Opinion
Editorial pieces from contributors and staff
Nika Salazar: We must value the lives of our students, their families, our teachers, and our community members over the reopening of our economy...
"I will not be complicit in my students, my colleagues, and my community members' lives being put at risk because our state has pushed to open our economy before we are ready to do so. Equity matters... I need to be given the time and re...
Stephanie Meuse: Parents teachers and students want to be heard on school reopening
"We ask to be heard. We ask for due diligence. Before we send students and school staff back to school buildings, risking the health and safety of every single person in our communities, we insist there be walk-throughs of each building,...
RI Transit Riders opposes RIDOT’s latest “transit improvement” plan for downtown Providence
"...this plan makes life harder for the many who depend upon RIPTA as their basic form of transportation..." It has been rolled out with little transparency and no input from passengers. By the time the plan was presented to stakeholder...
Statement from PVD City Councilmember Katherine Kerwin regarding recent events at Fortnight
"It is clear to me that what I observed was an attempt to harass a small business for bravely supporting youth organizers and working alongside community leaders to defund the police." Last night, I was at Fortnight just after 9pm when t...
As state budget hearings commence, Reclaim RI calls for divestment from carceral systems
"Providence public schools have been underfunded since they started serving mostly-Black and brown students. The buildings are unhealthy, classrooms are crowded yet short staffed, and most students face similar divestments in their neigh...
A reflection on the state of domestic abuse and emergency needs in Rhode Island
"We urge the Rhode Island General Assembly to increase the Rhode Island Works cash assistance benefit. The current benefit amount is just $6 a day per person, and has not been increased in three decades. Rhode Island is the only New Engl...
Distance learning requires a universal basic income
"At the end of the day, we know that Black and brown, undocumented, medically compromised, disabled, neurodiverse and folx with mental health needs will suffer the most health consequences if we reopen; and they will suffer the most econ...
Opening schools too soon will kill school bus drivers
"Drivers and monitors, many of whom are over the age of 60, will be trapped in confined spaces for hours with children who are sure to be infected with COVID-19. Asking bus drivers and monitors to go back to work is asking them to risk t...
Isaiah-Tobias Lee: A case for abolition in Providence
"The majority of arrests are actually nonviolent crimes, particularly those related to drugs, sex work, and undocumented labor. It is no secret that these are criminalized as a way to target oppressed people..." A few days ago, Providenc...
Lenny Cioe: Ruggerio making voting 'difficult and dangerous so he can stay in power'
"So how do we combat Ruggerio’s blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters and rig this election? "We vote." Last week, Senate president Dominick Ruggerio (Democrat, District 4, Providence) and other senate leaders blocked a bill to send m...