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Category Archives: Civil Rights

Springfield Police George Floyd

Analysis: Springfield, at Its Own Complex Moment, Protests Floyd Killing…

SPRINGFIELD—A crowd of thousands wedged themselves into relatively narrow Pearl Street between Police Headquarters and the old armory fence that now hems in Springfield Technical Community College. They were there to protest police brutality and demand reforms to end the systemic racism that contributed to

Springfield

Take My Council, Please: To Face Brave New Worlds…

UPDATED 3:15PM: To include apparent confirmation the mayor supports the bill. SPRINGFIELD—After months of debate and false starts, the City Council approved a moratorium of sorts on the city’s use of facial recognition software. After a marathon session at the last meeting, the body set

The Pioneer Valley Women Bring the March to Springfield…

SPRINGFIELD—It may have been the largest New England city without a Women’s March in 2017, but this year Springfield hosted the Pioneer Valley chapter of the nationwide, intersectional women-led movement. After three years in Northampton, last Saturday the local Women’s March held its first event,

Michaelann

Bending the Arc of a City’s Moral Universe: Michaelann Bewsee 1947-2019…

Injustice had no greater foe in the City of Springfield than Michaelann Bewsee. After co-founding what would become the city’s feistiest community organization, Arise for Social Justice, Bewsee contributed to innumerable battles for equality and fairness. She embraced the city’s cultural mosaic without losing sight

Briefings: Scholarship in Memory of Dave Vigneault Announced…

UPDATED 5/20/19 10:08AM: To clarify that the scholarship is for Springfield residents. Friends and family of the late Dave Vigneault, a former state representative and mentor to pols and activists, have laid out plans to carry on his legacy. On Friday, they announced a scholarship

Interfaith Solidarity in the 413 Counters Recent Anti-Semitic Wave…

SPRINGFIELD—Responding to a wave of threats and vandalism targeting Jewish institutions and facilities that had lapped into the Pioneer Valley, an interfaith crowd of hundreds representing multiple faiths rallied in solidarity with the local Jewish community and against hatred and bigotry of all kinds. Dozens