What is Inclusionary Zoning?

Inclusionary zoning would allowed new development to set aside a certain amount of units, a market rate, and an affordable market level, so that individuals who live in Worcester are able to live in those new developments that are coming on into the city. This policy is in place in many other cities in Massachusetts like Boston and Malden and a way to help tackle our housing crisis.

We advocate for smarter, positive, results-based criminal justice policies to keep our communities safe. These policies include issues that are very important to us: treatment for mental health issues and addiction, judicial discretion in sentencing, and an end to racial disparities at all levels of the system. In part 2 of our Racism & Policing series, we discuss the breakdown of the actionable items recommended by the Council on Criminal Justice - Task Force on Policing to ensure a more comprehensive and safe policing strategy. 

The criminal justice system is heavily impacted by the bias of police mentality and outdated judicial precedents. The system is largely driven by racial disparities and the Black community continues to be a target. The results are brutal and long lasting.

"All cruelty begins with dehumanization — not seeing the face of the other, not seeing the whole humanity of the other. A cultural regime of dehumanization has been constructed in many police departments. In that fertile ground, racial biases can spread and become entrenched." Join us in the conversation of racism & police.

In this special episode of Don't Touch my Podcast, we sit down with Councilwoman Julia Mejia of Boston City Council. We discuss everything from our Afro-Latina roots to how we show up in the world in our authenticity to education and what it means to be a leader. Follow Councilwoman Julia Mejia on Instagram and Facebook at @juliaforboston.

Psychological safety — the belief that one can speak up without risk of punishment or humiliation — has been well established as a critical driver of high-quality decision making, healthy group dynamics and interpersonal relationships, greater innovation, and more effective execution. The term psychological safety was coined by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson. She defines it as “a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.” Establishing a climate of psychological safety allows space for people to speak up and share their ideas. We talk about simple ways to create psychologically safe environments and why we even have to do this!

The UK and the United States are the countries where people carry the largest student loan debt. The average college debt among student loan borrowers in America is $32,731, according to the Federal Reserve. This is an increase of approximately 20% from 2015-2016. Most borrowers have between $25,000 and $50,000 outstanding in student loan debt. But more than 600,000 borrowers in the country are over $200,000 in student debt, and that number may continue to increase.

Critical race theorists base this thinking on a few important observations:

Race is a social construct that doesn’t have anything to do with biological differences among people, including differences in intelligence or physical ability. This became definitively clear after the Human Genome Project.

The U.S., and all of its laws and institutions, were founded and created based on the myth of white supremacy—the assumption that lighter skin and European ancestry meant that white people were better and deserved a higher social and economic position than people of color. Because racism is embedded within our systems and institutions, codified in law, and woven into American public policy, this racial inequality is replicated and maintained over time. Thus, systemic racism shows up in nearly every facet of life for people of color.

CRT aspires to empower voices that have been marginalized. Embracing the lived experiences of people of color through research, storytelling, and counter-storytelling—placed in historical, social and political context— is critical to scholarship that examines race and racism in society.

Let's talk about the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a disturbing national trend wherein youth are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal legal systems. Many of these youth are Black or Brown, have disabilities, or histories of poverty, abuse, or neglect, and would benefit from additional support and resources. Instead, they are isolated, punished, and pushed out.