February 11, 2021

Rallies for Justice

by Eesha Williams
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In Greenfield on February 6, there was a Black Lives Matter rally. It was one in a series of weekly rallies at the town common. For every 100,000 black men in the USA, 2,306 are in prison. For every 100,000 white men in the USA, 450 are in the prison.

No nation keeps such a high percentage of its people in prison as the USA. Europe's rate is a third of ours.

This is the most recent data available. It's from www.PrisonPolicy.org. Nine people were at the Greenfield rally. The rallies happen every Saturday at 10 a.m.

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There will be a labor rally on February 14 in Springfield, Vermont. Springfield, Vermont is 30 minutes from Brattleboro by car. At Vermont's nursing homes, workers are often overworked and don't get proper safety equipment. Meanwhile, executives at for-profit nursing home companies are walking away with millions in bonuses during the pandemic. Rally details are at www.WorkersCenter.org.

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Next year construction will start on a new 1.5 mile bicycle path in Springfield, Massachusetts. People will be able to walk on the path too. Motorized vehicles will be banned. Eventually it will be several miles long. “I'm thrilled,” Liz Stevens told the Valley Post. She leads a group of activists who have fought for the path for years. The all-volunteer group has a web site at www.WalkBikeSpringfieldMA.org.

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In Deerfield, Massachusetts on February 3 a town board voted to allow a giant corporation to pave open space. But the paving can't happen if other town boards reject it. Deerfield borders Greenfield.

Julie Cavacco attended a Deerfield rally against Dollar General in December 2020. On February 5, 2021 Cavacco told the Valley Post, "I am one of many incredibly disappointed residents to see the 4-1 yes result for the 9,000 plus square foot retail building at a dangerous intersection on 5&10 in Deerfield.... Residents will still be involved in the next steps, reminding the next boards of the detriments."

She referred the Valley Post to a local group that's fighting the proposed Dollar General. The group has a web page at:

www.facebook.com/DeerfieldForResponsibleDevelopment

Comments

race and incarceration

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 21:24.

Yes, make sure that we treat all races equally. My question is whether there are better ways to protect the public from criminals than incarceration.
Also, If you buy the argument that poverty is the cause of crime, then equal opportunity is of course the way to go. Experience teaches that it is not all that simple.

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