"From the canny cast to the crack chamber ensemble backing the action, the double bill offered a feast for eyes, ears, and mind." ~ A.Z. Madonna, Boston Globe
The new initiative includes prioritizing diversion, expanding community programming, advocating for new policies, and creating a community-led advisory committee.
Although each speaker offered a unique perspective on their place in and vision for this major new center, two themes ran through everyone’s remarks: the pivotal role of the arts and learning in our society, and the importance of and commitment to the Berkshire community.
“The fear that black families have when their children leave the house is the same as it was in 1909 [when the NAACP was founded].”
-- Dennis Powell, president of Berkshire County NAACP
Visitors are invited to explore the history of African-Americans in the Berkshires through compelling, contemporary stories from today as recorded by leaders from the local African-American community and the NAACP Berkshire chapter.
In her lecture, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor will give historical context to the Combahee River Collective’s groundbreaking work and how it informs present-day social movements such as Black Lives Matter.
The Black Excellence on the Hill Award is presented to local leaders, nominated by their state legislators, for their work in civic engagement, education, business and other notable fields.
'Reviving Our Hearts for Justice: An Interfaith Call to Action' seeks to revive people’s spirits for the work of social justice in the Berkshires and beyond.
A discussion of African-Americans’ Berkshires history and culture as well as the stories and voices not being told or heard, 'Being Black in the Berkshires' will remember the past, assess the present and plan for the future.
The Four Freedom Coalition's 'Step Up: Empowering Ourselves' will focus on specific issues, how they affect the community, and what the public can do at the local level to address them.
According to BNRC, the next step in the project is permitting and planning for a universally accessible trail and boardwalk from the west side of the valley on Undermountain Road into Parsons Marsh.
The Falseworkshop will focus on W.E.B. Du Bois's global reach as a political thinker and activist, in preparation for the town of Great Barrington’s celebration of Du Bois’s sesquicentennial in 2018.
BerkShares Ambassadors will grow into “community economists” who can expand awareness and usage of BerkShares and are empowered to build relationships with their peers, community leaders, community banks and more than 400 businesses that participate in BerkShares.
The Four Freedoms Coalition and Berkshire Community College will present a day of free, nonpartisan advocacy trainings on Saturday, April 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at BCC.
NAACP leader and author James Weldon Johnson wrote “God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse,” in a little cabin off Alford Road on the Alford Brook and at the Mason Library.
Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, D–Lenox, worked with the Department of Children and Families' central office to secure a truck and company to deliver toys from Boston to the departments Pittsfield office on Thursday.
