Tufts project seeks to highlight important Massachusetts sites in Black History
Tufts professors Kerri Greenidge and Kendra Field want to fill in the gaps of Massachusetts’ African American history. Their project, called The African American Trail Project, features sites across the state. These sites have both good and bad connotations for slavery in Massachusetts because Dr. Greenidge’s and Dr. Field’s goal is to “complicate the narrative”. Among the sites are the home of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass and the only remaining slave quarters in the northern United States, the Royall House and Slave Quarters, demonstrating the state’s complicated history. While the “trail” is not meant to be completed in one trip, there is a map on their website that breaks sites down into walkable neighborhoods.
Patriots owner arrested for solicitation of prostitute
Billionaire Robert Kraft is among many other men who were served arrest warrants for soliciting prostitution in Florida. He was arrested at a spa just miles from the home of close friend, President Donald Trump. Trump commented that he was “very surprised to see it” and while Kraft maintains innocence, he was apparently caught on camera as part of an investigation into human trafficking. This arrest comes only weeks after celebrating a 6th Super Bowl Championship for the Patriots. With such powerful friends and a powerful team, Kraft has always been a controversial figure and fans of opposing teams have been visiting the day spa in Jupiter, Florida where he was arrested.
New bill seeks to guarantee legal counsel to low-income residents facing eviction
Sal DiDimenico, a state representative for Everett, Massachusetts introduced a bill this January to provide a right to counsel in eviction proceedings. This bill is part of a package of bills meant to reduce residential displacement and help low-income residents as Boston continues to gentrify rapidly. Evictions in Massachusetts went up during the 2008 recession and have not gone back down. According to the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, there were an average of 43 evictions a day in Massachusetts in 2016. Once evicted, residents have trouble finding more affordable housing. They also do not have the resources to compete against the lawyers of the landlords in crowded housing courts. DiDimenico submitted a similar bill to this one in 2017 that did not make it far but hopes that now Boston will follow the example of San Francisco and New York who now have the right to counsel for low-income residents facing eviction.
Mayor Walsh and other city officials visit Cape Verde
Mayor Martin Walsh traveled to Cape Verde along with other city and 25 state officials and delegates from the private sector. Boston started a sister city program with the African nation’s capital, Praia, in 2015. Cape Verdean Creole is one of the top five languages spoken in Boston and the city has a large Cape Verdean population. This trip is meant to further collaboration and connection and will feature trips to multiple islands in the archipelago nation. The mayor will return back to Boston on Thursday.
