Boston Compass #168

NOTES FROM THE CREW: Hang Out with the Boston Compass!

Hello Boston! Following a year of demented, post-grad rest & relaxation (à la Moshfegh), I’ve sobered up from my sad, self-isolation out of necessity. It’s been about six-or-so months since I jumped into the role of Editor-in-Chief—and I’ve learned that this paper does not operate without conversation. Whether it’s calling Sam P every week, emailing orgs, scouting artists at markets, or getting to the gig, it’s a social job! Sorry to all homebodies and misanthropes, but the constant interaction with the BCN team has made my life a thousand times better.

Every issue is a testament to the thousands of creative conversations occurring in Boston every month. Think of all the work it takes to throw an event—all the people to contact, the aesthetic to curate, the space to scout. Now multiply that effort against the hundred happenings we list in our centerfold. Let it be known that none of this collaboration started and ended with just one person! There are so many wonderful people, projects, and movements to engage with here in Boston, and all it takes for you to be part of it all is saying YES to allowing yourself to go.

DESIGNERS:

Phoebe Delmonte: p.1,4,5

Hannah Blauner: p.2,3,7

Adrian Alvarez: p.6,8

That being said, I’m excited to announce that the Boston Compass is hosting a gettogether for peeps of the newspaper on April 21st from 7pm - 10pm! Our friends at the Capitol Theatre in Arlington are graciously hosting us, and we plan to watch a movie (selection TBD), have food, and chill out. Hopefully you’ve caught the social bug by now—we can’t wait to meet you!

—Akbota

OPEN CALL: Black Disabled Owned Project Distributing Microgrants

The Sistas Uprising Fund is a charity project helping marginalized artists. From March 28th - May 5th, BIWOC and FemmeExpressing POC Artists (USA & Canada based only) will submit, via Jotform, a two-minute video describing how our $200 grant will help them and whether funds will support their art directly or if it will help ease stressors such as bills, medication costs, food costs, etc. Seven artists will receive funding. Artists will also fill out prompts related to accessibility, such as writing alt text. Payment will be completed via PayPal. Submissions are free; however, we encourage a $10 minimum tip, which helps us process submissions!

Sista Creatives Rising (SCR) is a project (not a non-profit!) and concept founded by Black, invisibly disabled mother-daughter duo Claire Jones (age 61) and Amaranthia Sepia (age 24). At SCR, our mission is to help creative, marginalized women and marginalized genders gain accessibility and visibility in the arts to facilitate personal . SCR seeks to strengthen our community by increasing the visibility of these artists with our disability-accessible virtual film event, “Art & Mind.“ We compensate artists and raise funds to create grants via our Sistas Uprising Fund.

In October 2023 we held our second Art & Mind titled, I Know Who I Am! Journeys of Women of Color & Femme-Expressing Creatives.“ We received funding from Brain Arts Org (BAO), Dancing Queerly Boston, Mass Cultural Council, and The Puffin Foundation. Five documentary artists received $200 each, courtesy of BAO, which served as the first iteration of the fund. During the event, we fundraised with a goal of $1000 and reached $1450, making this open call possible.

SCR is available for virtual media interviews, disability-accessible virtual workshops, and event collaborations. To contact us, you can email info@sistacreativesrising.com or call us at (802) 738-0567.

MASSACHUSETTS MINUTE

MARQUISE! is Here to Stay

It’s difficult to discuss the Boston music scene without at some point during the conversation mentioning the city’s infamous trendsetter, style icon, and enigma—OG Swaggerdick. For the last decade, OG has bolstered the local circuit of music alongside a class of artists that includes Cousin Stizz, Michael Christmas, Jefe Replay (RIP), and so many more. His in-your-face, over-thetop discography is reminiscent of Lil B the Based God, and packages an ethereal and free temperament that has helped him establish a base of listeners that sprawl across the globe.

Following years of contemplation and a recent transition into fatherhood, a new chapter of the Boston creative’s artistry has arrived. OG recently shared (via a LeBron James “The Decision” style video on Instagram) that OG Swaggerdick will be no more. Instead, the otherworldly rapper will now be making music under the moniker— MARQUISE!. In a recent conversation, we were able to discuss this artistic evolution, peel back some of the layers of this shift in identity, and get to know some of what his plans are in the near future:

What motivated you to ultimately change your stage name from Og Swaggerdick to MARQUISE!?

“It’s been about like 6-7 years of contemplating. I never really thought about using my real name until Tim brought up the MARQUISE! idea. I was thinking too hard on it, but I was just in a different place and for what I wanted to do I felt like the name wouldn’t suit. I’m tryna be on Sesame Street and be a star overall. OG SWAGGERDICK is a character, the goat and will always be here, but for now he’s in Cuba attempting to smoke cigars without choking and chilling. He sent me a postcard not too long ago.”

Are OG Swaggerdick and MARQUISE! stylistically the same artist? If not, how is MARQUISE! going to differ from OG Swaggerdick?

“I would say somewhat. You might hear them do some of the same ad libs, you might hear references to OG’s music with MARQUISE!, but I would say MARQUISE! is more digestible if that makes sense. It’s like Stefan and Steve Urkel of that makes sense. OG Swaggerdick doesn’t give af and is wild. MARQUISE! is a lil more chill but still a stunt man if you get me.”

What should listeners anticipate from MARQUISE! in 2024?

“MARQUISE! is coming with new music, a thrift company (Sharp Centro), and lots of content. Definitely gonna make sure we all have fun this summer.”

Though this announcement in and of itself was a monumental moment for MARQUISE!, it didn’t arrive without some music to accompany it. Coupled with this news was the release of the official audio and music video for his debut single, “NO DOUBT!”. Taking the style that fans have known and loved for the last ten plus years and placing a fresh spin on it, this single is the perfect representation of what listeners should anticipate from MARQUISE!. As alluded by the Boston native, this new chapter is by no means a complete goodbye to OG Swaggerdick. It’s more so an evolution where we are now being greeted by his newest form. As the days and months roll forward, MARQUISE! is positioned to bring back the feeling that sparked the most recent renaissance in Boston art. Though there are a tremendous amount of talented musicians in the area, there’s no one else out there who’s quite like MARQUISE!. Ooooweeeee!!

------------------------------------------------ SHAMUS HILL

EXPIREMENTAL EXCURSION

Consecrated Venom & Rowden / Michiu

On this month’s issue of Experimental Excursion, we’ll be reviewing releases from two of New England’s most provoking and stimulating artists. Let’s find out who they are and what they sound like.

Thor’s Pile Drivers, Consecrated Venom. Consecrated Venom is the droning experimental electronic project of Beth Redmond Walsh. On Thor’s Pile Drivers you will hear industrial and impending-doom style electronics and consecutively rhythmic and arrhythmic patterns on this project released on Voidstar Productions. Taking slight inspiration from 8-bit soundtracks and drone music, Consecrated Venom produces a work of chaotic and detrimental sound landscapes that boggles the mind. With two tracks playing a total of 43 minutes, you are met with robotic and synchronized tones arranged with precision. If you’re in the Cambridge area be sure to check out her monthly live sessions at Cambridge Community Television titled “Live Wire Sessions“ featuring many experimental musicians every month.

They hover but don’t touch, Zach Rowden / Dan Michiu. With one artist being from New Haven and the other being across the Atlantic from Budapest, Romania—this improvisational collaboration immediately gained my interest. On this tape, They hover but don’t touch, you are met with dismal and bleak sounds generated by an electric bass and tape player from Zach Rowden himself. The bass has a daunting and melancholy overtone while the tape player provides warbling and ecstatic hisses and spirals in the background. And Dan’s electric guitar utilizes dissonant and tonal plucks masterfully on both tracks. Together it constructs a gloomy, atmospheric and potent soundscape on both tracks. Another aspect I enjoyed was the creative titling of the two tracks, with track one being titled, “A tangled web we weave” and track two named “Felt like a tuning fork when it touched me.” Overall, this cryptic duo of noise tracks is a must-have for any experimental enjoyer and you can get it at beach buddies records’ bandcamp now.

---------------- MICHAEL MAMBRINO

FUNERAL ANT BELL RINGS IN A NEW CHAPTER

A mean mug curls across lips and nostrils, eyes asquint in appreciation, domes a-nod, when FUNERAL Ant Bell’s name glides across the ticker—and when his voice cuts clearly (even through muddled ears) across speakers.

His work over the past four years, especially with frequent collaborator DeevoDaGenius (whose masterworks bear repeated listens), sketches a body of work well-honed in its story-telling capacities, in its message, and in its tone. Ant Bell, known to friends and family as Anthony or AB, isn’t in the business of convincing anybody—and truths told often elide cajoling.

Ant’s concert at Black Market on Saturday, March 9th—to promote the forthcoming release of his fifth album, There’s Glory in the Fire, Vol. 2: The Wind Beneath My Wings—sought to elevate those same truths, surfaced from deep reflection and sincere love. Opening acts at the show (including Milkshaw Benedict, poet and writer with a golden smile; and Najee Janey, an artist whose earnestness instills heart) hammered home their shared message of care for one another and for ourselves. The atmosphere upheld the care, as did the provision of catering that calls to mind the community centers from which hip-hop first sprung. To listen together, we must first come together. And what better way to break (corn)bread than to actually eat it?

Some tone-setting in the pre-show mixes (curated by Deevo himself, and Tommy Chronic) doubled down on the exact hiphop tradition this concert springs from: samples abounded in tracks composed by Dilla, Alchemist, and like-minded historic heads who melded musical movements. Ant Bells and his collaborators know both their audience and their forebears, and are in the midst of a scene in Boston that supports the underground.

Yet an important distinction must be made here: the more a listener immerses themselves in rap beyond number ones, the more said listener might find themself hearing boastful bars that don’t cut muster, alongside navel-gazing self-affirming rhymes that serve nan purpose but aggrandizement. A portraited sale of self rings untrue the closer to ourselves we picture the painter. The few who speak from earth resonate; the weight of their burdens is shared across our shoulders as we tune in, and the boasts become audience-affirmations as we identify with the ascendant and walk along their journey with them through the door they’ve opened for us—Ant Bell is this species of artist, the type to speak with you instead of at you as he rips and politicks.

When featured, Ant Bell’s verses elevate whole tracks, and collaborators push themselves to meet his match (listen: “ALL ON ME” on Deevo’s Champion Sound). Intentions become principles become

actions in rhymes, and in-person: Ant is warm, friendly, and genuine upon meeting, gauging reception and respect in rooms while moving at trust’s pace alone.

His WordsSpeakLife labelmate, NaySpeaks, and few others accompany his rarefied air (including fellow young artists like Ajary from Ethereal Visions, who received a shout-out from Ant Bell mid-show). Each paves their own road, with Bell charting a path towards literary lyrics and piercing vocals that echo long after his records cut off. Tracks like “Make It” (on Deevo’s Before Da Gold, released earlier this year) fill memories with quotables that fill 8-bar stanzas; his first verse holds the following: “It’s some niggas who ain’t present anymore I’m still living for/breaking chains off, I’m here to abolition more/where I come from, every single corner got a liquor store/ but I’m religious, so I lift my palms and pray for what I’m wishing for/you saw me living in my purpose so you had to reconsider yours/I stand on blocks of positivity defending ours.”

And his second verse layers in more: “Before you meet me, God’ll introduce me; real niggas all salute me, if you don’t like me then shoot me: don’t chastise or rebuke me.”

Further lines shared en vivo from Glory in the Fire, Vol. 2 (“You got fears lil nigga you need to climb! You got dreams lil nigga so you need your mind/You got wings lil nigga you need to fly!”) characterize the uplift running through Bell’s material. The concert comprised the entire album’s tracklist from top to bottom; at times thematically repetitive, every song on the album is a narrative of ascendance, with small specificities that differentiate their content. Trust and buy-in were firmly planted in the room, such that repetition did not serve to distract (and messages like Bell’s are wholly productive and merit re-utterance, regardless).

A strong belief in God animates Ant Bell, a belief in a God who is accessible and amenable to who we are in the here and now in Bell’s lyrics—as present in our good deeds as in our quotidian sin and delight (e.g. “[He] showed me how to have faith when I roll dice,” shared live from Glory in the Fire). Live accompaniment at the show, the accomplished and talented Megazoid band, added a jazz-gospel swing on certain tracks to emphasize the spiritual character of Bell’s material.

The Most High is bound up most especially in the love we share (from the familial to the romantic); proof of point, Bell’s mother and girlfriend were both in the front row of his show and figured heavily in the proceedings. The show closed with both coming up on stage to present him with cake and candles for his 30th birthday; as the band played us out, hands clapped on FUNERAL Ant Bell’s shoulders to celebrate the monumental life milestone, and his jubilant but determined eyes focused on the lights just ahead.

ALULA HUNSEN

ALL GIRLS LOVE BELLY

Dorchester native Big Belly is back on the scene with the spring release of his 3rd project—All Girls Love Belly—an 11-track album done entirely by local Producers Akachiglo and KSully with executive productions from Gio Dee. Released by very well-known creatives hailing from all over Massachusetts, the completion of this project took place at their very own studio Do-Over-Don’t with an assist from The Sound Lab. Conceptually when it came down to selecting the cover art for his 3rd piece, Belly trusted in Nicole Lerds—manager of The Sound Lab for this significant part. He really wanted women to be a part of every step for All Girls Love Belly as we can see within the details from the album title, songs such as Barbie and even for his music video Hype Me

Up. The production team was able to finish All Girls Love Belly in just under three months after meeting back in the fall with successful features from Gio Dee, KZ, Polo Summers, and Pistola.

For Belly’s last album Free Everybody, he painted pictures on life’s struggles and the outcomes of living in the streets while still making it very relatable for everyone. Artists of different backgrounds are always going to come face-to-face with struggles throughout their journey. One of Belly’s key reminders that always kept him going in this industry was giving music his all—all the time: “Don’t have a plan B when it comes to your music, make music your plan A and do it everyday.”

POETIC PATTIE

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music & audio

4/3 Smirk, Valley Gals, Gossip Collar @ Deep Cuts Deli 7pm11pm 18+ $12

4/4 Reclaiming Folk: Celebrating People of Color in Folk Music Created by Naomi Westwater, feat. performances from Kim Moberg, Pamela Means and Porsha Olayiwola. In Rabb Hall @ Boston Public Library (BPL) 6pm-7:30pm @naomiwestwater

4/4 Mortal Wound, Matriphagy, Hallucivore, Caregiver @ Ralph's Rock Diner 8pm 21+ $15

4/5 The 4th Wall Presents: A Country Western, Strange Mangers, and Kettle with Live Visuals by Digital Awareness @ The Capitol Theatre 9pm 18+ $10

4/5 Josephine Foster (w/Jen Gelineau!), Joshua Burkett @ Lilypad 8pm All Ages

4/5 Cross of Disbelief, Clock Out, Exhibit, Husk @ CC's Downstairs (Weymouth) 7pm All Ages $15

4/5 4th Wall Presents: A Country Western, Kettle, Strange Mangers with visuals by Digital Awareness @ The Capitol Theatre 9pm 18+ $10

4/5 Boston Progressive Jazz Festival

The inaugural Boston Progressive Jazz Festival brings a roster of young local groups and talents to showcase Boston's diverse jazz scene. @ Arts at the Armory 6pm-11:30pm $15

4/6 John Shakespear, Dustin Lowman, Arden Lloyd A night of songwriters with homes in Boston and NYC @ Lilypad 7:30pm10pm All Ages $10

4/6 Boston Modular presents: Live at the Foundry feat. Synthia, Violet Nox, Allie Frost, Bob Familiar @ The Foundry 5:30pm $15 adv / $17 doors

4/6 Why Try?, The Roscoes, Viruette @ Deep Cuts Deli 7pm11pm All Ages $15

4/7 FANG, Neighborhood Shit, Poor Impulse Control, Scumbari @ Midway Cafe 3pm-6pm All Ages $15

4/7 Diztort, Mil-Spec, Collateral, C4, Rabid Few @ Tribe Dream Arena 6:30pm All Ages $15

4/8 #HELLABLACKVOL6:

SACRED feat. D Ruff, Capella, Killah Croc, Ky Letta, Neely Isaura Oliveira & Power of Skirts Collective, TiElla, 617Peak youth performers, with a set by DJ Nomadik. Curated by Amanda Shea. Asks the performing artists to embody and present what makes them feel grounded in their creation. @ Boston Center for the Arts 7pm $35

4/9 KLYAM Presents: Moron's Morons, Andy California, Adult Learners, G. Gordon Gritty @ O'Briens Pub 8pm 21+ $12

4/10 Fully Celebrated Orchestra with QWANQWA Beaming in from the sizzling Addis Ababa nightlife scene, this group shines an experimentalism

based in the virtuosity of rooted traditions. With swirling masinko (one-stringed fiddle), wah-wah violin, bass krar grooves, the heavy riffs of goat skin kebero beats, and powerful mellismatic lead African diva vocals, QWANQWA keeps the people rapt in celebratory attention.

@ Midway Cafe 8pm 21+ $15

4/12 Infra presents Lufer, Meschwitz, Niqi, & Sebas FX Infra’s mission is to perpetually and unconditionally cultivate the underground techno scene in Boston.

@ ManRay 9pm 21+ $22.35

4/13 The Spots, Hilken Mancini, Punk Rock Aerobics, Bad Idea USA @ Midway Cafe 3pm-6pm All Ages $5 @hilkenmancini_40southst

4/13 KLYAM Presents: Johnnie and the Foodmasters, Motorhawk, Red Herrings @ Deep Thoughts 8pm All Ages $10

4/13 Bloom Fest The biggest one-day music festival this Spring. Bloom Fest, Greater Boston's best and brightest artists come together at the Diaspora! @ Diaspora 6:45pm 21+ $20 - $30

4/18 Deletar, Ancient Filth, Destruct, Innocent, The Massacred @ Middle East Upstairs 8pm All Ages $22

4/19 The 4th Wall Presents: Gollylagging, Warmachine, Crescent Ridge, and Ridgeway with visuals by: Digital Awareness @ Capitol Theatre 9pm 18+ $13

4/19 Live at The Lizard Lounge: The Collect Pond, Perennial, and Battlemode The Collect Pond, Perennial and Battlemode get together to rock the Lizard Lounge! @ The Lizard Lounge 9pm 21+ $15

4/19 Quattracenta (Baltimore), Thalia Zedek Band, Rip Room (SF) @ Midway Cafe 9:30pm 21+ $10

4/19 Godskin Peeler, Deal With God, Cold Kiss, Posthumous Obsession, Birthright @ The Hoff 6pm All Ages $15

4/19 Science Man, Crimps, Wanted, Special Patrol Unit @ Front St Coffeehouse 7:30pm All Ages $10

4/21 Get To The Gig Boston and MassConcerts Presents: BbyMutha's Sleep Paralysis Tour 2024 @ Arts at the Armory 8pm All Ages $28

4/21 We Are the Union, Half Past Two, Devon Kay & The Solutions, The Pomps @ Crystal Ballroom Somerville 7pm All Ages

4/25 2nd SHIFT // THE FOLK

COLLECTIVE: Songs for Earth and Humanity Incredible music by Maxfield Anderson, Lydia Harrell, Anju Madhok, Stephanie McKay, Kim Moberg, Alastair Moock, and Gabriella Simpkins! @ Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation 8pm-9:30pm $20

4/26 Break the Chains Queen Dance Party! Feat. Brandie Blaze! Boston's favorite all ages all gender radical queer dance party is coming back. And we're kicking things off with Boston's legendary hiphop goddess BRANDIE BLAZE. Benefit for the first ever Wake up the Earth Pride Stage! Masks required for everyone's safety and accessibility. Wheelchair accessible. @ Spontaneous Celebrations 6pm-10pm

All Ages $10-20 @brandieblaze

4/26 Non Event Presents: Waterworks Experimental Sound Festival 2024 feat. performances by Alex Bernhardt (Cryptwarbler), Arnold Dreyblatt, Isabella & Rachel Devorah, Lea Bertucci & Henry Fraser, Lemuel Marc, Neil Leonard playing Phill Niblock, sadnoise. Non-Event is pleased to present two nights of experimental music in the extraordinary acoustics of the Great Engines Hall of the Waterworks Museum.

@ 8pm All Ages @noneventseries

4/27 Cran, The Minor Inconveniences, Hammered Saint, Battery March, Rejekts @ Cambridge Community Center 6pm-11pm All Ages $12

4/28 MTV Presents: Live Hip Hop Showcase at The Jungle Live Music at The Jungle

@ The Jungle 9pm

5/1 Lynn Music Foundation's Hip Hop Music Production Workshop

Led by T. Whyte Dive into Hip Hop production with T. Whyte at LMF's workshop on April 24, May 1, 8, 15 at Neal Rantoul Vault Theatre @ The Neal Rantoul Vault Theatre 7pm-9pm

Capitol Theatre Presents: Good For Her Film Series Never

Underestimate What a Woman is Capable of...Films will screen Saturdays & Tuesdays: Thelma & Louise (4/2), A League of Their Own (4/6 & 4/9), Fried Green Tomatoes (4/13 & 4/16), Serial Mom (4/20 & 4/23), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (4/27 & 4/30).

@ Capitol Theatre 7:30PM 18+ $16

4/25 ONCE Presents: Screaming Females: A Cinematic Experience Join us for a screening of the Screaming Females recorded live. We start with a selection of single song videos, followed by the whole set from Screaming Females.Produced by ONCE and Treebeard Media, filmed by Treebeard Media, with sound support from Dead Moon Audio and Anthony Saffery. @ Capitol Theatre 7pm All Ages $15.76

4/9 Urbanica Gallery presents: Route 111 A photography exhibition by George Annan.

@ Urbanica Gallery 7pm-9pm

4/14 Screen Printing Workshop Join Artist Hannah Jacoby-Brooks for a Screen Printing Workshop!

@ Gallery 263 1pm-4pm

4/18 The Boston Pancakes & Booze Art Show Come experience one of the largest pop-up art movements to hit North America over the past decade. Celebrate our 10th year serving FREE PANCAKES and introducing you to some of the nation's leading emerging artists.

@ MIXX 360 Nightlife 7pm $10

4/20 Boston Comics in Color

Festival The Boston Comics in Color Festival is New England's first comics fest which focuses on cartoonists of color and their work! @ Reggie Lewis State Track Athletic Ctr 10am-5pm $0 – $100

4/27 The Sandpaper Factory Open Studios Explore working artists studios and local art fair at a studio space in Rockland

@ The Sandpaper Factory 12pm All Ages FREE

Dog Cough Comics is a creator owned indie comic anthology aimed at bringing comic artists together. Organized by Bostonbased cartoonists Caoin O’Durgy and Jackson Schleicher, Dog Cough publishes three to four mini-comics monthly through Patreon, which allows us to offer compensation for accepted submissions. With a five-dollar subscription, readers will be supporting indie cartoonists directly, and will gain access to a variety of incredible comics to read! Submissions always open. Support always appreciated: patreon.com/DogCoughComics.

MFA Boston presents Comrade Sisters: Women of the Black Panther Party This exhibition brings together 27 photographs that feature the women, or “comrade sisters,” as they were known, of the Black Panther party.

@ MFA Boston All Ages

performance art

4/4 The Magic Lab: Boston's Open Mic Magic Show

The Magic Lab is a show where local magicians test out their newest material - welcome to the very first open-mic style magic show! @ The Rozzie Square Theater 4pm-7:30pm $12

4/6 Men in Comedy on a Boat Ever wanted to laugh while on a boat? In collaboration with the Charles Riverboat Company, enjoy a scenic view of the Charles River on a gorgeous boat used for weddings while you enjoy Boston's funniest all-femme comedians @ Charles Riverboat Company 6:15pm-8pm $25

4/11 STRUT! Best Drag Show in NE for 7 consecutive years! @ Venetian Moon 6pm-10pm $39

4/13 Infinite Spells and Coded Language Join Amanda Shea for a poetry performance that transcends boundaries. @ Multicultural Arts Center 8pm-9:30pm $35 (and pay what you can)

4/17 City Winery Presents: Poetry vs. Hip-Hop feat. Corey Manning, Amanda Shea, Najee Janey & Hosted by Queen Sheba In Celebration of National Poetry Month! Poets will go head-tohead with Emcees in a FRIENDLY, all Peace and all Love "battle" @ City Winery 7:30pm $35

4/20 Next Level Fusion Debut feat. Ace Fusion by The Q Join us for an all day event with Bachata classes in the afternoon, followed by a night filled with latin social dancing, animations, performances, and more @ Hibernian Hall 1pm $20 – $100

Take-A-Zine, Leave-A-Zine has a new location! Check out this incredible community resource where you can trade your coolest zines for even cooler ones! They just set up a new street box at Gallery 263 in Cambridge that you can access 24/7. They even have a discord if you wanna get involved or learn more! More info on their IG @takeazine

What's Happening Boston

Follow for fun things to do in Boston! Use this resource to plan your week. Check their IG stories every day for unique events #bostonhapps #blackowned @whatshappening_boston

4/2 THRIVE: an 8 week yoga series Free Zoom workshop series open to male-identifying survivors of sexual trauma, with Angelica Lopez and Steve Opalenik. Tuesdays from 5pm7pm, April 2 - May 21st @ 5pm

4/4 Reclaim Roxbury presents: Community Meeting & Art Showcase All Boston residents are invited to give feedback on Northeastern University’s plan for climate justice (with a $125

video

4/8 Moving in Community

A luscious in-person warm up with writing & movement meditation prepares us to combine our shared ideas to develop an improvisational/ movement score. @ Dance Complex 6pm-7:30pm FREE

4/13 Suited for Fashion: Night at Met Gala Annual Fundraiser Embark on an extraordinary journey through time and space, celebrating the fusion of African diaspora culture with science fiction and technology. Tickets available now

@ Artists For Humanity 5:30pm

4/20 1975VietHealing presents: Intergenerational Cultural Commemoration Event

Calling all generations to join us to commemorate the impacts and legacies of war on Vietnamese families of the diaspora. Get ready for an unforgettable lineup of performances, along with light snacks and refreshments.

Please RSVP. @ VietAID 12pm-3pm All Ages FREE @TranVuArts #1975VietHealing

4/24 The Brighton Bazaar: Night Market Over 50 small local businesses selling art, vinyl, vintage, & more! Food + drink in the courtyard! @ Charles River Speedway 5pm-10pm FREE @thebrightonbazaar

4/27 LesbianNightLife Teadance

For Lesbian Visibility Week 2024 we will be celebrating the power of sisterhood by uplifting incredible LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people from every generation, in every field and in every country around the world. One community, so many brilliant

Kenny Combs by LJ-Baptise

@xscapistlj

Thoughts of a Bi Demigirl by Angela Krieg

@akriegstudio

Reunion by Roden Ovak

@rodenovak

Little Crumb & Purpose by Hunter Savage

@hntrsvg

THE MBTA MYSTERY

Did you know there used to be a fifth branch of the Green line? It ran from Watertown Square to Kenmore Square, running through Brighton Center. Due to traffic difficulties and streetcar shortages, the line "temporarily" shut down in 1969. The 57 Bus route was created to retire the line, running almost the same route as the dead branch. Most of the tracks were finally paved over in 2020.

What has fueled my obsession with this old defunct train line is the fact that so far, this is the only confirmable information about the route I’ve been able to find.

I first heard about this old fifth branch when I had a drink after work and talked to a coworker about my MBTA research. A woman sitting near me at the bar chimed in and asked, “Did you know there used to be an A Line?” I went home and immediately looked it up online and was only able to find a Wikipedia page, a buggy ad ridden website, an 11-year-old r/Boston thread on Reddit, and a reel on the MBTA Instagram page. There aren’t many relevant sources on the Wikipedia page. Every link I tried to click on the Reddit thread was dead. Every source on the buggy old website did not

exist online anymore, not even in the Wayback Machine. I suspect the MBTA’s source for their Instagram reel was the Wikipedia page but I haven’t reached out to confirm.

I even tried messaging Greg St. Martin on LinkedIn who wrote “Where did the ‘A’ Line go, anyway?” which was published on the Boston Metro website in 2010, so I could read it, but he never got back to me. After not being able to find much online, I headed over to the archives in the Watertown Library. I used their microfilm reader to comb through old issues of The Watertown Sun and The Watertown Press. After a couple of hours reading issues from 19601970, I found an article with a single mention of the A-line in it.

I need to know why and how the A-Line shut down so badly. I want the budgets, transcripts of meetings, announcements, something other than dead links and a paragraph on a Wikipedia page. What officially put the nail in the A-Line's coffin?

With the current state of the MBTA, it’s more than likely a branch might shut down and mysteriously never open any day now. Boston residents deserve to know their transit history so we can prevent the permanent shutdown of another branch.

Since I don’t have the time or the resources to uncover this by myself, this is my call to action. If you or anyone you know have relatives who used to ride the A-Line, or have access to archives about the A-Line, or have any more information that I do, please reach out to me on Instagram @gannostream.

GANNOPY URENA

AFFECTED ACCENT

THE FULLY CELEBRATED

The Fully Celebrated Orchestra (FCO) has been a staple in Boston for decades, owning the space of punk-infused free jazz. The core members are Saxophonist/Composer Jim Hobbs and Bassist Timo Shanko, who started playing jazz at punk clubs and street corners together in the 80s. Yet, unlike many Boston punk groups from the 80s, FCO continues to evolve, experiment, and create new and exciting music.

In February this year, FCO put out their new album Sob Story. Joining Jim Hobbs and Timo Shanko for this incarnation are Cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, Drummer Luther Gray, and Guitarist Ian Ayers. Sob Story is not long, drawn-out free jazz meanderings. These are tight, concise bebop style compositions/recordings. The solos have a working-class mentality—get in, get out, get the job done without vanity BS. The rhythm section in particular has a confident swing/swagger and stellar groove without extra ornamentation.

ORCHESTRA

The undercurrent of the album is taking the structure of jazz but executed with an underground grit and edge. Tension, anxiety, and frustration exude. The tone is jagged, yet the wonderful contradiction of the album is that nothing feels rushed. Every piece is executed with confidence and ease.

The addition of Guitarist Ian Ayers perfectly fits the vibe. He only has a few solos on the album, and he is serving the same role in the band as a piano player—rhythm and harmony. Yet he brings something a piano player wouldn’t— stabbing, distorted, atonal dissonance in the vein of Marc Ribot. FCO plays the second Wednesday of every month at Midway Cafe in JP. (The fact that this jazz band has a standing gig at Midway should further emphasize their gritty sound.)

The April 10th show at Midway in particular should not be missed because FCO will be joined by QWANQWA, a phenomenal Ethiopian group.

STEVE B.

Bithiah Holton

Bithiah Holton is a Queer Black Mexican American multidisciplinary artist and art educator with a BFA in Art Education from Boston University. Bithiah works in comics, illustration, printmaking, and ceramics. Their work explores the reimagination of liberation, especially through the embodiment of emotion, vulnerability, and the lenses of wellness. Bithiah’s creative process is largely influenced by their identity, interest in emotional growth from trauma, and the interplay between color and emotions. Drawing inspiration from

ART AS RESISTANCE FOR PALESTINE AND BEYOND MEET THE ARTIST

personal and community histories, these elements converge to inform their work. Bithiah is currently working on a short comic about grief and nurturing connection through cooking family dishes. This month they will be exhibiting at the Brooklyn Independent Comics Showcase on April 13th and at the Boston Comics in Color Festival on April 20th. You can find more of Bithiah’s work on instagram at @bithiahsart or at bithiahsart.com.

Toni Cade Bambara said, “The role of the artist is to make revolution irresistible." In these times, when genocide against Palestinians being is funded with our tax money, our president is bypassing checks and balances to send more weapons and cash, defying the International Court of Justice. Meanwhile groceries and rent break the bank. Our “democracy” gives us two privileged, old presidential candidates who lack moral courage and are blatantly beholden to financial profit over the will of the people. We are told that our only choice is the “lesser of two evils.” In these times, revolution needs to be on all of our lips, on the tip of every paintbrush and pen. I’m a diaspora Palestinian and lifelong interdisciplinary artist. I have made my daily bread as an arts educator, while I’ve continued to make music and theater to feed my soul and my community. In these times I must alchemize intense grief into action toward justice for the people of my homeland and the world. It’s overwhelming to continue mundane tasks, knowing that child amputees are starving, people are menstruating with no supplies, mothers give birth without medication, while fathers dig in rubble with bare hands looking for the remains of their kids. Does anything I do matter, especially if it’s not in direct resistance to colonization and slaughter? How do I keep from burning out and care for myself? Why do I have the privilege to rest, take a hot shower, and throw away veggie scraps? What about Congo, Sudan, Haiti? I remind myself that any blow to empire is a step toward our collective liberation, that small actions add up. I boycott, I march, I post, I learn, I call. Does it matter??? When systems of power seem immovable, impenetrable, we must be like water on the stone, over time, with our sustained collective power, we can carve a path. What are our strengths? What things bring us joy, and how can we use those gifts in service of justice? How can we feed, inspire, and support each other? It’s not all on my shoulders or yours. We aren’t meant to grieve alone, we aren’t meant to change the world alone.

So, I worked overnight making a zine to educate people about Falastine. I made a theater piece for a Queers for Palestine event. People cried and I saw in their eyes that they felt with me a fraction of what Gazans feel. I share another post, spend the weekend on the streets with my handmade sign and the beautiful people who showed up for my people. Another weekend I perform an original song about Palestine, I hope it’s catchy enough to stay on listeners' lips.. Another weekend I go to a Palestinian film screening to learn and feel. What films will I show at the screening I’m planning? What venue will host us? The work continues. I can rest and return, this is a long game. I need variety and joy to keep flowing, and I stay rooted in my values of love, equality, justice, self determination, and LIFE. Art will always be the cornerstone of my resistance practice because it’s how my heart speaks. The Bread and Puppet Theatre’s “Why Cheap Art Manifesto” says, “ART IS FOOD. You can't EAT it BUT it FEEDS you. ART has to be CHEAP & available to EVERYBODY. It needs to be EVERYWHERE because it is the INSIDE of the WORLD.” I hope you too will share your art, the inside of your world, in service of justice and peace worldwide. You can follow Juliet on Instagram at @julietorchid

JULIET OLIVIER