In Holyoke, activists are fighting construction of a proposed fracked gas pipeline. “It would go six miles from Agawam to Holyoke,” Jacqueline Velez told the Valley Post in a telephone interview on September 13. She lives in Holyoke. “It would cost $24 million to build. Holyoke is the second worst city in the nation for people with asthma. This would make it worse. We closed the Mount Tom coal plant so we can stop this.”

On March 14, about 250 students at Brattleboro high school walked out of classes to protest politicians' failure to pass strong gun control laws. “Who's got the power?” called out student Lucia Morey. The crowd roared, “We've got the power!” To enlarge a photo, click on it, then scroll down and click “see full size image.” photos by Eesha Williams

In Keene, about 80 people marched against sexual assault. One-third of women experience sexual violence or intimate partner violence, organizers said. Jennifer Tveter marched in Keene. “Even when walking in such a large group there were still people – men – who were shouting profanities at the group, which only made the necessity of such a march more evident,” she told the Valley Post. “If women experience this while in such a large group, of course they would feel even more vulnerable while alone.”

As of September 27, about 250 people had RSVP'd for a march for racial justice. The march will be in Holyoke on October 1. It starts at 12:30 p.m. at 221 Appleton Street. The march is in solidarity with a National March for Racial Justice, the web site of which says, "We are bearing witness to mass incarceration, unequal treatment under the law, and the state-sanctioned destruction of Black, Brown and Native lives...."

People in the Valley are working to raise the Massachusetts minimum wage to $15 an hour. They are gathering signatures on a petition. If they get enough signatures, the question will get on the ballot, so every U.S. citizen over age 18 who lives in the state can vote on it, unless they are in prison for a felony. The activists have a web site at www.RaiseUpMA.org. The site says they have the support of the state's biggest unions.

About 200 nurses in Greenfield are on strike. This photo was taken on June 26 outside the hospital where they work. In the photo, people are listening to a nurse speaking. The nurses are asking the public to support them as they fight for justice. They have a web site at www.MassNurses.org. More information is at www.valleypost.org/node/1289. One of the signs in the photo reads, "Stop corporate greed." To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click "see full size image." photo by Eesha Williams

This photo was taken on June 3 in Northampton. It shows hundreds of people marching, led by Debby Pastrich-Klemer (in blue shoes) and three other people. Pastrich-Klemer organized the march, which was sponsored by a group that has a web site at www.IndivisibleNoho.com. The most common signs at the march seemed to be the ones that said, "Dump Trump!" More information about the march is at:

www.valleypost.org/node/1303

To enlarge the below photo, click on it, then scroll down and click “see full size image.” photo by Eesha Williams

On June 3 in Northampton, there will be a march calling on President Trump to release his tax returns, and demanding that Congress investigate collusion between Russia and Trump to help him get elected.

“It is part of a nation-wide march demanding the truth,” Debby Pastrich-Klemer told the Valley Post. She is organizing the Northampton march. It will start at 11 a.m. at 2 Parsons Street. Fifty people had RSVP'd on Facebook as of May 31. More information is at:

www.facebook.com/events/406338116417417

Workers at a factory in Greenfield are asking the public to join them on the picket line on May 11 at 2 p.m. “What the company is trying to impose is going to hurt people,” Shawn Coates told the Valley Post. He has worked at the factory for 28 years. The workers have a union, which has a web site at www.UEunion.org. The workers make taps – not the kind used to turn water on and off, but the kind used to make a threaded hole in metal, or in other material. The factory is owned by Pennsylvania-based Kennametal Corporation, whose CEO makes more than $1 million a year.

Hundreds of people marched through downtown Keene on April 29 chanting, "Hey hey, ho ho, climate change has got to go!" Bigger marches for the same cause happened in Springfield; Washington, DC; and in towns and cities around the world. Details, including the organizers' contact information, are at:

www.valleypost.org/node/1283

To enlarge a photo, click on it, then scroll down and click, "See full size image." photos by Eesha Williams