Category: Social Justice
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Mothers for Justice and Equality Takes on Gun Violence
ROXBURY, Mass.—On 2 September 2010, someone gunned down 18-year-old Eric Smith on Blue Hill Ave. in Roxbury. The very next day, Eric’s aunt, Monalisa Smith, vowed to the Boston Herald that “those who are out there committing these crimes will understand the devastation they’re causing.” While nearly four years have passed and police have yet…
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City Council Commission Addresses Issues Facing Black Men and Boys
BOSTON, Mass.—Boston’s city council saw two bills introduced for discussion this year about issues that concern black youth, both of which passed with ease this February. Councilors Michael Flaherty and Tito Jackson led the discussion with more than 60 black residents from all over the city during a hearing at Madison Park High School in…
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Infrastructure Inequality: The Battle to Fix the Long Island Bridge
Outside of Woods-Mullen Shelter, just down the street from Boston Medical Center, sits a large, cage-like structure. A fence runs down the middle, creating two chain-link hallways. On a windy Boston afternoon, people in hoodies, sweatpants, ball caps and shades gather there, some huddled together, others standing and talking or smoking, many clinging to the…
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From Tacoma to Texas, Hunger Strikers Challenge Private Immigration Detention Centers
CONROE, Texas—Adelina Cáceres doesn’t understand why her husband, David Vásquez, who is a documented resident, remains detained at the privately run Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, Texas, as a result of a prior charge he already served time for years ago. “Why do they call him a criminal?” Cáceres asked as she sobbed during…
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Cambridge Considers Adding More Public Porcelain
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—We have all been there: You are out on a Sunday afternoon, minding your own business, when suddenly … nature calls. Hopefully you are near a public restroom when it happens, or a business that allows the public to use its facilities. However, most shops ask you to buy something before using the bathroom,…
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Fashion for Freedom Raises Money to Combat Sex Trafficking
On Friday, February 21, the first ever benefit show hosted by Fashion For Freedom, a group that focuses on raising awareness for victims of sex trafficking, was held at Simmons College in Boston. Ayana Auborg, 19, and Adebukola Ajao, 19, are both students of the Colleges of the Fenway, a network of six neighboring Boston-based…
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America’s Segregated Healthcare System
It has been almost 149 years since the American Civil War ended, and although progress has been made in the land of the free and the home of the brave, secession still has a peculiar way of revealing itself. The United for a Fair Economy’s (UFE) 11th annual State of the Dream report, entitled “Healthcare…