Solidarity – NAACP New Bedford

Dartmouth, it’s time to retire the mascot and logo

[caption id="attachment_2328" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Maulian Dana speaking at Skowhegan, Maine school board meeting, March 8, 2019. Photo by Amelia Tuplin, Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0.[/caption] With the author's permission, this post combines two separate articles in the Dartmouth High Spectrum written by Assistant Editor Avary Amaral. Ms. Amaral is also a member of the NAACP New Bedford Youth Council. The views in this essay are Ms. Amaral's alone and do not represent those of the DHS Spectrum. Introduction This past year, despite COVID, multiple active shooters across the country, Asian hate, and the death of 212 people by police issued...

NBCSOS to be honored with MTA’s 2021 Human & Civil Rights Award

Congratulations to our friends at NBCSOS! The MTA Human Relations Committee is hosting its 2021 Human & Civil Rights Awards Ceremony which will be held virtually via Zoom on June 18, 2021 from 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM. The Human and Civil Rights Ceremony honors MTA members and others who have made substantial contributions in support of human and civil rights. This year the following organizations and individuals will be honored: Kathleen Roberts Creative Leadership Award Recipients: 2020 Sutton High School Connections Program Black Student Union of Cambridge Rindge and Latin 2021 Alice Arena, President of the Fore River Residents...

NAACP New Bedford joins ACLU-MA and BCCJ in calling for shutdown of ICE programs in Bristol County

Bristol County for Correctional Justice, the NAACP New Bedford Branch, and the ACLU of Massachusetts jointly call upon the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation and the chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary committees to take steps to support the termination of DHS’s 287(g) contract and IGSA with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office. The letter calls for the immediate termination of all immigration-related contracts between the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office (“BCSO”) and the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). These contracts include an Intergovernmental Service Agreement (“IGSA”) to house federal civil immigration detainees in BCSO facilities, as well as a 287(g) agreement, through...

#SayHerName: Mikayla Miller

Mikayla Miller was a promising 16-year-old African American honors student-athlete at Hopkinton High School. She was a kind-hearted young lady who had dreams of attending an HBCU to study journalism. Her mother had just bought her a car. She had never been arrested or suspended from school. She was reportedly jumped by older white teenage boys on April 17 and found dead on April 18th, her body tied to a tree with a belt wrapped around her neck. Hopkinton has a Black population of 0.1%. Police have refused to investigate Mikayla's suspicious death as a murder, telling her mother that...

In case you missed: Guns, Safety and the Edge of Adulthood

If you missed “Guns, Safety and the Edge of Adulthood,” a Youth Justice Forum cohosted with Citizens for Juvenile Justice, featuring researchers from Center for Court Innovation, and panelists from Boston Public Health Commission, Legendary Legacies Inc., New North Citizens' Council, and others — you still have a chance to view the video and presentation. CFJJ has posted a link to the program, slides used, and their recommendation for legislative priorities. You can also view a recording of the forum on Facebook: if you would like to have further conversations or programs on this topic, please reach out to the...

Solidarity

NAACP New Bedford Branch Stands in Solidarity With The Asian-American Community

NAACP New Bedford Branch Statement on the March 17th shootings in Atlanta On behalf of the Executive Board: The NAACP New Bedford Branch joins with others throughout the country in mourning victims of the March 17th killing rampage in Atlanta and in condemning discrimination, racism, sexism, misogyny and violence against the Asian and Pacific Islander community. We reach out in solidarity with our Asian-American brothers and sisters. It is clear to this branch that the recent attacks were motivated by racial hatred and gender hatred; we must name these acts for what they are. Of the victims murdered in a...

Wakefield School Committee to host tribal leaders to discuss their mascot

[caption id="attachment_1586" align="aligncenter" width="800"] "Protest against Washington football team name”, by Fibonacci Blue, licensed under CC by 2.0[/caption] The Wakefield School Committee and district administrators will host a panel made up of tribal leaders and representatives from around the state. The public panel will be held virtually on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. https://patch.com/massachusetts/wakefield/wakefield-invites-tribal-leaders-discuss-school-logo Participants will discuss the use of Native American imagery in school logos and related visual materials. The panel comes as Wakefield reconsiders the "Warriors" name and logo for the high school. Over 3,000 people have signed a petition to change the school mascot, calling it "a harmful...

Support the Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda

Please support the Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda Please endorse the Agenda and if you are a member of an organization, ask your leadership to endorse the Agenda as well. The Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda consists of five bills supporting human rights, honoring culture and history, preserving heritage, and expanding education for Native Americans. An Act Establishing An Indigenous Peoples Day Fact Sheet House Bill: HD.2422 Senate Bill: HD.664 An Act to Protect Native American Heritage Fact Sheet House Bill: HD.1662 Senate Bill: SD.1887 An Act prohibiting the use of Native American mascots by public schools in the Commonwealth Fact Sheet...

Massachusetts anti-mascot legislation re-filed

[caption id="attachment_1586" align="aligncenter" width="800"] "Protest against Washington football team name”, by Fibonacci Blue, licensed under CC by 2.0[/caption] Professional sports teams are rapidly getting rid of their Native American mascots. And here in Massachusetts the Barnstable, Acton-Boxborough, Braintree, Quincy, and Walpole schools have all addressed them in recent months. But some Massachusetts towns are clinging to their racist mascots as desperately as others do their Confederate monuments. Dartmouth is one of about two dozen towns in Massachusetts that still won't give theirs up. While these towns and school boards root around their cupboards for the moral courage they seem to...

New Bedford Branch joins calls to end Bristol County jail’s cooperation with ICE

In coalition with 17 organizations including the NAACP New Bedford Branch, Bristol County for Correctional Justice sent a letter to Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, urging the leaders to end the County’s cooperation with ICE: Dear Senator Warren and Senator Markey: In view of the ever-increasing and documented reports of mistreatment of ICE detainees in the custody of the Bristol County Immigration Facility, we, the undersigned organizations, community groups, and individuals of Southeast Massachusetts and beyond, implore you to take immediate action to contact the Department of Homeland Security and request that I.C.E. sever all ties with Sheriff Thomas...