by | Jul 25, 2020 9:49 pm | Comments (8)
Ko Lyn Cheang photo
Shana Jackson.
Hamden mother Shana Jackson watched in horror as she saw Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of a suffocating George Floyd, one hand in his pocket. The policeman’s posture reminded her of the way a hunter stands over their dead prey.
Continue reading ‘2 Months Later After Floyd’s Murder, Hamden Rally Keeps The Message Alive’
by | Jul 24, 2020 10:45 am | Comments (29)
Frankie Graziano/ Connecticut Public Radio
State Reps. Toni Walker (center), Robyn Porter (right) after vote.
The recent Black Lives Matter protests bore their first legislative fruits Friday as the state House of Representatives, with New Haven lawmakers playing a leading role, passed a bill to make officers more accountable for harming civilians.
Continue reading ‘State House Passes Cop Accountability Bill’
by | Jul 22, 2020 6:48 pm | Comments (100)
Recent Facebook posts by Officer Jason Bandy (below).
City cop Jason Bandy wants the public to know that lying politicians exaggerated the impact of Covid-19 in order to crack down on individual freedom.
And that the media ignore elite-run child sex trafficking rings connected to the Vatican and CIA. And that one Black female Democratic Congresswoman is “trash,” while another should be “lock[ed] up.”
by | Jul 21, 2020 10:25 am | Comments (4)
Maya McFadden Photo
Britton “Braggin Rights” Braggs noticed Darnell, 14, and James, 11, sitting on their bikes in front of Winchester Avenue’s B&K Grocery.
“You heard about these people getting hurt out here with guns?” the Newhallville-raised rapper asked the boys. They nodded. “We’re walking because we want kids like you guys to be safe,” Braggs said.
by | Jul 20, 2020 3:42 pm | Comments (23)
CT-N
Winfield takes lead at hearing.
The fate of seven arcane syllables has become a hotly contested ideological battleground as state lawmakers convene this week to consider a response to police accountability demands spurred by the death of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests.
by | Jul 15, 2020 12:25 pm | Comments (1)
Contributed PHoto
Trish Loving & Alan Lovins.
(Opinion) One Saturday morning I was teaching a small group at my synagogue, Beth El-Keser Israel. During the sabbath service, this group comes together to learn prayers and the Bible.
I don’t remember what the subject was, but I recounted a story from my childhood. I said, “When I was little, my mother said if I ever got lost, I should find a policeman and ask for his or her help. The policeman is your friend.”
A Black member of the congregation looked and me and said, “That’s not what my mother told me!”
by | Jul 14, 2020 6:40 pm | Comments (3)
Maya McFadden Photo
Chuck and Carolyn Paul attended their second Black Lives Matter rally Tuesday morning and left feeling frustrated but determined to demand change.
by | Jul 11, 2020 10:32 pm | Comments (57)
Ko Lyn Cheang photo
Andre Alexander outside DiBella’s with his forbidden mask.
Demonstrators converged on a Hamden sub shop Friday and the store closed early, after an employee was sent home for showing up in a face mask reading, “Black Lives Matter.”
by | Jul 10, 2020 11:20 am | Comments (2)
Courtney Luciana photo
The Freedom Amistad Schooner raised the Black Lives Matter flag — and in the process drew a link between the Amistad revolt in 1839 and freedom struggles of the modern day.
by | Jul 8, 2020 10:59 am | Comments (0)
Over “Arabesque Cookie” by Duke Ellington, New Haven-based musician and poet Puma Simone intoned the names of Black women who had died at the hands of police. Simone mentioned that they had been going to therapy lately. “What are you feeling right now?” they recalled their therapist asking.
“Anger,” they replied.
by | Jul 7, 2020 9:24 am | Comments (4)
WFSB
“Black Money Matters! Brown Business Matters” protesters chanted at a rally outside City Hall, demanding more jobs for Black and Hispanic New Haveners on the Dixwell Community “Q” House project.
Continue reading ‘Q House Protest Cry: “Black Money Matters”’
by | Jul 7, 2020 9:19 am | Comments (1)
Michael Jackson Photo
Smith.
The full band comes out charging with a monstrous beat, a trumpet line slashing through it all. Then the band takes it all apart. Guitar and trumpet jab at each other, then wail across the room at each other as the band pounds back into the rhythm. It’s ferocious playing for a ferocious time, and it’s the product of an instantly galvanizing pairing of San Francisco-based experimental punks Deerhoof and New Haven-based creative music titan Wadada Leo Smith.
Continue reading ‘Deerhoof & Wadada Leo Smith Play Sound Of The Street’
by | Jul 6, 2020 9:39 pm | Comments (6)
Thomas Breen photo
Protesters at a Black Lives Matter march in June.
Racism is now an officially recognized public health crisis in the City of New Haven.
Continue reading ‘Alders Declare Racism A Public Health Crisis’
by | Jul 4, 2020 7:19 pm | Comments (34)
Thomas Breen photos
Marching on Saturday. Below: An American flag with the faces of Black men and women killed by the police.
Over 100 young people from throughout the county marched and rallied downtown to “cancel” Independence Day as it currently exists.
They argued that true freedom for all Americans won’t come through fireworks or backyard barbecues — but rather through protest, political advocacy, and an honest reckoning with this country’s history of oppression.
by | Jul 3, 2020 10:00 am | Comments (5)
IfeMichelle Gardin participating in Thursday evening’s forum.
What could a “village mentality” look like in New Haven?
Less white saviorism from nonprofits and college students swooping in to help, IfeMichelle Gardin posited. More community-generated programs rooted in neighbor-to-neighbor relationships.
by | Jul 2, 2020 10:08 am | Comments (0)
After 40 years in journalism and 25 years covering the Capitol, Hearst Connecticut Media’s Ken Dixon is still learning on the job.
Continue reading ‘Capitol Reporter On State Of Journalism, Covid-19, BLM’
by | Jul 1, 2020 10:48 am | Comments (1)
Leigh Busby Photos
During the removal of the statue of Christopher Columbus in Wooster Square on June 24, there was a moment that crystallized what it was all about. As city workers secured the ropes around the statue to lift it off its pedestal, it occurred to a few in the crowd that it looked a lot like a lynching, and in that visual echo, they found some restitution.
Continue reading ‘Photographer Chronicles The City’s Upheaval’
by | Jun 30, 2020 11:44 am | Comments (0)
by | Jun 29, 2020 9:25 pm | Comments (5)
A New Haven state senator joined with one of the state’s U.S. senators Monday to pump Connecticut’s “Juneteenth Agenda” to address police accountability and systemic racism.
Continue reading ‘Winfield, Murphy Press “Juneteenth” Agenda’
by | Jun 29, 2020 10:48 am | Comments (11)
Contributed Photo
Artwork would be displayed in the first floor windows around the Amistad Memorial (pictured).
The City of New Haven Department of Arts Culture and Town Green Special Services District are seeking a New Haven-based artist or artists to design temporary, two-dimensional artwork for display on windows of City Hall next to the Amistad Memorial at 165 Church St. Artwork should reflect the importance of black and brown lives, influences and culture on our New Haven communities.
Continue reading ‘Call For Art On Black Lives Matter For City Hall’
by | Jun 28, 2020 8:15 pm | Comments (12)
Maya McFadden Photo
Kashon Brown, Courtney Brown, and Brittany Odom at rally.
More than 100 New Haveners marched Sunday and released balloons in memory of murdered 19-year-old former Hillhouse basketball forward Kiana Brown and all other 2020 victims of gun violence.
by | Jun 26, 2020 12:22 pm | Comments (15)
Brian Slattery Photo
On Friday morning a display appeared in front of the pedestal that until two days earlier held up the statue of Christopher Columbus in Wooster Square
It was put there shortly after 10 a.m. by Malcolm Welfare, Ricquel Pratt, and Steve Nardini of the Lineage Group. Within minutes of the display appearing, passersby stopped to check it out. There, they learned about William Lanson, a Black engineer and entrepreneur who, in the 19th century, escaped from slavery to become a pioneer in the city’s development.
by | Jun 25, 2020 2:21 pm | Comments (2)
Lucy Gellman Photos
Citywide Youth Coalition Executive Director Addys M. Castillo dances at a Juneteenth protest and celebration.
The difference between a month of protests and the spark for lasting change lies in the organizing and infrastructure behind the protests.
So said veteran St. Louis-based activist Jamala Rogers, as she joined a radio discussion with a new generation of social-justice organizers about links between protests past and present.
by | Jun 25, 2020 11:35 am | Comments (0)
Thomas Breen Photo
Recent demonstration, like hte one pictured, have featured calls for movement on seating the new civilian review board.
Hill South neighbors want someone on the Civilian Review Board who understands their perspectives and is easy to communicate with.
To several on the Hill South Community Management Team, that means the CRB needs a member who attends their meetings.
Continue reading ‘Hill South Seeks CMT Rep To Civilian Review Board’
by | Jun 23, 2020 11:44 am | Comments (32)
Tom Breen Photo
Meares at the New Haven Free Public Library in March.
Leading criminal justice change expert Tracey Meares moved one step closer to becoming a city police commissioner — sketching a vision for how the commission could be reimagined as an accountability system for law enforcement.