Spare Change News

Category: Human Rights

  • Inmate Spends Ten Days in solitary Confinement to Protest Lack of Clean Water

    Wayland Coleman, an inmate at MCI-Norfolk — a prison that has been under scrutiny for inaction regarding its dirty and potentially harmful water — spent ten days in solitary confinement late March for attempting to distribute bottled water he had purchased to fellow prisoners. Coleman, who has been working alongside prisoner advocates to help quell…

  • Children’s March Urges Gov. Baker to Strengthen Legal Protections for Immigrant Families

    On Thursday, April 19, 2018, the Essex County Community Organization (ECCO) lead the  Children’s March at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. The march was organized to protest federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies that target immigrant families. Marchers gathered at the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial in the Boston Common, with children directly affected…

  • Poor People’s Campaign Plans 40 Days of Non-Violent Protest

    More than 450 people met in Quincy for the Mass. Meeting of the Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign on Friday, April 6. Savina Martin, a long time activist who is one of three co-chairs of the Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign, opened up the meeting, calling on people to raise their voices “to say enough is enough…

  • Salvadoran Deportations: U.S. Rejects Refugees From Country it Helped Destabilize

    Salvadoran Deportations: U.S. Rejects Refugees From Country it Helped Destabilize

    Carrying a red plastic bag containing an old pair of shoes and a few other belongings, David Antonio Pérez arrives in El Salvador, deported from the United States. David Antonio, 42, is a divorced father of two who has lived in the U.S. for a total of 12 years. He has spent five years in…

  • Housing Justice Activists Rally to Support Jim Brooks Act and Keep Tenants From Eviction

    Over 150 people took to the streets of Roxbury on Saturday, March 17 to stand in solidarity with tenants facing eviction in the area, and to urge a state house vote on the Jim Brooks Act which would potentially curb housing displacement in Boston. Despite the rally’s large attendance and political support, the Massachusetts General…

  • As ICE deports higher numbers of Asian immigrants, a Dorchester family is left without a mother

    As ICE deports higher numbers of Asian immigrants, a Dorchester family is left without a mother

    Robert Sparks with his and Nhan’s three children. Photo: Anna Bloxham Robert Sparks and his wife Nhan, a green card holder and native of Vietnam, left their Dorchester home to attend a meeting with ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement – at an office in Burlington, Massachusetts on October 2. This was one of several…

  • Trump Policies Front and Center at Immigration Roundtable Hosted by MIRA

    As the federal government looks to admit fewer refugees than ever in the country’s history, the Massachusetts Immigrant & Action Coalition (MIRA) hosted a roundtable discussion on the topic on Monday, Feb. 5. The discussion was part of a national movement known as We Are All America, which works to build more inclusive communities while…

  • Trump’s Record on LGBT Rights: Abhorrent, Unprecedented

    After his first year in office, President Donald Trump’s record on LGBT rights and protections fairs far worse than his predecessors, a new report finds. The report from The Fenway Institute, an education, research, training and policy center in Boston focused on access to health for traditionally underserved communities, states that the Trump administration “has…

  • Left Behind: Families of Refugees Wait in Limbo

    Left Behind: Families of Refugees Wait in Limbo

    Wahid Haider talks about his son’s departure to Italy almost seven years ago without regret or hesitation. Haider has not seen Nayeem, now 30 years old, since he left Nankar in search of better economic prospects, travelling through Romania, where he spent several months, before entering Italy. Wahid, a former chair of a Union Parishad…

  • Healthcare Advocates Slam Proposed Insurance Rule

    The federal Department of Labor is proposing a rule that critics say would allow the sale of what some call “junk” health insurance. Published in the Federal Register last week, the rule would loosen restrictions on Association Health Plans, offered by professional groups or other associations to their members. The Labor Department said the purpose…