Listen to the interview with Zach Verriden.
For the last six months, a committee in Longmeadow, Massachusetts has been researching issues of race in the predominately white Springfield suburb.
A final report, which includes data, multiple personal stories about racism faced by town residents, and eight recommendations, was presented to the Longmeadow Select Board Monday night.
WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with Zach Verriden, chair of the Longmeadow Coalition for Racial Justice Task Force.
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Springfield activists call for City Council to open virtual meetings to all residents
Updated Feb 10, 2021;
SPRINGFIELD Activists are calling foul to the city’s restrictions on the number of people who can virtually attend the City Council’s Speak Out portion of their regular meeting.
Pioneer Valley Project Director Tara Parrish said a large number of the organization’s members will not be able to participate in a Zoom presentation of the public participation segment Monday evening before the regular City Council meeting. Only the seven people who have signed to formally address the council are allowed to be in the virtual meeting while the 89 others who wished to attend and view it in real-time will not.
‘We’re getting Zoom bombed’; Racial slurs shouted, swastika written on screen during Longmeadow meeting
Updated Feb 06, 2021;
The problems of 2020 have continued into 2021.
Amid a discussion on actively recruiting more diverse candidates for municipal positions in the town of Longmeadow, a term that became all too familiar last year was the new topic of discussion.
“We’re getting Zoom bombed,” said coalition member Ryan McCollum amid a series of outbursts from at least one attendee.
Longmeadow Coalition for Racial Justice Task Force, a group formed to identify areas of systemic racism in the Western Massachusetts town, held a public meeting on Thursday on Zoom. During the meeting, a series of racial slurs were shouted then the screen was marked with a swastika and the phrase “[expletive] n ”