Editor

Community

Statement by South Coast leaders of faith and social equality

We, South Coast leaders of faith and leaders for social equality, come together to affirm the heart of our different traditions - we all are made equally in the image of the divine, all life is sacred, and every human being is our neighbor, worthy of love. Despite this common truth, we as a nation consciously or unconsciously deny that our society is structured in ways that gives privilege to people who are born white and disfavors those who are not. The pain, anger, and heartbreak manifesting today in the United States of America started 400 years ago when human...

Solidarity

Defund White Supremacy in Bristol County

The Bristol County Sheriffs Department is a human rights horror show. The suicide rate at the jail is the highest in the state. Prisoners receive substandard food and, recently, a riot occurred after prisoners had been demanding cleaning and safety equipment to protect themselves from COVID-19. If this were not enough, Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson has numerous links to White Supremacist and milita groups, and he spends most of his time lobbying for Trump's anti-immigrant policies in conjunction with a group set up by White Supremacist John Tanton. While the Bristol County Sheriff is an elected position and funding...

History

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?

On July 5,1852, Frederick Douglass delivered the following speech in Rochester, New York. It is a fiery reproach of American independence — "your 4th of July" not "ours" — demanding that White America keep its unfulfilled promises. Douglass's words are, sadly, as relevant today as they were when he spoken them 86 years after American Independence. Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens: He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my...

Police

NEAC Policing Advocacy Issues

Today we received the following note from Juan M. Cofield, President, NAACP-New England Area Conference, regarding policing policies and re-imagining policing. The note also references a policy document that can be downloaded from our website. NEAC Family, NEAC members and the Executive Committee have gone through a process to address urgent policing issues our communities are facing. The process included significant discussion by NEAC members, which resulted in recommendations to the Executive Committee. With some tweaking and minor changes, the recommendations were adopted. The adopted policing policies provide guidelines for NEAC and our Branches to address. Some relate solely to...

Legislation

Extend the Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures

The Eviction and Foreclosure Moratorium ends August 18. But unemployment due to COVID-19 will unfortunately continue into the Fall and Winter for many hundreds of thousands of families. The NAACP New Bedford Branch is supporting Massachusetts House and Senate Legislation "An Act to Guarantee Housing Stability during the COVID-19 Emergency & Recovery" (HD.5166 / SD.2992). These bills protect tenants, assist homeowners, and stabilize landlords. Organizations — add your support here: https://homesforallmass.netlify.app/#org-sign-on-form Individuals - add your support here: https://www.housingguarantee.org/ An Act to Guarantee Housing Stability during the COVID-19 Emergency and Recovery meets the challenge of this moment, ensuring housing stability by:...

Community

Community Foundation Virtual Tour

On June 30th John Vasconcellos of the Community Foundation of Southern Massachusetts conducted a Virtual Tour of Community Partnerships via Zoom. First "stop" on Vasconcellos' tour was to talk about Food Security with community partners Coastal Food Shed, Destination Soup, and Tia Maria. Second stop was to talk with partners in workforce development Merrow Manufacturing, United Neighbors of Fall River, and SER Jobs for Progress. Then the conversation turned toward organizations in the SouthCoast working to illuminate and fight racism. A combination of a global pandemic and a rash of police murders has illuminated the realities of our society in...

Addressing structural racism and police abuse

While solutions to structural racism and police abuse go much deeper than laws punishing individual misconduct, we welcome efforts to address them. These are some of the bills that are now working their way through the Massachusetts Legislature: H1440 (Rep. Holmes) An Act establishing a special commission on structural racism H2141 / S1386 (Rep. Tyler) An Act improving juvenile justice data collection H2146 (Rep. Vieira) Resolve providing for a “Special Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training” to study and make recommendations concerning the implementation of a Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) system. H2292 (Rep. Holmes) An Act...

Legislation

DC Statehood bill advances

The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday advanced legislation to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, marking the first vote in Congress in nearly 30 years to grant full congressional representation for residents of the nation's capital. Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC non-voting delegate who has pushed for statehood since she began serving in Congress in 1991, said: “Congress has two choices: It can continue to exercise undemocratic authority over 700,000 American citizens who live in the nation's capital, treating them in the words of Frederick Douglass, as ‘aliens, not citizens, but subjects.’ Or it can live up to the...

MA Legislature looks at Police Accountability

Police accountability needs to move from the streets to the State House. Symbolic gestures are not enough when Black and Brown lives are on the line. It's time for real limits on police powers and systemic reforms to hold police accountable for violence and abuse. The NAACP New Bedford Branch is supporting two urgent police accountability measures now before Beacon Hill legislators. Ask your organization to sign this Google form indicating their support for the two bills and please share this request with others. To build power behind these bills quickly, we have to show our strength in numbers. Our...

Legislation

Support MA Infrastructure and COVID-19 legislation

The NAACP New Bedford Branch urges support for the following state legislation: Senate Vote on Thursday, July 2nd - call today An Act making appropriations for the fiscal year 2020 to authorize certain COVID-19 spending in anticipation of federal reimbursement (H4808) - would create a pathway for undocumented immigrants to get Massachusetts driver's licenses. Senate Infrastructure Funding (S2790) - to provide for a program of capital investments for public safety, governmental infrastructure, information technology and data and cyber-security improvements to various state programs, services, agencies, institutions and properties and to fund technology infrastructure; of special important to NB Schools...