From gang leader to mosque leader
It wasn’t a likely fit — the Nation of Islam’s insistence on clean living contrasted with the teenager’s admittedly dissolute lifestyle. The eighth child of parents who were born in Arroyo, Puerto Rico, Muhammad said he and his brothers began running the streets after their father left home.

Activists call for electric buses in Black community
As organizations across the state are looking to shift practices and models to become more climate-friendly, the MBTA is planning a shift to a fully electric bus fleet. The agency proposes a fully electrified fleet by 2040, but some transit activists and state legislators say the shift should come sooner and should have a stronger.

Voters will decide on budget process
Come Election Day, voters will be able to weigh in on how the city sets its budget. Ballot Question 1 looks to amend the city charter, changing the way the budget process works in order to shift some power from the mayor’s office to the City Council..

Essaibi George meets with teens at Sociedad
Much of the conversation focused on the positions that Essaibi George, who previously worked as a Boston Public Schools teacher, has proposed surrounding equity in schools and equitable representation of Boston’s Latino population in and out of the classroom.

We have not yet won the battle against COVID-19
Blacks are still lagging behind in Covid-19 vaccinations. According to the New York Times, only 55% of Black New Yorkers have received at least one vaccine dose. Other ethnic groups are doing much better. Asians are at 92%, and 75% of Hispanics have had at least one shot.

A whirlwind of ethnicity
Not too many elections ago, people spoke of “racial minorities.” The objective was to assure that this group should somehow be acknowledged. But as the Black and Latino populations grew, that expression became numerically outmoded. The new concept became “people of color.

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IN THE NEWS
A member of the executive team, Exantus has led Central Boston’s financial affairs since 2018, as well as carrying out management responsibility for several other CBES departments.

No on 1: All neighborhoods deserve equal funding
The momentum around this year’s mayoral election comes in part due to anticipation in the neighborhoods that new and diverse leadership will not only continue Boston’s strong growth, but also will ensure that all neighborhoods continue to share in that growth.

Yes on 1 for a better budget: The time is now
This year, there will be a question on the November ballot that would change how the city budget is created. It would allow the city council to change budget items by a majority vote and create an Office of Participatory Budgeting to allow people to vote on certain budget items.

Elected officials call for federal housing relief
The bill aims to use $3.5 trillion to address a variety of domestic policy priorities, including education, child care and environmental protections. Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Ed Markey are pushing for it to include funds to improve affordable housing across the country.

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District 4 candidates take different approaches
In their campaigns to succeed former mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell in representing Boston’s City Council District 4, candidates Brian Worrell and Evandro Carvalho have been looking to prove to voters before Election Day that they’re the right choice for the seat.

Accusations of racism color District 6 race
Accusations of racism have now been injected into the race for the District 6 city council seat, as controversial campaign literature made its way to voters late last week, with some still arriving on doorsteps through Monday morning.

Expand the Massachusetts Child Tax Credit for immediate child care relief
Trillions of dollars in social infrastructure spending may soon come down the pipeline for our state to start building a universal child care system. But our families need help today to support the child care arrangements they are relying on right now.

A stitch in time
On view through Jan. 17, 2022 in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, “Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories,” follows this journey with 50 quilts spanning 300 years. All but a few are from the museum’s quilt collection, one of the largest in the world.

The Devil May Care
As nearby Salem has taught us, it’s rarely a good time when the devil comes to town. But in “Witch,” playing at the Huntington Theatre through Nov. 15, the narrative gets a modern makeover rounded out with laughter, tears and questions probing into contemporary morality.

Lady Macbeth’s power playlist
When Whitney White first encountered Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, she fell in love. Here was a character who was ambitious, decisive and powerful, a relatable contemporary woman. This fascination with Shakespeare’s female characters has led to “Macbeth in Stride,” running at the American Repertory Theater Oct.

Salsa dance party
The city’s Office of Tourism, Sports, and Entertainment, and the city’s Latinx Employee Resource Group hosted a salsa dance party on Thursday, October 14 on City Hall Plaza to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month..