Community voices frustration, vision for Parcel 3 at listening session
About 50 attendees braved the cold, with more watching virtually, to voice concerns on Feb. 9 at Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury.

Former Benjamin administrator takes plea deal in federal criminal charges
In a plea agreement dated Feb. 4, Tony Francis admitted to misappropriating more than $43,600 in COVID-19-era relief funds directed to the almost 100-year-old long-term care facility for the attempted purchase of another nursing home and paying off a personal loan.

Jesse L. Jackson dies at 84: Tribune of ‘Keep hope alive’
Jesse Jackson, keynote speaker at 1987 ABCD Community Awards Dinner, shakes hands with community leader Mel King as ABCD president/CEO Robert M. Coard looks on.

New Edition’s hometown concert delights proud fans
On Sunday night, New Edition returned home to headline “The New Edition Way” tour, a multiact show at TD Garden, joined by fellow R&B heavyweights Boyz II Men and Toni Braxton.

Honorary street sign unveiled at Twelfth Baptist Church
The Twelfth Baptist Church congregation celebrated with community members and public officials, which included Mayor Michelle Wu, president and CEO of Embrace Boston Imari Paris Jeffries, and the City’s Senior Advisor & Head of Faith-based Initiatives Will Dickerson.

AKA Sorority draws thousands for first Boston conference in more than 30 years
Members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. NARC Steering Committee: (From left) Nia McLean, Shenae Draughn, Latosha Johnson, North Atlantic Regional Director Elicia Pegues Spearman, Conference Chairman Kafi Meadows, Nancy Rachel Rousseau, Peyton Bryant, and Caroline Figaro.

Jesse Jackson preached ‘I am somebody’ and paved the way for a Black president
They took me to protest marches and Civil Rights meetings and instilled in me the need to stand up to racism in all forms. They also installed in me that as a Black person I had just as much right to the American dream and equal justice as any American.

Rest well, Rev. You taught a nation how to keep hope alive; now we’ll keep it moving forward.
Rest well, Rev. You taught a nation how to keep hope alive; now we’ll keep it moving forward..

The Trump playbook: from ICE violence to voter suppression
We have seen it in the sweeping immigration crackdowns announced with maximal force and minimal preparation, only to be slowed or blocked by the courts after communities were already thrown into panic.

Elected leaders must act now in protecting Mass. communities
Renee Good, an award-winning poet, wife and mother was shot three times at point-blank range by ICE. Good’s wife, Rebecca, said the couple had stopped to support their neighbors in the midst of an ICE sweep of Minneapolis. “We had whistles. They had guns,” she said.

IN THE NEWS
I’m grateful for this opportunity and energized to work alongside such dedicated colleagues, partners, and leaders as we advance BU’s mission, celebrate the School of Public Health’s 50th anniversary, and help shape the next 50 years “for the health of all.

New EPA report turns focus to next phase of cleanup for Lower Neponset Superfund site
In 2022, the EPA declared a 3.7-mile stretch of the river a Superfund site based on the high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are man-made industrial chemicals from factories that operated in the area dating to the late 1920s..

The future of music
“There was a time in my life when I was broken, that’s why I wrote this album (“Beautifully Broken”). I didn’t think I had a chance. There were days when I thought the darkest, darkest things, and I was a horrible human. There were moments in my life where all I had was a Bible this big and a radio in my hand.

Why we won’t talk about wills — and what silence costs us
“Everyone assumes that when someone passes, everything will be okay,” said Shandrea Sellers, an estate planning attorney who focuses on probate, guardianship, and legacy planning. “But titles are usually not clear. Land ownership is sometimes uncertain.

New HBCU channel is coming to Tubi
“They understand that if we’re not the ones holding the camera, someone else will tell our story for us—or worse, act like we were never here. This platform gives them something we can’t afford to lose right now: proof that our voices, our histories, our excellence still matter.

The high stakes of segregation in Boston
A new Boston Sports book will be published later this year. The origin of this tome dates to a 2022 interview with professor David Faflik of the University of Rhode Island and me.

Meet 2026’s Black Winter Olympic stars
Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, my first memory of the Winter Olympics was seeing mostly white athletes in unfamiliar sports, rarely discussed in Black communities like mine. Without access to skis, skates or even sleds, we had little interest in winter sports.

Cool It Now: The Kings of R&B Return
Sunday night New Edition brought their legendary “All Six” lineup to TD Garden alongside the four-part harmonies of Boyz II Men and the sultry, unmistakable vocals of Toni Braxton. From the New Jack Swing era to the height of 90s balladry, this tour was a masterclass in R&B excellence.

A new wine fair with a focus on female makers is coming to Boston
Last year, Haley Fortier, owner of Nathálie wine bar in Fenway and haley.henry wine bar at Downtown Crossing, noticed that something was missing in Boston. The city has excellent wines and talented industry professionals, but no big wine fair like New York or Montreal.

Join the Museum of African American History for a day of food, poetry and Black history
“We’ve been working with The Heritage Market, which is a local Black woman-owned organization. They came to us with the idea of doing a kind of sip-andsavor event. So, we’ve been working to build one. We’ve wanted to have more food events in our space because in [our] history, we’ve also housed catering companies.

PEM launches first major retrospective of sculptor Edmonia Lewis
Edmonia Lewis was the first Black and Indigenous sculptor to achieve international acclaim. She was so popular in the 1860s and 1870s that her studio was listed in guidebooks and she maintained close friendships with public figures like Frederick Douglass and sculptor Harriet Hosmer.

Two unlikely companions chart new territory in ‘The Roommate’
“The Roommate,” a 2015 play for two actresses written by Jen Silverman, is often described as a dark comedy but the top-notch production on stage through March 19 at the Trinity Repertory Company Lederer Theater Center in downtown Providence mines its deeper notes as a bracing character study.

Zakiyyah puts art into action
As a hip-hop musician and an opera singer, Zakiyyah calls some of what she does “Hip-Hopera.” But surpassing categories, she’s attentive to the world’s challenges, and those specific to being a creative artist. The result is a very positive energy that can draw you in, and lead to creative acts that are implicitly about social change.