Harvard denies Cornel West tenure
West, 67, who left his tenured University Chair post in 2002 following a public clash with former Harvard president Lawrence H. “Larry” Summers, returned in 2017 as a Professor of Practice of Public Philosophy at the Harvard Divinity School and in the Department of African and African American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Black, Latino groups file city contracts complaint
Transportation, alleges that despite years of advocacy from advocates for Black and Latino businesses, the city has “continually failed to act, contenting itself with issuing meaningless executive orders and statements that have done nothing to change circumstances on the ground.

Candidates lining up for district races
As Boston gets ready for City Council President Kim Janey’s transition to acting mayor, candidates continue to enter the race for City Council district seats. District 4, currently held by mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell, sees the most challengers, and Districts 3, 5 and 7 have new contenders as well.

Cape Cod’s Mashpee Tribe reclaims land trust
A Cape-Cod-based tribe’s land designation was saved when the U.S. Interior Department dropped an appeal against their bid for federal recognition. The Mashpee Tribe received more than 300 acres in a land trust recognized in 2015 by the Obama Administration.

Coalition blasts governor’s vaccine rollout
The newly formed Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition held a virtual press conference on Feb. 17 to share its list of five demands for the Baker administration to follow. Some of the demands include more money, more doses and a point person or vaccine czar focused specifically on vaccine equity.

The demise of assumed superiority
Prior to Jan. 6, the assertion of white supremacy was generally believed in America. Whites from the working class would assume that they were superior to Blacks, and they might even freely use the N-word to express this conviction. However, whites with more mannerly upbringing might just dispassionately enjoy the advantages of white privilege.

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Nothing new in the GOP’s drive to take back the 2020 election
The GOP is bound and determined to take back the 2020 election. Just how bound and determined? GOP-controlled state legislatures in more than two dozen states have introduced a tsunami of bills aimed at making sure there is no repeat of the 2020 election.

End the subminimum tipped wage
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with governors and mayors in the Oval Office of the White House Friday, Feb. 12, to discuss the American Rescue Plan. To the president’s right, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham; Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan; Maryland Gov.

Pressley proposes federal jobs guarantee
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is calling for a federal job resolution that would guarantee U.S. residents the right to work well-paying jobs through a New Deal-style program that would employ people in fields ranging from elder and child care to work on federal transit projects.

Youth activists call for increased jobs funds
Youth activists gathered in front of the State House Feb. 18 for the 13th Annual “Injustice was Never Normal Youth Rally” to promote youth jobs, housing opportunities and better education for Massachusetts students.

Pioneering attorney William Henry Lewis
He received his early education in the public schools in Portsmouth. After sitting for days in the county courthouse in Berkley, impressed by the oratory of Southern lawyers, he wanted to become an attorney. At the age of 15, Lewis attended the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (VNCI) in Petersburg.

Slow and steady wins the pandemic
On Feb. 12, a new installation sprouted in Auntie Kay and Uncle Frank Chin Park in the Chinatown section of Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway. “The Herd,” by local artist Andy Li, celebrates the Year of the Ox in a text and fiber art piece, a series of banners displaying messages in English and Chinese.

Tiffany Dufu: Learning to thrive by letting go
The Simmons Leadership Conference has been convening leaders from across the globe for more than four decades. On March 23, the leadership forum returns for its 42nd year, and its second year as a virtual conference, addressing this year’s theme of resilience and authenticity.

Iguana Music Fund supports local musicians
Passim, the Cambridge music organization and performance venue, has awarded more than $40,000 to 24 musicians through its 2020 Iguana Music Fund. The annual fund awards local artists with resources to work on career-building projects and activities with a community service spin.

Democrats question District 6 candidates
Housing affordability, police reform and the racial wealth gap were among the issues on the table Monday during the first candidate forum for the District 6 City Council seat, during which Kendra Hicks and Mary Tamer answered questions from Greater Boston Young Democrats and Young Democrats of Massachusetts.