Author: Douglas Yu
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GAMES OVER: Boston Olympics opponents reflect on the fight
On the same day the USOC announced that they decided to pull the bid for the Boston 2024 Olympics Games, No Boston 2024, a grassroots organization sent the public a newsletter, entitled “We won! But the fight continues.” “We were fighting the Olympics because we wanted a Boston that works for all residents, a city…
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HOMELESS MOBILIZR: Group connects the homeless with Internet access
In Harvard Square, the paths of the smartest students in the world cross every day the paths of those who spend day and night trying to find a place to stay safe and warm. “One thing that I was immediately struck by was the volume of homelessness on the street,” says Cindy Yang, a student…
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SOLIDARITY SOLDIERS: Boston group advocates for the traditionally marginalized
Nearly 60 years old, Cleve Rea never imagined he would become homeless until the moment he was laid off by a medical-device manufacturing company last year. The reason: two major angry outbursts. While many people expect to make a lot of money in software development, buy a decent car and take a couple of trips…
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MHSA Honors Rosenberg and Brunson for Tackling Homelessness
BOSTON, Mass.—State Senate Majority Leader, Stanley C. Rosenberg, and the Interim Clinical Coordinator at Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Richard Brunson, were honored for their outstanding contributions to reducing homelessness in Massachusetts at the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) annual meeting this year. “This year’s Canon Brian S. Kelley Public Servant Award is particularly a…
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Boston Residents Gather to Fight the City’s 2024 Olympic Bid
JAMAICA PLAIN, Mass.—On Nov. 24, the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain hosted a public meeting to organize against Boston’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. A group of about 40 local residents, both for and against the 2024 bid, were in attendance. Boston is one of the four finalists competing for selection by the…
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New City Commission on Black Men and Boys Comes to a Vote
BOSTON, Mass.—The founder of the New Democracy Coalition, Kevin C. Peterson, recently wrote an opinion piece in the Boston Herald giving Boston’s officials a red flag. “The status of black and Latino men and boys must become one of the city’s priorities,” Peterson said. “If it doesn’t, we are just kicking the can further down…
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New Report Says Challenges Remain Despite Decrease in Homelessness
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Since 2013, more homeless people have been living in permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing than emergency shelters across the country, according to a new report released by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. This shift is largely due to the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, a bill that…
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Gentrification in Chinatown Raises Demand for Affordable Housing
CHINATOWN, Mass.—“It has long been gentrified,” A Chinatown resident exclaimed with a heavy sigh as he walked toward his apartment in Tai Tung Village, one of the early housing projects for low-income Chinatown residents. Tai Tung Village is a gray, medium-sized high-rise surrounded by other rundown-looking apartments. A family of four only needs to pay…
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Chinese Progressive Association Rallies to Demand Affordable Housing
BOSTON, Mass.—As part of the affordable housing movement, a reaction to the City of Boston’s rocketing rental prices, the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) rallied in Dorchester today to shine a light on those who have been evicted. The backdrop of the rally was an ill-painted white duplex, half of which is empty. This a Federal…
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Somerville Reforms Immigration by Withdrawing from Secure Communities Program
SOMERVILLE, Mass.—Mayor Joe Curtatone took historic steps toward the protection of undocumented immigrants on when he signed an executive order to withdraw the city from Secure Communities, a program enacted by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) two years ago to remove undocumented immigrants who pose a threat to public safety. “[The program] is a…