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Policing the Public Schools Creates New Problems

"This isn't just the school to prison pipeline, but the school to prison superhighway," said Lael Chester, executive director of the Boston-based organization Citizens for Juvenile Justice. "Kids are going direcdy from the school hallway to the police station." Chester suspects increased police presence has to do with fear over school shootings, increased pressure on schools to perform and basic politics. "It's probably easier for a lot of school districts to ask for money for police than for...

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Continues Charles Street Hearings

The $3.6 million construction loan became due on June 1,2008, and despite a total of five extensions, the church was unable to satisfy its debt by Sept. 1,2009. A year later, on Aug. 17, 2010, OneUnited sued in Suffolk Superior Court for breach of contract. Also named in the suit was Charles Street AME's co-signer, the First Episcopal District of the African Methmlist Episcopal Church, based in Philadelphia. According to documents filed by OneUnited, Charles Street was late on 46 of its 59 pa...

Federal Grant Spurs Mbta Bus Stop Improvements

One goal is to improve reliability, reducing the "bunching up" of buses and the constant stop-and-start feel of the bus journey, he explained. Remedies for unreliability include removing or consolidating stops where existing stops are closely spaced. Relocating stops to the "far side" of an intersection can also help, making it easier for buses to pull in and more likely passengers would cross the street the behind the bus, not in front of it. After [Erik Scheier]'s overview, consultants Ralp...

Boston Students Provided Health Care Education

"These opportunities for young people are so important for our city," said [Thomas M. Menino]. "The hospital programs, and now these new college scholarships from Partners can provide life-changing experiences for students and their families. Employers like these, committed institutions offer a deep resource for the young people of Boston, and these students in turn help these hospitals create a diverse, knowledgeable and committed workforce." [Taija Martin], senior at Edward M. Kennedy Acade...

'Fela!' Portrays the Best and Worst of Nigeria

[Charles C. Yancey] called the musical, which tells the important story of legendary Nigerian musician, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, an incredible demonstration of one man's sacrifice to improve the political environment and human rights conditions in Nigeria. "The music, the dance, the costumes, and the extraordinary talent made "Fela!" one of the best musicals I've ever seen," he said. [Olutayo Idowu] also said that Kuti signified the best in humans. "Fela speaks both physically and politically thr...

In the News

[Toni Morrison] is renowned for works such as "Song of Solomon," "Jazz" and "Beloved," for which she won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988. When she became the first African American woman to win a Nobel Prize in 1993, Morrison's citation captured her as an author "who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality."

Naacp Launches 'This Is My Vote' Campaign

The new restrictions attack ballot access by requiring photo IDs to vote, curtailing early voting windows, stripping the formerly incarcerated - men and women who have served their debt to society-of the right to vote and purging voters rolls, often with thousands of errors. Approximately 21 million Americans don't have a government-issued photo ID, including 25 percent of voting-aged African Americans. This attack on voting rights is coordinated. It is insidious. And it is the worst we've se...

Voter Suppression Laws 'Biggest Setback in Decades'

While millions of Americans will be affected, she noted, "these laws do not hit all communities equally." Minority communities, the poor, elderly, students and people with disabilities will be "hardest hit," she said. "If you don't have a license, it's likely that you don't drive," [Trey Martinez Fischer] said. "If you have a license, you could vote, but if you don't have a license you'd have to travel an excess of 100 miles to get to the nearest DPS (Department of Public Safety) office to ge...

Scholars: 'Unconscious Bias' Leads to Discrimination

She noted that the changing demographics are causing tension and fear among the majority. "There's an element of unconsciousness there," she said, "but there's also an element of consciousness that is saying 'at this moment I'm in the world of being a non-Hispanic Anglo ... I don't want to become a minority.' " He said that researchers have put together a database of American culture, all of the texts, all of the books, all of the magazine articles that the average college-educated American w...