After years of work, activists in Brattleboro are celebrating. Crosswalks will be installed this fall on Putney Road at the Hannaford supermarket and at the circus school. As of 2017, Brattleboro had the nation's highest rate of pedestrian death by car.
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A non-violent revolution might look something like the marches in the Valley that happened this week to protest killer cops. At least 5,000 people took to the streets in Holyoke, Springfield, Brattleboro, Amherst, Northampton, Keene, and smaller towns around the Valley. General strikes have shut down American cities in the past -- Seattle for six days in 1919, San Francisco for four days in 1934. Strikes created the American middle class. Maybe they can fix policing and challenges like climate change.
The first labor rally in the Valley since the virus began – not including car rallies -- happened May 7 in Springfield. The below photo shows the rally. To enlarge the photo, click on it, then scroll down and click “view full size image.” Then you can click on the photo to zoom in more. The photo is by an employee of the union that has a web site at www.MassNurses.org and that organized the rally.
On April 9, a land trust in Keene announced it had permanently protected 37 acres of farmland in Chesterfield, New Hampshire from development. Chesterfield borders Brattleboro. The land trust is the Monadnock Conservancy. The below photo shows the land with Lucky Evans and his daughter Ingrid. photo by Monadnock Conservancy
This spring, 1,400 acres of forestland near Keene will be permanently protected from development, Mark Zankel told the Valley Post on February 25. He runs the New Hampshire chapter of the Nature Conservancy. The land is in the New Hampshire towns of Gilsum and Surry, both of which border Keene. All three towns are in the Connecticut river valley. Keene is about 20 minutes from Brattleboro by bus.
CJ Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band will play at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on February 14 at 7 p.m. CJ Chenier was born in 1957. According to his web site, he “spent his childhood in the tough tenement housing projects of Port Arthur, Texas.”
Chenier played with Ringo Starr on Paul Simon's album Rhythm of the Saints. Chenier performed with Simon on a concert tour. A video of CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band performing live is at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMMSv2WpYKw
They play zydeco music. This photo shows people dancing at a zydeco concert. photo by:
On February 13 in Northampton, about 25 people attended a march, with rallies before and after. They were protesting Stop & Shop’s involvement in the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. Details are available via the web site of one of the groups that organized the march: www.xrWesternMass.org. Workers at the River Valley food co-op in Northampton are union members. The below photo shows the second rally. To enlarge the photo click on it, then scroll down and click “see full size image.” photo by Hayley Berliner
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About 130 tutors who are employed by the Keene public school system are planning a rally to demand justice. “We are planning on rallying at central square but we don’t have a date yet,” Kathy Twombly told the Valley Post on January 15, 2020. She is president of the tutors' union. Twombly's union is part of a bigger union that has a web site at www.nea.org.
Hundreds of people attended a peace rally in Northampton on January 4. One of the groups that organized the event has a web site at www.IndivisibleNoho.com. The same day in Keene around 35 people attended a peace rally, Amy Chapin Hathaway told the Valley Post. She is one of the organizers.
To call on congress to remove Trump from office, 230 or so people attended outdoor rallies in the Valley on December 17. The rally in Springfield was during an ice storm. The Brattleboro and Keene rallies happened during a snow storm.
About 100 people were at the Springfield rally, organizer Debby Pastrich-Klemer told the Valley Post. "Shirley Whitaker (MD) sang 'There’s a Man Going Round Telling Lies,'" Pastrich-Klemer said. The below photo of Dr. Whitaker is from the doctor's Facebook page.