It started with a relatively small action: A black felt armband worn to her Texas grade school as part of a nationwide protest against the Vietnam War. Cecile Richards was only 13 at the time, and it was her first big leap into the resistance. As a result of her act of rebellion, she was…
Advocates Fear More Discrimination After Masterpiece Cake Ruling
Civil rights advocates fear the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case will encourage more attempted discrimination against LGBT people. By a 7-2 margin, the court ruled that the cake shop owner had not received an impartial hearing at the Colorado Civil Rights Commission over his refusal on religious grounds to make a wedding…
Boston Jobs Coalition Decries Economic Disparity in Boston
The Boston Jobs Coalition held a press briefing on Wednesday, May 30, to begin their Campaign for Wealth and Income Now, which seeks to help residents stay afloat in a city with an ever-rising cost of living. The campaign — lead by a score of advocacy groups such as City Life/Vida Urbana, the Black Economic…
Panel calls for system to hold bad police officers accountable
Activists and members of the legislature are looking to setup a licensure process to hold cops accountable in Massachusetts if they are found guilty of misconduct. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice and the ACLU of Massachusetts hosted a panel on the topic on Monday, May 21, and cited reasons a Peace…
What Comes After Trump? Lots of work.
I was scanning through news stories the other day when I came across a really sad and horrible story. In Florida, a black family was awarded a measly four dollars in damages in a wrongful death suit after a deputy shot the father through a garage door—his own garage door, by the way—because of a…
Puerto Rico: Forgotten by the United States
Since its annexation, the U.S. government has not given Puerto Rico enough support. The United States have looked the other way when Puerto Rico was governed by corrupt leaders with the support- or should I say non-support- of our country. As Stephen Kinzer noted in a recent Boston Globe piece, the history of Puerto Rico…
Boston Resists Trump’s Domestic Gag Rule
Boston City Hall Plaza was a sea of pink on Tuesday, May 24, where protesters gathered outside the regional office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to speak out against President Trump’s proposed domestic gag rule. The rule, submitted last week, takes direct aim at Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health organizations…
Panel analyzes ways to increase opportunities through wages and social programs
A report outlining the effects of social programs and removing barriers for low-income individuals and families was discussed at a recent panel discussion hosted by Action for Boston Community Development in Dorchester. The “Obstacles on the Road to Opportunity” report, sponsored by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and Massachusetts Association for Community Action, concluded…
Killed, Abducted, Imprisoned: The Journalists Who Challenge Criminals and Corrupt Governments Around the Globe
Despite a surprising down turn in the number of journalists killed, press freedom across the world continues to be under threat. Scarp de’ tenis looked at recent findings from Reporters Without Borders and talks about two recent cases in which journalists were killed simply for doing their jobs. Being a journalist can be quite dangerous,…
David Tennant: ‘I was told acting was a daft idea.’
In this letter to his younger self, ex-Doctor, Jessica Jones villain and Broadchurch star David Tennant looks back on life, loss and cracking the big time in acting I didn’t really enjoy adolescence; I was always aware that I was waiting for adulthood to start. I found the lack of control over your own affairs…