Author: Dominique Rouge

  • Boston Mothers Who Have Lost Sons Speak Out Against Police Brutality

    Boston Mothers Who Have Lost Sons Speak Out Against Police Brutality

    Photos by Daniel Friedman In 2005, “Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome” was published by Dr. Joy DeGruy. Last Monday, Rahimah Rahim referenced DeGruy’s work as she spoke about the loss of her 26-year-old son, Usaamah, killed by members of the Boston Police Department in 2015.  “When we commit or we think we’re committing a negative act such as…

  • Boston Teens Gather to Talk Arts, Activism, and Social Change

    “‘Woke’ means to have a moral center. It’s the idea that you care about others. It’s to be selfless, and to think about people other than yourself,” said Alexis Maxwell, a junior at Boston Arts Academy, at a weekly Teen Council meeting hosted by the Boch Center. The Boch Center, a non-profit organization focused on…

  • New beginnings at ‘The Vagina Monologues’

    New beginnings at ‘The Vagina Monologues’

    Photo by Dominique Rouge This week, women across America performed The Vagina Monologues, a play that gives voice to several women’s accounts of sexual trauma. Since 1996, the play has sought to spark awareness for new narratives of female sexuality and empowerment.   A particularly notable performance took place at Haley House Bakery and Cafe,…

  • Sen. Markey Voices Support for Students Seeking Gun Control Laws

    On Tuesday morning, U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts announced the dawn of a “children’s crusade.” Speaking at a press conference in Hibernian Hall in Roxbury, with the organization Mothers for Justice and Equality, Markey noted the importance of students’ movements, in the wake of to a mass shooting of 17 high school students last…

  • Recovery is Real: Florette Willis and the future of Mental Health Advocacy

    On February 2, the mental health advocacy coalition Bringing Back Boston held a ceremony to honor Florette Willis at the Museum of Science. Willis serves as the first  Director of Diversity and Inclusivity for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Massachusetts. Willis’ goal  is to to expand the accessibility of mental health services in…

  • Badly Needed T Renovations Bogged Down by Backlog

    If the MBTA, Greater Boston’s public transit system, shut down for a year, the state would lose $11.4 billion. That amount would come from residents’ time lost travelling, their effort spent maintaining a car, and a rise in the number of injuries and fatalities. Yet the Massachusetts state budget only devoted $2.4 billion to transportation…

  • Inclusivity and Immediacy: The 2018 Cambridge-Boston Women’s March

    Inclusivity and Immediacy: The 2018 Cambridge-Boston Women’s March

      Lorraine Doyle has protested for women’s rights in Cambridge for 56 years. “For me, protesting is a lifelong event,” Doyle said. “It is every chance to go further with my cause. Women first, men second. They don’t like it, they can step aside. It’s time. That’s really how I feel. I am an arch-feminist…

  • Activists Protest Police Brutality On MLK Day

    Activists Protest Police Brutality On MLK Day

    It was clear who the veterans of the March for Justice were. They wore ski pants. On this freezing January 15th, a group of near-60 people marched from Grove Hall to Dudley Cafe. They chanted against police brutality. The third annual Martin Luther King March on Justice illustrated participants’ commitment to progress.   The volunteer…