Massachusetts Archives

STRIKE. IRON. HOT.

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) demonstration with Joseph J. Ettor speaking from platform to striking barbers in Union Square, New York. (1913) You don’t need a union to take action for justice on the job July 18, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Last week 1,200 Tufts Medical Center nurses unionized with

JASON PRAMAS July 18, 2017

WATCHING BOSTON

The true beginning of a false narrative: an investigation into the Hub’s Neighborhood Watch Eight days after 16-year-old Norman Hawkesworth shot and killed Stephen Lanigan, John Winston found the murder weapon — a .22 caliber long pistol — while jogging in West Roxbury and contacted the police. According to Suffolk County court documents, Hawkesworth had

DANIEL DEFRAIA July 11, 2017

REAL RIDESHARING

Evolving the way the world moves … beyond Uber (and Lyft) July 7, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS The following column was written as commentary for the July 2017 episode of the Beyond Boston monthly video news digest — produced by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism and several area public access television stations.

JASON PRAMAS July 7, 2017

CONDEMBTA

A visual essay on public transportation infrastructure and priorities in Greater Boston It’s often noted that the trains which pump through tunnels underneath our feet downtown and barrel over bridges into Cambridge, Quincy, and beyond belong to the most ancient subterranean transit matrix in America. Aside from being a great historical

DEREK KOUYOUMJIAN June 14, 2017

PRESS FAIL: AS GE CEO STEPS DOWN, BOSTON JOURNALISTS MUST DO THEIR JOB

June 14, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS A recent column by the Boston Globe‘s Shirley Leung perfectly encapsulates the problem with local media cheerleading for General Electric’s decision to move its headquarters to Boston. The title alone says it all: “Will GE’s new CEO remain committed to Boston?” Because, like so many

JASON PRAMAS June 14, 2017

FACING THE END ALONE

The second in a series profiling aging lifers seeking commutations from Mass prisons This is the second installment of Rolling Along as Long as It Lasts, a series of profiles and interviews from inside the Massachusetts Department of Correction. Published in coordination with the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, the series is

ARNIE KING May 23, 2017

WHEN SLOGANS REPLACE BIRTHRIGHTS

How corporate ed reform threatens democracy April 25, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Over the last couple of decades, it has become fashionable for Americans to attack our public education system. Behind these attacks is that most un-American of attitudes: elitism. This is problematic for a number of reasons — the main

JASON PRAMAS April 25, 2017

GEORGE IS READY

The first installment of Rolling Along as Long as It Lasts, a series of profiles and interviews from inside the Massachusetts Department of Correction. George McGrath has been inside Massachusetts prisons for a very long time, due to his being convicted as the getaway driver in a Jamaica Plain drugstore

ARNIE KING April 10, 2017

ACTION CALL: SAVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION WITH INVEST NOW MASS

Photo of giant Charlie by Chris Faraone March 21, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS Over the long four months since the election of President Donald Trump, this column has focused more on national politics than usual — with special attention to the promising wave of broadly progressive grassroots activism that has

JASON PRAMAS March 21, 2017

HOW TO FIND A DECENT PROGRESSIVE ACTIVIST GROUP

Photo by Chris Faraone February 6, 2017 BY JASON PRAMAS @JASONPRAMAS So you went to one of the recent big anti-Trump actions, and you want to become a progressive activist. Not just vote every year or two. Great. But there are dozens of major left activist organizations and hundreds of

JASON PRAMAS February 6, 2017