As the Conversations on Race series sponsored by ALANA Community Organization and the Brattleboro Interfaith Clergy Association that have taken place over the summer wind down, I am left with both an overwhelming sense of grief and of hope.
Two thoughts keep running through my mind as I replay some of the stories, like the one of the five-year-old girl on her first day of kindergarten who was told by other five-year-olds that she could not play with them because she was a “nigger,” or the story of a young woman at the high school who was asked by the adult to whom she went for help for the “proof” that she had been threatened because of her race.
The first thought was that “these are our children, and they have the right to have a childhood.”
A childhood where they are not insulted or ignored because of the color of their skin.
While grateful that the rancorous presidential and vice-presidential debates are finally over and an election has been held, I find myself profoundly frightened and frustrated. Eight years of the Bush Administration have done catastrophic damage to our Constitution, economy, environment, health care, education, and our standing with the rest...
Unfortunately, I was not surprised to learn of the Department of Public Service's “swift boat”–style, personal attacks on Arnie Gunderson, Senator Peter Shumlin's appointee to conduct the comprehensive vertical audit of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee mandated by Act 189 that is now under way. (Governor Douglas and Gaye Symington...
Some two years ago, Lyman Orton was in the process of organizing an exhibit from his private collection, "Lost Vermont Images," when he was inspired - inspired with the idea of turning the tables on his concept by looking through art to the future instead of the past. Orton, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and lifelong Vermonter whose family created the Vermont Country Stores in Weston and Rockingham, began thinking about the possibilities of how art could express ideas that affect the...
In any business, hard work and integrity builds a strong foundation. Such is the case for the band Stonewall and the business of playing their fiery brand of heavy, original grunge-style rock music. Hailing from Claremont, N.H., Stonewall has steadily built a following throughout Southern Vermont and into the Connecticut River Valley. The band has booked upcoming shows throughout southern Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. The band has reached another milestone with the...
I found Evangelina Holvino's article [“Latinos in Vermont: Why we matter,” The Commons, October] filled with the same mantra that I`ve read in all Latino articles. It's the same lesson they feel compelled to teach us Americans: their importance both culturally and financially in this society, how we Americans had better get the big picture, etc. Her article was peppered with sarcasm, such as we should all be bilingual in this global world. Let me say that if I move...