The annual Northampton Women's March, which attracts thousands of people every year, is moving to Springfield. “It will be on January 18,” Rachel Maiore told the Valley Post on November 19. She's the main organizer. “What a gift it’s been to develop relationships with community leaders in the Springfield area.”
Details are at www.PioneerValleyWomensMarch.org.
In Brattleboro on November 3 there will be a rally to call on congress to remove Trump from office. Among his likely crimes are sexually assaulting women, failing to pay taxes -- Trump is a billionaire -- and using taxpayer money to bribe leaders of foreign nations to help Trump get re-elected. The rally starts at 2 p.m. at Pliny Park at the corner of Main and High streets. As of October 30 about 30 people had RSVP'd. Details are at:
www.facebook.com/events/2960179400874665
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Proving the power of collective action, a group of college students in Northampton scored a major victory against climate change. On October 18, Smith College announced it will stop buying stock in fossil fuel companies and will sell the stock the college owns in those companies. More than $100 million of Smith College's $1.9 billion in savings is invested in fossil fuel companies. The students used rallies to pressure the college to divest.
On October 5 a land trust announced it had saved 350 acres of forestland in two towns that border Northampton. Kestrel Land Trust permanently protected the land in Westhampton and Williamsburg. The USA is losing 6,000 acres of open space to development every day.
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The following local newspapers are owned by out-of-state corporations: Hampshire Gazette, Amherst Bulletin, Brattleboro Reformer, Springfield Republican, Greenfield Recorder, and Valley Advocate. The corporations that own these newspapers are run undemocratically. Other news organizations are run democratically. A group in Northampton that works nationally to improve local journalism had a major victory this summer when officials with the state of New Jersey announced the state will invest $2 million in local journalism.
About 450 people attended rallies in Northampton and Brattleboro on May 21. The rallies were calling on politicians to guarantee women's right to safe, legal abortions. “We had a great turnout,” Debby Pastrich-Klemer told the Valley Post. She was the MC at the Northampton rally. About 300 people were there, Pastrich-Klemer said.
Two students at Keene State College were among a group of 10 people who were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience at the New Hampshire statehouse. They were protesting a Republican effort to make it harder for people to vote. “It went really well,” Robby St. Laurent told the Valley Post in a telephone interview. He is one of the Keene students. The other was Jackson Brannen. In a phone interview Brannen told the Valley Post. “There were over 100 people there supporting us. It was a powerful moment. We want Governor Sununu to sign House Bill 106.” The arrests happened on May 7.
Ruth Moody will play at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on May 12 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $23. You can hear one of her songs at:
In Northampton on April 22 there will be a march calling on politicians to do more to fight climate change. The march will start at 5 p.m. at 129 Main Street. Details are at:
www.facebook.com/events/249294522680797
On April 9, five people from the Brattleboro area were among hundreds who completed a 65 mile, five-day march to the Vermont statehouse calling on politicians to do more to fight climate change. Among the five were Tara Bossard-Kruger, Nancy Braus, Byron Stookey, and Ann Zimmerman. The march organizers have a web site at www.350vermont.org.
On April 11, hundreds of Stop and Shop workers in the Pioneer Valley went on strike. They joined 31,000 Stop and Shop workers in other parts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The Pioneer Valley workers have a web site at www.ufcw1459.com. They need people to boycott Stop and Shop, and show up at their picket lines, if they are going to win.
Low wages are one of the main reasons workers went on strike. Stop and Shop is owned by a corporation based in Holland that has about 370,000 employees, including about 2,000 in western Massachusetts.