Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons, who is also a justice of the peace, shows photos of both gay and straight couples she has married. Photo by Talia Whyte
By Talia Whyte
The Bay State Banner
Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples across Massachusetts are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversaries this week and, while same-sex marriage remains a contentious issue, the state’s black gay community wants opponents to know that the lingering anger and confusion toward their unions are much ado about nothing.
To say Baratunde Thurston is a very busy man would be an understatement. When he’s not dropping knowledge on the popular blog Jack & Jill Politics, he is an editor, author, radio commentator, comedian, activist and a social media addict whose brand of witty political humor can be seen all over online social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Thurston is also a strong advocate of free speech, and he will speak at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts’ Bill of Rights Dinner at the Westin Copley Place Hotel next Thursday, May 28, 2009, on the virtues of being a “vigilante pundit,” among other matters. For Thurston, using comedy — and multiple communication tools — to get his political views out has always been a passion.
Residents at Roxbury’s Orchard Gardens Estates are making their own contributions to help the earth. In March, the estates became the first family public housing development in Boston to have an on-site recycling program. According to Luz Maria Colon, a community organizer with the Madison Park Development Corporation, the “Orchard Gone Green” program is an example of how city government and neighborhood members can work together to improve the city, as well as a way to show young people how to be leaders in the community.
Fighting for the rights of society’s marginalized members has been Malcolm S. Medley’s passion since he was a teenager.
As a 15-year-old black boy whose family had just come to the U.S. from Jamaica, Medley attended Boston’s schools in the aftermath of the heated fight over school desegregation. At Hyde Park High School in the early 1980s, Medley says he recalls being told by his guidance counselor that he couldn’t become a lawyer because of his race, and that he should consider other careers more suitable for black people.
“It became clear to me at that time that not everyone is racially sensitive,” Medley said. “But I didn’t let that deter me. I am one of those people that if you tell me I can’t do something, I will do it.”
A man of his word, Medley went on to earn a bachelor’s degree at Northeastern University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. Later, he worked as a civil rights lawyer before accepting an appointment to become the chairman of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD).
