Biz forum highlights solutions
An audience of some 350 people gathered Monday night at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston for a discussion of solutions to racial and economic inequalities in Massachusetts. The event, organized by the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, brought together political, government and business experts.

Mass. teens demand more funding for job opportunities
The demonstration occurred during a particularly pertinent moment in the nation as the high school student survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting are protesting, debating and speaking out against the Trump Administration and the National Rifle Association in demand of stricter gun control laws.

School turnaround bill advances
An Act to Promote Autonomy and Success in Schools would give the state’s commissioner of education the power to designate two or more Level IV schools an “Innovation Partnership Zone,” wherein an appointed board would have power over curriculum,...

Pioneering black teachers led the way in 1800s
Elizabeth N. Smith was the first African American schoolteacher appointed to a racially integrated school in Boston. She was born in Massachusetts in 1846 to Georgiana O. Smith, a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and John J. Smith, a freeborn Virginian barber, abolitionist and state legislator.

Lawyers’ Committee sues Trump admin. on protected status decision
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, in partnership with the immigrant advocacy group Centro Presente, recently filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Salvadoran and Haitian immigrants.

Union activists, pols rally against Janus case
The rally was to protest the Janus vs. AFSCME case before the Supreme Court, which will challenge the rights of unions to collect dues from nonmembers who benefit from the collective bargaining agreements they negotiate.

With racial inclusion, we all win
Is the primary purpose of Black History Month to provide an opportunity to applaud the achievements of black heroes, or does it stand for more than that? Is it also appropriate to extoll the benefits of the successful elimination of racial...

A challenge to black voting power
Many American citizens were disturbed to learn that the Russians had infiltrated the last presidential election, and plans are underway to continue to disrupt the nation’s democratic process. The indictment of 13 Russians and three companies settled the assertion that stories over Russian meddling were “fake news.

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ROVING CAMERA
A better understanding of each other. People come from different backgrounds, but we all want the same things..

IN THE NEWS
The Boy Scouts Spirit of Adventure Council has appointed Komba Lamina of Lynnfield, who has specialized in bringing the scouting experience to underserved communities, as its new chief diversity officer.

Deferred action for DACA and globalization
Millions of middle class Americans, mostly in rural areas, are feeling cornered by the overwhelming forces of globalization. Their employment was displaced by automation, international competition and corporations’ transfer of jobs to other nations with lesser production costs and more flexible laws.

Malcolm Mitchell
PHOTO:MAYOR’S OFFICE PHOTO BY ISABEL LEON New England Patriots player Malcolm Mitchell joined Mayor Martin Walsh and 350 students from BPS in a Reading Rally Program run by Mitchell, who authored the children’s book The Magician’s Hat..

Court rules against BPD’s bypassing black applicant
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice filed a complaint in 2017, Finklea vs. Boston Police Dept., on behalf of Kevin Finklea, a black candidate who scored high on the civil service exam and had favorable references from previous employers.

District Attorney Conley’s departure sets off yet another contested race
Conley’s decision to end his 16-year tenure in office immediately sparked a scramble for the seat. At-large City Councilor and former assistant district attorney Michael Flaherty is mulling a run for the office as is City of Boston Corporation Counsel and former state Rep.

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PR and marketing synergy
After earning a business management degree from Bryant University in 2001, Amenta, a Stoughton native, said, “I didn’t know a thing about PR at the time, but I knew I didn’t want to follow the path of some of my other friends and go the finance route.

BIZ BITS
The last year of high school is a whirl of activity, and it’s no different when it comes to the final leg of college selection. Once the acceptance notifications arrive, it will soon be time to sit down with a different stack of mail: financial aid letters.

Chinese New Year Parade
A scene from the annual Chinese New Years Lion Dance Parade in Chinatown..

Spring clean your résumé
Is your first real job as a cashier at Taco Bob’s still applicable to your current career goals? If the answer is no, it’s time to delete it. Does your experience as a summer camp counselor translate to your required job skills? If so, how? Sometimes these extra details only serve to distract from your strongest and most pertinent experience.

Violist’s career forever linked to MLK
One of only a few African Americans to find success in classical music, violist Marcus Thompson has garnered critical acclaim since the start of his illustrious career.

Sounds of social justice
When they do include accompanying music, Sweet Honey works with blues and soul rhythms and the chants and drumbeats often found in African music. Their a cappella base rhythms, made through clapping and scatting, follow a similar path. The upcoming concert will feature instrument-inclusive tracks from their newly released album, “#LoveInEvolution.

Walking the line
“Skeleton Crew,” debuting at Huntington Theatre Company on March 2, follows four Detroit autoworkers dealing with the fading industry from their break room. Relationships are complicated by rumors of the plant closing, and tension about the future hangs over the characters.

Georgia museum showcases powerful, contemporary black art
The dark history of slave labor laces through the beautiful homes and lush garden squares of Savannah, Georgia. But inside the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center for the Arts, contemporary African American creators are celebrated and revered. Two exhibits, “Carrie Mae Weems: Sea Islands Series, 1991–1992” and “Paul Stephen Benjamin: Reinterpreting.

BPS city league champs
The Fenway High girls basketball team are BPS city league champions ending the season at 18-2. The games were played at Madison Park on Feb. 22 before a well-attended crowd of enthusiastic fans cheering on the team. The team hopes for a successful run in the state tournament play-off games getting underway this week.

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