March 9 ROTTEN REPORTAGE: Do We Have the Media We Deserve?

The bulk of mainstream media in the U.S. is now owned by six corporations that continue to gobble up smaller outlets and independent presses. Some say that we have created a perfect echo chamber, that the plurality of a free press is just a sad joke. Turning on the TV or scrolling through the headlines offers only the illusion of choice.

So is the media monopoly that we all feared, almost complete? Is there any cause for optimism in the new journalistic market place and in its pre-election coverage, is the national press corps revealing its true colors?

Cambridge Forum has invited a panel of journalists and experts drawn from the Internet, academia, and NPR to discuss the state of journalism in America today.

Come join the discussion on March 9 at 7:00pm, 3 Church Street in Cambridge. The event is free and all are welcome!

For more details contact Mary Stack, director (AT) cambridgeforum.org

Speak Out for Housing, Homelessness Prevention, and Solutions: Join the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless at the State House Next Thursday, March 3rd!

Please join the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless for our annual Legislative Action Day on Thursday, March 3rd from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the Great Hall at the Massachusetts State House in Boston.

The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless has been working for over thirty years as a key voice in the public policy and social services arenas for families, youth, and adults in Massachusetts who are at-risk or experiencing homelessness. Each year, the Coalition holds a Legislative Action Day at the State House to engage our members and allies in educating state legislators about the needs of the Commonwealth’s residents who are experiencing homelessness, housing crises, and poverty.

This year, we are mobilizing our members and supporters to advocate on a number of priorities, including efforts to expand eligibility for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) homelessness prevention programs to include elders, people with disabilities, unaccompanied youth, and others; fund housing and support services for unaccompanied youth who are experiencing homelessness; ensure that families with children no longer have to first stay in places not meant for human habitation before qualifying for Emergency Assistance shelter; and expand funding for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) and the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP). We also are working to move forward several bills that would improve quality of life for people living in poverty and those experiencing homelessness, including legislation to create a Homeless Bill of Rights and to improve benefits under the state’s Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children program (EAEDC).

As part of Legislative Action Day, the Coalition will host a series of speakers who will share their call to action and personal testimonies on the importance of increasing access to housing, shelter, homelessness prevention resources, and support services. Legislative speakers will include Representative James O’Day (West Boylston), the event sponsor and lead sponsor of House Bill 529, An Act Relative to Assisting Elders and People with Disabilities in the Commonwealth; State Senator Harriette Chandler (Worcester), Senate Majority Leader and member of the Special Commission on Unaccompanied Homeless Youth; Senator Linda Dorcena Forry (Boston), Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing; Representative Marjorie Decker (Cambridge), Member, Joint Committees on Ways and Means and Housing; Representative Kevin Honan (Allston), House Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing; Senator Jamie Eldridge (Acton), Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Financial Services, State Representative William Smitty Pignatelli (Lenox), lead sponsor of House Bill 1129, An Act Providing a Homeless Bill of Rights; and State Representative Denise Provost (Somerville), lead sponsor of House Bill 119, An Act to End Child Homelessness.

Most importantly, there will be time in the afternoon to meet with State Representatives, Senators, and their staff to advocate for improved access to affordable housing, services, and programs for youth, families, and individual adults who are at-risk or experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts.

We hope you will be able to raise your voice and join us for this exciting day!

For more information and to register for this free event, please go to http://www.mahomeless.org/advocacy/item/legislative-action-day-2016.

RESIST THE WEST ROXBURY PIPELINE

Spring is not too far away and the specter of the West Roxbury fracked gas pipeline resuming construction awaits April 15.

They’ll be starting. We’ll be stopping.

An open invitation to all to join us for our first of many Civil Disobedience (CD) trainings to stop the West Roxbury Pipeline.

The first training of the spring will be on:

Saturday March 5, 3:00-5:30pm
Theodore Parker Church, 1859 Centre St, West Roxbury, MA

The training will cover:

– A background on the resistance to a 750 pounds per sq inch pipeline coming into W. Roxbury passing by an active blasting quarry. Opposed by community residents, city councilors, mayor Walsh and YOU.

-Information/experiential practice about CD and supporting others to do CD.

-Legal and practical information about CD

– Forming action/affinity groups with CD and support people

-Input into the spring strategy for actions

Come help draw the line on fracked gas and neighborhood safety.

More trainings and sessions to follow.

To sign up or for more information go to http://www.resistthepipeline.org/

URGENT ACTION ALERT: PLEASE CALL, WRITE LETTERS TO AND ARRANGE MEETINGS WITH YOUR LEGISLATORS: Ask them to support the Senate Version of the Bill to Repeal the Driver’s License Suspension Law (Senate 2021)!

Dear Allies of EPOCA and the Jobs Not Jails Coalition,

An important bill that will help people charged with a drug offense obtain jobs passed the Senate last fall and the House on January 6. This bill would end the $500 fine from the RMV, back-door CORI and years of waiting to be able to drive that thousands of people convicted of drug offenses are suffering – even though their offenses had nothing to do with driving nor a vehicle.

However, the bill passed by the House included an amendment that would not apply these changes to those convicted of drug trafficking.

Drug trafficking charges can involve as little as 18 grams or 1.8% of a kilo. This affects people who have purchased drugs only for personal use, not just cartel members or drug king pins. While they constitute 31% of all convicted defendants, people of color represent over 75% of those convicted of “trafficking” offenses.

If people continue to be saddled with these fines, back-door CORIs and waiting times to get driver’s licenses back, they will not be able to find work, obtain most jobs, nor travel to them….this can only lead to recidivism where everybody loses….the individual, their families and the taxpayers.

ACTION IS NEEDED NOW:

Please read this fact sheet and organize calls, letters to and meetings with your state legislators.

For House members, the message is: Please ask Speaker DeLeo and conference committee members Representatives Fernandes, Straus and Hill to go with the Senate passed version of the RMV Sanctions bill for all people convicted of drug offenses. Excluding those charged for trafficking drug offenses will prevent many people from obtaining their driver’s licenses which are necessary for people to get jobs, drive to work and support their families. People will be less likely to recidivate if they are able to get back on their feet and support themselves and their families legally.

For Senate members, the message is: Please ask Senate President Rosenberg and Conference Committee members, Senators McGee, Chandler and Fattman to stand firm on the Senate passed bill that enables all people convicted of drug offenses to regain their driver’s license so they can get jobs, drive to work and support their families.

When people re-build their lives after a drug conviction, they face obstacles such as probation fees, court costs and the stigma of having a CORI. In addition, there is a special penalty just for them.

Under current law, a person convicted of any drug offense loses her or his driving privileges for up to 5 years, and must pay at least $500 to reinstate the license. This applies to any drug offense, even if it has nothing to do with an automobile or driving. This law also generates a “back-door CORI” that can never be sealed, which harms a person’s chances of finding employment and housing, for decades after the offense was committed.

It’s time to change this law. Approximately 7,000 people per year lose their driving privileges due to this law, mostly for offenses that do not involve vehicles in any way.

Download an RMV Collateral Sanctions Fact Sheet Here: http://nationinside.org/images/pdf/FACT_SHEET_III_Collateral_Sanctions_Components_1-5-16.pdf

For more info please contact:
Ex-prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA)
4 King Street
Worcester, MA 01610