Benjamin Healthcare sale set to close Feb. 1
Feaster announced his selection of Allaire Health Services, a for-profit long-term care company based in New Jersey, in late July. He first announced in April that he was considering a sale of the facility and transfer ownership to an outside organization as a strategy to keep it operating.

Boston City Council elects new president; backroom deals and changing alliances
Contests for the council presidency have often been contentious, and this year was no exception. Shortly after the Nov. 4 election last year, District 1 Councilor Gabriella Colletta-Zapata announced she had the seven votes necessary to secure the presidency of the 13-member body.

State reaches settlement with third-party electric supplier over marketing tactics
In a settlement announced on Jan. 5, DPU announced that Direct Energy Services, a thirdparty competitive electricity supplier in the state, had agreed to pay more than $100,000 in penalties and halt its telemarketing operations for a year after it was found to be at fault in over 400 calls with potential customers.

New coalition expands MLK Day celebrations to build community and unity
This weekend, organizations across the metropolitan Boston area will mark an expanded celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a three-day program of rallies, parties and performances to commemorate the life of the Civil Rghts leader and honor his spirit and that of his wife, Coretta Scott King.

Shonda Rhimes’ $15 million gift to Dartmouth signals new era of Black alumni influence
Shonda Rhimes Hall is part of Dartmouth’s $500 million commitment to expand undergraduate student housing. The residence, which will house upperclassmen, is part of Dartmouth’s efforts to add more than 1,000 beds over the next decade.

Demanding change on Martin Luther King Jr. Day requires all of us.
Demanding change on Martin Luther King Jr. Day requires all of us..

Pushing the moral arc of the universe toward justice
From the vantage point of 2026, King would probably feel a profound sense of “spiritual disappointment” — yet he would also show unyielding hope. He would see a nation that integrated lunch counters but not its ledger books. The country secured the right to vote in name, yet sees it systematically eroded in practice.

IN THE NEWS
The International Institute of New England (IINE) has announced Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet, Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, will be the 2026 recipient of its Golden Door Award.

Why Venezuela’s crisis matters to Black America
It’s widely assumed there is a segment of Black America that is either ignorant or chooses to ignore foreign affairs. The common argument is that Black people have enough problems of their own in the U.S. without being preoccupied with global issues that have nothing to do with them.

Democrat’s do-over with Black women
Black women are also winning at the state level. 2025 saw record state legislative representation from Black women and Black women led eight of America’s 100 most populous cities this year.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BANNER SPECIAL SECTION
The King family’s theme for the 2026 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance is called “Mission Possible 2: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way.” The active principle, as the King family described it, is to activate direct action.

Rev. Dr. Willie Bodrick’s MLK Day sermon
We are opening this special section with an excerpt of a sermon that Rev. Willie Bodrick II, senior pastor of Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, delivered on Sunday, Jan. 11. During the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached at the church.

From Roxbury to Boston Common, King’s Boston Legacy
Boston is where he met his wife, Coretta. He always called Boston his second home, even as he rallied thousands on a march to Boston Common to protest housing inequities here. I’d like to imagine that he believed Boston, his second home, was better than that.

My Beloved Community in a broken world
We are waiting for a ruling from the Supreme Court on Section II of voting rights, but I remain calm and anchored despite the coordinated, unrelenting cultural and legislative attacks on Black people, on Black bodies, on Black votes, on Black power and Black progress -- from the Supreme Court to the White House.

What we erase with a no. 2 pencil on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
It was January. My classroom smelled of pencil shavings, chalk dust and disinfectant. We were told to write neatly, stay within the lines, and fill in the blanks. A worksheet slid across the desk. A short quote. A photograph of a man frozen in mid-speech.

What would Dr. King say? A reflection on Black America today
It is tempting, especially during moments of national strain, to summon the voice of Martin Luther King Jr. as a form of reassurance. His words have been polished into civic scripture, safe and endlessly repeatable. But to ask what King would say about the state of Black America today requires resisting that impulse.

Calling out the (White) America First Agenda
When the Trump administration eliminated free admission to U.S. national parks on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth — two dates commemorating Black freedom and the civil-rights struggle — it was easy to dismiss the decision as symbolic or petty. It was neither.

The quiet part has never been quiet
They have always said the quiet parts out loud and we have always responded. The project of white nationalism has been to create a white ethnostate that subjugates others to the will and desires of those who believe themselves to be white. It has used Christianity, violence, the law, and capitalism to execute the plan.

Media company brings positive representations of Black culture in youth programming
Keeana S. Saxon remembers the feeling that prompted her to switch the channel in the middle of a children’s television show she was watching with her then-toddler daughter. In the show, a main character is an adversary and their sidekicks were colored dark.

Historic Black fraternity celebrates 115 years
The fraternity was founded on Jan. 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington. Despite being formed in a climate of racial exclusion, the Kappa Constitution has never contained any clause that either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed or national origin.

Patriots pound Chargers 16-3 for first playoff victory
The Chargers failed to score a point as the Pats defense stopped them on a fourth-and-two play inside their five-yard line. That was basically the game as the Chargers failed in their one chance to put real pressure on this young Patriots team that has very few players with any major playoff experience.

College football playoffs final four
The University of Miami Hurricanes kicked off this mega-weekend of football (college and professional) in America. The 10thranked ‘Canes literally outlasted the sixth-seeded Rebels of the University of Mississippi 31-27, in game one of the semifinal rounds of the College Football Playoffs.

Izzy’s Fusion mixes Haitian cuisine with global influences
Growing up in Haiti, Izadora Theodore watched her mother work as a chef and caterer for different events and wanted to follow in her footsteps. This dream was realized in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as she began to fix food plates for her loved ones when they would become sick.

Celebrate MLK
- Info: This original play by Najee A. Brown imagines a private conversation between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Stokely Carmichael, two activists fighting for change in very different ways.

The season of giving with Wayne J. Griffin Electric
It was a busy holiday season of giving back to local communities for Wayne J. Griffin Electric, Inc which participated in an array of service-related initiatives throughout New England.

Hyde Park Task Force 3 Kings Celebration
The Hyde Park Task Force held their annual Three Kings Day Celebration on Saturday, Jan 10. Attendees enjoyed live music, crafts, refreshments and more..

Documentary screening
People gathered at Mass College of Art for a screening of a documentary film on Congresswoman Ayana Pressley titled “She Dared To Dream: Ayanna Pressley” by Abby Ginzburg. Pictured are, from left, Abby Ginzburg, Congresswoman Pressley and moderator Lisa Simmons, executive director of the Roxbury Fim Festival.

‘WHERE CONSCIENCE WALKED’
Once a year, the tones of high school, middle school and elementary school vocalists from around Boston soar to the ceiling of Symphony Hall as youth pay tribute to the great Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.

‘Wonder’ at A.R.T. moves quickly, but with heart
The A.R.T. transforms R. J.Palacio’s beloved novel into an exuberant production with a cast of 17 actors and 19 songand-dance numbers. Unfolding at a buoyant pace over two hours with one intermission, A.R.T.’s “Wonder” follows Auggie, a boy with a craniofacial difference, as he attends school for the first time.

AI artwork in Boston hotel causes controversy
When the Midtown Hotel, a 1960s-era motor lodge on Huntington Avenue, unveiled its renovation last fall it included a large, flagstone fireplace, a more contemporary neutral color palette and street-facing counter seating for laptop work.