August 11, 2023

From Parking Lot to Park?

by Eesha Williams
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Twenty people attended a peace rally in Greenfield on August 5. “We stood for peace and a ban on all nuclear weapons, just one day before the 78th anniversary of the US atomic bomb ‘test’ that destroyed Hiroshima. A second, plutonium, bomb was 'tested' on another civilian target three days later, destroying the city of Nagasaki on August 9,” Anna Gyorgy told the Valley Post. She works for a group that has a web site at www.traprock.org. The bombs killed about 200,000 people.

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In Northampton, 12 people attended a labor rally on August 7. It was outside Starbucks. “Since December 2021, more than 340 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize. Since then, we've been organizing for a fair contract. How has Starbucks responded? With the largest union-busting campaign in modern history,” organizers wrote. They have a web page at www.facebook.com/WMALF

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There will be carpools from the Valley to a Boston rally in support of Trader Joe's workers and their union. The rally in on August 15. Details are at www.instagram.com/p/CvsRsk1S4Kz/?img_index=1

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There will be buses from Vermont to a New York City climate march September 17. The group 350 Vermont is organizing the buses, which will likely pick people up in Brattleboro. Details are at www.EndFossilFuels.us.

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Meka Magee told the Valley Post on August 8, “The two most powerful Black women leaders in Amherst Regional Public Schools have filed racial discrimination complaints.” Magee is a teacher and was president of the teachers' union in Amherst. She filed her August 8 complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. Assistant Superintendent Doreen Cunningham filed her complaint June 30.

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In Greenfield, people are asking the city to turn the Hope Street parking lot, which is now the location of the temporary fire department headquarters, into something better than a parking lot, when workers finish building the new fire station. It could be a grassy park with trees and/or affordable housing. One of the organizers is Susan Worgaftik. The Valley Post can pass along messages to her.

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