In 2022, Boston’s city council established a commission to study reparations. While some cities have decided to pay reparations, most can’t overcome the opposing arguments, and White support for reparations is low. Contemporations may be the solution. Coined by Ron Marlow, the term means “a systemic approach involving public and private policies and actions to address, arrest, and reverse the economic and social marginalization of Black individuals and communities.” Former state senator Dianne Wilkerson has outlined contemporations policy positions, potential costs, and funding ..read more

A SPECIAL COMMISSION that spent close to three years analyzing the state seal and motto concluded its work on Tuesday by urging the Legislature to make a change while offering no specific recommendations on what that change should be. The current seal features an image of a Native American holding a bow and arrow and a sword hanging over his head. The Latin motto translates as:  “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.”  The special commission, created in the aftermath of the nationwide reckoning in 2020 over the symbols and names that harken to institutional racis ..read more

A SPECIAL COMMISSION that spent close to three years analyzing the state seal and motto concluded its work on Tuesday by urging the Legislature to make a change while offering no specific recommendations on what that change should be. The current seal features an image of a Native American holding a bow and arrow and a sword hanging over his head. The Latin motto translates as:  “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.”  The special commission, created in the aftermath of the nationwide reckoning in 2020 over the symbols and names that harken to institutional racis ..read more

THE SUMNER TUNNEL shutdown on July 5 prompted an increase in MBTA passenger levels on subways, buses, ferries, and commuter rail, but the increase wasn’t as big as expected and there’s little evidence that people who tried public transit during the closure remained riders after the reopening on August 31. According to a presentation to the MBTA board of directors on Tuesday, the big takeaways were that free fares on the Blue Line didn’t boost traffic significantly, that the Orange Line performed surprisingly well, and that more people were riding public transit on the weekends than weekdays ..read more

WHILE STUDENTS ACROSS the state descend on campuses for fall move-in day, Monday was move out day for Zeph Luck.  With a backseat loaded with canvases, the 26-year-old grad student was making his third and last trip to clear all his paintings out of the downtown New Bedford studio where he’s been working for two years toward a master’s degree in fine arts at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Two weeks ago, the university announced with no warning that its College of Visual and Performing Arts would be vacating the Star Store, a former department store in the heart of the city th ..read more

THE ABRUPT announcement Monday that the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s College of Visual and Performing Arts would be immediately vacating a downtown New Bedford building, where it’s been housed for 22 years, has sent an unwelcome jolt through the Whaling City and entire South Coast region.  Nearly everyone seems to lament the sudden turn of events, and says the program’s exit will be a huge blow to New Bedford’s arts and culture scene and the city economy overall.  “We’re devastated like everyone else,” said Mark Fuller, UMass Dartmouth’s chancellor, who broke the news to ..read more

ON A TOASTY JUNE DAY, the tinkle of a ukulele and cheerful outbursts from children bounced around an unassuming Brookline library building. Just a short stroll from the Chabad Center of Chestnut Hill, visitors entering the library walked past a Star of David composed of interlinked rainbow arms declaring “Together Against Antisemitism;” a bold blue sign bearing “Stop Asian Hate;” a Progress Pride flag; and a prominent “Black Lives Matter” flag.  In a gathering room at the back, a handful of children stared, rapt, waving colorful scarves, as a peppy performer plucked a jaunty tune and san ..read more

WINDING THEIR WAY along the red brick and red painted Freedom Trail, Boston tourists eventually find themselves in front of the Old North Church. Their eyes may seek out the bell tower where lanterns famously beamed out – one if by land, and two if by sea – a warning of arriving British troops.  But if it’s a children’s story about Paul Revere’s epic solo ride they’re looking for, the historians at Boston’s oldest church are eager to complicate the narrative. “Revere’s poem is not a history lesson,” Nikki Stewart, executive director of Old North Illuminated, said on the Codcast. “It’s ki ..read more

PROTESTING THE BARBARIC Ukraine invasion by banning Russian music from orchestral concerts is shortsighted, but replacing the 1812 Overture on July 4th programs is long overdue. Tchaikovsky was born in Russia, but his father’s family came from Ukraine (“Chaika” is the name of a Cossack war boat). He often summered there, and at least 30 of his works have Ukrainian subjects or include Ukrainian melodies and folk songs. Yet cherishing Tchaikovsky’s music should not also mean embracing the “1812” on our Independence Day. Many years ago, I raised with Boston Pops Laureate Conductor John Will ..read more

FOR ME, the Pride parades and festivals are special this year because I am coming out as bisexual. I’ve been married to my wife for almost thirty-eight years. I love, cherish, and enjoy her and I’m not about to change my lifestyle. I am moved to speak openly about myself for all the reasons that Pride month matters. Pride means self-knowledge and self-acceptance. When my parents passed away a couple of years ago, I finally did the personal work to understand, accept, embrace, and name the breadth of love and desire that is part of who I am. There is a particular stigma that attaches to bisexu ..read more