Laufton Ascencao on how progressives can win campaigns
He may not have the Democratic Party’s endorsement, but Laufton Ascencao, running for state representative in District 68 (Bristol, Warren), knows exactly how to win races despite tall odds. He told me one of his first political litmus tests was during his time in Pittsburgh in 2013. There, while doing college organizing for the Obama […]
Pokanoket Nation isn’t federally recognized, says Brown indigenous group
The steering committee for Brown University’s Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative is advising people dig deeper into the Pokanoket encampment/protest in Bristol, saying the Pokanoket people are not a federally or indigenously recognized Native American tribe. “While there is a long history of erasure and forced assimilation of Native peoples in the Northeast, meaning […]
Pokanoket Tribe occupies Bristol land, say it belongs to them not Brown
More than 50 Native Americans and their allies occupied waterfront land in Bristol on Sunday for what they called “a long term encampment,” saying the gorgeous spot overlooking Mt. Hope Bay belongs to the Pokanoket Tribe, not Brown University. “We as aboriginal citizens have been denied our birthright to our family’s land, our sovereignty rights, […]
Lunch shaming in RI: Suburban schools say let students eat cheese sandwiches
It’s known as lunch shaming. Students are subjected to special, sometimes embarrassing, treatment because their parents didn’t pay the school lunch bill.
After 125 years, RI veterans will finally get a director
It only took about 5-years (or 125 years1), but Rhode Island veterans are finally getting a director for the Division of Veterans Affairs! Thank you, Governor Raimondo. Applications are due November 6th. As veterans submit their resumes over the next few weeks, we’ll explore the state of veterans’ affairs, a vision for the future of […]
Join me for a neighborhood conversation next week
Next week, I am coming home to host the first two of several neighborhood conversations about the challenges we face across this great state, and I wanted to make sure RI Future readers knew about next week’s events in Woonsocket and Bristol. As your voice in Congress, it is critical that I hear directly from […]
Why Wasn’t ‘Django Unchained’ Set In RI?
Soon Black History Month (Feb) will be here, and if the past is truly prologue, we should expect the typical, mediocre and depoliticized historical trivia that gets passed off as “Black History.” However, I intend to combat this with historical commentary, that occasions a more relevant way in which to engage Africana history, philosophy, and […]
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