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The Story of Sonny V.
Under this Trump administration through March 10, 2026, ICE has arrested 7,030 people in Massachusetts. Of those arrested, 46 percent had no pending charges or convictions, 35 percent had pending criminal charges, and 19 percent had criminal convictions according to a WBUR analysis of data from the Deportation Data Project. There were 685 people convicted of serious crimes, classified by ICE as Case Threat Level 1, under 10% of the total. When asked whether people who have committed violent crimes should be deported, 87 percent of Americans say yes. I hope today’s story will convince you that the answer to that question should always be, “It depends.”
Level Up Your Resistance: Throw a Block Party
Particularly in our steely New Englander culture where we’re encouraged to mind our own business, community connections won’t happen naturally if you don’t do the work of fostering them. So, how do you actually do it?
Pride Recap
Pride is a protest, and never has that been more clear to me than in the last two years. Our rights as queer people are being stripped away and the validity of our very existence denied as an entire governmental system tries to force us all back into the closet. But we will not go quietly. Never have I felt more empowered to fight back…
Get to Know Your Candidates: The Race for the Senate
To help voters decide who to support in the upcoming election for Massachusetts’s second U.S. Senate seat, we reached out to all seven of the candidates who are running. The questions we asked them and the answers we received are below.
A Theory of Ruins
Fascists have always had an obsession with architecture over other expressive disciplines. Hitler in particular had a love of classical Roman and Greek architecture. He himself was a painter and his drawings were well constructed with correct proportions and majestic vistas. But something was always lacking in them. His work was always that of structures—without humanity at all. They were emotionless and stale, as if the sterile brought him solace.
40 Years of Strides: How Community Action Continues to Shape LGBTQIA+ Health
On May 31, 2026, Strides for Action will mark its 40th anniversary on the Boston Common, tracing its roots back to the very first AIDS Walk Boston held on that same date in 1986. Forty years later, the spirit of that original movement endures: grounded in urgency, sustained by compassion, and driven by the belief that healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
Have You No Decency?
Decency requires you to put aside your selfish desires and submit yourself to some standard of propriety. Fundamentally, it requires subscribing to a higher code; By contrast, Trump's indecent use of language acts as a confession that he does not value anyone but himself. While this indecency harms many, it also provides us an opportunity…
25 Reasons to Oppose Age-Based Social Media Bans
The Massachusetts House of Representatives recently passed Amendment H.5366, adding age-based restrictions on social media access to a Senate bill to ban cellphone use by students in public schools. At first glance, this may seem like a good idea. If teens are struggling with mental health and spending a lot of time on social media, the idea that we can legislate them off of social media and solve their mental health struggles is deeply appealing. Unfortunately, life isn’t that simple.
May Day Strong Recap
On May 1st 2026, we supported and participated in May Day Strong. The call to action was straightforward: no school, no work, and no shopping. The power of the economy, as both laborers and consumers, belongs to us. And when a ballot isn’t in our hand, we vote with our feet and our wallets. That is to say, the system does not work without us, and when we decide to work and shop is our decision.
The Power of Oaths
Veterans were all given great responsibility at a young age. We matured under the demands of defending the nation, and gained wisdom about the human condition. All the veterans of the No Kings movement have within them power to win hearts and minds. With patient effort and clear direction we can prepare the people for the demands of our time. Veterans represent something to people. We are already trained as servants and leaders, and bearers of quiet burdens. That habit of service does not atrophy.
40 Years of Activism
I wrote about my life in this series with the hope that people could glean some good advice. Maybe take some inspiration from the actions, and find hope and tools for the ongoing fight for our rights. Let’s end fascism and hatred. These are some of the stories of my life.
How to speak out against Mass’s new privacy-killing social media ban
This bill, similar (though more wide-casting) to a lot of other restrictive and reactive bills we’re seeing to limit speech online, would require social media companies (defined very broadly) to verify the age of their users, and restrict younger teens from accessing their sites. This is problematic for many reasons: our right to privacy and freedom from undue searches, the security of our data, freedom of speech, safety of at-risk teens—pick your issue of interest!
Mayday, America
To participate in May Day Strong is simple: No School. No Work. No Shopping. This is a required step in our development as a movement. It will demonstrate to those still on the sidelines that we have staying power and the capacity to escalate. It will show to our political adversaries that we have the ability to apply pressure on a national scale at a specific time in a coordinated way to effect. It is a warning to capitulators that we have leverage in the consumerist system that they have built and that we are smart enough to exploit that vulnerability.
The Case for Helping Your Neighbors
Giving our time and resources to others may seem like the last thing that we want to do in a society that does its best to make us all feel precarious and alone. However, we have the power to help each other to make us all less precarious, less alone, and more able to unite in working towards a better world for everyone.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood
No Kings III: Now We Wield our Power
Big rallies and protests, like No Kings, are excellent vehicles for joint catharsis, increasing visibility, and recruiting people to the movement. 180,000 people standing in solidarity is an immense display of our power. But that power is wasted if sustained action is not taken.
Introducing What the Flock?!
Our first installation of What the Flock?! features a wider timeline of Flock news, including reports of Flock’s many problems, opposition efforts, resources to take action, and contract cancellations, including in our very own Attleboro, MA!
Pathways to Power (Part 2)
On March 28th, America will re-emerge from a bleak winter of discontent. Now that we have shaken off the forced slumber of snow, we enter the start of a new Season of resistance. Featuring many leaders in our state, a free concert by Dropkick Murphys and a sea of humanity united in common cause in the cradle of liberty, along the freedom trail and before the seat of power in this state. We anticipate No Kings III to be the largest protest in American History.
The Power of Local Protests
While Mass 50501 is an anchor organization for Boston’s No Kings rally tomorrow, March 28th, a major focus of our organizing is on building broad coalitions across the state. We’d be thrilled to have everyone join us in Boston, but we recognize that that is not a reality for some people. No Kings III is meant to be a display of people power, wherever the people may be located. This weekend, there are over 3,000 nonviolent events nationwide and over 150 events planned in Massachusetts!
How To Engage Your Local Government
Municipal officials are fundamentally the ones responsible for deciding how schools are run, where utilities are serviced, and what the local property tax rate is. Through zoning, these officials also have great influence over what gets built. These policies may seem less demanding of our attention, but ultimately have a profound impact on our daily lives. If you want to see a change in any of these areas, that is a great reason to engage with your local government.