ACTIVISM

Author Chuck Collins writes about the life of an environmental activist in western Massachusetts who, in her final stand against big oil, alters the live trajectories of those she cared for most.

In 2017, the project first brought together residents from Leverett, Massachusetts, and Letcher County, Kentucky. After the pandemic and the death of one of the project founders, participants decided to move on.

The Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School is scheduled to close at the end of this month after 10 years in operation.

We have a bonus Live Music Wednesday with Levyosn, talk violence and hatred deescalation with Polly Byers of the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding (not a yoga studio), and look for the origins of popular English phrases with The Word Nerd

Louise Dunphy of Celtic Crossings gives us a rundown of Celtic happenings in western Massachusetts this weekend. Kristen van Ginhoven, artistic director of WAM Theater, joins us to talk about their mission and their upcoming show. And since it's Thursday, we mcgovern with the one and only Rep. Jim McGovern.

Anika Lopes, founder of the tour, says she hopes to connect Amherst, Massachusetts, residents of color with their history.

Tiyo Attallah Salah-El was also an author, scholar and activist who died in a Pennsylvania prison in June 2018, at age 85. He’d served nearly 50 years of a life sentence for a murder he always insisted he did not commit.

For some artists, the murder of George Floyd by a police officer two years ago, and the ensuing protests, have been sources for paintings and writing. But racial injustice in the U.S. has long provided unwanted artistic inspiration.

Local organizers reflect on what they think has been accomplished — and what hasn’t — two years after organizing Black Lives Matter protests in western Massachusetts cities and towns.

Longtime environmental advocate Thelma Barzottini was remembered recently by Housatonic River cleanup activists and government regulators as a sweet person who was passionate about cleaning up PCBs.