Nurses Fight Back

On August 24 in Springfield, about 75 people attended a rally calling on Mercy Medical Center owner Trinity Corporation to provide better health care. The rally was organized by the nurses who work at the hospital. They have a web site at www.MassNurses.org. The below photo shows four nurses at the rally. The photo is by Joe Markman. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click “see full size image.”

As of 2019, people in 42 nations lived longer than Americans. The USA, which is the world's richest nation, may be the world's worst nation for Covid-19. The Springfield nurses need the public's help. Contact them via their web site for more information.

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Bath, Maine is three hours by car from Brattleboro, Vermont. In Bath, 4,300 workers ended a seven week strike on August 8 and announced victory. They are boat builders. The workers have a web site at:

www.goiam.org/contact

The workers will soon vote on whether to ratify the contract that their elected union leaders approved.

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September 7 is Labor Day. In Springfield, there will be a union rally that day at 11 a.m. It will be at Court Square. Details are at:

www.facebook.com/events/341195097056647

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Swanzey, New Hampshire is about five miles from Massachusetts and Vermont. On August 23, fifteen people held a protest rally across the street from a church that's run by a racist white man. The church is the town's official voting place. “We sang and held placards,” Dan Bisaccio told the Valley Post. He was at the rally. There will be another rally on August 30.

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On August 22 in Greenfield, 15 or so people attended a rally to defend the post office from Trump. Sandra Boston and Liz Kelner organized it.

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In Keene on September 5 there will be a Black Lives Matter rally at noon at Central square. The organizers do not appear to have a web site or Facebook page but Jim Murphy of the Keene chapter of Rights and Democracy said he supports the event's organizers. See www.radNH.org.

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Last month a study came out showing that Brattleboro cops are nine times as likely to search black people compared to white people. The daily newspaper in Brattleboro has failed to report this information. The study is at:

https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/Department-of-Economics/seguino%...

Meanwhile, Vermont puts black people in prison at a higher rate than any of the other 49 states, compared to the percentage of Vermonters who are African American. Vermont sends prisoners to a private prison in Mississippi where they get Covid-19.

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On August 27 the Valley Post got this email from the Greenfield-based Wendell (Massachusetts) State Forest Alliance:

"Twenty-nine plaintiffs filed suit against the Department of Conservation and Recreation on August 13, 2019 in the Franklin county superior court in Greenfield in response to the commencement of commercial logging in the Wendell State Forest.... A hearing on this motion took place on January 6, 2020."

"Prior to the court’s decision on this motion, the plaintiffs amended their original filing which led to a restart of the legal process. Assistant attorney general Kendra Kinscherf again filed a motion to dismiss the case. The Plaintiffs filed their objection to this motion. A hearing on the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss is scheduled for September 16, 2020 at the Franklin county superior court, Greenfield.”

“Members of the Wendell State Forest Alliance engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience in response to the commercial logging of the Wendell State Forest during the summer of 2019. In all, 32 arrests of 17 individuals took place over a seven week period commencing on August 6, 2019. Charges included trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.... Eventually, all charges other than trespassing were dismissed.”

“Trespassing charges were converted to civil charges at the request of the state. A hearing on the trespassing charges was held before Judge David S. Ross in the Orange District Court on February 2 and on February 28, 2020. The Defendants presented a Necessity Defense and were represented by attorneys Luke Ryan and Samantha LeBeouf. Judge Ross rendered a written 'decision of responsibility' on April 23, 2020.”

“The Defendants have chosen an in-person court appearance for their sentencing. The defendants will speak at this appearance which is expected to be scheduled for a date in November 2020 at the Orange District Court.”

“The Wendell State Forest Alliance thanks all who have attended these ongoing court proceedings. Your presence and support is greatly appreciated and sends a resounding message to the court and to the public that the climate emergency is now and that our forests are our best resource in fighting this emergency. Please continue to push this message by attending the upcoming hearings.”

“Both court appearances are subject to the court’s availability during this time of pandemic. Watch for updates to confirm these dates or provide later dates, should the court be unable to proceed as scheduled.”

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On August 27, the Valley Post received the following letter to the editor. The author gave permission to include his email address:

“The statue which refers to the Pocumtuck people as 'savage Indians' has been there for over a hundred years. It's owned by the town of Deerfield (Massachusetts, near Greenfield) and is nestled between Deerfield Academy's dorms and administration building. This is a racist, appalling characterization of Native people, right in the middle of this elite liberal arts boarding school.”

“The town of Deerfield is very conservative, unlike Greenfield. When we went after Frontier Regional high school over their use of the term 'redskins' the town wanted to embed the derogatory slur into the town charter. Opponents of the name change were very angry at the school superintendent at the time for responding to our letter demanding a change.”

“I have emailed Deerfield town hall and and select persons and have not received a response. The Frontier (victory) took us four years, many meetings, etc., before the change was made.”

“Grandmothers, tribal members from various nations, chose me to take the lead to change the derogatory term 'redskins' at Frontier Regional high school in Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1996. It was changed to the Red Hawks in 2000.”

“I have had numerous emails with the headmaster of Deerfield academy concerning how this blatant racist reference has been in the academy community for a hundred years. The headmaster and his legal counsel emailed me their desire to eliminate that reference. The historic Deerfield commission is also involved. Evidently for over a hundred years they have had no problem with the reference.”

“Since the town of Deerfield owns it it's up to them to change this by sandblasting the reference out or covering it with a brass cover. I received a lot of harassment from unknown individuals over the mascot issue. I was chosen to take the lead on the mascot issue by grandmothers that were tribal members associated with the American Indian Movement. Miigwech (thank you) for your time and any help you can give. I'm a seventy year old army infantry wartime veteran. I live in Shelburne Falls, MA.”

Glen Douglas

douglasglen872@gmail.com

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