Divided: Scenes from Inauguration 2021
JANUARY 19, 2021
A Photo and Interview Series by Barry Goldstein
In America, the inauguration of a Commander In Chief is traditionally a time of celebration. Politicians, special guests, and everyday Americans converge on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol building to mark the swearing in of the next President of the United States. Full of pomp and circumstance, inaugurations are an important democratic ritual and a symbol of the peaceful transfer of power.
Springfield Pumping Station Project Kicks Off Phase 1 of Waterworks Upgrade
April 9, 2021
The city of Springfield was founded in 1636, and while the wastewater pipes that are still used today aren’t that old, many of the city pipes date back to the late 1800's. Springfield’s current pumping station was built in 1938, when Springfield and the surrounding cities and towns had much smaller populations. In order keep up with the growing population as well as environmental needs and concerns, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission is
The city of Springfield was founded in 1636, and while the wastewater pipes that are still used today aren’t that old, many of the city pipes date back to the late 1800's. Springfield’s current pumping station was built in 1938,
The city of Springfield was founded in 1636, and while the wastewater pipes that are still used today aren’t that old, many of the city pipes date back to the late 1800's. Springfield’s current pumping station was built in 1938, when Springfield and the surrounding cities and towns had much smaller populations. In order keep up with the growing population as well as environmental needs and concerns, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission is
The city of Springfield was founded in 1636, and while the wastewater pipes that are still used today aren’t that old, many of the city pipes date back to the late 1800's.
Springfield’s current pumping station was built in 1938, when Springfield and the surrounding cities and towns had much smaller populations. In order keep up with the growing population as well as environmental needs and concerns, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission is taking on the region's largest wastewater project in decades.
Connecting Point's Brian Sullivan visited the York Street site for phase one of this immense undertaking.
Read the full transcript:
Brian Sullivan, Connecting Point: Somehow, construction turned out to be one of the few industries that survived the year of 2020. Sometimes it's the type that's nearly impossible to avoid while driving. And in others, it may be an enormous project that, for the most part, manages to avoid being a public spectacle.
The York Street Pump Station in Springfield falls into that category, partly due to its somewhat off-the-radar location. The overall cost, though, may not have been so easy to overlook.
Josh Schimmel, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission: Price tag of a project like this is one hundred and twenty million dollars. So probably, without a doubt, the biggest project we've undertaken as a Water and Sewer Commission, really, since everything has been built with federal money in the 70s. And this is one hundred percent funded through our rates.
Brian Sullivan: The new pump station project is only phase one in this three tiered endeavor. And while an undertaking like this will likely keep contractors and their crews employed for a good couple of years, workers at the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission could spend their entire careers just cleaning the miles of aging pipes that run throughout the city.
Jaimye Bartak, Springfield Water and Sewer Commission: There's four hundred and seventy one miles of sewer collection system pipes, within just the city of Springfield, that the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission owns and maintains. And in order to be reactive, and make sure that we're staying on top of any repairs or maintenance that needs to be done, we go through the entire system.
And so, our trucks are out there every single day, foot by foot, going through the entire system. It takes us about eight to 10 years to get through the whole thing. And then we start all over again.
Brian Sullivan: And whatever it is that flows through those pipes, will eventually find its way here. Since 1938, this small brick building on York Street in Springfield has been the centralized wastewater and sewer pumping station. And not only for Springfield, but for several of the surrounding cities and towns.
This project taking place in the adjacent lot will be a much more advanced version when it's completed. While we were here in November, that work was taking place underground. Two stories underground.
This will eventually be home to three new outflow pipes that will provide flood control protection, as well as system redundancy to the two already-existing pipes. And again, this is just the first phase of this project. The next engineering task is to lay pipe beneath the railroad tracks here, before eventually tunneling under the entirety of the Connecticut River to the other side where the wastewater treatment plant is.
To be clear, it's the entirety of the width of the river, not the length. But still, 1100 feet from there to here will be challenging enough. While crews on this side of the Connecticut Bondi's Island prepare for that eventuality, the actual dredging out and tunneling across the river is the third phase and is still a ways down the road.
For now, the task at hand is completing the new pumping station. And it's a task that seems even more imperative when words like "aging infrastructure" get tossed around.
Josh Schimmel: When we say aging infrastructure, that's one piece of it that you see above ground. But, below ground you can see there's pipes that go on to that pumping station that are from 1885 and that are in service right now.
Brian Sullivan: Back in 1938, when this structure was built, the volume of wastewater that passed underneath it wasn't nearly what it is in these modern times of roughly 38 million gallons per day.
And since replacing all of the pipes that have crossed the century mark are among the 400 plus miles worth of them isn't on the docket just yet, it underscores the importance of not only the eight to ten year cycle of keeping them cleaned out, but also for the public to be aware of what they should and should not put down their drains.
Jaimye Bartak: We also find sometimes balls of fat and grease that are coming from people's kitchen drains. And we definitely encourage people not to pour grease down the drain for that reason, because a lot of things can stick to it, including wipes or paper towels or things that you generally shouldn't flushed down the toilet. So, that's why we're going through it and cleaning it all that muck.
The city of Springfield was founded in 1636, and while the wastewater pipes that are still used today aren’t that old, many of the city pipes date back to the late 1800's. Springfield’s current pumping station was built in 1938, when Springfield and the surrounding cities and towns had much smaller populations. In order keep up with the growing population as well as environmental needs and concerns, the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission is
Local Brewer Bikes to Benefit Food Bank of Western Mass
April 9, 2021
You may know that western New England is home to a vibrant craft beer community. What you may not know is how intermingled that group is with the local cycling community. When local craft beer brewer Chris Sellers was brainstorming a fundraiser idea, he combined his love for cycling with his passion for brewing beer. The result was a 100-mile bike ride benefiting the Food Bank of Western Mass. Producer Dave Fraser visits Northfield, MA, where Se
You may know that western New England is home to a vibrant craft beer community. What you may not know is how intermingled that group is with the local cycling community. When local craft beer brewer Chris Sellers was brainstormin
You may know that western New England is home to a vibrant craft beer community. What you may not know is how intermingled that group is with the local cycling community. When local craft beer brewer Chris Sellers was brainstorming a fundraiser idea, he combined his love for cycling with his passion for brewing beer. The result was a 100-mile bike ride benefiting the Food Bank of Western Mass. Producer Dave Fraser visits Northfield, MA, where Se
You may know that western New England is home to a vibrant craft beer community. What you may not know is how intermingled that group is with the local cycling community.
When local craft beer brewer Chris Sellers was brainstorming a fundraiser idea, he combined his love for cycling with his passion for brewing beer. The result was a 100-mile bike ride benefiting the Food Bank of Western Mass.
Producer Dave Fraser visits Northfield, MA, where Sellers is completing his charity ride — without leaving the Brewery at Four Star Farms.
Read the full transcript:
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: You may be aware that there is a passionate craft beer community in western New England, but what you might not know is how intermingled that group is with the cycling community.
So when local craft beer brewer Chris Sellers was thinking of an idea for a fundraiser, he combined a love for cycling and brewing beer and created a 100 mile bike ride to benefit the food bank of Western Mass. But you'll probably be surprised to find out that he did it without ever leaving his brewery in Northfield.
Producer Dave Fraser brings us the story.
Chris Sellers, Brewer & Cyclist: There's nowhere else you can get this close to your ingredients. So, professionally as a brewer, to be able to have a grain that was grown on one end of the hop yard, and then to have the hops, and then to have the brewery all within maybe one hundred and fifty yards, technically, it's just a fascinating thing to do.
You know, for every one brewer, there's probably 25 people that would like to be brewers. And I just really, I pushed as hard as I could. And I did sales, deliveries, keg washing, bottling, labeling, floors. You know, you name it, I did it for about three years.
Grab a few more bags.
There's a real strong feeling that people want to consume things that are produced here in this area, in particular, whether it's the Pioneer Valley or the whole of Western Mass. But I think when you're talking about something that like beer that's so creative and so different and so unique, they're really looking for that, you know, as close to home as possible.
The farm's 30 years old. It encompasses just over two hundred acres here, right off Route 63 in Northfield. In 2017, my wife and I, we're looking for a venue to get married, and we had talked to a number of places in the area. Everyone was booked up. Some of the folks here said, you know, "why don't you get married here"
It seemed like a neat idea, and at the time we were planning on early August. So, the hops are all the way up. It's a really lush, green background. We have these like incredibly dramatic clouds in the background. This is really big sky here.
As we started, you know, got a little closer to the family that owns the farm here and started talking. You know, "Yeah, a brewery's an interesting idea. Let's work on this a little bit more." I think it was Friday, December 18th, we opened our doors for the first time.
What we're brewing today, the Northfield Lager, takes about three weeks to go through as primary fermentation is a very cold fermentation and therefore a very subtle sort of flavor profile. And then it gets cold-conditioned for even for a month or more after that.
With COVID being what it was, I started staying in shape for cycling by just doing stationary train work. And this became a very popular thing as COVID went on, globally. I'm sitting there doing this one night and I said to myself, "you know, what If you did a hundred miles on this? What if I did it to actually help some people?" Let's set it up in the brewery. Let's see what happens.
And I set a fundraising goal on a GoFund me for a thousand bucks. I thought it's a weird time. I don't know if anybody's going to give anything, you know, let's just see what happens. And by the time we were done, we're up around twenty five hundred dollars. People just gave.
You know, when I hear that one dollar donated creates four healthy meals for, you know, people who you think, well, twenty five hundred dollars -- although not a ton of money in the broad scheme of things -- is ten thousand meals. Yeah. We made a tangible difference in the world and all I had to do is sweat for five hours in a brewery. I'm OK with that.
To be able to connect it, the products that are being grown on the farm, with the finished beer itself, and then be able to continue that connection to the community is just like one full circle in a very small area. And that to me is really exciting.
You may know that western New England is home to a vibrant craft beer community. What you may not know is how intermingled that group is with the local cycling community. When local craft beer brewer Chris Sellers was brainstorming a fundraiser idea, he combined his love for cycling with his passion for brewing beer. The result was a 100-mile bike ride benefiting the Food Bank of Western Mass. Producer Dave Fraser visits Northfield, MA, where Se
Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Update with Sen. John Velis
April 9, 2021
The clock is ticking on passage of a $400 million bond bill for a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Passage of the bond is critical in getting $260 million in federal reimbursement money for the project. The call for a new Soldiers Home comes after 76 veterans died from COVID-19 last year at the facility. Currently, the bond bill is being debated by a joint legislative committee. State Senator John Velis is one of the members of the committee. Connect
The clock is ticking on passage of a $400 million bond bill for a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Passage of the bond is critical in getting $260 million in federal reimbursement money for the project. The call for a new Soldiers Home
The clock is ticking on passage of a $400 million bond bill for a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Passage of the bond is critical in getting $260 million in federal reimbursement money for the project. The call for a new Soldiers Home comes after 76 veterans died from COVID-19 last year at the facility. Currently, the bond bill is being debated by a joint legislative committee. State Senator John Velis is one of the members of the committee. Connect
The clock is ticking on passage of a $400 million bond bill for a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Passage of the bond is critical in getting $260 million in federal reimbursement money for the project. The call for a new Soldiers Home comes after 76 veterans died from COVID-19 last year at the facility.
Currently, the bond bill is being debated by a joint legislative committee. State Senator John Velis is one of the members of the committee.
Connecting Point’s Ray Hershel recently spoke with Senator Velis, who shared an update on when the committee will vote on the bill and how likely it is that a new Soldiers’ Home will be built in Holyoke.
Read the full transcript:
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: The clock is ticking on the passage of a 400 million dollar bond bill for a new Holyoke Soldiers' Home. Passage of the bonds is critical in getting 260 million dollars in federal reimbursement money for the project, and a Massachusetts Joint Legislative Committee is holding hearings on the bill.
The call for a new Soldiers' Home comes after 76 veterans died from COVID-19 last year at the facility. Connecting Point's Ray Hershel recently spoke with Committee Member State Senator John Velis to get an update on what the committee is considering and what the likelihood is that a new Soldiers' Home will be built in Holyoke.
Sen. John Velis, (D - Westfield): I think the most important thing to remember about these deadlines is they're not deadlines in the sense that you or I would kind of consider a deadline. And that if it doesn't happen by this date, the project is not going to happen. The only real deadline for that is August 1st, when the final application is due. What these deadlines per se, if you will, have to do with, is the amount of time.
That's really the Baker administration saying that De-Cam needs three to four months to do these projects. So August 1st, we're now in April. So they're not deadlines, April 1st or April 15th, and that if it's not done, the project doesn't happen. But what we're doing, is we're limiting the number of days that De-Cam has to do that. thorough, really robust design project.
So, we're not going to miss anything as long as we get it done this month. But, I think we need to give De-Cam -- we need to equip De-Cam to have that time period to get it done.
Ray Hershel, Connecting Point: Some legislators have raised some questions with regard to the four hundred million dollar bond bill for a new Holyoke soldiers home, citing what they called regional equity.
When they talk about regional equity, what are they referring to? And is this going to be a stumbling block going forward?
Sen. John Velis: What they're referencing is that there's only two soldiers' homes in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and they just want to ensure that their veterans and their districts are taken care of.
I've ensured each and every one of them that as the chairman of the Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee for the state of Massachusetts, that I will support any home, any veteran services that exist out there for the very simple reason that a veteran is a veteran, is a veteran, no matter where you lay your head at night.
Ray Hershel: Senator, assuming this bond bill passes the legislative process, is signed by the governor, what kind of time frame are we talking about in terms of construction of a new Soldiers' Home? When would it be completed? And what would it mean and how important would it be for the veterans that it serves in western Massachusetts?
Sen. John Velis: I mean, it's absolutely critical for the veterans that serve in western Massachusetts. So, to answer your question about the time frame, right now, the tentative date is a year from this coming summer when they'll begin.
Obviously, there's a lot of moving parts in terms of, you know, this is a state-federal collaboration. VA state home construction grant program is actually going to fund sixty five percent of this. And I think that's important to remember, because the cost to the Commonwealth would be 140 dollars.
And I would just say we live in a day and age where we don't have a draft anymore. So people, you're going to be hard pressed to find a service member or veteran who has been to Iraq and Afghanistan just once. Typically, it's two or three times. And that's just the nature of the force, because we don't have a draft, we can't nickel and dime this type of a project. This needs to get done. It means the world to Western Mass veterans, but it also means the world to veterans throughout this Commonwealth and this entire nation.
I mean, if I were to show you my email inbox in my phone, the level of support that we've gotten from across the country in light of what's happened, this isn't just a Western Mass thing. This is a veteran thing, and recognizing those who volunteer to put themselves in harm's way for the rest of us. Shouldn't be nickel and diming this at all.
Ray Hershel: Senator, you serve on the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee, which is been looking into what happened at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home and the unfortunate COVID-related deaths of some 76 veterans in Holyoke. Can you bring us up to date in terms of where that legislative committee and its hearing stands now? I think there have been something like eight public hearings that you've held so far.
Sen. John Velis: Yeah, I anticipate probably one to two more. One of the things that we're really doing a deep-dive into is kind of the structural set up of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home.
Very specifically, the Holyoke Soldiers' Home reporting up to the Department of Veterans Services, who then reports up to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. One of the real issues that I found to be so alarming is that the Holyoke Soldiers' Home staff was actually following the guidance that they were given to report confirmed COVID cases deaths.
The problem was that if you just have confirmed, as opposed to suspected or pending, particularly at a time early in COVID, in March, when the testing, there was such a lagging in testing, you were only able to report up one or two veterans who passed away. Whereas if you had initially put out guidance that said in a state policy that had been we want to know about reported deaths of COVID even in suspected cases, as opposed to confirmed cases.
And why I think that's really important is because if it was a suspected case, you would have had seven or eight deaths as opposed to the one or two. And that would have caused the state to say, "wait a second, we've got a bigger problem here than meets the eye."
The Holyoke Soldiers' Home was following what they were supposed to do, in terms of their reporting up. It was the state who wasn't following and wasn't adhering to their own guidance. And that was a huge disconnect.
And I think that kind of goes back to what we're talking about when we say, we need to really do a deep-dive in the communication, the chain of command, how information is reported up. And I think that would have gone a long way -- and will go a long way into the future.
It's important, like someone said at the last Oversight Committee, we need to look back at what happened, but we don't want to stare. At the end of the day, we need to push forward to ensure that something like this never happens again.
Ray Hershel: Now, the the Pearlstein report, which looked into what went wrong at the Soldiers' Home, was critical of the administration, particularly Administrator Bennett Walsh at the time. But it didn't do a lot of great digging in terms of systemic problems at the Home.
Is the Oversight Committee looking beyond the administrator and looking at systemic problems that existed at the home and perhaps culpability beyond that?
Sen. John Velis): Absolutely. There's an argument to be made that what transpired at the Holyoke Soldier's Home in March 2020 and shortly thereafter was 50 years in the making.
There are a lot of systemic and structural changes, and I think we've spoken about some of them. Again, that that breakdown of communication, who reports to who, all of that stuff. And I'm partial to the belief that the Pearlstein report, although it was a good guide, it was just the beginning.
The recommendations really focused more on that time period when it happened. And anybody who's been involved with this home knows that there were some problems brewing for a long time. And there's got to be some type of -- we need to really clean up some of these statutes governing the home. How superintendents are selected, what the Board of Trustees' authority is, who reports to who.
So, there's a lot of things that I would have liked to have seen the Pearlstein report get into. But that's OK, we're going to take it up.
The clock is ticking on passage of a $400 million bond bill for a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Passage of the bond is critical in getting $260 million in federal reimbursement money for the project. The call for a new Soldiers Home comes after 76 veterans died from COVID-19 last year at the facility. Currently, the bond bill is being debated by a joint legislative committee. State Senator John Velis is one of the members of the committee. Connect
Dress for Success Western Mass Supports Women During Pandemic
April 9, 2021
The pandemic has managed to affect almost every aspect of our lives for over a year now. One demographic that has been significantly impacted has been women in the workforce. According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, women currently make up the majority of unemployment claims at 54%. For over 20 years, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts has been empowering women to achieve economic independence by providing them
The pandemic has managed to affect almost every aspect of our lives for over a year now. One demographic that has been significantly impacted has been women in the workforce. According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workfor
The pandemic has managed to affect almost every aspect of our lives for over a year now. One demographic that has been significantly impacted has been women in the workforce. According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, women currently make up the majority of unemployment claims at 54%. For over 20 years, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts has been empowering women to achieve economic independence by providing them
The pandemic has managed to affect almost every aspect of our lives for over a year now.
One demographic that has been significantly impacted has been women in the workforce. According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, women currently make up the majority of unemployment claims at 54%.
For over 20 years, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts has been empowering women to achieve economic independence by providing them with the tools they need to thrive in the workplace.
Zydalis Bauer spoke with Margaret Tantillo, Executive Director at Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, and Kassandra Carrasquillo, a participant in their Professional Women’s Group, about why women specifically are being impacted, and what the organization is doing to support them during this time.
Read the transcript:
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: The pandemic has managed to affect almost every aspect of our lives for over a year now, and one demographic that has been significantly impacted has been women in the workforce.
According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, women currently make up the majority of unemployment claims at fifty four percent.
For over 20 years now, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts has been empowering women to achieve economic independence by providing them with the tools they need to thrive in the workplace. I spoke with Margaret Tantillo, executive director at Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, and Kassandra Carrasquillo, a participant in their professional women's group, about why women specifically are being impacted and what the organization is doing to support them during this time.
Margaret Tantillo, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts: The mission and the purpose of Dress for Success Worldwide is to help women gain economic independence. And we've been in the community for over 20 years building programs and services that provide tools for women to be economically independent.
Zydalis Bauer: According to Rosalyn Acosta, the Secretary of Executive Office and Labor Workforce Development, women have been significantly impacted by this pandemic, and make up the majority of unemployment claims at fifty four percent.
How have you seen the pandemic affect women specifically, and why are women being impacted dramatically compared to other demographics?
Margaret Tantillo: And actually the number is 2.5 million women who have left the workforce. It has been staggering how this has impacted women in their careers and where they were working.
For us, it's -- we of course, we are working with women and we see this all the time. A lot of it is around childcare, where women have children at home.
We ran a program during COVID and the women -- it's incredible how the women just persevere. And we had women in class attendance, one hundred percent, showing up on time, and then they're in front of the Zoom, and their kids are right next to them and they're helping their their children on Zoom.
And I know Kassandra was at home and just back in the office because of the situation. If you want to share a little bit, Kassandra.
Kassandra Carrasquillo, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts: Yeah. I just came back full time like, two weeks ago, but I was working from home for a whole year. So it was tough being back, but it's a lot to get used to.
But I can say, like where she was saying when I was on the Zoom in the meetings, I did have my kids, like, around me, but it was just such a good support system to have. So, I'm I'm really thankful to be able to have that support.
Zydalis Bauer: And Kassandra, you're a spokesperson for Dress for Success and also a participant and its professional women's group. How has your experience been and how has Dress for Success impacted your journey into the workforce?
Kassandra Carrasquillo: There's just so many words that I can, like -- actually, I can't even express it because it's just, it's an incredible feeling.
And it's like before when when I was younger, I was very shy. Like even the school, I wouldn't even talk that much. Presentations were not my thing. Like, I had a very hard time opening up, and being part of this organization of Dress for Success, it actually helped me bring my confidence, build my confidence, and gave me the ability to be able to shine and bring that -- bring me more of the ability to be able to do what I what I'm passionate about. And that's to empower other women, and I'm just very thankful that I actually found something that I love and that I enjoy.
Zydalis Bauer: All of those qualities that you were just referring to, Kassandra brings me to my next question. And on the Dress for Success website, I noticed that there are photos of before and after women being suited in professional attire. And presentation is important -- is one important aspect, but what other ways are women needing support to enter and reenter the workforce?
Kassandra Carrasquillo: Being able to know how to, you know, where to look professional and how to speak and like what not to do,what to do in an interview. These are all the things that I've learned being part of Dress for Success, especially for the professional women's group.
There's just certain things that I've been inspired by and I've learned that it kind of made me who I am today. And they kind of gave me the aspect of being able to come to have an idea of what kind of woman I want to be.
Margaret Tantillo: In addition to suits, we run four other programs. And we took our programs online immediately. We took -- we went right on Zoom and we found a lot of people didn't have that capacity.
And actually one of the programs that we started from the very start was a digital literacy program to make sure our women had the connectivity, knew how to use the computer, and they had the equipment.
Zydalis Bauer: Dress for Success recently celebrated its 20th anniversary of helping Western Mass women succeed in the workforce. And now I recognize that this might be a difficult question to answer, but what is an inspiring and impactful story you both have come across throughout the years?
Kassandra Carrasquillo: I can say when we have these Zoom meetings and we have professional women who come and speak about what they do, I think it's a bit about every woman who shows up and speak what they do.
For me, it's inspiring because one day I want to be in their seat, and I want to be able to show, like other women what I do, and where I've started, where I've become. And hopefully, I'll be able to be in that place.
Margaret Tantillo: I'm inspired every day by our women. I just saw some a couple of our women, we social distanced. But one woman that was hired three years ago and Bay State, she's still there and being able to support herself, that every day inspires me.
Zydalis Bauer: As we are beginning to slowly start come out on the other side of this pandemic, what piece of advice can you offer women that are beginning to reenter the workforce?
Margaret Tantillo: I would definitely say with change comes opportunity. It's the way I've led our organization through the pandemic, in terms of not settling down, but ratcheting everything up to make sure that we're providing more and and serving the specific needs. And just as I led the organization like that, you're going to see opportunities that you didn't see before open up.
Kassandra Carrasquillo, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts: I would say don't let the challenges stop you, just keep going and do what you love.
The pandemic has managed to affect almost every aspect of our lives for over a year now. One demographic that has been significantly impacted has been women in the workforce. According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, women currently make up the majority of unemployment claims at 54%. For over 20 years, Dress for Success Western Massachusetts has been empowering women to achieve economic independence by providing them
WordxWord: Being Different in America
April 9, 2021
April is National Poetry Month, and central to expression in the United States is the First Amendment to the Constitution. Among other liberties, the First Amendment guarantees Freedom of Speech, a pillar that defines American values. Based out of Pittsfield, Word X Word is a program that embraces freedom of speech in its series “Poets Creating Conversation.” The project tackles some of the biggest issues Americans face today. Connecting Point at
April is National Poetry Month, and central to expression in the United States is the First Amendment to the Constitution. Among other liberties, the First Amendment guarantees Freedom of Speech, a pillar that defines American val
April is National Poetry Month, and central to expression in the United States is the First Amendment to the Constitution. Among other liberties, the First Amendment guarantees Freedom of Speech, a pillar that defines American values. Based out of Pittsfield, Word X Word is a program that embraces freedom of speech in its series “Poets Creating Conversation.” The project tackles some of the biggest issues Americans face today. Connecting Point at
April is National Poetry Month, and central to expression in the United States is the First Amendment to the Constitution. Among other liberties, the First Amendment guarantees Freedom of Speech, a pillar that defines American values.
Based out of Pittsfield, Word X Word is a program that embraces freedom of speech in its series “Poets Creating Conversation.” The project tackles some of the biggest issues Americans face today. Connecting Point attended a Word X Word event in 2019, where in their own words and voicing their own opinions, people talked about being “different in America”.
This story originally aired on July 4, 2019.
Read the full transcript:
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: April is National Poetry Month, and central to expression in the United States is the First Amendment to the Constitution, otherwise known as freedom of speech. It's a pillar that defines American values.
Based out of Pittsfield, Word X Word is a program that embraces freedom of speech in its series Poets Creating Conversation. The project tackles some of the biggest issues Americans face today.
Connecting Point attended a Word X Word event in 2019, where, in their own words and voicing their own opinions, people talked about being different in America.
Melissa Cairns, Word x Word Poet: I asked my two year old daughter what different means. She kind of quirked up the side of her face and made a sound like, "huh?"
Melissa Cairns: Word x Word is -- it's a concept more than it is a group of people. It's not one set group of people like a dance troupe or a theater group. It is this idea of bringing people together and creating community through words.
Melissa Cairns: And so tonight we will celebrate our differences.
Evan Goodermote, Word x Word Poet: Dark clothes, dyed hair hiding behind a mask, and yet here I stand wide open to all of you, do you see me or do I see you?
Steve Klepetar, Word x Word Poet: Which is why I seem so normal. Just another white kid going to school as if the world were clean and safe, a snug home with doors wide open to receive the free, the brave, the native born.
Greer Hed, Word x Word Performer: No one else shares your holidays or traditions, your peculiar family practices, tolerations of racist uncles, memories of boardgames on stormy nights, unspoken pacts to let elderly relatives pass into dementia with dignity. These are signposts of your unique, nay bizarre, identity.
Curtis Elfenbein, Word x Word Performer: What's different? No one says diff-er-ent. It's "diffrent." And he's like, "no, it's diff-er-ent. It's different."
So we ran into my mom, and we're like "listen to this! Diff-er-ent. Diffrent. Which of us is right?" And she couldn't tell the difference, or hear the difference between the different differents.
Ollie Kipp, Word x Word Performer: A man with a smile and kindness about him walks in the door and exchanges one sweater for another.
Won't you be his neighbor?
Mr. Rogers, who taught us what it's like to be neighbors, who taught us everyone could be a neighbor, that everyone was important.
If robots became our new neighbors, what would you do? Would you smoke them out and run them off like we did to the Blacks, then the Irish, the Jewish, the Blacks again, the Mexican children at our borders? Or would you do something new?
What would Mr. Rogers do?
Won't you be their neighbor?
Carol Durant, Word x Word Performer: Unless we change our view of the person to the left or to the right of you?
Who doesn't have your hue?
Who doesn't speak the English and has the etiquette that you aspire to?
Stanley Spencer, Word x Word Performer: You want something different? I'll give you something different. The federal government claims we need to take care of our own.
Evidently, Puerto Ricans are not considered our own. Evidently, people of color are not considered our own.
Evidently, the Rainbow Community is not considered our own. Evidently, women are not considered our own.
For some, being yourself has no rewards. Being who you are is punishment.
You want something different? So do I.
April is National Poetry Month, and central to expression in the United States is the First Amendment to the Constitution. Among other liberties, the First Amendment guarantees Freedom of Speech, a pillar that defines American values. Based out of Pittsfield, Word X Word is a program that embraces freedom of speech in its series “Poets Creating Conversation.” The project tackles some of the biggest issues Americans face today. Connecting Point at
