There will be a candidates forum for the Boston City Council District 6 race on April 28. The three declared candidates are all expected to participate: Kendra Hicks, Kelly Ransom, and Mary Tamer. The District 6 seat is open because current councilor Matt O'Malley chose not to run again. JP Progressives, Mijente, and NAACP Boston Branch are hosting a candidate forum for the District 6 City Council race. The forum will be on Wednesday, April 28 at 7 pm.
The Biden administration’s efforts to reverse Trump’s damaging immigration policies are hopeful --but what are our elected state officials doing to protect undocumented residents in MA? When it comes to safeguarding the health, safety, and legal rights of front-line immigrant workers and families, including those hit hardest by the pandemic, Massachusetts falls far behind many other “blue” states. Join JP Progressive’s Immigrant Rights Action Group (IRAG) to explore the history of immigration policy in Massachusetts with Gabriel Camacho, Political and Organizing Director of the United Food and Commercial Workers' Union Local 1445. Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, 3rd Berkshire, and a lead sponsor of the Work & Family Mobility Act (WFMA), will give us a legislative forecast for 2021. The WFMA – first filed in 2004 – would ensure that all immigrants, regardless of status, have access to a driver’s license. This event will benefit the Driving Families Forward Coalition, a broad coalition of businesses, community organizations, faith groups, labor unions, law enforcement, legal/civil rights groups and mayors uniting to pass the WFMA. Register here to receive a link to the event.
Join JP Progressives for a discussion with Bostonians who are working to achieve police reform and fighting against police misconduct. We’ll discuss the history of police violence in our city, the current debate around police abolition, and possibilities for the future. Panelists:
Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, Suffolk 2nd District
Carl Williams, Activist and movement lawyer
Fatema Ahmad, Executive director of Muslim Justice League
Rahsaan D. Hall, Director, Racial Justice Program, ACLU Mass
People can register here: tinyurl.com/Policing-In-Boston
Massachusetts legislators have proposed numerous bills to help those being affected by the Coronavirus. "We have a public health crisis as the number of those infected grows every day. We have an economic crisis as the threat of a recession looms larger every day and workers risk weeks (or months) without a paycheck," wrote JP Progressives in an email. "And we have a democratic crisis as the virus outbreak challenges our ability to hold traditional in-person elections. And this is on top of the crises we already face, such as the inequality that affects all aspects of our society."
Local grassroots organization JP Progressives will be visiting Congressman Stephen Lynch's Boston office on July 25 to specifically ask him to close the immigrant detention camps on the southern border. "We are joining with other constituents in the district and hope to actually speak with Representative Lynch," said Anne Rousseau, co-chair of the JP Progressives. "The conditions at the detention camps are unacceptable and that has to change," said Molly Rose Tarpey, Director of Communications for Congressman Lynch, to Jamaica Plain News. "He believes that anyone in U.S. custody must be treated humanely and with dignity. In addition, the asylum cases need to be adjudicated expeditiously."
Join your friends and neighbors at Wenham Street Cinema (23 Wenham St. JP) to watch the second night of the first Democratic debate on Thursday, June 27th. Doors will open at 8:00, the debate starts at 9:00. Please bring food or drink to share and your own chair as WSC is a theater in a garage. For more information and to stay up to date on future events join the WSC Facebook group; for more info on the event check out the event page.
UPDATE: The location of the forum has changed. JP Progressives is hosting its second at-large City Councilor candidates forum on June 3. JP Progressives is hosting its second forum with Mijente, and Right to the City Vote at Doyle's Cafe at 6:30 pm. The forum was going to be hosted at Forest Hills Covenant Church, but JP Progressives changed the forum location because the church is a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination, which does not support marriage equality. "This particular congregation is in the process of defining its own position on these issues, but until the church is unequivocally affirming of LGBTQ+ rights, we will not be able to hold events at this location," said an email from JP Progressives.
The first of two candidate forums being hosted by JP Progressives for the four at-large Boston City Council seats is being held at Doyle's Cafe on Thursday. It was not immediately clear which of the many at-large city council candidates would be participating in the forum. The forum is being hosted by JP Progressives, MiJente, and Right to the City Vote. The event starts at 6:30 pm in Doyle's back room. This is a free event open to the public.
What is a progressive position on housing? That is the question that will be tackled at a JP Progressives community conversation on April 29. "The City of Boston is rapidly becoming more unequal and segregated than at any time in its recent history. Boston is one of the least affordable major housing markets in the world, and Massachusetts is one of the most unequal states in the country. Our community in Jamaica Plain is at the forefront of this crisis," says the description of the event on JP Progressives' Facebook page.
The JP Progressives are hosting their annual fundraiser on Dec. 12 and it's going to feature several newly elected sheroes. "Our work this year was extensive, and we are proud of both the results that we helped achieve and the effort we put forward. We gathered signatures for ballot questions and candidates. We organized phone and text banks to elect progressive candidates to state and federal offices across the nation.
