Story Starters Winter 2024 Registration is now open through January 19!
Meet author Kaija Langley at our program kickoff!
Our eight-week Family Conversations Program is designed for parents who want to start and strengthen conversations about race with their young children. Join our Winter 2024 Cohort and be the first to receive our brand new book bundles, along with updated supplemental book lists!
Our program provides families with:
A bundle of 6 books tailored to your children’s ages
5 caregiver guides full of research, resources, and family activities to support and deepen family race conversations
4 curated book lists to support further exploration and conversation
2 in-person family events and 2 virtual caregiver workshops
2 virtual office hours
Support from a network of current families and alumni to lean on and learn from
Newton School District: #58 out of 403 school districts in Massachusetts (Top 20%)
U.S. News and World Report rank Newton South High School #34 and Newton North High School #37 out of all high schools in Massachusetts.
Even if your kids attend private school, the desirability of Newton Public Schools affects property value. With the median home price in Newton at $1.4 million, prospective buyers can choose a less expensive city with better schools.
West Newton Square Traffic
Affordable Housing in Newton
Newton Gun Store
Webster Woods: Boston College Lawsuit against City of Newton
The Pumpkin Patch is OPEN at the United Parish of Auburndale!
Modifications in place this year include contactless payment as well as spacing among pallets to enable browsing while social-distancing. A casualty this year is the bake sale, unfortunately! Please wear masks when visiting the Pumpkin Patch.
Enjoy shopping locally for pumpkins and gourds of many sizes and colors. Your purchases are sincerely appreciated, and help support the UPA’s outreach programs as well as the farmers who grow the pumpkins.
Location: 64 Hancock Street, Auburndale (corners of Woodland Road and Grove Street, near Lasell University and Williams School)
Hours: 10AM – 6PM, 7 days a week, through October 31
Newton’s Health and Human Services Department has initially scheduled two drive-through/walk-up, appointment-based, weekend flu clinics open to Newton residents and Newton Public Schools students and their families.
Registration is not yet open for these clinics. Online appointment registration will open by early next week at www.newtonma.gov/flu.
Adults and children older than 6 months may be vaccinated at these clinics. Some high-dose flu vaccine will be available for adults who are at least 65 years old. These clinics are free and health insurance information is requested, but not required. If you do not have a vehicle, you may walk-up to receive a vaccine.
Saturday, October 10, 9 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Newton North High School
(457 Walnut Street)
Sunday, October 18, 9 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Newton South High School
(140 Brandeis Road)
Additional dates may be added depending upon demand.
Appointments are required and may fill quickly. Alternatively, consider getting a flu shot at another time and place; they are available in many locations, including primary healthcare provider offices, local pharmacies, and urgent care clinics. A list of some additional options for flu shots can be found at newtonma.gov/flu.
The Boston Magazine’s team of experts worked tirelessly to carefully choose this year’s winners. The magazine awarded several Newton businesses with a “Best of Boston” award. All of the “Best of Boston” winners can be found HERE.
For Category: Shopping
Award: Custom Jewelry
Winner: Adamas Fine Jewelry
For Category: Home
Award: Kitchenware
Winner: Local Root
For Category: Beyond the City
Award: Boutique with Curbside Pickup
Winner: LuxCouture
For Category: Home
Award: Homeschooling Supplies
Winner: Lakeshore Learning
Jake Auchincloss, a Newton city councilor and a former Marine, was repeatedly the subject of both veiled and direct criticism from his peers during the virtually held debate — most notably toward the end of the event, when fellow 4th District candidate Ihssane Leckey suggested he should drop out after violating a pledge against taking campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry (which every candidate in the race had signed).
Cavell, who most recently worked as a lawyer in Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, also took issue with Auchincloss for urging Newton school officials in 2016 to not punish students who flew a Confederate flag outside Newton North High School. At the time, Auchincloss said officials were right to denounce the act but cited legal concerns about free speech and drew a comparison between the Confederate flag and a Black Lives Matter banner or LGBT flag.
Auchincloss has since apologized for the comparison, telling Politico last month that his privilege as a white male “allowed me to see this as a free speech issue.” During the debate Sunday, he reiterated that “the Confederate flag has no place near our school or near our children.” However, Cavell continued to rip Auchincloss for comparing the symbol of slavery to Black Lives Matter and LGBT flags.
Image from The Boston Globe: Clockwise, from top left: Becky Grossman, Jake Auchincloss, Alan Khazei, Dave Cavell, Ihssane Leckey, Christopher Zannetos, Natalia Linos, Ben Sigel, and Jesse Mermell. –Pat Greenhouse / The Boston Globe
–> It doesn’t seem like Jake is planning on returning his fossil fuel donation despite signing a pledge against taking campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry.
SCOOP: Auchincloss to be removed from fossil fuel pledge after failing to return or donate funds
By Jessy Han and Adam Bass for Daily Dose of Bass & Han
From Jessy Han @hjessy_:
SCOOP w/@AdamBassWCCS : Jake Auchincloss is being removed from the @NoFossilMoney pledge tomorrow, organizer Collin Rees says. Auchincloss failed to refund a donation from the exec VP of a Waltham fossil fuel company. The donation was first flagged by @CallaWalsh.#ma04#mapoli
The group gives candidates seven days after notification to return a donation or make an equivalent donation to a climate justice organization. The campaign did neither.
Adam Bass @AdamBassWCCS
Fireworks in #MA04: JakeAuchincloss addressed being dropped by @NoFossilMoney, saying it has “no credibility” & suggested Ihssane Leckey’s self-funding was “largely derived” from energy trading. Leckey says she “never took a dime of dark money.” Leckey: “Jake, you should drop.”
FINAL QUESTION AND ITS AUCHINCLOSS. He was removed by the fossil fuel pledge. Why did he not return the pledge? AUCHINCLOSS: this pledge has lost credibility and attacks LECKEY. LECKEY INTERRUPTS “JUST STOP LYING JAKE.” Holy Shit.
Kylie R. Walters @k_r_walters
Auchincloss also failed to support a modest reduction in the NPD budget about 2 weeks ago.
Voters in my home district have a choice between @JakeAuch, who defended high school students flying the confederate flag and is running a Republican-lite campaign using daddy’s money, or @ihssaneleckey, “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.” #MA04
Sean Wash Your Damn Hands Roche @seanroche
I’ve got no objection to parental support. Comes in all forms. But, the pro-Jake Super PAC includes million-dollar Trump supporter — Bob Kraft — as a supporter. Do the math.
Jessy Han @hjessy_
NEWS: Experienced Leadership Matters PAC, funded in part by @JakeAuch‘s parents and the Kraft family, paid the DC-based ad firm Hamburger Gibson Creative and the NJ media buying agency Media Fortitude $177,873.60 yesterday in support of Auchincloss‘s candidacy. #MA04#mapoli
Stephanie Murray @stephanie_murr
Hmm this is interesting – super PAC called “Experienced Leadership Matters” raised $89k this Q, lists address in Foxboro & raised $35k from parents of #MA04‘s Jake Auchincloss – Hugh Auchincloss & Laurie Glimcher – plus others like Bob & Jonathan Kraft https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00746792/1422259/
Related:
As a Black student from Newton, I won’t vote for Jake Auchincloss
While growing up Black in Newton, I’ve dealt with all sorts of racial profiling and slurs. However, no individual has made me feel more unwelcomed, unvalued and unsafe in my hometown than Jake Auchincloss — now a candidate for Congress.
In September 2016, a group of students drove through Newton North waving a Confederate flag outside of the window. Coinciding with President Donald Trump’s bigoted and racist campaign, it was particularly unsettling to see this hate in my hometown. This hateful act targeted students of color like myself already facing discomfort in predominantly white spaces of learning. Later that year, only 35% of Black students in Newton high schools reported feeling connected to the school in comparison to 65% of white students.
As a city councilor, Auchincloss responded by filing a resolution stating that punishing students for displaying the Confederate flag is in conflict to Newton’s values of free speech. However, regulation of certain types of speech is allowed within Newton Public Schools. Meanwhile, this resolution stood well outside the jurisdiction of the city council, making it questionable why Auchincloss chose to insert himself in such an issue.
Rather than promote our schools’ values of equality, respect, safety and kindness, Auchincloss asserted his understanding — as a white man — that displaying a Confederate flag on school property is not a “substantial disruption” to the education of students of color. As someone who has been targeted by acts of hate speech including Confederate flags, I can attest that a school where students can commit such acts with no repercussions is not one conducive for learning. Auchincloss’ grandstanding on the importance of free speech over the feelings of safety for students of color is not only insulting but demeaning. His rush to defend students responsible for hate speech rather than understand the experiences and support the needs of students of color makes me question where racial justice would lie among his priorities as a member of Congress.
There is also this:
EMILY’s List sends out mailer criticizing two Dems on abortion in primary for open #MA04: Jake Auchincloss & Alan Khazei.
Jesse Mermell
@jessemermell
·
FACT CHECK: In 2017, @JakeAuch opposed a $15 min wage, spouting debunked GOP talking points.
For weeks now, the Ed Board has been writing in support of Black Lives Matter and bold police reform. Their choice to endorse Jake, who has a history of insensitive, racist comments, completely contradicts that work. 2/
Just 3 years ago, Jake compared the Confederate flag to a BLM flag and Pride flag. Last month, a Black student in Newton wrote that “no individual” has made him feel more “unsafe” than Jake Auchincloss. That alone should be disqualifying. 3/
For this racist behavior to be dismissed as “tone-deaf” is exactly the type of apologist rhetoric that has hindered progress in this country for so long. People of color have consistently been told that they should just get over comments like his. 4/
This endorsement is the product of a failed system that has gone unconfronted, even at home. Systemic racism looks like a white man with privilege making racist comments, never truly apologizing, and receiving an endorsement from one of the foremost publications in our country.6/
mohammed missouri @hammodimissouri ·
In their endorsement of former Republican JakeAuchincloss, the Globe Editorial board quoted a common Islamophobic trope that portrays Muslims as violent and is used to justify bombing Muslim countries.
This trope is invented by right wing war hawks
@GlobeOpinion
@DannyM33612501
Why would these morons from @BostonGlobe @GlobeMcGrory endorse a political HACK Jake Auchincloss @JakeAuch is it because his parents buy influence with their Superpac? No wonder we end up with morons in congress!
From Josh Miller-Lewis (@jmillerlewis)
lol looks like Jake Auchincloss is already rattled by @ihssaneleckey’s surge. Guess we’re heading toward a two person race between a former Republican and a bold progressive.
Many cities and towns are a mix of culture and ethnic background among its residents, but some more diverse than others.
According to the latest Census statistics available (which is 2010), Newton’s population made up of:
82.3% white
2.5% African American
0.1% American Indian and Alaska native
11.5% Asian
0% Hawaiian
2.4% two or more races
4.1% Hispanic
How does that compare to the rest of the state?
Massachusetts statistics:
82.6% white
8.3% African American
0.5% American Indian and Alaska native
6.3% Asian
0.1% Hawaiian
10.8% Hispanic
According to a 2014 estimate, there are 88,287 living in Newton.
From Newton Gov:
Newton
Massachusetts
United States
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
4.90%
10.20%
16.9%
One race
White
80.30%
80.00%
73.90%
Black or African American
3.50%
7.00%
12.60%
American Indian and Alaska Native
0.10%
0.20%
0.80%
Asian
13.00%
5.70%
5.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
0.00%
0.00%
0.20%
Some other race
0.60%
4.20%
4.70%
Two or more races
2.50%
2.80%
2.90%
*The Census Bureau classifies all people not living in households as living in group quarters. There are two types of group quarters: institutional (for example, correctional facilities, nursing homes, and mental hospitals) and non-institutional (for example, college dormitories, military barracks, group homes, missions, and shelters).
Source: American Community Survey, 3-Year Estimates (2011-2013)
Source for Group Quarters: Census Summary File 1 (2010)
Updated: November 2014
I participated in my first rally today at the Line Up for Black Lives in Newton. I’m particularly focused on systemic racism and I’ve always wondered why there are no visible people of color in the Newton police force. Are the POC in the police force all … admin? Are there no POC actual police officers? What are the salary differences?
It was a silent protest and perhaps I shouldn’t have been screaming, but here we are:
But I also ran into Mayor Ruthanne Fuller on the streets among the people protesting and asked her the same question. Her initial answer was that the problem is that there is a very small percentage of minorities in Newton and that the hiring rules are such that residents are first in line to be hired for the police force. That’s the problem that she identified.
I said that I thought the Asian population in Newton was 11%. She said that it is, in fact, much higher at 17 to 18%. Latinx population is 5% and African American population is low at 2%. If you add it all up (which I did on the street using my fingers), it adds up to 25%.
Whoa! That was an easy problem to solve. The percentage of minorities is actually not small if you include other ethnicities beyond African American. But I think it’s important to have African American representation, so the next question is WHY is the African American population so low? Is it due to racism that prevents blacks from renting or purchasing homes, particularly on the lower end of the market?
Are there any programs specifically designed to increase the African American population in the new residential buildings currently under construction or planned? Back in the day, Newton used to be where affluent African Americans moved. I am hoping actual historians will help me out, but I heard that the area in Auburndale near the Mass Pike was home to African American artisans. There is a church in that area that bought up homes in that area during the Great Depression and helped house its constituents.
The next issue that Mayor Fuller noted is that minorities are not applying for police jobs. My background is in contingent staffing, so I relayed that recruiting is something that is active, not passive. If you want a particular type of candidate, you must get out there and hustle. The candidates that you seek are not coming to you.
She then asked me to write to her, meet with her, and share my knowledge. Let’s go on this journey together.
Here we go:
Make an analysis of the current police department staff:
Name
Age
Pronouns
Number of years in the police force
Number of years in the Newton police force
Starting salary
Current salary
Salary last year including overtime
Starting position
Current position
Ethnicity
High school
Current address
Has ever lived in Newton? Yes/No
From this analysis, you can ascertain what the career trajectory has been for the POC in the Newton police force? Have they thrived? Are they mostly admin? Are admin jobs dead-end low paying jobs?
Next, you can identify the POC staff who have thrived. Ask them to join the hiring team to help recruit more POC. You want them front and center at career fairs at Newton North and Newton South High Schools. You want them to talk about career opportunities for people that look like them at the Newton Police force. You want the job postings to funnel through the high schools, targeting high school counselors, teachers who run clubs centered around POC such as, but not limited to: The Asian Culture Club, Black Leadership Advisory Club, Hispanics and Latinx United (HLU), K-Pop Club, South Asian Student Association, and Transitioning Together (as a career opportunity after the first-to-college students graduate).
It’s not rocket science people! My analogy is “how do you build a national champions sports team when the team has never made the NCAA playoffs?” I want the Newton police force to be best in class. To be “national champions” of diversity. It’s easy to be mediocre. We can expect more from Newton’s finest.
Please help me amplify by emailing:
Mayor Fuller at rfuller@newtonma.gov
Newton Police Chief at chiefsoffice@newtonma.gov
p.s. Thank you to Ellen Myers for this:
“The Village“ was a thriving neighborhood in Newton where Black Americans, mostly descendants of slaves, lived. Its remnants can be found on Curve Street where Myrtle Baptist Church is. I believe that is the church you are referring to – it’s in West Newton/Auburndale. There is a deeply disturbing history surrounding the building of the Mass Pike and the decision to have it pass through Newton, that basically wiped out “The Village,” taking over the resident’s homes by eminent domain. We had a program about it at the library several years ago at which members of “The Village” community spoke, including Pastor Howard Haywood – may he rest in peace. Here’s an article with more info: https://newton.wickedlocal.com/news/20170228/african-american-community-of-newton-has-long-legacy
There’s been progress, Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson says, but the nation needs to reject white supremacist ideology, bigotry in policing, and segregation.
Why America can’t escape its racist roots
“But sociologists have argued that while some whites may have liberal views, a lot of them are not prepared to make the concessions that are important for the improvement of black lives. For example, one of the reasons why people have been crowded in ghettos is the fact that housing is so expensive in the suburbs, and one reason for that is that bylaws restrict the building of multi-occupancy housing. These bylaws have been very effective in keeping out moderate-income housing from the suburbs, and that has kept out working people, among whom blacks are disproportionate, from moving there and having access to good schools. Sociologists have claimed that while we do have genuine improvement in racial attitudes, what we don’t have is the willingness for white liberals to put their money where their mouth is.”
My takeaway:
So it sounds like when the Mass Pike was built, whoever decided the path deliberately wanted to wipe out the thriving African American enclave here in Newton. This is a textbook example of structural racism. This is an example of white supremacy. This is our Black Wall Street.
Only white people can dismantle white supremacy. You are either trying to tear it down or trying to hold it up. If you are not actively trying to dismantle white supremacy, you have chosen your side.
p.s. From Dawn Davis Yoga:
We can’t sit by and not take action, not take a stand against systemic racism and inequalities in economic opportunity and access to health care. I believe in the benefits of yoga and meditation, but they are not substitutes for compassionate action. I have some links below for ideas you may find useful if you’re not quite sure where to put your energy.
A FEW WAYS TO HELP:
**Consider donating to joincampaignzero.org (their main mission is to end police violence through police reform programs)
**Consider supporting Black-Owned Bookstores, such as Million Year Picnic in Cambridge (617)492-6763-curbside pick up and Frugal Bookstore in Boston (617) 541-1722 -on line
**Consider supporting political candidates that represent a point of view that is consistent with moving our country forward
5 ways Everyday Citizens Can Start Holding Police Departments Accountable
From Good
1. Understand the policies and laws that govern police conduct.
2. You are entitled to public records that can show whether rules are being followed. Get them.
3. Identify the power players and engage them.
4. Presenting findings in a fair and persuasive manner is a powerful way to spur reform.
The student Grab & Go Meal program has been expanded to provide FREE breakfasts and lunches to ALL Newton residents. Three days’ worth of breakfast and lunch will be offered, and you can pick up for friends and neighbors, too!
The locations are at the NNHS theater entrance, the NSHS main entrance, and at 150 Jackson Road, in the rear parking lot. The hours at all locations are Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m.-12 noon.
