In this period of Lent, I was invited by a minister to speak at a Lenten service that took place in the home of a congregant where the Reverend Phil Jacobs displayed his progressive, whimsical side.
Within the copy of the text of the reading we... Read more
This week, look around when you’re at church and try to pick out which 1 of the 8 women around you will get diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her life. These women will be witness to some profound changes, when their hair begins to thin and... Read more
One normally associates due process with the courts. The terms refer to the underlying rules of our justice system designed to assure, to the extent we can, that justice is fairly administered.
A complex set of rules governing the right to... Read more
I was present and testified at the Boston Public Schools hearing on March 24, when the unelected Boston School Committee (in Boston, the School Committee members are appointed by the mayor) unanimously voted to approve a budget that cuts out $63... Read more
The so-called — wrongly named — Defense of Marriage Act was both wrong and unconstitutional in 1996, and it’s wrong and unconstitutional today.
It was legalized discrimination — not to mention an abuse of the Constitution for political... Read more
Catholic schools have long helped make the American Dream a reality by giving poor and working class kids the chance to get a quality education. For many, a Catholic education was the key to a better future, serving as the basis for state leaders in... Read more
Last Wednesday, I encountered several people I knew from Dorchester 40 years ago. Some things hadn’t changed.
It started with my old Dorchester friend and colleague Peter, with whom I worked 40 years ago in the Dorchester Tenants Action Council... Read more
Political events in Wisconsin have questioned the necessity of collective bargaining. The governor of Wisconsin notwithstanding, collective bargaining is recognized as a human right in international conventions, constitutions, and courts.
Our... Read more
The snow lingers. Will this winter ever end?
This year Mother Nature took a swipe at global warming by sending us a blast from the past. Winter wrapped around us with an intensity that shouted: “Not so soon, I’m still around.”
Over time... Read more
Every weekday, Earl Taylor, President of the Dorchester Historical Society, sends via e-mail to his subscriber list old photographs from the neighborhood that are often accompanied by relevant historical information. Recently, he asked for photos of... Read more
My left foot greets me from the end of a cast that stretches from my thigh to my heel. I can see it, feel it, and even wiggle my toes, but it might as well be on the moon should I try to reach it.
A skiing accident might give my condition some... Read more
To the Editor:
The other evening I had the privilege to participate in a meeting of the Ward 17 committee where I began to have concerns about how Councillor Maureen Feeney’s privacy is being treated.
I know she is a public official and... Read more
The theme of this year’s annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (the 11th anniversary was Feb. 7) is “It takes a village to fight HIV/AIDS.”
You got that right.
Since the earliest days of the epidemic, people from all walks of life... Read more
(The author is an instructor with the One World Youth Project, which sends “ambassadors” from UMass-Boston to work with students at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School on Columbia Road. The students — through Kelsey Warner— are responding to... Read more
Fuel Assistance. Head Start. Summer jobs for youth. Education. Career Development. After-school programs. Child care. GED programs. Affordable housing. Homelessness prevention. Housing court advocacy. Food pantries. Access to tax credits. Senior... Read more
