Healing Racism Institute’s mission is to dismantling racism (Guest viewpoint)
Updated Feb 15, 2021;
Posted Feb 15, 2021 Vanessa Otero is the interim director of Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley. (Hoang Leon Nguyen / The Republican)
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By Vanessa Otero | Healing Racism Institute of the Pioneer Valley
In 2011 my then CEO, Herbie Flores signed us up to join a group of Springfield leaders on a City to City trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan. He stated that it was going to be a teachable moment in my budding career.
As the trip progressed, those teachable moments were evident in the exchange of ideas but also in the small talk that occurred among our fellow travelers. I heard things like, “The best way to fix the Springfield Public Schools is to annex Longmeadow” and other suggestions that sounded a lot like gentrification. If Herbie was also within earshot, we exchanged a look which we would continue to exchange throughout my tenure at his organizatio
‘What are you doing for others?’: Springfield celebrates legacy of slain civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Updated Jan 18, 2021;
SPRINGFIELD The annual celebration of the life and legacy of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. might have taken a different form this year it was presented online, instead of in an event at the MassMutual Center that typically draws hundreds but the message of continuing to work for equality and justice remained the same.
Gov. Charlie Baker used his remarks to highlight the state’s recent police reform legislation which he called a “big step forward” for racial justice while other speakers called for continued advocacy for racial and social justice in the aftermath of the recent riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald J. Trump.