Several top Democrats have all but endorsed the re-election of Gov. Charlie Baker, and I want to talk about just one reason why that could potentially cripple the party's effort to convince people to register, turn out, and vote … [Read more...]
Hope for grassroots movements’ impacts on 2015-2016 legislative session
Last week, the 2015-2016 legislative session began, with the swearing-in of the 189th General Court, and Governor Charlie Baker the following day. Media attention was focused on the three primary leaders of elected government: Governor … [Read more...]
Boston Police Have a Racially Biased Policing Problem, and a Golden Opportunity to Reform
During the summer of 2011, then-19-year-old Ivan Richiez was robbed at gunpoint and pistol-whipped by two men in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Bruised and bloodied, Ivan walked home passed the local Boston Police Department … [Read more...]
Massachusetts High Court Limits Police Searches in Small Marijuana Cases
First, and most obviously, it's an important step forward for marijuana decriminalization. The justices took seriously the notion that when Massachusetts voters said they didn't want police harassing marijuana users or using limited law … [Read more...]
Moyers Discusses the Myth of Black Emancipation [w/video]
Although the scope at which private citizens and companies enslaved post-war Black Americans is new to me, it's been well documented for years how much state governments reaped obscene profits from these laws through convict leasing. David … [Read more...]
Who’s “Just Getting Started”?
Once upon a time, "Our Gang" referred to those little rascals featured in the American comedy series by the same name that featured a band of poor black and white neighborhood children who wore their hats sideways and had adventures … [Read more...]