When N.L. Dennis was singing in a recording studio with Toots and the Maytals, Bob Marley stopped by to listen. Marley praised Dennis's delivery. Today, Dennis lives in his native Jamaica and joins hundreds of Jamaicans who come to Vermont every summer in search of better paying work. Most of them work on vegetable farms and at apple orchards. Dennis works as a reggae musician.
On June 5 at 6 p.m., Dennis and the Thunderballs will play outside the Hooker Dunham theater in Brattleboro.
In Brattleboro, 160 nurses voted to authorize a strike, one of the nurses, Tracy Ouellette, told the Valley Post on March 23. She is the president of the Brattleboro Federation of Nurses. The date to start the strike has not yet been set. The nurses work at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. The hospital's contract proposals “would hurt patient care and drive staff away. Proposals include no wage increases for three years,” the union said in a press release. The nurses have a web site at:
https://aftvermont.org/about-us
*********
Ladysmith Black Mambazo will perform in Keene on April 2 at 7 p.m. The concert will be at the Colonial theater. A video of the band performing is at:
On March 16 in the Pioneer Valley town of Westhampton, about 200 students walked out of the public high school to protest proposed budget cuts. Two of the organizers were students Lucy McVey and Augustus Niswonger. On March 17, they emailed the Valley Post, “We planned to make the walkout both a call to action and a way to spread more facts and information to students.
On March 10, about 200 people marched eight miles from Amherst to Northampton. They were calling for human rights for people in Tibet. Amnesty International last year criticized China for interfering in Tibetan religious practices as the Dalai Lama announced his succession plan. The group said last year that, as of 2024, “school closures by the Chinese government threatened Tibetan culture and language.” That quote is from:
www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/report-asia-and-the-pac...
The Pioneer Valley march organizers have a web page at:
On March 1 in Greenfield about 75 people rallied for peace in Iran. The Valley Post was at the Greenfield protest. Skilled singers led the rest of the group in singing peace songs. The same day in Brattleboro, about 100 people were at a rally for the same cause. One of the groups that organized the Greenfield rally has a web site at www.traprock.org. The Brattleboro protest was organized by the Brattleboro chapter of the national group Indivisible.
*********
In Amherst on March 28, there will be a No Kings march, starting at 12:30 p.m. at Kendrick park. The same day in Greenfield, there will be a No Kings march starting at noon at Beacon field. In Brattleboro on March 28 at 10 a.m., a march will start from a location to-be-determined, organizer MD Baker told the Valley Post. The details will soon be at www.NoKings.org, she said. There will be rallies in Holyoke and Northampton. Details are on the No Kings web site.
*********
In Amherst, a peace protester will be heading back to college after a judge said UMass can no longer ban him. UMass was violating the First Amendment to the US Constitution, lawyer Jon Cubetus told the Valley Post on February 18. Cubetus works for the Massachusetts chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. The Guild was representing the student, Kiv de Montebello. Ending war is de Montebello's goal. UMass takes money from military contractors to do research.
********
On February 19 in Amherst, Sunny Jain and his band will perform a concert at the Drake. The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance. A video of the band playing is at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIYIn7yTtTo
One of the highlights is the flute solo at the 21 minute mark.
In Amherst, about 50 people marched to keep ICE out of town, Devan Judson told the Valley Post. Judson is one of the organizers. The 1.4 mile march on February 6 went from the UMass Student Union to Amherst town hall. The organizers have a web page at:
They are asking people to sign a petition to keep ICE out of Amherst. The petition is at:
**********