We're building and rebuilding community constantly.
And we're keeping track of those changes too. Though it may still be in receivership, Holyoke schools are home to an innovative and equity building program called Ethnic Studies. The program deals with local history as well as larger issues of identity, community, privilege, and more, and has been saving the materials created and used for its 8 year tenure. This summer, students from the program collaborated on a fledgling archival project to more formally catalog these materials. They presented some of their work at the Wisteriahurst Museum in Holyoke, and we chat with both the students and administrators involved in keeping this work alive.
Only a few blocks away, one of the pillars of the flats has been bolstering the community for over four decades. Nueva Esperanza started as a grassroots organization seeking to protect tenants during a volatile time in Holyoke's history, and has grown to be and do even more than that over the years. We sit down with current director Kayla Rodriguez to explore the collective's past, present, and future.
And it's in the seven contested mayoral races currently happening in the four counties of western Massachusetts. In our efforts to talk with each person running for a mayoral seat, we grab coffee with current Greenfield mayor, Roxann Wedegartner. It's been a thorny tenure, and we explore some of the events that have occurred, her hopes for the future of Greenfield, and some of the lessons this term in office has taught.
