Christina Appignani, Author at Neighborhood View

Cultivating healing, softness, and self-love: Q&A with artist Maddie Lam

September 21, 2021 Christina Appignani 3

By Christina Appignani. Photos by Keren He. Maddie Lam, an up-and-coming musician, was born and raised in Malden, Massachusetts. For Lam, music is a means to express her pain and a dream that does not let itself be abandoned. Lam’s interest in music started young and continued throughout high school — as a child, she learned how to play various instruments before gaining an interest in writing her own songs. Lam graduated from Malden High School in 2016 and participated in the Malden High School Choral Arts Program. Lam has released her own music on online platforms such as Spotify and SoundCloud, her most recent single being “Sunflower Song.” Her musical style, which often includes melancholic but sweet lyrics accompanied by slow piano and ukulele melodies, is showcased in her latest release. She also helped arrange the performing arts festival “Our Voice, Our Stories: The Beauty & Resilience of Immigrants” as part of the larger Malden Summer 2021 Festival on August 7. This festival celebrated immigrants, children of immigrants and multicultural communities through music, art, […]

Arts

Alexandria Onuoha blends dance, psychology, and activism in her quest for equity

July 28, 2021 Christina Appignani 0

Malden resident Alexandria Onuoha has a multifaceted approach toward her social justice work. From psychology to dance to advocacy, Onuoha channels her passions into working for equity and equality in diverse ways for the local BIPOC community. A PhD student in Applied Developmental Psychology at Suffolk University, Onuoha is the Director of Political Advocacy at Black Boston, a nonprofit community organization that fights to end racial inequities while uplifting the creativity and solidarity of the Black community of Greater Boston. She is the founder of ACO Styles, a business that aims to give advanced meaning to the complexities and excellence that comes with being Black, by centering Black women and girls through developmental science, dance, and fashion She is also a dancer; she performed at the Urban Media Arts studio for the virtual Juneteenth celebration last month. “I’m really interested in how fashion and dancing come together to make sure that women and youth of color feel their best, as well as how these different art forms and counseling come together. How do [youth and […]

Malden CORE member Ted Louis Jacques raising the Juneteenth Flag at City Hall Plaza

Juneteenth marked in Malden with joy and reflection

July 8, 2021 Christina Appignani 0

By Christina Appignani The 4th annual Juneteenth Celebration, hosted June 19 by Malden CORE (Community Organizing for Racial Equity), was extra special this year. African Americans have marked Juneteenth annually since the late 19th Century, but this year Juneteenth became a federal holiday after President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. Juneteenth commemorates when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to deliver the news of emancipation to the last remaining African American slaves on June 19, 1865. The day began with the in-person 3rd annual Juneteenth Flag Raising at the new City Hall Plaza. Later in the evening, Malden CORE held a virtual celebration on Zoom. Erga Pierrette, a co-convener for Malden CORE, noted that Malden CORE made history this year by raising a Juneteenth flag at every school in the Malden district. The Juneteenth flag has also been raised at the Malden Police station and Fire Department. Karen Colón Hayes, a Malden CORE member, opened up the flag-raising event with a land acknowledgement. “In Malden, we acknowledge that the […]

Green Man mosaic now on display at Cedar Park in Melrose

June 24, 2021 Christina Appignani 1

Nearly three years after the project began, the Green Man mosaic is on display at Cedar Park in Melrose. A community art project curated by Melrose artist Lisa Tiemann, the Green Man is a 5-foot by 5-foot mosaic based on the mythical green man. Originally conceived as a 70th birthday present to herself, Tiemann and 35 artists (amateur and professional) from the Malden-Melrose area worked to put this collaborative project on display, which depicts humans’ intertwined relationship with nature. The installation of the artwork was financially supported through grants and private donors, while the mosaic itself is a donation from Tiemann and the participating artists. For the full story behind the project’s origins, see this previous article in Neighborhood View. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and New England weather, getting the Green Man installed at Cedar Park has been a long process. Tiemann says that “it’s kind of fitting that mother nature had the final word on the installation.” The installation of the Green Man was supposed to take place in fall of 2020, and […]