Opinion

Following weeks of street pressure and before a divided political establishment, an Arizona judge issued an injunction against some of the most odious features of SB1070, the anti-immigrant legislation passed by that state's government. Stripped of its worst aspects, including some of the racial profiling requirements, the law still targets immigrant workers and has the state's police enforcing federal legislation. Together with the expected appeal, this signals months more of grassroots resistance such as the one documented here.

On July 8, members of Alliance to Develop Power met with Senator Scott Brown at his office in Boston. The 60 minute meeting, the first meeting of the Senator's tenure with a grassroots community organization, was largely focused on Brown's pivotal role as the 60th vote needed for passage of legislation in the U.S. Senate and his campaign promise of "Big Tent" bipartisanship. Senator Brown's announcement yesterday that he expects to vote in favor of the Dodd-Frank reform bill marks a victory for ADP and the millions of Americans affected by the economic crisis.

On the sultry summer evening of June 20, we gathered in the big hall at St. John’s United Methodist Church near Watertown Square. We numbered about 50 friends and supporters of Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety (WCES), and we’d come together to mark and celebrate WCES’s 31st year as a voice in Watertown for peace, the environment, and social justice.

Thirty striking workers from Shaw's Methuen warehouse and their supporters descended on State Street Bank's downtown Boston headquarters to pressure its top executives to take a stand against Supervalu's (Shaw's parent company) refusal to end the nearly 14 week strike.

State Street is the third largest shareholder in Supervalu.