inside this week
A rating system tilted against Hub schools pg 8
INSIDE ARTS
business news
COMING-OF-AGE FILM ‘BROKEN BIRD’ SOARS pg 12
Launching an online radio station pg 9
plus Little Free Libraries pg 12 Nonprofit IBA supports teens creatively during COVID-19 pg 13 Vol. 55 No. 40 • Thursday, April 30, 2020 • FREE • GREATER BOSTON’S URBAN NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1965
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Legislating during a global pandemic
Spring outing
Black and Latino Caucus members work to support local communities By YAWU MILLER
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Light traffic on the Charles River Esplanade made social distancing easy for a pair of cyclists Saturday.
Walsh: Shutdown will extend beyond May 4 Governor says he’s waiting for infection rates to plateau By KENNEAL PATTERSON Mayor Walsh said Monday that Boston will not reopen non-essential businesses on May 4. Massachusetts’ stay-at-home orders were originally set to end at this date, but Walsh said he’d have “serious concerns” if safety measures, both in Boston and statewide, were relaxed. “There’s no question that May 4 is too early,” said Walsh in his April
27 briefing, noting that Boston is still in the peak of COVID-19 infections. He later added, “We should never put ourselves in a position where we move too quickly and undo the progress that’s been made.” Walsh said that his administration is working on a recovery framework for the city. It includes public health interventions that will minimize COVID-19’s spread until a treatment is ready. He said that the framework needs to adapt
as quickly as the virus changes. Gov. Charlie Baker did not confirm a stay-at-home order extension. He said that information will be coming out later this week regarding the decision to reopen on May 4. “We are continuing to see what I would call a plateau with respect to our hospitalization rates,” he said, but added that trend data remains high.
See SHUTDOWN, page 2
The halls of the State House may be empty, but the Legislature is buzzing with activity, with lawmakers and constituents participating in hearings and votes from the confines of home offices and living rooms. Members of the Massachusetts Legislative Black and Latino Caucus say they are faced with an added layer of complexity, dealing with communities that bear a disproportionate number of COVID-19 infections. “I’ve been dealing with the crises amongst the crisis,” said state Rep. Russell Holmes. Holmes represents the 6th Suffolk District, which includes parts of Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park, where the rates of COVID-19 infections are among the highest in Boston. Holmes says his office is getting calls from residents and business owners seeking help with government assistance. “All 200 representatives and senators are dealing with these issues,” he said. “But when the white community gets a cold, we get the flu. This is impacting us much more than the white community.” Holmes said the Black and Latino Caucus members’ lines of communication with the governor remain open. When the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued its crisis care standards, suggesting people with conditions such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension be given
lower priority for COVID care, Caucus members fired off an angry letter pointing out that such changes would bear a disproportionate impact on blacks, Latinos and Asians who live in low income communities where such ailments are common. The DPH last week modified the standards. Caucus members have also pushed the state to release data on the race of people suffering from COVID infections. That call mirrored a push at the federal level spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and at the local level by City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo. The synergy in those calls is no accident. A group of black, Latino and Asian elected officials at the federal, state, county and local level are holding weekly meetings. Pressley keeps local officials informed of developments at the federal level, while Suffolk County officials Sheriff Steve Tompkins, District Attorney Rachael Rollins and Register of Probate Felix D. Arroyo fill the officials in on conditions in the court system and jails. Holmes, who convenes the meetings, says they are helpful in coordinating efforts. “I don’t get a chance to follow everything going on in City Hall,” he said. “Hearing from the councilors is very important.”
Legislative issues
While state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez of Springfield, the Black
See CAUCUS, page 8
Four-way race for 12th Suffolk seat Candidates gather signatures under lockdown By YAWU MILLER Gathering and submitting nomination signatures is a time-honored rite in Massachusetts politics, but during a pandemic, it’s turned into a logistical conundrum. Attorney Brandy Fluker Oakley, a candidate for the 12th Suffolk District seat being vacated by Rep. Dan Cullinane, took her signature-gathering operation out to the Neponset Greenway on
a recent afternoon, armed with a facemask, hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes. “I practiced social distancing and did not come within six feet of people,” she said. “It took some creativity. Many people are feeling stranger danger now.” In addition to the challenges of voter outreach during a statewide stay-at-home advisory, Fluker Oakley will be facing at least three opponents who have pulled nomination papers to run in the district,
which includes parts of Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park and Milton. Attorney Javon Lacet, city worker Cameron Charbonnier and attorney Stephanie Everett are in various stages of gathering signatures, raising campaign funds and assembling campaign teams to vie for the seat. Although the Supreme Judicial Court on April 17 ruled that candidates may turn in half the number of signatures traditionally required to appear on the ballot, the four 12th Suffolk candidates
See 12TH SUFFOLK, page 6
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Mass. Black and Latino Legislative Caucus Chairman Carlos Gonzalez (right) with Caucus members Aaron Vega, Nika Elugardo and Jonathan Santiago.
2 • Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER
shutdown continued from page 1
Walsh also announced an antibody testing initiative for 1,000 randomly selected residents across East Boston, Roslindale and two zip code areas in Dorchester. Antibody testing examines proteins within the blood to reveal past exposure to COVID-19. It shows how many people have already recovered from the virus. “This information will help us contain the virus more effectively and help us chart out a path to recovery,” said Walsh. He said the information is useful for long-term recovery plans: It shows how far the virus has spread. Antibody testing also helps the administration target the most vulnerable areas and allocate resources, said Walsh. He plans to expand the initiative in the coming weeks. Baker said that the Boston initiative will yield useful information. However, he warned against antibody tests with false positives. “There are antibody tests going on that are not FDA-approved, in sites all over the country,” he said. “The false results of those tests range from 5 to 35%.” He called COVID-19 an “invisible enemy” that epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists are still struggling to understand. Therefore, it is still unclear whether previous exposure to COVID-19 makes someone immune. Baker said the FDA needs to first approve tests and ensure whether they’re effective and accurate. It is critically important for the FDA to assume a “bigger and broader role than the one it’s been delivering on so far,” he said.
Until there’s more guidance from the federal government, said Baker, “I worry a lot that people are going to draw conclusions from some of these tests that A) may not be accurate and B) may not be appropriate conclusions to draw from them.” Baker advocated for “ramping up” traditional testing. Many residents that get the disease — perhaps up to 40% — are asymptomatic, he said. He emphasized the importance of diagnosing these residents before prioritizing antibody tests. Walsh noted that traditional testing in Boston increased over 30% last week. There are now 15 testing sites across the city, and universal testing is available for all homeless residents.
pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) have been delivered to hospitals, health care workers and first responders. Nursing homes are a major hotspot for the disease, and elders are especially vulnerable. Baker said that 10,031 residents and staff working in long-term care facilities have tested positive for COVID-19 in about 300 facilities. These facilities represent about 56% of the total deaths in Massachusetts. “The numbers are tough to comprehend,” said Baker. “But they illustrate the lethal grip COVID-19 can have on seniors and especially on those with underlying health conditions.” The Baker administration has implemented certain policies to reduce transmission in these facil-
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As we continue to fight this pandemic, we also need to take time to reflect on those who we’ve lost ... and we need to remember, every day, how precious life is.” — Mayor Martin Walsh
Over 55,000 people nationwide have died from the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Baker said that deaths in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Michigan represent more than half of that total. As of Sunday, Massachusetts had 54,938 confirmed cases and 2,899 deaths. Boston had 8,159 cases and 302 deaths. Regarding hospital capacity, Baker said that 56% of beds remain available for patients across the state. He also added that 6.5 million
Franklin Park
ities. Baker already imposed strict restrictions with respect to nursing home visitors and screening guidelines for staff. The mobile testing unit, launched April 7, has also conducted over 18,300 tests at more than 400 facilities across the commonwealth. Staffing shortages have also been addressed, he said, and facilities are matched with available workers through the Long-Term Care Facility Staffing Team. On Monday, Baker announced an additional $130 million for
A family goes for a stroll by the Franklin Park Golf Course. While the course is closed to golfers, the park is open to pedestrians and cyclists.
nursing homes. The funds will be available May 1 and will go to nursing homes that are adhering to the state’s health guidelines. He also said that additional assistance will be available to address any remaining staffing shortages. This includes clinical response teams, certified nursing assistants and crisis management support. “Nursing homes have a pressing obligation to provide the best care they can for many of our most vulnerable and fragile residents,” he said. Marylou Sudders, secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, also announced $44 million in funding for residential service providers.
Behind the barrage of numbers are individual human stories. Walsh shared a story of an elderly South End resident who was hospitalized over the weekend. The man asked his doctor and social worker if he could marry his long-time partner while hospitalized. He proposed in the hospital bed, got the marriage license Thursday and was able to spend a couple of days with his partner before passing away Saturday. “There are countless numbers of stories like this,” said Walsh. “Stories of love, loss and goodbyes. As we continue to fight this pandemic, we also need to take time to reflect on those who we’ve lost ... and we need to remember, every day, how precious life is.”
Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 3
Publisher, philanthropist Earl Graves, 85 By BRIAN WRIGHT O’CONNOR Earl G. Graves Sr., a noted entrepreneur who advocated for African American business success in the pages of Black Enterprise magazine, died April 6 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at a care facility in White Plains, New York. He was 85. Tall and lean with trademark sideburns and clad in suspenders and dark suits, Graves cut an imposing figure as a publisher, corporate board member and philanthropist. He launched Black Enterprise in 1970, positioning it as the periodical Bible for striving black business owners. He filled the magazine with profiles of entrepreneurs along with practical articles about how to build credit, attract and retain customers, and structure corporations. The magazine also closely followed political developments related to minority business development, especially contracting rules and regulations with public entities from the federal government to state and local jurisdictions. Launched with a loan of $175,000, Black Enterprise attracted advertising support from major consumer brands and featured a powerful board of advisers, including U.S. Sen. Edward W. Brooke III of Massachusetts. The magazine’s print circulation peaked at half a million in the early 2000s. The son of West Indian
immigrants — his father, Earl Graves, came from Barbados and his mother, Winifred Sealy Graves, from Trinidad — Graves was born in Brooklyn and raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of the borough. His first job was selling Christmas cards at age 7 in wartime New York. He attended public schools and studied business at Morgan State University while working his way through college. After graduation, he joined the Army, becoming an Airborne Ranger and maintaining a ramrod posture the rest of his life. After leaving the Army, Graves returned to Brooklyn, where he worked in real estate and became active in local politics. He came to the attention of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy when he organized a massive Brooklyn rally for Kennedy’s 1964 U.S. Senate campaign. Impressed, Kennedy hired Graves as a staff assistant, and he managed Kennedy’s New York City office until the senator’s death in 1968. During a renaming ceremony in honor of the late senator beneath the deck of the Triborough Bridge in 2008, Graves said his work on Kennedy initiatives like the self-help Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation inspired him to find a way for African Americans to build wealth through economic self-improvement. “He spoke often of ‘seeking a newer world,’” said Graves. “And that’s exactly what I set out to do.”
WHITTIER STREET HEALTH CENTER IS PROVIDING COVID-19 TESTING FOR ALL WHO MEET THE CURRENT DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH GUIDELINES: ■ We will test you for COVID-19 if you have fever, cough, or trouble breathing. You should also tell us about chills, shakes, muscle aches, headaches, and sore throat, or if you can’t smell or taste. ■ If you have a health condition such as asthma, chronic lung disease, diabetes, extreme obesity, cirrhosis of the liver, heart condition, other health conditions or a physician’s order, we will take care of you. ■ Some jobs, such as grocery store clerk, car service driver, or home health aide, make it easier to get COVID-19. If your job puts you in contact with a lot of people or sick people, we may want to test you even if you don’t feel sick.
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The white-dominated business world needs to understand that we don’t want charity. We want to do business. We don’t want guaranteed success. We want the opportunity to earn it.” — Earl G. Graves Sr., from his book “How to Succeed in Business Without Being White: Straight Talk on Making it in America”
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Earl Graves While building up Black Enterprise, Graves served on numerous corporate boards, including the insurance giant Aetna, American Airlines and the automaker DaimlerChrysler. In 1997, he published “How to Succeed in Business Without
Being White: Straight Talk on Making it in America,” a New York Times bestseller. His emphasis on do-it-yourself drive and opportunity echoed black entrepreneurial forebears from Booker T. Washington to Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad.
“The white-dominated business world needs to understand that we don’t want charity,” Graves wrote. “We want to do business. We don’t want guaranteed success. We want the opportunity to earn it.” Graves retired as Black Enterprise’s chief executive in 2006. His oldest son, Earl Graves Jr., took over as publisher of the magazine, which now prints periodically while focusing on social media, its website and events. Graves is survived by two other sons, John and Michael; and eight grandchildren. His wife, Barbara Kydd, died in 2012.
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4 • Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER
EDITORIAL
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The US needs a Marshall Plan for small businesses Many small businesses that have been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic were hoping that the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) would provide the funds to prevent the layoff of important employees. However, the original $349 billion provided in the first tranche of funds went to companies that would not be considered small businesses by most people. The program is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, but businesses do not apply directly to the SBA. Applicants submit requests for funds through their commercial banks. As might be expected, banks saw to it that their larger customers who met the SBA requirements were first in line. The problem is that the SBA standard for what constitutes a small business is too pervasive. According to the SBA, there are about 28 million small businesses, and they account for about 99% of all business enterprises. Whether a business is small or large depends on the industry. The SBA makes a decision as to size depending on the number of employees and the annual revenue of a company in comparison with other companies in that industry. This approach works effectively in most cases. The SBA finds that 89% of small businesses have fewer than 20 employees. However, this analysis fails when every subordinate unit of a big enterprise can be considered to be a small business. For example, every franchise of a national food chain could be considered to be a small business. Public reaction was irate when it was publicized that several businesses and institutions considered to be large had received federal funds. The Shake Shack, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and some hotels were allocated funds as well as Harvard University, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, MIT and UMass Amherst. Half of the funds paid to colleges was to provide financial aid to students.
While federal funds to enhance academic opportunities is a desirable objective, the primary objective of the PPP was to prevent the whole business economy from collapsing because of coronavirus. Roughly 48% of those in the workforce are employed by small businesses, many of which will be unable to survive the financial damage created by the pandemic. The collapse of the business community in the U.S. is comparable to what happened in Europe after World War II. Europe was devastated by the war, so the U.S. implemented the Marshall Plan in 1948 for the economic recovery of Western Europe. U.S. funds were used to revive industry in the United Kingdom, France and West Germany as well as other allied nations. Even though Germany had been a war-time opponent, the new battle was to compete successfully against the Soviet Union. The investment of $12 billion U.S. dollars in Europe, the equivalent of $128 billion as of 2020, has been imaginative and successful. It was financially profitable, and it helped to boost the U.S. to world leadership with a compatible group of European allies. Some economists have suggested a similar plan to enhance the economic status of small businesses in the U.S. that have limited access to capital. It may well be that the coronavirus will force Americans to develop an economic plan that will enable the country to narrow the wealth disparity gap. In World War II the enemy was the Axis forces. Now the adversary is the coronavirus, and that is even more deadly. Unfortunately, an invisible microbe as an antagonist cannot inspire the sense of patriotism in Americans that existed with Nazis in the opposing foxholes. This is a battle that Americans can lose unless there is a greater intensity in the patriotic spirit that brought the country to victory in World War II.
“I guess black business owners didn’t get in the right line to get the funds.”
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OPINION
Long before COVID, there was no stimulus for black businesses By EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON In an informal poll on Facebook, I asked this question: “Do you know of any black-owned business that got a COVID stimulus SBA Payroll Protection loan?” Of the several hundred responses, only three said yes. When I asked for specifics, namely their names and types of business, there was no response. Respondents expressed disgust, outrage and deep cynicism about the program’s blatant giveaway to major corporations who quickly lined up with their hand out for the dollars. The outrage is more than justified. In California, only 3% of small businesses have gotten any funds from the program. This dismal stat could almost certainly be matched in most other states. The estimated 2.5 million black-owned businesses make up almost one-third of the 8 million minority-owned businesses in the US. Overall, they are nearly 10% of the estimated 27 million total U.S. businesses. When the SBA stimulus loan program was announced, there was guarded optimism from some black business owners. Most were small operations with one or two employees including the owner. Nearly all were forced to close their doors under state mandates. They needed help, and fast. But then the headlines told of an array of multibillion-dollar outfits, some with ties to Trump, grabbing the bucks. Despite the screams of protest on social media and in some news outlets about the naked money grab by the biggies, only one was shamed enough to give back the money. The few that bothered to try to explain why they asked for and took the money solemnly swore they would put every penny into employee rehires, salaries, back pay and benefits. Few pointed out that that is exactly what needy legitimate small businesses would do, too. All, though, were within the law to take the money. Industry lobbyists saw to that when they stuffed the small business stimulus package with money for airlines, cruise lines, hotels and other “essential industries.” They also inserted a colossal loophole that defined small business not by the number of overall employees, but the number (under 500) at a specific location. Some developed collective amnesia about their pledge to spend the stimulus money on employee hires and wages. They requested that they be allowed to spend the cash on expenses such as mortgage principal or franchise fees. There is only the vaguest provision in the law for oversight and monitoring. It takes little imagination to know that stock purchases, buybacks and corporate CEO perks and payouts could not be far behind. There is absolutely no reason to think that adding more billions to the SBA loan package will be the lifesaver small black or any other small business desperately needs. The inherent tilt toward big corporations was built into the package. Wells Fargo virtually confirmed that in a memo that flatly said it “prioritized” loans to its biggest and supposedly best customers. It took much heat for its candor, and in quick damage control said it would donate the hefty lending fees it raked in to nonprofits. At least that is what it said. The brutal truth is that long before COVID and small business stimulus packages, black businesses were a specially endangered breed when it came to getting a dime out of banks and the government. The reasons are well documented: the lack of credit, proven business track record, resources, expertise, and a longstanding cozy relationship with banks. Then there is the dizzying gauntlet of wage and tax forms, documents, and filings needed to qualify for a loan. Much of the work is done online and that means having computer access and computer skills. Countless surveys by business groups, regulators and watchdog groups have produced reams of figures showing that despite the PR lip service lenders pay to wanting to lend to small businesses, the paltry number of such loans to small and especially minority businesses have remained frozen over the past decade. The stimulus package could have changed that. It should have provided for direct grants to the most distressed small businesses, a streamlined application process, and a fast-track schedule for approval and payout to legitimate small businesses. It should have specified that the funds go to a broad segment of small businesses. That did not happen, and we see the devastating result. This is exactly why nearly every respondent in my poll said “no” to the question if they knew a black business that got a loan.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst.
Funeralizing a community, again By REV. IRENE MONROE The coronavirus, the virus that causes the deadly illness called COVID-19, eerily reminds me of when I started as a young minister during the AIDS crisis. The enormity of the pain, grief and anxiety expressed by mourners, and the volume of deaths, reminds me of those early years. During the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, my communities — African American and LGBTQ+ — were dying faster than we ministers could funeralize them. News about these two communities did not become front and center until the death toll climbed to over 41,000 deaths and over 60,000 diagnoses of full-blown AIDS. Then-President Ronald Reagan didn’t speak up about it until April 1987. AIDS was thought to be the province of gay males. However, for clergy working or living in black and LGBTQ+ communities, we knew long before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed in their October 1986 special edition of “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” on “AIDS Among Blacks and Hispanics,” that the face of the epidemic would be that of an African American heterosexual sister. The report stated that 51% of women with AIDS were African American, and that black women contracted AIDS 13.3 times more frequently than white women. African American adults had an overall AIDS rate three times higher than white adults. An old African American aphorism states that “When white America catches a cold, black America gets pneumonia.” Now the community has tagged onto this statement that “When white America catches COVID-19, black America dies.” The COVID-19 data on race
has revealed that black and brown communities are the hardest hit here in Boston and across the country. Clergy in these communities have been performing non-stop homegoings (an African American Christian funeral tradition), helping families, loved ones and communities of the decedent through this valley of anxiety, fear and death. Citing Boston’s newest COVID19 data on race and neighborhoods released on Saturday, NBC10 Boston reports that of the 7,910 known cases in the city, 2,249 African American residents were among those who tested positive, comprising 42% of cases in which race was recorded. Stark racial and health care disparities existed before COVID-19, and they exist now.
While the gendered impact of COVID-19 presently suggests that men fare worse than women, the news doesn’t give black women a better survival rate. Poor African American women are the majority of frontline health care workers, an essential yet undervalued class. At the same time, they’re trying to hold their family unit together. Data show that this demographic group of women constitute about 40% of those evicted from their homes. These sisters weigh the risk of going to work to avoid homelessness, another factor putting them at higher risk for contracting the deadly virus. Black women are the largest group of people I’ve been funeralizing. The next largest group is my trans sisters — youth and adults.
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An old African American aphorism states that ‘When white America catches a cold, black America gets pneumonia.’”
Sadly, the same racist tropes and health care disparities impeding access to adequate care to African Americans during this 2020 pandemic played out during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, too. Jim Crow ordinances of the era institutionalized separate and equal hospitals and health care facilities, which deliberately put African Americans at a disadvantage. African American doctors, nurses and other health care workers overwhelmed by the volume of sick and dying patients had to fend for themselves. African Americans died at staggeringly higher numbers. The co-morbidities that plagued us then, like today, were simply the tip of the iceberg contributing to our death rate.
They are the most invisible in this pandemic. Their survival and death rates in this crisis will be worse than any subgroup within the African American community, once the data surface. Black trans women face high levels of homelessness, poverty, unemployment and incarceration. They are the majority killed of transgender people. Sadly, we’re likely to lose more with COVID-19. I’ve been doing funerals since March 25, sometimes two in a day remotely on Zoom. It’s a surrealism difficult to depict. I funeralized many in my community during the AIDS pandemic. I honestly never thought I’d have to do it again.
Irene Monroe is a theologian and news commentator.
IN THE NEWS
JERRELL COX United South End Settlements CEO Maicharia Weir Lytle last week announced the promotion of Jerrell Cox to vice president of Development and External Relations. Born and raised in Boston, Cox has centered his career around serving youth and families who need support, access and opportunity to leadership. At the age of 10, he was afforded the opportunity to attend United South End Settlements’ Camp Hale sleep away camp on Squam Lake in Sandwich, NH. Every summer since 1994 Jerrell attended Camp Hale where his passion as a leader and role model in youth development was ignited. In 2009 he became the director of Camp Hale, serving and impacting the lives of hundreds of children, helping them
COURTESY PHOTO
grow up to become leaders in their communities, and overseeing a $5 million-plus building and renovation of the camp. “Jerrell is an incredible leader who has an innate ability to connect with people of all ages and build strong relationships. He deeply embodies our mission to harness the power of our diverse community to disrupt the cycle of
poverty for children and families. I could not be more thrilled to have Jerrell as a partner in this work to help USES thrive for years to come”, said Weir Lytle. “I am humbled by the organization’s faith in me,” Cox said. “I am deeply committed to helping USES make an even greater impact in our community as well as making sure we have the financial resources to do so. In my new role, I look forward to building upon the rich history of service and resiliency of our 128-year-old organization. I am excited to leverage my background in running programs combined with my fundraising experience to help USES increase our outreach services to South End & Lower Roxbury families — especially in this time of COVID-19.”
6 • Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER
12th Suffolk continued from page 1
interviewed by the Banner said they are planning to exceed the 150-signature requirement for House seats. The voter contacts candidates make as they work to secure signatures typically serve as an opportunity for their campaigns to gauge and build support for their candidacies. Lacet, who ran against Cullinane in 2016 and 2018 and began collecting signatures the first week in February, says he has already collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot. His campaign, headed by political veteran Mukiya Baker-Gomez, is using VoteBuilder software to reach out to eligible voters and gauge their support. “It’s all going to be by telephone and mass mailings until we get the green light to be outside again,” Lacet told the Banner. “Knocking on doors is just not safe.” In the 2018 Democratic primary, Lacet came within 420 votes of Cullinane, garnering 3,247 votes to Cullinane’s 3,667 in a two-way race. Whether the total vote count is north of 7,000 as it was in 2018, or 2,600, as it was in the 2013 special election in which Cullinane garnered 62 percent of the votes to best Stephanie Everett and Mary-dith Tuitt, this year’s primary will likely be the most competitive in recent years, with three black attorneys and a white city worker who was an advance man for Mayor Martin Walsh. Charbonnier, who resides on Westmoreland Street near Adams Corner at the far eastern end of the district, may have an
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(clockwise from far left) Brandi Flucker Oakley, Javon Lacet, Cameron Charbonnier and Stephanie Everett.
There are so many people who are hurting in every imaginable way — jobs, education, health care. As candidates, they all have to address these issues.”
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— Fatima Ali-Salaam advantage if the black vote splits evenly between the other three candidates. While the district is only 19.2 percent white, those votes are concentrated in Ward 16, where turnout is typically higher than in the portion of the district comprising Ward 17 and Ward 18. In the 2018 primary, for instance, precincts 8 and 11 of Ward 16 had turnout at 36.5% and 34.3%, while Ward 18’s precincts 1 and 2 had turnout at 24.6% and 23.2%. State Rep. Russell Holmes said candidates should not be deterred by the prospect of a split vote, pointing to Rachael Rollins’ primary win in a race with one well-funded white opponent, two other women and two other black candidates. With the Sept. 1 Democratic primary more than four months away, signatures are a number-one priority. The candidates must collect signatures of registered voters in the Boston and Milton portions of the district and submit the signatures to officials in both municipalities by the May
5 deadline. The signatures must then be certified by the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division by June 2. So far, Lacet appears to have had a head start. He says he had already turned in 560 signatures by March 4, having collected them during the March 3 presidential primary. Lacet said he also has the added advantage of having run before and has been active in the district. “I’ve been out here fighting in court, at City Hall, addressing inequalities in education, employment and housing,” he said.
Mattapan resident Fluker Oakley has raised $11,467 since launching her campaign in midMarch. That fundraising prowess may come in handy in a campaign that could depend more heavily on mail contact than in-person appeals for votes. The former executive director of Educators for Excellence, Fluker Oakley says she honed her political skills advocating for education issues at the local and state level. “I know what it’s like to advocate on the outside,” she said. “I want to bring those skills to the inside to advocate for the
betterment of the community.” Charbonnier, the director of strategic initiatives for the Mayor’s Office of Tourism, Sports and Entertainment, says he started calling supporters as soon as Cullinane announced late in February that he would not seek reelection. “I got a very encouraging response back and made the decision to jump in the race,” he said. Everett, who served as a legislative aide in the office of Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, garnered 20 percent of the vote against Cullinane in her 2013 run for the seat, trailing him by 1,124 votes. She says her experience in the State House makes her qualified to hit the ground running in January. “The governor’s budget will be coming out in January,” she said. “You have to advocate for items in the budget right away. We’re going to have a budget coming out that’s going to look drastically different from last year’s. We have to fight for our share.” Greater Mattapan Neighborhood Council President Fatima Ali-Salaam said the candidates running for the seat will likely hear a wide range of concerns. “There are so many people who are hurting in every imaginable way — jobs, education, health care,” she said. “As candidates, they all have to address these issues.” Ali-Salaam said the neighborhood council will likely hold a candidate forum during the summer. Whether it’s in person or online will depend on how well Boston has bounced back from the pandemic.
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Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 7
Councilors probe state’s COVID response By KENNEAL PATTERSON After weeks of backlash from communities of color, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health revised its “crisis standards of care” on April 20. Advocates say that these guidelines, which establish priorities for which patients are given highest priority for COVID-19 treatment, are still not as equitable as they should be. Boston City Councilors Ricardo Arroyo and Andrea Campbell hosted an online hearing to discuss these guidelines last Wednesday. “We are here today to say that these revised guidelines are a step in the right direction, but not the final destination on our journey towards true health equity,” said Dr. Alister Martin, a member of the Massachusetts Coalition of Health Equity. The coalition represents 80 physicians across five major Boston hospitals. Hospital capacity is limited; at some point, doctors may need to decide which patients will receive extended care. The original state guidelines, issued April 7, said that “underlying medical illnesses” would count against patients requiring ventilators or other limited assistance, noted Martin. The new guidelines have updated language. Nevertheless, patient medical history is still considered when providing care. Patients might not receive a ventilator if they have preexisting conditions, for example. “These guidelines still do not go far enough to truly protect marginalized populations like communities of color and patients with disabilities,” said Martin.
Hospitals can adopt their own set of guidelines; the health care workers decide on a list of diseases that could dictate whether or not patients are denied life-saving resources, said Martin. Arroyo said that the original guidelines created point systems based on preexisting conditions, which are heavily impacted by race and socio-economic status, but that the DPH still claimed it was creating a “race-blind system.” “The update has dealt with some of that, but not all of that,” he said. He added that the guidelines should take race into account in a positive way. Hospitals should make sure that “the social inequities that we see on a daily basis are addressed.” Campbell agreed, noting that the administration must employ a racial equity lens when thinking about solutions. “We often are hearing from folks that they don’t want to take race into consideration, that this is not about race, this is not about black and brown,” she said. “And I’ve said plainly: that’s a total mistake.” Council President Kim Janey noted that the pre-existing conditions plaguing communities of color didn’t just appear. These diseases were bred in “deep poverty,” she said. Underlying conditions like heart disease, diabetes and asthma are all conditions that all affect black populations at much higher rates. “COVID really is shining a spotlight on existing inequities,” she said. Dr. Joseph Weinstein, the chief medical officer of Steward Health Care System, noted that discussions on crisis standards are currently hypothetical. Steward Health Care
Yeah, IT’S THAT EASY
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District 4 City Councilor Andrea Campbell. System includes Carney Hospital in Dorchester and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton. Weinstein said that these hospitals have more than adequate capacity to handle patients. State officials convened a panel of medical professionals to draft the voluntary guidelines for hospitals to use in the event that the number of cases in Massachusetts exceeds the capacity of the health care system to treat them. A shortage of ventilators, for instance, could force medical professionals to make difficult decisions. But Weinstein said that has not yet happened. “We have not had to deny any patient any form of life-sustaining care, including ventilators, medication or any other life-sustaining treatment,” he said. “We have been more than able to handle the
capacity.” Weinstein said that health care workers have been strategic in acquiring stockpiles of resources. Steward Health Care System has expanded its number of surgical beds, ICU beds and nurses. He added that the hospitals have no shortage of ventilators. As of last week, Carney Hospital had 77 COVID-19-positive patients. The hospital capacity was at 64%. St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center had over 50 COVID-19-positive patients and its capacity was at 57%. If hospitals cannot obtain more ventilators, Weinstein said that healthcare workers will likely implement crisis standards of care when ventilators are at 90% utilization. “We hope to never, ever, ever get to those types of discussions and those types of decisions,” he said.
Arroyo expressed concern over one aspect of the new guidelines, which gives doctors the ability to assess a patient’s chances of survival for the next five years. He said that this was “particularly troubling” because doctors may take underlying conditions into account — conditions that primarily affect communities of color. Weinstein said that health care workers at Steward Medical Center are using short-term survival guidelines instead. This includes things like the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, or SOFA, which predicts ICU mortality based on lab results. Doctors have not used the five-year survival tool, he said. “We take care of patients in socio-economically disadvantaged communities all the time,” he said. “It is certainly our belief and certainly our stance that every patient is deserving of the very best possible care that we can deliver.” Weinstein also said that there should be an informed consent process, so that patients know whether or not doctors are invoking the crisis standards. He said that Steward Healthcare System workers are drafting their own document regarding implementation of the new guidelines. Massachusetts had reached 54,938 COVID-19 cases statewide on Sunday. Although Weinstein said that hospitals have yet to reach capacity, many hospitals are still preparing for additional surges. “We can be proactive,” said Arroyo. “Not reactionary.”
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8 • Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER
COMMENTARY
A rating system tilted against Hub schools State’s rubric leaves little room for improving student scores By ALAIN JEHLEN State law gives the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education wide discretion in deciding whether to take partial or complete control of a school or school district. But it certainly helps justify intervention if the commissioner can point out that the school or district has earned bad marks in the state’s supposedly scientific and objective rating system. Boston has 34 schools (out of about 125) that rank in the bottom 10 percent in the state. BPS as a whole is 14th from the bottom out of 289 districts. Why is it rated so low? One major reason is that the rating system was designed in a way that almost automatically puts Boston and other urban centers with large numbers of low-income students and recent immigrants at the bottom. Here’s how it works: The state rates schools and districts mostly according to test scores. But there are two ways they could use the scores. State officials picked the one that makes urban areas look worse.
Two ways to rate schools using test scores: score level vs. growth
When social scientists want to compare how well schools prepare their students for tests — for example, charter schools versus district schools — they use “growth” scores. “Growth” means how fast students are learning the skills that are tested. If a student has a big jump between grade four and grade five, that’s high growth. The school that the student attends probably had something to do with that, although there are other factors. The other approach is to use the actual score. The score shows the effects of everything that’s happened to a student in that student’s entire life. The student’s current school is only a small part of that. Say a student comes into a school and gets a 40 on a standardized test. The next year, the student scores a 50, a growth of 10. At another school, a student comes in scoring 80. A year later, the student scores 81, a growth of one. Which school was more effective? Obviously, the school with more growth. But the current state rating system would give
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Cutlin There are 34 Boston Public Schools rated in the bottom 10 percent of the state’s rankings. the second, slow-growth school a higher grade. Or imagine a school that has high-scoring, English-fluent students. One year, the school has an influx of bright, fast-learning immigrant students who are still learning English. The school still has high growth scores because the students are learning fast. But the score level plunges because the new students aren’t as fluent in English as last year’s students.
Child poverty and test scores
Other aspects of a child’s life, besides not speaking English, can also lead to low test scores. One is poverty. Students who are poor have extra obstacles to overcome if they are to perform as well as children from homes that are economically comfortable. Many children from low-income families do manage to break through the barriers and score high. But if you compare the scores of 1,000 low-income children and 1,000 high-income children, the individual variations within each group wash out. The average for high-income children is likely to be higher than the average for low-income children, even though they have the same range of innate potential. Growth scores are influenced by poverty, too, but not as much as the score levels because what happens in school has more effect on growth.
Where’s Boston?
The new state audit of the Boston schools breaks down MCAS growth scores for English
Caucus
continued from page 1 and Latino Caucus chairman, doesn’t participate in the meetings of the Boston-based officials, he says elected officials of color are doing remarkably well at coordinating efforts and advocacy at the state level. Gonzalez, who is also the founding head of the Massachusetts Latino Chamber of Commerce, says caucus members are advocating for loans for the microbusinesses that make up 80 percent of businesses owned by Latinos and blacks in Massachusetts. Microbusinesses are those with 10 employees or fewer and less than $200,000 in sales. “They’re hair salons, barber shops, web developers,” Gonzalez says.
students that score low need extra help even if they’re not bad schools, and a low rating triggers extra state help. But schools could be given extra help without being labeled “underperforming.” For example, Title I, a federal program that started during the War on Poverty, sends money to schools that have large numbers of low-income children without suggesting the schools are bad schools. The state’s new Student Opportunity Act promises to give much more money to districts with high numbers of low-income students. It does not assume the schools in those districts are underperforming.
Does the “help” fit the problem?
and math for every grade that has growth scores. Most of the growth scores are a bit below the state average. A few are above. But in the state ranking system, Boston is in the bottom five percent of districts — number 14 out of 289 districts, where a low number means close to the bottom. Why does Boston rate so low? The reason is the formula used to calculate the rankings. It has gotten more complicated in recent years but most of it is still test scores: one-fourth growth score and three-fourths score level. That’s like a formula to judge runners’ speed that’s one-fourth how fast they’re moving and three-fourths where along the road they are at the moment. If that makes no sense to you, it’s because it doesn’t make sense — at least, not if you’re trying to measure what the runner is doing, or in the case of the state rating system, what schools are doing. If the state officials stuck to growth scores, they would still only be paying attention to a narrow slice of the skills and knowledge that students need to cope with life. Test scores are poor predictors of a student’s future success. But at least the state would be looking at something that happens in school. So why would state officials design a system for finding “underperforming schools” that is such a poor measure of school performance? When pressed, state officials sometimes say schools with
Alain Jehlen is editor of Boston Schoolyard News, the blog where this article originally appeared.
The caucus is seeking $500,000 in aid for such businesses. Gonzalez said the caucus is also advocating for the expansion of community-based COVID-19 testing sites. Blacks and Latinos work in many of the occupations with high rates of infections, such as nursing home attendants, personal care attendants and grocery workers. Gonzalez says he has found Gov. Baker and the legislative receptive to the caucus members’ concerns. “The issues we’ve bought to the forefront have been addressed in a manner we think appropriate,” he said. “The leadership has been working with us. They hear our concerns and they’re helping us address them.” Rep. Nika Elugardo agrees. When she was working to build
support for legislation to support people on public assistance, sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Decker, legislative leadership helped with the drafting of the bill. “People are working hard to figure things out,” she said. “We keep figuring out more things our constituents need.” Legislators will soon be convening to work on the fiscal year 2021 budget. With the shutdown of businesses and the hollowing out of the state’s economy, the deliberations could be challenging. Already, state officials are expecting a shortfall of more than $4 billion in the remainder of this fiscal year’s budget. Next year’s will be even more difficult. “We’re going to do all we can to make sure people are getting as much support as they can from the state,” Elugardo said.
Also, the way the state “helps” schools with low ratings only makes sense if the school itself is the problem. The state (1) takes over decision-making, (2) fires the principal and most of the teachers, (3) suspends the teachers’ union contract and (4) provides extra money, but only for three years. Three years is supposed to be enough time for a “turnaround.” But if students score low because they are homeless or face other obstacles due to poverty, those problems are unlikely to go away in three years, which explains why the record of state intervention is spotty at best. Schools sometimes do better while the money flows and extra staff are hired, but then their scores sink back down when it runs out. Federal Title I aid keeps flowing as long as the school has low-income students. The money from the new state funding law will also keep coming if the legislature and the governor fund it. Officials also sometimes argue that growth scores change from year to year more than score levels. That’s true, but would you determine a person’s weight with a tape measure rather than a bathroom scale because the readings on your scale bounce around a bit? Does it help that a measure is stable if it’s measuring the wrong thing?
Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 9
BUSINESSNEWS Launching an online radio station www.baystatebanner.com
CHECK OUT MORE BUSINESS NEWS ONLINE: WWW.BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/CATEGORY/NEWS/BUSINESS
By KENNEAL PATTERSON Danielle Johnson is the first black woman in Boston to own an all-digital radio station. Spark FM boasts its success as the city’s #1 station for Urban and Caribbean music, attracting listeners, artists and DJs who perform live every week. Small businesses are shutting down across the country, but Johnson hasn’t let the pandemic stop her. Instead, she’s adapted. “It’s important to have live, up-to-date information and good music to try to keep us going throughout this really terrible and isolating time,” she told the Banner last week. “We really don’t have anything that’s catered to us other than statistical numbers about how bad we’re dying.” Spark FM was launched in January through a KickStarter, or online fundraising campaign. Johnson said that her team set out to raise $19,000. “We were actually blessed to raise $21,200, so all of that has literally come from donations from people in the community,” she said. Support for the station came from 27 sponsors, said Johnson, and all of them are local black or brown businesses. The station has, in turn, channeled donations to its listeners. Johnson said that businesses have donated everything from facemasks to t-shirts. “What we’ve noticed in our community is [certain businesses] can’t really give financial donations, but what they can do is donate some of the things they have going on,” she said.
“
It’s important to have live, up-to-date information and good music to try to keep us going throughout this really terrible and isolating time. We really don’t have anything that’s catered to us other than statistical numbers about how bad we’re dying.” — Danielle Johnson
YourWeaveDealer, a hair extension supplier, donated wigs for people who can’t go to hair salons. Salvaged Roots offered gift cards for their natural hair products. Some businesses offer self-care items and body oils. Some donate essential products like gift-cards for food. Johnson said that many in local communities are experiencing anxiety and depression. Manifest Peace, another sponsor, is providing mental health checks starting next week. The company will provide instructional resources to keep people healthy and safe. Johnson said that she’s learned how to “pivot” since COVID19’s outbreak. In typical circumstances, she said, Spark FM’s radio hosts would work in their new
COURTESY PHOTO
Danielle Johnson broadcasting from the studio of Spark FM. state-of-the-art studio. Now, DJs use home studios to broadcast remotely. Johnson said the transition was hectic. “It’s been a challenge. But because we’re a digital radio station, we have been able to kind of pivot and proceed with our plan. For the most part it’s been working out really great.” Spark FM recently had an online party to celebrate the station’s launch. Johnson said that DJs donated their time to play, so the party only cost about $100. Nevertheless, Spark FM is struggling to bring in revenue. “That’s what’s so up and down for us,” said Johnson. “Because
we were projecting raising about $5,000 per month from ad sales.” So far, she said, only a couple people are reaching out for ads. “We’re not even probably going to make $1,000 a month,” she said. “So right now, we’re kind of just winging it and just kind of giving people good music until we can get out of here and we can put our marketing plan into effect.” Due to sponsor donations, she said, the station doesn’t have many other costs beside rent. Rent is paid through the KickStarter-raised funds. “Right now, we’re not really struggling,” she said. “But I know in the coming months it’s going to
be hard.” Johnson is using social media to get the word out. She said that her team is using their social network to spread information in a cost-efficient way. “Corona’s giving us a run for our money,” she said. “But we started out being a digital station and we’re going to use the digital aspect of everything to our advantage.” So far, the station is attracting 500 daily listeners. Johnson’s goal is 1,000 listeners by next week, and for the numbers to increase in increments of 500. “The software that we’re using to actually run the radio station gives us up-to-date stats at all times of who is listening,” she said. “Right now, unfortunately, the numbers are not as large as we would want them to be.” Nevertheless, listeners are coming from all across the country. People from Ohio, Rhode Island, Georgia and Connecticut have all tuned in. New England listenership is especially picking up, said Johnson. Spark FM is available online through sparkfmonline.com, or through a new Android app. Johnson acknowledged incoming information about COVID-19s disproportionate impact on the black community. She said that it’s important to have an up-to-date, independent media source providing information “that we need and want to know, and that is marketed to us.” “We have live people in studios giving them real information, and playing music that’s better than their Pandora stations and their streaming services,” she said.
AS A MOTHER I’M ALWAYS EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED. BUT I DIDN’T EXPECT HOUSING DISCRIMINATION BECAUSE I HAVE A CHILD. One landlord said I could only live on the first floor, another said that my daughter was not allowed to play outside, and a third told me that my rent would be higher. Then I learned that discrimination based on familial status is illegal, so I filed a complaint with HUD.
Find out more at hud.gov/fairhousing or call 1-800-669-9777
FAIR HOUSING IS YOUR RIGHT. USE IT. A public service message from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in partnership with the National Fair Housing Alliance. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. For more information, visit www.hud.gov/fairhousing.
10 • Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER
SMALLBUSINESS KEEPING OUR COMMUNITY STRONG DURING COVID-19
Boston is only as strong as its black community By SEGUN IDOWU This is a critical time for all of us, particularly Boston’s black community. Not only does the COVID-19 pandemic threaten our lives at disproportionate rates, but the economic standstill threatens our livelihood as well. When we surveyed members of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA) in early March, we found that over 90 percent of respondents were already facing a somewhat to severe financial impact; over 60 percent only had cash reserves to last them up to 90 days, if at all; and over 40 percent would have to lay off staff in order to temporarily survive. This was close to two months ago. Our business community was already in a precarious situation. Systemic racism kept us from accessing needed capital to start or stabilize our ventures, and structural barriers kept us from being awarded lucrative contracts. With a stay-at-home advisory shuttering
our businesses, and fundamental flaws in relief programs keeping us from obtaining emergency funding, the black business community faces its most dire threat. An April 2020 report from the Brookings Institution noted that, “Although [minority-owned businesses] were more likely to shutter during the Great Recession, they helped stabilize the economy during the recovery period. Nationally, [minority-owned businesses helped to] add 1.8 million jobs from 2007 to 2012, while firms owned by white males lost 800,000 jobs, and firms equally owned by white men and women lost another 1.6 million jobs.” It is clear that when we invest in blackand other minority-owned businesses, not only do those communities thrive, but the entire economy is saved. Federal programs are not enough to preserve our business community. This week, the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program opened up for new applications with $310 billion available
in emergency capital. However, glaring defects in the original CARES Act were not corrected, and so this program is poised to leave black businesses out in the cold once more.
“
It is profoundly important that the city balance its efforts to address the immediate public health crisis with an effort to protect Black-owned businesses.”
Boston cannot wait. It is profoundly important that the city balance its efforts to address the immediate public health crisis with an effort to protect blackowned businesses. If quick and
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
decisive action is not taken, we could see the deepest growth of the racial wealth gap in our time, which would have short- and longterm effects on both the health and wealth of our entire city long after the virus has passed. In order to ensure the city appropriately addresses the needs of our businesses, it is imperative that they move forward in the following ways:
commended for their monumental work. Our local elected officials can strengthen this legislation by compelling banks to put a halt to mortgage payments for landlords across the city. While stopping evictions is important, this does not stop rent from accruing. If we don’t ease the burden on landlords, and thus their tenants, a threat of mass evictions could be looming, creating another crisis.
Financial relief for small- and micro-businesses
Equitable procurement practices
Earlier this month, the city of Boston opened its Small Business Relief Fund. This was a muchneeded lifeline for our businesses. The city must continue to utilize all funding resources available in order to reopen this process to those who could not originally participate. There must also be an effort to reach businesses that are not online and therefore cannot access the application. Additionally, the city should support local efforts like the Business Equity COVID-19 Emergency Fund, which is focused specifically on providing capital and crisis support to black and brown businesses throughout the area.
Rent and mortgage moratorium
Last week, Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a temporary moratorium on evictions of renters and business owners. The efforts of grassroots organizations like City Life/Vida Urbana and other activists ought to be
A year ago, a City Council hearing exposed the shameful lack of contracts the city had awarded minority-owned businesses. We now have an opportunity to ensure that our businesses are connected to lucrative contracts to not only help our community get through this crisis, but to be part of the recovery efforts. Priority must be given, technical assistance provided and barriers removed to give our businesses fair access to city contracts. Anything less would be dereliction of duty. It is imperative that Boston act now to protect our black-owned businesses, for the development of some communities cannot coexist with the underdevelopment of others. Black businesses — which make up a quarter of Boston’s business community — have waited long enough for swift action. Only then can we truly be “Boston Strong.”
Segun Idowu is the executive director of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA)
Support your local businesses during COVID-19 By BANNER STAFF Local businesses are the backbone of communities and have been hit hard by COVID-19. Local restaurants have suffered particularly hard during this COVID-19 pandemic. The nature of the local restaurant business is already a financial challenge, and most restaurants do not have a reservoir of cash to tide them over during a shutdown. Some have had to close down completely and lay off all their staff. Others have been able to remain open in a limited capacity by offering reduced menu options for takeout, with curbside pickup or the use of delivery services like UberEats and DoorDash. According to the FDA, there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission of COVID-19, and customers should not fear takeout and delivered food as long as they continue to follow the strict guidelines on washing hands after touching anything from outside of their homes. You can find out which restaurants are still operating by checking out local websites that are keeping a list, such as boston.eater.com and the phone app. foodlens.com. The Mayor’s Office of Economic Development
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
keeps a list of open restaurants at www.boston.gov/departments/ small-business-development/ support-bostons-restaurants. Looking for a list of local fresh food delivery options? Mass Farmers Markets has a comprehensive list of delivery services for accessing local
food across the state at www. massfarmersmarkets.org/news/ take-a-bite-out-of-covid19 Some delivery services accept SNAP benefits. The state’s MassGrown Map shows farms that deliver or offer mail order on many products from fruits and vegetables to maple syrup,
honey, plants, flowers and more: massnrc.org/farmlocator/map. aspx?Type=Delivery The City of Boston is also providing a way for you to support other essential businesses and services that remain open during the COVID-19 crisis. The businesses include:
■ grocery stores and bodegas ■ pharmacies ■ laundromats and laundry services ■ gas stations ■ auto repair and bike repair shops ■ moving and storage ■ hotels ■ hardware stores ■ pet stores ■ postal workers (including private delivery companies) ■ banks ■ plumbers, electricians and inspectors for emergency services. The full open business listing, including hours and neighborhood for each establishment, is available at www.boston.gov/departments/ small-business-development/supporting-bostons-open-businesses. Local businesses need our support now more than ever!
Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 11
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Small but mighty Little Free Libraries around Boston become donation centers By CELINA COLBY Boston Public Library branches around the city are closed in accordance with COVID-19 social distancing measures, but communities are continuing to share books and hope via Little Free Libraries in their neighborhoods. Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that promotes access to reading material in “book deserts” through community-run put-and-take library boxes. They currently have more than 100,000 libraries in over 100 countries, including many in the Greater Boston area. In fact, when Roslindale’s Boston Public Library branch closed last fall for renovations, the neighborhood came together to install more than 15 Little Free Libraries around town to bridge the gap. Typically, these little libraries are a place to share books. Community members drop off books of all kinds that they want to pass on, and they pick up new reads from what their neighbors have left. But now, they have come to serve an additional purpose. “What we’ve found during the COVID-19 epidemic is that our Little Free Library stewards are stepping up to share not only books, but things like food, personal care items, home-sewn face masks, even toilet paper,” says Margret Aldrich, director of communications for Little Free Library. These essential-item drop-off locations are now findable by a new map on the Little Free Library site. Library stewards can
See FREE LIBRARY, page 13
PHOTO: CELINA COLBY
A Little Free Library on Dunster Street in Jamaica Plain.
Indigo Hubbard-Salk as Birdie holding Torah on Bimah. STILL FROM THE FILM “BROKEN BIRD”
‘Broken Bird’ W
By COLETTE GREENSTEIN
hat began as an assignment for NYU student Rachel Harrison Gordon ended up becoming a beautiful and tender film that explores race, culture and identity through the character of Birdie, a biracial young girl preparing for her Bat Mitzvah. The short film, “Broken Bird,” was the first movie Harrison Gordon wrote and directed. Speaking to the Banner by phone, the director recalls she hesitated to bring the draft to class because “it was somewhat semi-autobiographical in nature.” Like Birdie, the filmmaker grew up in New Jersey with a Jewish mother and an African American father and faced many of the same issues and experiences that Birdie faces, from having her hair straightened in a black salon to being shuttled back and forth between her parents. Directed, written, produced and edited by Harrison Gordon, “Broken Bird” stars Chad L. Coleman (AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and HBO’s “The Wire”) as her dad Andre, Mel House as her mom Eileen, and the “wise beyond her years” Indigo Hubbard-Salk (Netflix’s “She’s Gotta Have It”) as Birdie. Harrison Gordon didn’t originally plan to become a filmmaker. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering, where she studied mechanical engineering. “I was always interested in exploring how could you make tools better for studying how different people interact differently with the internet, with media, with computers, technology — but also with stories and sharing traditions and history,” she says. “It wasn’t a planned step and process.” Her circuitous career path included working as a data analyst within a consumer insights group at The New York Times as well as serving as a Presidential Innovation Fellow for the Obama Administration, learning about veterans and their
ON THE
WEB
Rachel Harrison Gordon’s coming-of-age film soars
“My heart just feels so full with all the conversations that I’ve had with all the people reaching out with their opinions on the film, their questions about it, the music or the props that stuck out to them.” Rachel Harrison Gordon
“Broken Bird” director Rachel Harrison Gordon COURTESY OF THE FILMMAKER
experience returning home. Prior to making her pivot into film, Harrison Gordon began asking herself some tough questions like, “Am I happy in my current role? Are they offering me everything that I want?” The answers led her to discover that she was being disappointed in ways she couldn’t articulate, but, she says, “I knew I wanted to get closer to people.” Harrison Gordon began exploring film as a path. She had a lot of friends who were in the creative space and began visiting them on set. The experience allowed her to absorb everything. “I was always fascinated with movies but didn’t really consider it a legitimate personal exploration for me,” she says.
She went back to school and became a dual degree MFA/MBA candidate at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Stern School of Business. “I needed to go through a process that legitimizes curiosity about filmmaking,” she says. “I needed school to show me that I didn’t need school, but in so many ways I thank them for everything that I’ve made and everything that I thought of.” In February, “Broken Bird” made its world premiere at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival. Harrison Gordon was honored to have her film selected as part of the 70th annual festival. “I
See BROKEN BIRD, page 13
“Broken Bird” is available to stream through April 30 at: mailchimp.com/presents/sxsw/broken-bird Find more info and view the trailer at: www.brokenbirdfilm.com
Thursday, April 30, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 13
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Nonprofit supports teens creatively during COVID-19 By CELINA COLBY Though CVOID-19 stay-athome guidelines have closed the door to the Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) campus, the nonprofit has adapted its culture-driven youth workshops to an online format. The organization serves over 1,500 low-income and culturally diverse residents and has put a particular emphasis on continuing their strong support of teens during this pandemic. “The first week we were focused on making sure the kids have their essential needs covered,” says Pedro Cruz, youth development program director at IBA. “Making sure the kids had Internet access, a safe home to stay in, access to food on a daily basis, that was really the focus … as we adapted to these circumstances.” Once that baseline of physical security was established, IBA took its weekly workshops online via Google Hangouts. Typically, students are in the IBA facilities for two hours a day, five days a week. Now they’re required to take at least two online workshops a week. Cruz says the organization has varied the schedule, knowing that many teens have serious responsibilities in their home and work lives as well. “One of the workshops they did to help with the art project they were doing was a graffiti class. The coordinator showed them how to do bubble letters and graffiti letters,” says Cruz. “There are also social and emotional well-being workshops. One of them was time management — that was an issue presented to us by the youth.” In addition to the workshops, staff members do regular one-on-one check-ins with the teens to make sure their emotional well-being is stable. The workshops provide young people with a crucial feeling of normalcy and continuity during a very insecure time for Boston residents. They also allow the students an artistic outlet to pour
continued from page 12
making a library can construct it on their own or purchase a kit or a fully made library from the Little Free Library website. A majority of people, 60%, build their own and then register with the Little Free Library website to help readers find them. There are no specifications for what a Little Free Library needs to look like, and this creative license has resulted in libraries designed like spaceships or Victorian mansions or even carved into trees.
register their location and what items they offer. The stewards of the Little Free Library at 6 Gleason Street in Medford, for instance, write that they’re offering food and household products, and encourage donors to sanitize everything before dropping off items. Aldrich says the organization has also noticed an uptick in Little Free Libraries being created during this period, esON THE WEB pecially by families looking Find a Little Free Library with pantry items: for a group activity to do with littlefreelibrary.org/sharing-box-map children. Those interested in
PHOTO: YANIFRED GALARZA
A photograph taken by a teen workshop participant as part of the IBA final project.
“
We want the kids to walk away having created something, made something, owning something.” — Pedro Cruz, IBA youth development program director
their emotions into, a particularly useful tool at this moment. “It’s usually an adult conversation, but the youth have a lot of feelings and doubts and questions,” says Cruz. “So this is our way of giving them the platform and allowing them to express their feelings.” The workshops will culminate
in a final project that will be posted on IBA’s social media for the general public to view. The project has teens taking photographs and writing poetry to express their experiences of life prior to the COVID-19 crisis and their hopes for the future. The result will be an exhibition that has been educational, therapeutic and cathartic for the students, and perhaps also for the online viewers. “We want the kids to walk away having created something, made something, owning something,” says Cruz. “We want them to walk away with a sense of leadership and a sense of power, knowing that their actions have an impact on the world around them.”
ON THE WEB IBA: www.ibaboston.org
Broken Bird continued from page 12
definitely didn’t make this film for anyone to see. It was an assignment,” reiterates the director. “I was just excited about the accomplishment.” Two months after its premiere, she’s still in awe that she and her crew made a movie. “My heart just feels so full with all the conversations that I’ve had with all the people reaching out with their opinions on the film, their questions about it, the music or the props that stuck out to them,” says Harrison Gordon. “It’s furthered my love for film. It’s reassured me that I belong here. It’s made me excited to make more and to collaborate with the people that I’ve been meeting.” “Broken Bird” was scheduled
Free Library
STILL FROM THE FILM “BROKEN BIRD”
Birdie and her crown looking to the sky. to screen at South by Southwest (SXSW), Aspen ShortsFest, San Francisco International Film Festival, Florida Film Festival and the Atlanta Film Festival,
but due to the Coronavirus outbreak, these festivals have been canceled, moved online or postponed. “Broken Bird” is available to stream until April 30.
PHOTO: CELINA COLBY
A Little Free Library at the Massachusetts Historical Society offers books and copies of Boston Compass.
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The Lottery for eligible households will be held on July 6th, 2020, at 6:00pm via: • YouTube Live Stream https://youtu.be/0122CqdBPJU or just search “SEB Housing” in YouTube and click the thumbnail for Modera Framingham Lottery, AND • Conference call (425) 436-6200 Access Code: 862627 For Lottery Information and Applications, or for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, go to www.sebhousing.com or call (617) 782-6900x1 and leave a message or postal mail SEB Housing, 257 Hillside Ave, Needham MA 02494. For TTY Services dial 711. Free translation available. Traducción gratuita disponible. Tradução livre disponível
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