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Rally on 8/20 against Trahan (MA-3) and Big AI
Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D, MA-3) is teaming up with Republicans to pass Trump and the AI industry’s #1 policy priority: A federal BAN on state-level AI laws. Policy insiders say the congresswoman is likely doing this to raise money from OpenAI and Palantir’s $140 million super PAC, Leading the Future. Mass 50501, QuitGPT, the College Dems of MA, Voters of Tomorrow Boston, and more are calling on Lori Trahan to 1. Stop the Ban and 2. Disavow the AI super PAC. Join us for a rally in front of her Lowell office on THURSDAY, AUGUST 20TH.
The Granola Bar Trial Needs Your Support
Last September, Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor, Nathan Phillips, and Eleanor Reid chose to do just that by attempting to deliver food to one of the worst ICE holding facilities in the region in Burlington, MA. Instead of recognizing this action for what it was—an act of care and community—ICE agents had all three activists arrested, and now Nastasia and Nathan are going to trial on August 26th, 2026.
A Cycle Considered
I grew up in a conservative household. I enrolled as a Republican as soon as I turned 18, and voted for George W. Bush that year. Then 9/11 happened, and the way our country’s leadership responded set off red flags in my mind. I had long been slow to trust authority figures, and I found myself drifting further and further apart ideologically from my family, church, and party. I watched as the GOP sold itself out, eagerly, to a rightward drift; a movement adding more and more authoritarianism, I would dare even say fascism, into the party. It took until I had some distance, when I was out of the party and looking over it with a wider lens, to learn that the process I’d seen happening up close had begun years before I had my voter registration, maybe even before I was born.
Same S***, Different Day
Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard about the outbreak of cyclosporiasis currently running rampant through the U.S., causing a spate of gastrointestinal illness across the nation. The FDA thought they had found the source after Taylor Farms lettuce tested positive for the parasite. Unfortunately for wastewater management employees everywhere, they were sadly mistaken.
On the “Right” Side of History
The Overton window is a funny thing. In American discourse, we tend to imagine the Overton window as a range of politically acceptable ideas for the mainstream population sliding up and down a one-dimensional line stretching from the Left to the Right. There was a time when I was confident that I knew what “Left” and “Right” meant and where I sat on that line. As the foundation of political discourse shifted around me, the foundation of my political identity shifted out from under my feet as well.
Good Trouble in 2026
Over the weekend of July 17-19, Mass 50501 participated in Good Trouble’s national weekend of action honoring the late congressman John Lewis. Throughout his life, Lewis worked tirelessly for civil rights and particularly for equal access to voting rights. Our country’s history of voting rights is messy, complex, at times painful, and—importantly—still being written.
Celebrating America’s 250th Independence Day in D.C.
The Freedom250 celebration in D.C. was marred by a barricaded National Mall, ominous National Guard presence, and prolonged military aircraft flyovers. These shows of force were antithetical to celebrating democracy and independence; An outsider looking in saw it for what it was: a prop the regime is using to normalize military presence and build oppression.
Seven Days in D.C.
In the week leading up to the United States Semiquincentennial, thousands of people participated in Seven Days in DC, a weeklong series of civic engagement activities, public demonstrations, and cultural events designed to encourage direct participation in the democratic process. This was a massive undertaking organized by dozens of organizations and individuals and Mass 50501 was proud to head to D.C. and spend the holiday week fighting for our country.
Music can’t change the world. But it can help people believe the world can be changed
Music can’t change the world, as Bragg likes to say. But it can help people believe the world can be changed. That’s the idea behind the monthly concert series that I’ve been hosting for the past year. It’s called Which Side?: A Protest Music Teach-Out. We’ve had songs addressing the distressing attacks of the past decade on community, mutual aid, science, common sense, and common decency. And on July 21st we will be celebrating our one-year anniversary with a special event at the Boston Lyric Opera’s beautiful, brand-new space in Fort Point.
Our Declaration
250 years ago, our predecessors submitted a list of grievances towards a tyrannical ruler, and declared their independence. What would our declaration look like today?
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.