June 15, 2021 – NAACP New Bedford

Police

Too Blue

Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CfJJ) has released its new report: Too Blue: A Vision for Non-Police Responses to Community Incidents in Boston The report aims to answer two questions: What incidents do the BPD respond to; and What types of incidents could be handled more efficiently and effectively by non-police alternatives to meet community need? The Boston Police Department (BPD) is tasked with responding to a wide variety of incidents and situations, many of which fall well beyond core law enforcement responsibilities. The report divides these incidents into six broad categories, each of which represents a different type of community...

New Bedford celebrates Juneteenth

[caption id="attachment_2269" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Houston, 1880 - the first Juneteenth celebration[/caption] What is Juneteenth? Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. has written an excellent overview of the history of Juneteenth, first celebrated in 1880 by thirty-one people in Houston's Fourth Ward. Sometimes called "Black Independence Day," Juneteenth commemorates the belated emancipation of slaves who were freed only two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln's proclamation — an emancipation denied until federal troops actually liberated the slave state of Texas on June 19, 1865. Juneteenth is now a state holiday in Massachusetts and a contender for a future federal holiday. Juneteenth...

UIA Community Education Forum Survey

Our friends at United Interfaith Action of Southeastern MA have been conducting Education Community Forums involving the New Bedford Public Schools. If you have not done so already, please offer your feedback on the Forums and share your interest in next steps of action at the following link: Community Forum Feedback & Next Steps Form: https://forms.gle/9caCHdubcMEjbofy5 If you have not completed their Funding Survey for NBPS, please do so. Feel free to share this funding survey with other New Bedford parents, students, educators, and community members, in order to hear back from as many people as possible on how the...