Eesha Williams's Blog, page 55
December 6, 2019
Local News Round-up
On December 6 there will be two climate rallies. One is in Springfield at noon outside city hall. The other will be at 3:30 p.m. at the main entrance to Mount Holyoke College. The organizers of both rallies can be reached via www.facebook.com/SunriseSouthHadley.
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On December 1 in Keene there was a rally to impeach Trump. “There were around 30 people there,” Jim Murphy told the Valley Post. Pat Brady Martin told the Valley Post, “The music at the rally was great.”
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November 29, 2019
Land Saved
On November 26, two local land trusts announced they had saved nearly 1,000 acres of forestland in the Massachusetts towns of Westhampton, Williamsburg, Northampton, and Chesterfield. Westhampton and Williamsburg border Northampton and Chesterfield. The land trusts are Kestrel and Hilltown. The USA is losing 6,000 acres of open space to development every day.
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November 23, 2019
Son Little Concert is January 28
Soul singer Son Little will perform a concert at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on January 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $18 plus a "service fee." In December he will play in Los Angeles. In March he will play in Paris, France. You can hear one of his songs at:
November 22, 2019
Women's March Moves to Springfield
The annual Northampton Women's March, which attracts thousands of people every year, is moving to Springfield. “It will be on January 18,” Rachel Maiore told the Valley Post on November 19. She's the main organizer. “What a gift it’s been to develop relationships with community leaders in the Springfield area.”
Details are at www.PioneerValleyWomensMarch.org.
November 15, 2019
Workers Win
On November 13 in Greenfield workers had a victory. Teaching assistants in the Greenfield public schools held a rally for justice on November 5. On November 13 they won raises. The workers have a web site at www.nea.org.
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There will be a rally on November 20 in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts to stop a giant corporate bank from evicting a low income family from the family's home. East Longmeadow borders Springfield. The rally will be at 6 p.m. outside 137 Pleasant Street. The rally organizers have a web...
November 8, 2019
Mount Holyoke Stirs
Among the colleges in the Valley, Mount Holyoke hasn't ranked at the top for student activism. That may be changing. On November 8 at 1 p.m., there will be a climate march from Abbey Chapel to Mary Lyon Hall. A campus map is at:
October 30, 2019
John Primer Northampton Concert is November 24
Blues musician John Primer will perform at the Iron Horse Music Hall on November 24 at 7 p.m. Primer was in Muddy Waters's band. According to Primer's web site, "John has recorded with, opened for, or played with the Rolling Stones, Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, James Brown and B.B. King."
Rally to Oust Trump
In Brattleboro on November 3 there will be a rally to call on congress to remove Trump from office. Among his likely crimes are sexually assaulting women, failing to pay taxes -- Trump is a billionaire -- and using taxpayer money to bribe leaders of foreign nations to help Trump get re-elected. The rally starts at 2 p.m. at Pliny Park at the corner of Main and High streets. As of October 30 about 30 people had RSVP'd. Details are at:
www.facebook.com/events/2960179400874665
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October 23, 2019
Solidarity Success
Proving the power of collective action, a group of college students in Northampton scored a major victory against climate change. On October 18, Smith College announced it will stop buying stock in fossil fuel companies and will sell the stock the college owns in those companies. More than $100 million of Smith College's $1.9 billion in savings is invested in fossil fuel companies. The students used rallies to pressure the college to divest.
October 16, 2019
Workers Unite
In Springfield on October 14, about 25 workers attended a rally outside their employer's office. They are paramedics and EMTs. They work for American Medical Response Corporation, a subsidiary of Global Medical Response (GMR) Corporation. GMR has about 38,000 employees. It's based in Texas.