Marie- Elizabeth Ramas & her family
Voices of New Hampshire is a new initiative designed to connect you with us and with each other in the time of coronavirus, and as we move forward toward better times.
For this project, we re collecting audio recordings of people from across the state, and incorporating them into NHPR s daily broadcast through short sonic IDs.
Want to add your voice? We invite you to email us at voices@nhpr.org and let us know how you are doing.
Marie-Elizabeth Ramas of Hollis, N.H. wonders how we emerge from our collective COVID-experience stronger and perhaps, as better neighbors. As a medical professional and mother of three, Marie and her family collaborated with other nearby families to create learning pods for their children.
Our Turn: Hassan owes an apology to state’s immigrants
Published: 2/14/2021 6:10:13 AM
Sen. Maggie Hassan was wrong to vote yes on Sen. Todd Young’s callous amendment that would have denied stimulus relief to millions of U.S. citizens and immigrants nationwide, including thousands right here in New Hampshire.
Last week, the senator from Indiana introduced an amendment that would have made it possible to exclude even more mixed-status families from receiving stimulus relief. This would have essentially imposed a “marriage penalty” or “family penalty” on U.S. citizens, punishing them for who they are married to or who their parents are.
Listen to the broadcast version of this story.
Granite Staters met the day with mixed reactions: some felt hopeful and some disappointed - others shared cautious optimism as we look towards the next four years under a new presidential administration.
Here’s some of what you told us:
It was really amazing to me that I could see, even a vice president, that was a woman. It felt like an important, symbolic thing. People say, but it’s just symbolic. But no, I think it’s important. Mary Ellen Wessels, teacher in Nashua
We cannot put enough emphasis on what this moment meant for women and children who look like me.One of my biggest concerns is that people are going to expect change overnight, and I think that Biden and Harris together are really committed to helping us untangle the mess that we’ve been given, but I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight.
Credit Todd Bookman / NHPR file
Racial justice activists in New Hampshire say the police response to Wednesday s insurrection by a pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol was a stark contrast to their own experience with law enforcement at protests.
They said they saw more police presence at New Hampshire s peaceful protests this past summer in response to police killings of Black people.
In several cases last year, local law enforcement was seen protecting protesters from Trump supporters who had come to counter-protest.
But Black Lives Matter Seacoast organizer Julian Maduro said there were violent shows of force against racial justice activists at a protest she attended in late May, in Portland, Maine. And at similar protests around the country, videos show police partially blinding several people with rubber bullets.