Civil Rights
Feds mount last-ditch effort to stop children’s constitutional case
By Peter Nightingale on October 20, 2018
On Thursday, October 18, 2018, for the second time in three months, the Department of Justice asked the United States Supreme Court to circumvent the ordinary procedures of federal litigation and stop the constitutional case Juliana v. United States, involving the substantive due process and equal protection rights of children, from going to trial. Claiming […]
Posted in Activism, Civil Rights, Climate, Featured, Justice, Rhode Island | Leave a response
The antifa follies: why suppressing rights like free speech is a bad idea
By Randall Rose on October 7, 2018
Today, a group called Ocean State Against Hate (OSAH) is going to the State House in an effort to forcibly prevent the rightist group Resist Marxism from holding a rally. This is a sequel to a similar confrontation August 4, where OSAH managed to physically shut down Resist Marxism’s effort to inaugurate its Providence chapter […]
Posted in Civil Rights, Featured | Tagged antifa, ocean state against hate, resist marxism | 22 Responses
Reed, Whitehouse counter forced separation of undocumented families
By Will Weatherly on June 12, 2018
Sen. Jack Reed and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse renounced the Trump administration’s separation of immigrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border during a meeting of immigration advocates, community leaders, and pediatricians at Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island on Monday. Both senators have announced their support for the Keep Families Together Act, introduced by California Senator Dianne […]
Posted in Civil Rights, Featured, Immigration, National News, News, Politics | Tagged donald trump, Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, ice, Immigration, Jeff Sessions, Senator Jack Reed, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse | Leave a response
Henrietta White-Holder, Linda Finn Receive Red Bandana Awards
By Stephen R. Graham on May 15, 2018
The Red Bandana Fund is pleased to announce two local advocates, Henrietta White-Holder and Linda Finn, as the 2018 recipients of the Red Bandana Award! The Award, the sixth annual, honors individuals and groups whose work embodies the spirit and work of Richard Walton, a longtime Rhode Island activist who died in 2012. The awards […]
Posted in Activism, Civil Rights, Class Warfare, Environmental Racism, Featured, Gun Control, Immigration, Justice, Middletown, Pawtucket, Poverty, Race & Racism, State House, Women | Tagged activism, gun control, hunger, Immigration, red bandana, social justice | 1 Response
ACLU files second class action lawsuit against UHIP
By Bob Plain on January 3, 2018
Rhode Island put low-income residents “at risk of losing their homes and their utilities and deprives them of funds needed for their daily living expenses, including food,” by removing them from a popular Medicaid program without proper notice, according to a new class action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. It […]
Posted in Civil Rights, Featured, Justice, Poverty | Tagged ACLU, Medicaid, Medicaid Part B, Medicaid Payment Program, riaclu, UHIP | Leave a response
Author Nancy MacLean on James Buchanan and the origins of the radical right
By Steve Ahlquist on October 19, 2017
Nancy MacLean was in Providence Tuesday to talk about her book Democracy in Chains, about little known economist James Buchanan, whose ideas shaped the Koch Brothers’ bid to permanently disable the democratic process in favor of unrestrained free-market capitalism.
Posted in Books, Civil Rights, Class Warfare, Corporate Greed, Featured, Photos, Race & Racism, Video | Tagged Bell Street Church, Brown University, Brown v the Board of Education, Democracy in Chains, James Buchanan, John Calhoun, Justice Gaines, Koch Brothers, Nancy MacLean, RI Jobs with Justice, Selene Means | Leave a response
Narragansett Tribe members and Burrillvillians march against Invenergy water deal
By Steve Ahlquist on October 16, 2017
“Whoever signed the water deal for the sake of the Burrillville power plant was not authorized on the part of the Narragansett Tribe,” said Tribal Councilor Randy Noka…
Posted in Activism, Burrillville, Charlestown, Civil Rights, Climate, Corporate Greed, Energy, Environmental Racism, Featured, Indigenous Americans, Photos, Rhode Island, State House, Video, Water | Tagged Bureau of Indian Affairs, Burrillville Land Trust, Darlene Monroe, Domingo Talldog Monroe, Invenergy, Julia O’Rourke, narragansett indian Tribe, NIT, Paul Roselli, Randy Noka, Rhode Island Indian Council, Rhode Island State House, Suzanne Dumas | 2 Responses
Survey illustrates challenges for transgender and gender non-conforming Rhode Islanders
By Steve Ahlquist on October 13, 2017
“The findings reveal disturbing patterns of mistreatment and discrimination and startling disparities between transgender people in the survey and the US population…”
Posted in Civil Rights, Featured, Health Care, Homelessness, Housing, Inequality, Labor, LGBTQ, Providence, Tennesse | Tagged 2015 US Transgender Survey, ACLU, Ethan Huckel, GLAD, National Center for Transgender Equality, Rhode Island Commission on Human Rights, Rhode Island Department of Education, ride, TGI Network | Leave a response
Providence FOP elections sparks concerns over implementation of the CSA
By Steve Ahlquist on October 12, 2017
We hope they will engage productively in the implementation of the [Community Safety Act] and not waste time trying to undo an ordinance that has had several years of vetting by all parties involved.
Posted in Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Elections, Featured, Immigration, Justice, News, Providence, Race & Racism, Rhode Island, Youth | Tagged Community Safety Act, CSA, Dan McGowan, Julianne Lima, Michael Imondi, PCPRA, Providence City Council, Providence Community-Police Relations Act, Providence Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, Robert Boehm, STEP-UP Network | Leave a response
ACLU notes lack of promised privacy protections in RIDOT’s toll gantry regulations
By Steve Ahlquist on October 5, 2017
The hearing is scheduled for 2 PM tomorrow in conference room 2B of the state Department of Administration Building, 1 Capitol Hill, Providence, RI 02908.
Posted in Civil Rights, Featured, Infrastructure, Rhode Island, Transportation | Tagged ACLU of RI, Charles St Martin, Marcela Betancur, Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, ridot, RITBA | Leave a response
RIDE commits to statewide policy protecting transgender and gender non-conforming students
By Steve Ahlquist on October 4, 2017
Education Commissioner Ken Wagner announced his commitment to require all school districts in the state to adopt comprehensive policies affirming the civil rights of transgender and gender non-conforming students.
Posted in Civil Rights, Education, Featured, LGBTQ, Rhode Island, Youth | Tagged ACLU of RI, Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, donald trump, ken wagner, Marcela Betancur, Rhode Island Department of Education, ride, transgender students | Leave a response
Migrant Justice signs dairy farm worker human rights agreement with Ben & Jerry’s
By Steve Ahlquist on October 4, 2017
For Migrant Justice, this is just the beginning. As the program is rolled out on the farms in Ben & Jerry’s supply chain, Migrant Justice will be preparing to expand Milk with Dignity to other companies.
Posted in Activism, Civil Rights, Featured, Justice, Labor, Vermont | Tagged Ben & Jerry’s, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Enrique Balcazar, Fair Food Program, Jostein Solheim, Migrant Justice, Milk with Dignity Program | Leave a response
The March for Racial Justice in Rhode Island
By Steve Ahlquist on October 2, 2017
Well over 400 people converged on India Point Park for the March for Racial Justice (M4RJ). Sister marches were held across the country. In Providence, the “march” was actually more of a rally.
Posted in Activism, Arkansas, Civil Rights, Class Warfare, Climate, Criminal Justice, Education, Environmental Racism, Events, Featured, Gun Control, Health Care, Immigration, Indigenous Americans, Inequality, Justice, LGBTQ, National News, News, People, Photos, Poverty, Prison Reform, Providence, Race & Racism, Rhode Island, Sex Work, Video, Women, Youth | Tagged AMOR, Arely Díaz, Behind the Walls, Black Studies Academy of Rhode Island, Blue Lives Matter, Cata Lorenzo, Celeste Terry-Lo, Community Defense Project, Community Safety Act, CSA, Daniel Chhum, DARE, David Veliz, direct action for rights and equality, Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island, India Point Park, John Prince, Justice Gaines, M4RJ, Malchus Mills, March for Racial Justice, Marcia Ranglin-Vassell, Marco McWilliams, Narragansett Tribe, Niko Merritt, Nirva LaFortune, No LNG in PVD, Project Weber/RENEW, Providence Youth Student Movement, PrYSM, Randy Noka, rent control, Ron Lewis, Sankofa Community Connection, Seneca Pender, Stephen Dy, Tatiana Jones, Times Squared Academy, Vanessa Flores-Maldonaldo, Yojaida Heredia | Leave a response
Raimondo urged to veto dangerous bill on homeless sex offenders
By Steve Ahlquist on September 28, 2017
The bill “creates a potential threat to the safety of both the community at large and the RSOs who will be forced out of shelter.”
Posted in Civil Rights, Class Warfare, Criminal Justice, Featured, Health Care, Homelessness, Housing, Rhode Island, State House | Tagged American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, Amos House; Diana D Burdett, Andrew Horwitz, Barbara Freitas, Bella Robinson, COYOTE RI, Eileen Hayes, frank lombardi, Gina Raimondo, Hanna Gallo, House of Hope, Laura Jaworski, PICA, registered sex offenders, Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project, Roger Williams University School of Law, RSOs, Steven Brown | Leave a response
Judge Licht says Smithfield can’t curtail rights of medical cannabis growers
By Bob Plain on September 27, 2017
Smithfield can’t restrict the rights of state-licensed medical cannabis growers through its zoning ordinance, said Superior Court Judge Richard Licht in putting a temporary injunction on the town’s new zoning ordinance that restricted caregivers from 12 to 2 plants, among other reductions in their rights. “This decision confirms the legitimacy of Rhode Island’s medical marijuana […]
Posted in Civil Rights, Featured, Marijuana, Smithfield | Tagged ACLU, Alex Chiulli, cannabis, Hawkins-Slater Act, John Meara, Matt Plain, Medical Marijuana, smithfield | Leave a response
Pokanoket statement on the agreement with Brown University
By Steve Ahlquist on September 26, 2017
“In closing, the Pokanoket Tribe wishes to once again extend our most sincere and heartfelt gratitude to all who have and continue to support our efforts to repatriate the ancestral lands of Potumtuk.”
Posted in Bristol, Civil Rights, Featured, Indigenous Americans, International News, Race & Racism, Rhode Island | Tagged American Indian Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, Brown University, NAGPRA, National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Organization of American States American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, Pocasset Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation, Pokanoket, Pokanoket Nation, Pokanoket Tribe, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, United States Constitution | 2 Responses
RI Speaker Nicholas Mattiello: ‘I support DACA.’
By Steve Ahlquist on September 26, 2017
Rhode Island Speaker Nicholas Mattiello supports DACA.
Here he is on Roe v Wade, guns, PawSox, taxes, minimum wage, climate change and more.
Posted in Civil Rights, Climate, Cranston, Economics, Energy, Featured, Gun Control, Immigration, Inequality, Minimum Wage, Politics, Reproductive Rights, Rhode Island, State House, Taxes | Tagged climate change, DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Kristin Dart, Nicholas Mattiello, PawSox, Roe. v. Wade, United States Supreme Court | 2 Responses
Milk With Dignity: Vermont dairy farm workers want Ben & Jerry’s to honor their human rights
By Steve Ahlquist on September 22, 2017
The tour is building support for a national day of action on October 5th with protests and actions outside Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shops across the United States.
Posted in Activism, Civil Rights, Corporate Greed, Featured, Health Care, Immigration, Justice, Labor, National News, Poverty, Race & Racism, Rhode Island, Vermont, Video | Tagged Abel Luna, bell street chapel, Ben & Jerry’s, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Fair Food Program, ice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Migrant Justice, Milk with Dignity Program, Providence Youth Student Movement, PrYSM, Rhode Island Jobs with Justice, Will Lambek | Leave a response
Raimondo secures financing for DACA renewals and free legal advice for recipients
By Steve Ahlquist on September 18, 2017
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo announced funding to cover every Rhode Island DACA recipient eligible to renew their application before the October 5 deadline.
Posted in Central Falls, Civil Rights, Class Warfare, Featured, Immigration, International News, National News, News, Providence, Race & Racism, Rhode Island, State House, Video, Women, Youth | Tagged CASO, Coalition of Advocates for Student Opportunities, DACA, Deborah Gonzalez, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, donald trump, Dorcas International Institute, Dreamers, Gina Raimondo, Immigration Clinic at the Roger Williams University School of Law, Neil Steinberg, Office of Constituent Affairs, Pro Bono Collaborative at the Roger Williams University School of Law, Progreso Latino, Rhode Island Center for Justice, Rhode Island Foundation | 1 Response
New mural celebrates musical history Providence’s Mt Hope neighborhood
By Steve Ahlquist on September 18, 2017
“Every time I drove up this hill and saw that big gray wall I said, ‘This wall needs something. It needs a mural,'” said Hannah Resseger, “I wanted it to be something about the history.”
Posted in Arts & Culture, Civil Rights, Class Warfare, Featured, History, Immigration, Installations, News, Photos, Providence, Race & Racism, Rhode Island, Video, Women | Tagged aaron regunberg, B Mor Seven, Billy Taylor Park, Blake Filippi, Brown University, Carl's Diggins House of Jazz & Soul, Celebrity Club, Dannie Ritchie, Danny Lopes, Elisa Perez, Gina Rodriguez, Hannah Resseger, Hard Scrabble Riot, Harold Metts, Jalia Godette, Mt Hope Learning Center, Mt Hope Neighborhood, Nirva LaFortune, Paul Filippi, Providence Department of Arts Culture and Tourism, Providence Police Department, Raffini, Snow Town Riot, Sylvia Ann Soares, Tiana Northup | 1 Response

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