RACE

We learn about to celebrate Kwanzaa in western Massachusetts, hear live music from local band All Feels before they perform at First Night Northampton, and have a Local Hero Spotlight with Sweet Babu's gluten-free granola.

We learn the history of Kwanzaa with professor Ousmane Power-Greene in the latest Power of History segment, hear live music with The Leafies You Gave Me, and highlight the year in astronomy with Mr. Universe.

We learn about the third stage of the exhibition of Indigenous works, "Boundless," on display at the Mead Art Museum and conclude our coverage of the 15th annual March for the Food Bank.

The Massachusetts Office of Outdoor recreation has awarded nearly $165,000 to 17 groups in Massachusetts. The groups serve low-income residents, people of color, those living with disabilities and people from the LGBTQ+ community received state grants.

We talk to the co-directors and podcast hosts of EmbraceRace to learn how to best educate our young people about race, get a makeup lesson from makeup artist Joe Delude II, designer of the original looks for "Wicked," and McGovern with Rep. Jim McGovern.

We check out the student exhibition at Smith College, "Signs of Solastalgia," talk with Julian Saporiti, otherwise known as No-No Boy, about writing the Asian-American diaspora in music and learn about chopping trees at Cranston's Tree Farm.

We learn ways to confront our nation's roots in slavery with author Tom DeWolf and Rev. Terrlyn Curry Avery, take a tour of Rice Fruit Farm, and respond to listener nominations for president.

A panel of Massachusetts educators and civil rights activists has issued recommendations for college campuses to promote access to higher education, particularly for students of color, LGBTQ+ students and low-income students. The report is in response to the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that bars the use of race in college admissions.

The federal consent decree aimed to boost the ranks of Black and Latino police officers and firefighters in more than 100 Massachusetts cities and towns. It included Springfield until a few years ago, and Holyoke will be released from the requirements at the end of this year.

Students of Springfield, Massachusetts, history may know the name Joseph Budd as the first African American in the city's police department to achieve the rank of sergeant, lieutenant and captain. Less well known was Budd's service in the U.S. military. He served during World War II in a racially segregated unit called the Montford Point Marines.