Eesha Williams's Blog, page 73
July 11, 2018
A Win for Local Journalism
The following local newspapers are owned by out-of-state corporations: Hampshire Gazette, Amherst Bulletin, Brattleboro Reformer, Springfield Republican, Greenfield Recorder, and Valley Advocate. The corporations that own these newspapers are run undemocratically. Other news organizations are run democratically. A group in Northampton that works nationally to improve local journalism had a major victory on July 1 when the governor of New Jersey signed a law that will invest $5 million a year...
July 5, 2018
Steve Forbert Concert is Sept. 14
Steve Forbert will play at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on September 14 at 7 p.m. One of his songs has more than 700,000 views on YouTube. You can hear it at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixTXmKauL8A
Forbert wrote songs in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement that started in 2011, according to:
www.steveforbert.com/press/steve_forbert_biography_2012.pdf
According to ThinkProgress.org, “Pressure from (the Occupy Wall Street) protesters forced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to reve...
July 4, 2018
1,000 Rally for Immigrants
In the Valley, more than 1,000 people attended rallies against president Trump's immigration policies June 30. The rallies were in Springfield, Greenfield, Brattleboro, and Keene. The same day in Boston, more than 15,000 people marched from city hall to the statehouse to protest Trump's immigration policies. People from the Valley were at the Boston march. “No borders, no nations, stop the deportations!” thousands of people chanted.
June 27, 2018
Workers Unite
On June 26 in Brattleboro more than 100 workers at a mental hospital attended a rally. They are protesting mandatory forced overtime, unfair scheduling policies, and other issues. They work at the Brattleboro Retreat and are members of a union. They have a web site at:
www.unap.org/about/contact-us-2
About 900 people work at the Retreat, about 600 of them are members of the union.
The below photo shows the rally. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click “see full-size i...
June 20, 2018
Peace Action
With 4 percent of the world's population, the USA spends as much on the military as the rest of the world combined. Cutting the USA's military budget is a goal of the Poor People’s Campaign. On June 11, four people from the Keene area were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience at the New Hampshire statehouse as part of the Poor People’s Campaign, Judy Reed told the Valley Post on June 19. The people who were arrested are Keene residents Reed, Charlie Gibson, and Eleanor Vander Haegen, an...
June 16, 2018
Reggae Singer from Jamaica to Play in Brattleboro
When N.L. Dennis was singing in a recording studio with Toots and the Maytals, Bob Marley stopped by to listen. Marley praised Dennis's delivery. Today, Dennis lives in his native Jamaica and joins hundreds of Jamaicans who come to Vermont every summer in search of better paying work. Most of them work on vegetable farms and at apple orchards. Dennis works as a reggae musician. He will perform a public concert with his band in Brattleboro on July 4. The concert will be at the Whetstone Statio...
Photos: Keene Paths
These photos were taken on June 16 in Keene. The first photo shows a footpath through a forest that was protected on June 4 when a judge ruled in favor of activists who said the city could not clearcut a 12 acre forest that it owns. The second photo shows part of a five mile long bicycle path, the Cheshire Rail Trail, that passes through downtown and goes to Stonewall Farm. That's an organic dairy and vegetable farm that is open to the public. In the photo a man rides past the food co-op. The...
