tells those who have asked him how important the census is over the last few months. In the middle of a pandemic, he says, the stakes have never been higher for census completion. "In a way, in a very strong way, filling out the census is like wearing a mask in public. It has the same kind of impact.
Most of the people arrested at the protests were Black
An analysis of 2,172 detainments raises questions about CPD claims of equitable policing practices. By Kiran Misra @kiranamisra click to enlarge Brooke Hummer The weekend after George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, like in hundreds of other cities across the country, protests against police brutality swept Chicago.
Most of the people arrested at the protests were Black
The weekend after George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, like in hundreds of other cities across the country, protests against police brutality swept Chicago. Thousands marched downtown and in neighborhoods across the city to demand justice not only for Floyd, but for the thousands of people, especially Black Americans harmed by police in every corner of the United States.
Pramila Jayapal Goes Against the Grain
Lawmakers, community organizations, and unions — including Pramila Jayapal — gathered in 2017 on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol to voice concerns about the Trump administration’s budget. (AFGE) In 1982, when Congressperson Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) arrived in Washington, D.C., for college at Georgetown University, she realized that many of her peers had never met someone like her.
The Complicated, Vital Work of Helping Domestic Violence Survivors in a Pandemic
In our series What It’s Like, we chat with people from different backgrounds about how their life has changed as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. In this installment, we speak with Neha Gill, the executive director of Apna Ghar, a Chicago-based organization working to end gender-based violence, about how she and her colleagues are supporting domestic violence survivors during the current health crisis. Her answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.
"Leaving People in the Jail Is Leaving People to Die" – South Side Weekly
After significant reductions in the Cook County Jail population, which reached a record low of 4,026 at the height of the pandemic, the number of people in jail is once again on the rise after the protests and arrests of the last few weeks. Currently, 4,524 people are awaiting trial or serving out sentences in the jail, which remains a hotspot for coronavirus transmission in the city.
The Jews of India
Because of their light skin and willingness to go on the stage, Jewish Bollywood stars such as Nadira (Florence Ezekiel) — pictured on right — ruled the silent era. (Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival/Shalom Bollywood) Rahel Musleah was 6 years old when she immigrated with her parents to the U.S. It was Philadelphia, 1964, and, like most Indian immigrants, she experienced the usual culture shock: bad food, uninformed locals, a less-familiar tongue.
The Jews of India
Because of their light skin and willingness to go on the stage, Jewish Bollywood stars such as Nadira (Florence Ezekiel) — pictured on right — ruled the silent era. (Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival/Shalom Bollywood) Rahel Musleah was 6 years old when she immigrated with her parents to the U.S. It was Philadelphia, 1964, and, like most Indian immigrants, she experienced the usual culture shock: bad food, uninformed locals, a less-familiar tongue.
How the Pandemic Fueled the Fight Against Anti-Asian Racism: 'Our Work Doesn't Stop'
In our series What It’s Like, we chat with people from different backgrounds about how their life has changed as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. In this installment, we speak to Andrea Chu, the Chicago and Midwest Regional organizer for Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago about how she’s working to prepare Asian Americans and allies alike for the current wave of anti-Asian racism and violence. Her answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Nordic Noir Might Be TV's Next Big Thing
When we make lists of iconic TV cop duos, they’re probably topped by names like Peralta and Santiago (Brooklyn 99), Schrader and Gomez (Breaking Bad), Benson and Stabler (Law & Order: SVU), or Schmidt and Jenko (21 Jump Street). Maybe Holmes and Watson make the cut for the Anglophiles among us, or Cagney and Lacey top the list for traditionalists.
The Contradictions of a Progressive Police Chief
Newly-appointed CPD Superintendent David Brown left a complicated legacy in Dallas. Will he have his second chance in Chicago? By Kiran Misra This story was originally published by the South Side Weekly. Reprinted with permission. In July 2016, when five police officers were killed by a sniper at a protest in Dallas, the city’s then-police chief David Brown rose to the national spotlight for his call for unity in a difficult time.
Democracy by Mail
Story By A mail-in ballot. Image by CL Shebley / Shutterstock. United States, 2018. With a presidential election looming in November, state legislatures and activists have taken the lead implementing mail-in voting systems to protect voters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporting Fellow alum Kiran Misra writes for Belt Magazine about the challenges behind these measures, and how mail-in voting affects marginalized communities across the Midwest.
Tracing the Roots of Torture – South Side Weekly
In The Torture Letters: Reckoning with Police Violence, Laurence Ralph pens twenty-one open letters to a variety of recipients—dead, alive, and anonymous.
The South Asian Americans Left Behind
Chicago’s Devon Avenue corridor has long been the Midwestern city’s South Asian hub. (Steve Browne & John Verkleir) Ten miles north of Chicago landmarks such as “The Bean,” Michigan Avenue, and Navy Pier is Devon Avenue, the city’s South Asian American hub. It’s the best place within a couple hundred miles to sample sugar cane juice, snack on mithai sold by the pound, stock up on namkeen and frozen parathas, and buy a lehenga — all in the span of one block.
The South Asian Americans Left Behind
Chicago’s Devon Avenue corridor has long been the Midwestern city’s South Asian hub. (Steve Browne & John Verkleir) Ten miles north of Chicago landmarks such as “The Bean,” Michigan Avenue, and Navy Pier is Devon Avenue, the city’s South Asian American hub. It’s the best place within a couple hundred miles to sample sugar cane juice, snack on mithai sold by the pound, stock up on namkeen and frozen parathas, and buy a lehenga — all in the span of one block.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Kiran
Contact Kiran, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack