George Floyd’s uncle marks five years since the murder that changed America
On May 21, Selwyn Jones appeared at a Massachusetts State House press conference and rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the May 25, 2020 murder of his nephew, George Floyd. He hasn’t stopped fighting for justice since that dark day.

Emergency order blocks ICE from transferring Milford student out of state
A federal judge issued an emergency order Sunday blocking federal immigration authorities from transferring an 18-year-old Milford High School student of Brazilian nationality out of Massachusetts for at least 72 hours, court records show.

Public Health Commission reports decrease in opioid overdose deaths
Black and Latinx populations in the city, who have often been hit hardest by the opioid epidemic, saw larger decreases. Overall, Black residents experienced a 58% decrease and Latinx residents saw a 48% decrease..

Local nonprofits graduate from climate program
At a celebration, May 28, a group of nine organizations with focuses spanning from cultural to affordable housing to operating the state’s convention centers gathered to mark the end of a nine-month program developing organizational climate action plans.

The pen as a weapon: the enduring legacy of Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Ngugi wa Thiong’o stands as a towering figure in African literature, a writer whose prolific career has been inextricably linked with the political and cultural struggles of his native Kenya and the broader African continent.

Algae clogging up your river?
A construction team installs an infiltration trench in Medford in 2019. The Mystic River Watershed Association, last week, received state funding to install 65 of the nature-based infrastructure solutions, which filter phosphorus and other contaminants out of stormwater, in six cities and towns across its watershed over the next two years.

Free Marcelo!
Free Marcelo!.

Cruel, but not unusual for Trump
There is only one word for the Trump administration’s latest moves to deport immigrants of color: cruel. For those communities and the entire country, the great misfortune is the heartless actions represent more of the same from officials carrying out the bidding of President Trump.

Here’s what $1B in cuts mean for Black kids’ mental health
Research shows that suicide rates among Black youth have climbed by nearly 37% over the past five years, with Black teens now reporting higher attempt rates than their white and Hispanic peers. At the same time, Black and Native American students are 1.

When demagogues blame the vulnerable, we all lose
In hard times, people look for answers. The decimation of American manufacturing starting in the 1990s with trade agreements like NAFTA led to decades of downward economic mobility for working families. That creates ripe conditions for demagogues to come out of the woodwork offering an easy answer for people’s pain.

IN THE NEWS
Keith Stokes of Newport, Rhode Island, head of Rhode Island’s diversity office, has been named the state’s second historian laureate. Chosen from a field of eight candidates, he will take over the voluntary role of delivering lectures about Rhode Island’s past at special events and formal ceremonies.

Environmental issues plague Blue Hill Ave.
“Green” is not the word that comes to mind when walking down the Blue Hill Avenue corridor in lower Roxbury. Children play in parks with patchy grass and bathe in pools of rain and groundwater on a flooded street on a hot day in summer.

Gov. Healey offers 450 acres of state land for housing development
The Healey administration has sought to make it easier to build in-law units, to put in place a transaction fee on $1 million homes to help pay for affordable units and to strengthen first-time homebuyer programs.The latest tack: selling excess state-owned land for new housing.

The great debate: Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge?
The statistical numbers of the two men are mind-boggling. Ohtani has won three Most Valuable Player Awards with the Angels and one with the Dodgers, making him only the second player in baseball history, behind Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, to be named MVP in both the National League and American League.

BPS track and field teams compete in MIAA events
The MIAA divisional track and field competition took place at Merrimack College (Division 2), Westfield State (Division 3), and Tufts University (Division 6) this past weekend. Individual winners automatically advance to the MIAA “Meet of Champions” at Fitchburg State on June 5 and 7.

When DEI gets cut, so do profits: The real cost of abandoning equity
In the first quarter of 2025, the retailer reported a 3.8% drop in comparable sales and a 2.8% year-over-year revenue decline to $23.8 billion.

Cupcake Therapy — it’s what the world needs now
“I was baking as a hobby. I was actually running a FinTech company that stalled during the pandemic, and I was bored, and so I was baking as a hobby. And friends would ask me to bake for them. And at first, I would say ‘I do FinTech so…,’ but after a while, I just had just too much free time, I guess.

Gourmet Kreyol makes a spicy splash in the Mattapan food scene
Chef Nathalie Lecorps grew up in the kitchen of her parents’ Miami restaurant pressing plantains and smelling the savory Haitian spice mixes frying with each dish. Now she’s spreading her love of Haitian cuisine to Boston with the opening of her first brickand-mortar restaurant Gourmet Kreyol in Mattapan.

The soiree of the season
The hallmark of the party is its all-white apparel and décor mandate which creates a cohesive and beautiful aesthetic. Attendees are required to wear all white. They must also bring a table, white chairs, a white tablecloth, white silverware and white serviettes.

Home is where the art is
Two large-scale, immersive installations by Chiharu Shiota anchor the 2025 season at the ICA Watershed in East Boston. The artist collaborated with local residents to probe themes of migration, memory, survival and home in a timely and moving exhibition, her first solo presentation in New England.

‘Hello, Dolly!’ charms at Lyric Stage
The Lyric Stage production, running two and a half hours with a 15-minute intermission, is directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent, co-founder and producing artistic director of the Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black-led theater company committed to advancing racial equity.

Local artist explores nexus of violence, healing, art in immersive program series
Artist Sean “2ruTh7” Evelyn has experienced violence firsthand, both as an enactor and a survivor, and he knows it doesn’t happen in a vacuum.