WHAT’S FOR BREAKFAST? HAND JIVE
Archives for April 2018
THE WAY WE WEREN’T
IFFBOSTON 2018 REPORT #2: ON FILMS SCREENING 4.27
The Independent Film Festival Boston 2018 continues until Wednesday, May 2. A full list of films and programs scheduled for 4.27—and throughout the rest of the festival—can be found on their website.
Friday, April 27
“Shorts Hereford: Documentary,” program includes
DIANNA GOES ...
OOMPA: THE POETIC JUSTICE OF ROXBURY’S MOST POSITIVE RAPPER
How a Roxbury poet-turned-rapper is making a career off of hyper-reflective truth and optimistic perseverance.
EH-PRIL THEATER ROUND-UP: HUB THEATRE’S TRUE WEST SHINES AMONG THE PAINFULLY DULL
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
Or how tax breaks for fat cats relate to a defeat for Harvard management rats
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Gov. Charlie Baker submitted paperwork to the US Department of Treasury last week, according to the Republican, asking the federal government to consider 138 tracts in dozens of Massachusetts communities for inclusion in the new “Opportunity Zones” program—passed in December as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping tax reform legislation.
As the name implies, each opportunity zone is a low-income area of an American city or town. According to Next City, acceptance to the program makes such areas eligible to receive investment from “Opportunity Funds”—which are to be certified by the treasury department. The funds “will be required to invest at least 90 percent of their investment dollars into businesses or properties located in designated Opportunity Zones,” and the initiative “allows investors to defer some of their taxes on capital gains in exchange for investing some of their accumulated wealth into the opportunity zones.”
This week, MetroWest Daily News looked at tracts chosen for the program in Framingham and Marlborough. In Framingham, “City officials nominated a pair of contiguous neighborhoods on the southeast side of the city, which has struggled to rebound from the decline of manufacturing and the legacy of environmental contamination in the area.”
One of those tracts is particularly interesting because it contains “a significant amount of industrial land, including the state prison and the former General Motors plant, which is now the site of Adesa, the vehicle auction house.” And thus encapsulates everything that’s wrong with neoliberalism—the return to 19th-century dog-eat-dog capitalism in which private interest must always outweigh any possible public good.
Which is germane to this discussion because the opportunity zone scheme was cooked up by a “bipartisan” (read “neoliberal”) think tank called the Economic Innovation Group—led by a who’s who of Silicon Valley movers and shakers, according to the Los Angeles Times. Napster founder Sean Parker, former Facebook general counsel Ted Ullyot, and a rogue’s gallery of major West Coast venture capital investment house leaders are all part of the organization’s “founders circle.”
So it’s absolutely no surprise that the program is essentially yet another tax break for the rich. In a federal tax regime that’s now replete with them—especially after Trump’s ungentle ministrations. More problematic, however, is the fact that the so-called opportunity zones give the rich and powerful even more control over economic development in areas already impoverished by the rich and powerful.
Which brings us back to the Framingham tract in question. It houses MCI-Framingham, a medium-security women’s prison with a population that includes a majority of nonviolent offenders. Most of whom are from working-class families, and most of whom would not be there if the state and federal government put less money into the “prison-industrial complex” and more money into guaranteeing economic opportunity for those families.
It is also home to the former General Motors plant. Which once employed as many as 5,000 workers in high-paying jobs unionized with the United Auto Workers. Just the kind of jobs that increasingly downwardly mobile working-class families need, if they want to avoid turning to crime to make ends meet.
According to the New York Times, the last 2,100 workers were laid off from the GM plant in 1989. And the working families of Framingham and environs have never really recovered since then. Because pols and CEOs and policy wonks can talk all they want about Massachusetts having recovered from the Great Recession of 10 years back. They can claim we’ve achieved “full employment.” But the jobs that working people have been able to get since the destruction of the Bay State’s largely unionized industrial base between the 1950s and the 1990s are not nearly as good as the ones that were lost.
Gone also is the social—and therefore political—solidarity that once enabled the local working class to defend and maintain the improvements they won on the job for decades.
In its place, we have programs like the “opportunity zones” that help the rich find new and exciting ways to get richer. But that don’t mandate the creation of good jobs for working families, or provide for the democratic control of new enterprises that are created by the people that work in them.
Furthermore,
IFFBOSTON 2018 REPORT #1: ON FILMS SCREENING 4.25 & 4.26
Over the next two weeks, we’ll be publishing short-form reviews of
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CHECKING OUT SANTARPIO’S PIZZA, PEABODY
A quick look at the “other” Santarp’s
STILL STANDING: THE ENDURING STORIES OF THE STATUES THAT INHABIT DAVIS SQUARE, SOMERVILLE
I got in touch with former Mayor Brune to ask about the statues. He had been concerned about longevity and preservation but was told they were temporary. “Not to the extent that they were going to take them down,” he recalled, “[but] they weren’t going to last a lifetime.”
KNOW THE REGS: CULTIVATION OPPORTUNITIES
When it comes to cannabis growing in Mass, these tiers go to 11
THIRST: YOUR INSIDE GUIDE TO BOSTON’S ANNUAL COCKTAIL EXTRAVAGANZA
If you’ve never worked in a restaurant but always wanted to party like a bartender, now’s your chance.
OPEN WOUNDS: ANOTHER BLACK HARVARD MAN ARRESTED
As can be seen in a video that one witness submitted to police, officers repeatedly punched Ohene in his torso. A subsequent CPD report depicts Ohene as being so wildly combative that three cops from Cambridge plus a transit officer were needed to restrain him and to place the perp in handcuffs in order to “avoid further injury to himself.”
DEMOCRACY IN CRISIS: ALT-RIGHT SECOND ACTS
America loves to give racists second chances, so don’t count the alt-right out
THE TOPPLING OF KING CULLEN
For a fraud like Cullen, whose pieces are Rockwellian minus the milkshakes, it’s fiction whether it is truly fabricated or if it’s a romanticized account of a thing that really happened.
WHEEL OF TUNES: THE COATHANGERS
In our recurring interview series, Atlanta's garage punk rebels talk jumpscares, arthritis, and why you should pee when you want to pee.
WHAT’S FOR BREAKFAST? RAPUNZEL
THE WAY WE WEREN’T
WHEEL OF TUNES: BUILT TO SPILL
Idaho’s ’90s indie rock band talks about Treepeople, the solar eclipse, and finding time on tour to play basketball at the YMCA.
FOTOBOM: ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO @ SANDERS THEATRE
I gotta admit that having the title of “Jazz Master in Residence” would look pretty cool on a LinkedIn profile, especially if that residency has the prestigious mailing address of Harvard Square. Of course, when you have three Grammy Awards in your possession, it comes with the terrority. Angélique Kidjo has been making some pretty amazing music for a while now, but I have to admit I was unaware of it until I heard about her forth-coming reinterpretation of Talking Heads’ ground-breaking record Remain In Light. The record’s not out until June, but you can hear “Born Under Punches” now via Spotify. Though she’s been playing some of that material in live shows from last year, tonight would be devoted to covers from other musicians, along with a few of her own songs. Two different ensembles consisting of Harvard students did a more than admirable job of backing her up, but her vocals were the true star, a pure, very human voice that lent new perspectives to well-worn classics by Sam Cooke, George Gershwin and Bob Marley. The rousing “Afirika” saw Kidjo move from the stage and connect directly with the rapturous, dancing audience, a great way to cap an ecstatic night of music.
Photos from the show:
Created with flickr slideshow.
CLIFF NOTEZ: FIVE LESSONS FOR JUGGLING COMMUNITY WORK
The musician, filmmaker, photographer, writer, producer, and founder of HipStory dishes out tips about how to get involved in Boston's music & arts scene without burning out.
EDITORIAL: HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT DIGBOSTON
A reader’s guide to building a better news weekly
What does it mean to support a news outlet? Clearly the answer to that question varies widely depending on whether the outlet is big or small, nonprofit or for profit, subscription- or advertising-based.
But in an era when news organizations of all sizes are having a great deal of difficulty keeping their doors open, it’s an important one to consider.
For DigBoston, the answer to that question must be based on how we organize our operation. As we’ve said in past editorials, our organization is very porous to the world around us. We don’t cut ourselves off from the communities we serve. Quite the reverse. We’re always working to connect more strongly to those communities. To serve them better.
In fact, we are part of many Boston-area communities. You can view our staff, freelance talent, interns, contractors, and advertisers as a network of personal networks—all of which pay close attention to the news we produce together. Everyone in this primary network then connects to the broad spectrum of local communities that make up our overall audience.
The better a job we do as journalists, the more that audience becomes part of our primary network—becomes, in short, directly connected to us.
The more that happens, the better our news is. Because people who know us personally, naturally come to trust us. We then hear about community developments faster and faster, and the information we communicate gets concomitantly more accurate and more relevant.
So to support DigBoston, the most important thing that you can do as an audience member is to reach out to us the way we’re reaching out to you. To become part of our primary network.
And here are eight ways you can do that.
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This seems like the most obvious suggestion, but it is not. Because reading us doesn’t mean reading us every now and then. It means actively looking for us every week. Making it a habit to check out every issue we produce… and making Dig a part of your life, and therefore more strongly part of the culture that makes our city unique. Which is easy enough to do—especially for people living in and around Boston. We typically start putting new articles online on digboston.com every Tuesday, and our print edition hits the stands in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and busy parts of Brookline on Thursdays.
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Don’t keep us to yourself. Pass around our articles on email and social media. And, more importantly, keep a paper copy on hand and physically pass it around to friends and family. Remember that stuff about networks above? By reading us often and sharing our work with your personal network, you’re helping build a fan base that interacts more strongly with us over the long term. Which is a recipe for ensuring DigBoston continues to produce good journalism for many years to come.
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We like it when we make people think about issues of the day. That’s definitely part of why we do what we do. But we love it when people act on the news we put out. If we write about a concert or play or art show, go check it out. If we introduce you to a political activist campaign that you agree with, plug in. Get involved. There’s little point in outlets like DigBoston producing news if no one acts on the stories we report.
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We say this regularly, but we’ll say it again: You like one of our articles? Don’t like one? A fan of one of our writers, photographers, or artists? Drop us a line. Say hi. It might take us a day or three to get back to you, but we do our best to talk to readers that want to talk to us. For most purposes, emailing us at editorial@digboston.com is the best way to connect.
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Another seemingly obvious thing, but we make the money that enables us to put out our newsweekly through advertising. And what’s the best way to keep the ad money flowing? Giving your business to institutions that advertise with us. And making it known that you heard about them from DigBoston. Know a similar enterprise? Spread the word that we’re a great place to advertise and that we’re helping a number of industries grow locally. Consider yourself part of our sales force. Like seriously, because we’re actually hiring a salesperson. Interested in selling for us? Send us a resume and cover letter by email to jobs@digboston.com.
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Are you a decision maker who’s looking to drum up business in Boston? Then how about buying an ad? You can start with a four- to six-week run, see how your campaign does, and if you’re happy then make it a long-term contract. Drop us an email to sales@digboston.com to get started. Mention that you read this editorial, and we’ll give you a nice discount. Because of course we will.
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Donate?! Yeah, we know it’s kind of counterintuitive. A for-profit company asking for donations through crowdfunding or at least simple, unobtrusive pop-ups on the new website we’re building this year. But even large news outlets like the Guardian are doing it. Because news production is expensive and profit margins for newspapers like DigBoston are razor-thin. We put out a fine product every week with a handful of (shall we say) modestly paid regular staffers and dozens of “stringers” (freelancers). No one is making big bucks. We’re all doing it because we believe in the importance of good community journalism to the democratic society we’re trying to help save. If you’d like to see us expanding our news operation and bringing you more and more news you can’t find anywhere else, definitely toss us a few bucks when we ask for it. Because donations help us pay for the kind of longer-form hard news that a weekly paper like ours couldn’t afford to produce regularly without some extra cash.
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This one applies to a very specific subset of our audience. We understand our role in the metro news ecology includes acting as an early warning system for larger outlets like the Boston Globe. But that doesn’t mean we think it’s cool when our colleagues at the “bigs” get “inspired” by our work and basically replicate it without granting us the simple courtesy of listing us as a source. We may kick such outlets around from time to time on political and journalistic grounds, but we still mention them as sources all the time. Some reciprocity would be nice. For real.
So that’s our list. What’s the takeaway? It’s not “data” or “algorithms” or certainly not robots that are going to keep journalism relevant in 21st-century America.
It’s people. Working together to make sure that DigBoston, and other news outlets like us all over the nation, can keep doing what we’re doing… in the public interest.
And it all starts with each of you, taking the time to read our work. Every week.
Thank you.
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HOPPED UP: HEMPEROR HPA BY NEW BELGIUM BREWING
"The Hemperor HPA is possibly the first beer to deliver meaningful hemp flavors and aromas.”
ONE-HIT WONDER: SILVER STICK IS SOMETHING SPECIAL
It can take some head-shop hopping to find just the right one with a bowl that’s not too deep, a stem that isn’t too thin to clear with a paperclip, and a girth that doesn’t crowd your lips or keep your one-hitter from sliding in your dugout.
WHEN IT COMES TO CANNABIS, COMPASSION STOPS AT THE STATE LINE
Patients will also have access to a reserve supply that stores and dispensaries will be required to set aside to avoid running out of medicine when stores open. And of course, patient IDs will still matter in states where only medical marijuana is legal.
REP. CARVALHO TAKES HIGH ROAD IN DA’S CONTEST
"You can look at that as possession, a misdemeanor, or you could charge them for a felony distribution. Or you can look at the entire situation and look at probation—the power is supreme. Let’s look at a restorative justice."
WAKE UP THE EARTH: A SHORT HISTORY OF BOSTON RESILIENCE AND CELEBRATION
In order to make such a corridor for motor vehicles possible, housing would have had to be demolished. As the city saw in the West End and other neighborhoods, “the consequential displacement would affect thousands of longtime residents,” Vrabel said.
REVIEW: GREEN ROADS CBD-INFUSED COFFEE
I’ve had other CBD roasts, and as a pot- and coffee-head I get the feel for the concept. The offering from Green Roads, which is based in Florida and distributes around the country, has a nice aroma with strong earthy notes.
THE TRIUMPHANT AND TRIPPY RETURN OF BILL SEBASTIAN’S OUTERSPACE VISUAL COMMUNICATOR
Sebastian isn’t just a tech nerd. A multitasking keyboardist and computer whiz, he was performing and collaborating with one of Boston’s most underappreciated musical families in the late 1970s.
FOTOBOM: 3TEETH, HO99O9, STREET SECTS @ BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL
At first glance, looking at this bill it wasn’t clear if there were bands playing or if it was a symposium on cryptography. On continued scrutiny, the seemingly random jumble of letters and numbers wasn’t too hard to figure out (hint: the ‘9’ is an ‘R’) and a youthful, energetic crowd was comfortably filling the venue before the music started. It wasn’t clear if there were any particular bands that drew specific segments of the audience, as all three went over very well. Street Sects started out, the duo playing some sinister electronic music that veered near the power electronics edge at times, and the flashing sirens and police lights in front of Shaun Ringsmuth’s setup lent a slightly authoritarian bent to the performance. The blinding strobes behind singer Leo Ashline was disorienting, and brandishing a chainsaw in his Warhol wig didn’t help dispel any sorts of unease. Rat Jacket is their just-released 12″ and it’s a pretty solid listen.
Ho99o9 (aka Horror, now that we’ve got the secret decoder ring) was up next, and featured a pair of brothers who go by the noms de stage of theOGM and Eaddy. Some bands wear their influences on their sleeves, but not theOGM. He wore them on his pants and his chest. A vintage DMX shirt and painted logos of MDC and Bad Brains adorned his trouser legs, so their volatile mix of hip-hop and hardcore wasn’t too surprising. The addition of a live drummer really added some oomph, and Eaddy got the tone of their set going right from the start, by barrel-rolling off the stage and right into the writhing throng on the floor. It seemed like he would spend more time in the air than touching the stage, and at one point he jumped up from the stage, grabbed the structural iron beam that runs across the top of the stage and clambered up onto it, peering down from his aerie until he decided to descend, into the crowd once again. An unfortunate side effect was the boot to the head that the woman next to me received, but theOGM noticed the incidental damage his brother dealt out and made sure that she was OK. “Gimme Gimme Gimme” was the lead-in to their final song, and if Keith Morris ever decided to dip his toes into hip-hop, he’d be wise to study up on Ho99o9.
3Teeth swung the pendulum far into the late 80s Wax Trax! scene, and their muscular, techno-fueled sound was leavened with a healthy dose of humor. Leader Alexis Mincolla looks like a tornado took Maynard James Keenan through a time warp and turned him into Freddie Mercury with a handful of stops at tattoo shops along the way. Tool is known for their predilection of taking relatively unknown bands out on the road as support, and 3Teeth was a worthy recipient of that tap on the shoulder. Bracing, corrosive industrial beats that could squeeze into the space between Throbbing Gristle and Ministry, the five piece electrified the crowd while showing a very human side as well (Alexis’ mom was up front and was doted upon with loving words from her son). Definitely one of the most entertaining triple bills I’ve seen in a while.
Photos of all three bands here:
Created with flickr slideshow.
HIGH SCHOOL: GET YOUR CANNABIS EDUCATION IN MASS
There are several other opportunities to learn about the medicine and industry—whether you are a physician or simply a curious consumer.
