Page 10 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, April 19, 2024 Community Discussion: Exploring Local History on American Freedman J oin the Mystic Valley Area NAACP branch for a community discussion on 'Exploring Local History on American Freedmen." on April 25th at 7:00 PM at the Malden Public Library. The program will begin with a Converse Art Gallery tour of the current exhibition, “Modern Sojourner – Sojourner Truth in Malden” at 6:30 PM, and the community discussion will begin at 7:00 PM. Leading us in conversation is human rights advocate, Saskia VannJames, who will be giving a historical guide on American Freedmen, the 4 million emancipated people from chattel slavery within the U.S. and their descendants. During this presentation, you will learn about the impact of the federal Freedmen's Bureau Act of 1865, later dismantled in 1872, and how Massachusetts failed to address many harms including the loss of sovereign homeland after the American Freedmen communities were emancipated from chattel slavery through the infamous 40 acres and a mule promise. Attendees will walk away with a historical context of how cycles of harm continue to impact our communities through today and ways to support cycles of repair in order to achieve solidarity in Malden and across Massachusetts. About the Featured Speaker Saskia VannJames is a Black queer woman of Honduran Garifuna and American Freedmen descent who works as the cofounder of the first Massachusetts reparatory justice organization, Grow to Consume. Saskia is a human rights advocate, solidarity economy advocate, reparationist, cultural worker, and former racial and health equity lobbyist who successfully advocated for an ordinance to repair harm from racial caste system through an American Freedmen commission in the city of Cambridge. She is also the cofounder and front line organizer of Ride for Black Lives Boston and, up until COVID hit, was the only Black queer woman working as a bike mechanic at a bicycle cooperative in the entire state of Massachusetts. In their spare time, Saskia loves repairing bicycles, artmaking, honoring their ancestors through heritage based gardening practices, and celebrating community. Friends of Fellsmere Heights Updates and Reminders he next meeting for Friends of Fellsmere Heights leaders, members and supporters will be April 20, 2024, over Zoom. The procedure, as in the past, is as follows: • Access the Friends (https:// www.fellsmereheights.org/) to let us know that you plan to attend. • Save the email that will be sent to you as you RSVP. • On April 20, open that email, click the link and join the meeting. (If Zoom tells you to update it, please do!) The Steering Committee will meet from 9:30-10:30 a.m., and the general meeting will be from 10:30-11:30 a.m. We’ll be talking about the hospital groundbreaking on March 29, the new drone footage of the former hospital site, the March Match fundraiser and our next big project. The figures are in! Our March Match fundraiser brought in $585.00 … of which $500.00 was matched by an anonymous donor, adding more than a thousand dollars to our capital. Thank you so very much to T Green Malden Fair all who participated! We intend to use this money for something that will be part of the new park. Please come to our meetings as we begin to plan!” Past and upcoming events: Friends of Fellsmere Heights had a table at the Malden Community Health Fest 2024 at the Salemwood School Field House on April 6. Over 40 vendors, nonprofit organizaFUNDING | FROM PAGE 1 this city as well as by the city’s point man for “all things dollars,” Chief Municipal Strategic Planner Ron Hogan. Ward 4 Councillor Ryan O’Malley was quite succinct with his analysis of the projected $3 million-plus, state-mandated, expected increase in city contribution each year for the school budget: “That $3 million will ruin our community.” Councillor-at-Large Craig Spadafora, in similar terms, opined, “The [Chapter 70] formula is broken for Malden. Hopefully, there’s a moonshot in the works that will help us. “Ron Hogan gave us a clear picture 2 1/2 years ago of this demise and we have been talking about it ever since. The formula is a function of residents’ income and assessed [property] tax. The more residential [development] that comes to us, it hurts us with this formula,” Spadafora said. “It’s math, it’s not policy. I f we don’t fix it? It scares me. It’s frightening. We are looking at other issues on top of [education costs]. Health insurance costs are way up, too.” At one point Sen. Lewis did tions and City groups were there, and attendance was steady. “We made useful connections with representatives from many of these groups, and also provided information to the public at large about the former Malden Hospital site and our work.” The Friends’ next appearance will be Sunday, April 28, at the Green Malden Fair. note that “it is important to acknowledge that the city’s tax rates are far lower than comparable communities, where the tax burden is higher...much higher.” To that point Councillor-at-Large Carey McDonald said, “We are all committed to funding our school budget. We’re all trying to head to the same place.” “Maybe Malden should raise their taxes? Have a Proposition 2 1/2 override? Only two communities ever have been successful doing that – Newton and Winchester,” McDonald said. McDonald, Spadafora and O’Malley – correctly – all stated that it is not happening here, an override. Also, no one is voting to raise the parking meter rates in Malden Square from $1 an hour to $5 an hour anytime soon to pay our bills. The state delegation pledged to help this city as best it can and outline some strategies they will pursue. Hopefully, some more money will come Malden’s way from the state. Whatever may come to pass, the danger signs have long been foretold, and they will be remaining clear and pre Like us on Facebook advocate newspaper Facebook.com/Advocate.news.ma
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