Articles by NeighborhoodView

About NeighborhoodView

Neighborhood View is a citizen journalism program and online publication covering local news stories in Malden, MA. It is a program of Urban Media Arts (UMA) in Malden and is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a national organization that networks local news initiatives.. To learn more about Neighborhood View, get a free subscription, or learn about how YOU can become a citizen journalist, click on the heading at the top of this page.

What does a water tower in Guatemala have to do with Malden?

March 22, 2021 NeighborhoodView 0

By Fern Remedi-Brown and Elena Martinez Malden residents Fern Remedi-Brown and Ginny Remedi-Brown have been spearheading a nonprofit organization, Sowing Opportunities, that seeks to cultivate self-sustainability, education, and wellness in rural Guatemala – one village at a time. The locally based organization wants to highlight and celebrate Monday, March 22, United Nations #WorldWaterDay. This year’s theme is #ValuingWater and the efforts of Sowing Opportunities demonstrate how a group of individuals is effectively addressing water issues in Guatemala. Sowing Opportunities was born from the family’s quest and journey to find their adopted daughter’s birth mom. In 2015, Sowing Opportunities began working with the village of Chajmaic, Guatemala, where their daughter was born. With a Guatemalan team, they learned about the needs and aspirations of this indigenous, remote community. Following a needs assessment conducted last summer, Sowing Opportunities decided to develop a greenhouse workshop in which a group of trainees would learn how to plant, to develop leadership skills, and to maintain a greenhouse – starting with corn and black beans – and to sell vegetables for their livelihood. […]

The TrailblazHers host a 5K in Malden dedicated to Louise Stokes.

March 16, 2021 NeighborhoodView 2

The Boston-based women’s running group chose the Malden River Loop to host their weekly run dedicated to trailblazing women. (Photo by Frances Ramirez) By Saliha Bayrak, Amanda Hurley and Catherine Riordan A group of trailblazing women, clad in running gear and masks, were out for a run at the Malden River Loop on Sunday morning, March 7. The group, TrailblazHers Run Co, dedicated their weekly 5k run to Malden track & field star Louise Stokes, one of the first African-American women to qualify for an Olympic team. TrailblazHers is a Boston-based women’s running group that was founded in October of 2020. The group’s members are fervently dedicated to unifying and uplifting each other while being powered by its mission to celebrate and empower women of all shapes, colors, and backgrounds. The group originally emerged from an event known as the “Bra Run,” a tradition that continued for three years before the co-founders Elizabeth Rock, Abeo Powder, and Frances Ramirez, realized that there were many other women who were also looking for a community of runners. Rock describes the organization as “A […]

Malden Reads Selects Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime” for 11th Year Book

November 24, 2020 NeighborhoodView 1

By Natasha Eslami In Born a Crime, Trevor Noah, the popular comedian and host of the cable TV show “The Daily Show,” recounts his childhood growing up in South Africa, the son of a white father and a Black mother. At the time, such a union was punishable by five years in prison in apartheid South Africa, so Noah’s very existence was “crime.” Noah tells his story, which ranges from the humorous to the traumatic, with his cutting wit and incisive perspective. At times both poignant and outrageous, Noah deals with the intersection of his life and the history of a country reckoning with deep-seated racism and finds a parallel here to the United States. His memoir does not shy away from exposing deeply ingrained racism, sexism, violence, economic inequity, and domestic violence. And yet, his personal story reminds us that even in the deepest tragedy and among the most menacing of fears, there is hope and strength within ourselves and those around us to set us on a better path. The Malden Reads team wanted to select a book that would […]

Teaching through the lens of love: A conversation with Jennifer Hedrington, MA Teacher of the Year

November 20, 2020 NeighborhoodView 1

By Antonia Sheel As an educator and mother to young children, I had the opportunity to chat with the newly appointed Massachusetts Teacher of the Year (2021), Jennifer Hedrington a seventh-grade math teacher at Ferryway School in Malden, and her former student, Taylor Neal, a sophomore at Point University. The experience was both refreshing and inspiring. Our Zoom conversation touched on everything from what brought Hedrington into the field of education to how Hedrington’s teaching impacted Taylor, who has kept in touch with her years after she first sat in her 7th grade math class. This interview has been edited for space and clarity. Antonia: I want to say first and foremost congratulations! How do you feel? Jen: I’m overwhelmed and humbled. I’m very private. You know I went from having 100 people on my Facebook to 300 or 400. I’m like, oh my gosh this is crazy. I have to remind myself that this is not about me. This is about them. God has blessed me for one year to be a voice to speak up for the kids. […]

Could this be the new norm for dance students?

October 3, 2020 NeighborhoodView 1

Paula Terenzi Dance Complex managed to pull of a dance recital this past summer working with students remotely. […]

MaldenCORE conversation series

September 22, 2020 NeighborhoodView 0

MaldenCORE will hold a series of 4th Wednesday Conversations beginning Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 6:45 pm with a presentation by Daniel StrongWalker Thomas, Traditional Chief of the Delaware Nation (Anadarko Okla.), Lenape People, and a descendant of the Oneida People (of Green Bay,Wisc). The topic for discussion will be Indigenous social justice issues. Due to the pandemic, the conversation series is online. Thomas serves as the President of the Board of Directors and Chief Servant Leader of Global Initiative for Indigenous Advancement, Inc. (GIIA). As Keeper of Fire for GIAA, he believes that the concentration on the four pillars of social, health, education, and economic status will help generate the overall wellbeing of Indigenous People worldwide. When he attended Salem State University he was awarded the Charlotte Forten Distinguished Scholar Award and was a member of the honors society. MaldenCORE, Malden Community Organizing for Racial Equity, hosts 4th Wednesday Conversations, community gatherings for community members, to learn about and confront systemic racism. Speakers introduce topics and then participants break into fall groups to share personal […]

Malden Reads mulls book selection for 2021

September 8, 2020 NeighborhoodView 0

By Heather Barry Earlier this summer, as the Malden Reads steering committee began its book selection process for 2021, it faced a season and mood in the community and country very different from its previous ten years. On top of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has been wracked with a coming to terms of 400 years of systemic racism, sparked by the murder of George Floyd, and brought to life by protestors from coast to coast. These important and ongoing events informed the discussions of this year’s books. Once the book is selected, Malden Reads will invite the community of Malden to read the book and participate in a series of events related to the book’s themes. “At the end of the day, we want to point people toward a quality book with an important story that needs to be heard,” said Steering Committee member Martha Bezzat. “This particular year, we were open to themes about the ongoing crisis of racism, the trauma of the global pandemic, and resilience in communities.” She added, “The journey to […]

Sketching for Twenty-five Years: Malden Sketch Group

September 1, 2020 NeighborhoodView 0

By Sharon Santillo Like a small acorn that grew into a large tree, a small grant given to the Malden Sketch Group 25 years ago led to one of the longest lasting drawing groups in the Greater Boston area. “I thought it would only last as long as the initial grant, but look what that seed money has done,” said Fred Seager, one of the founders. Another founder was Nunzio Luca. “He was a much admired head of the Malden High School Art Department for years, and was a wonderful artist, mentor, and good friend,” Seager said. Nunzio and Seager decided to get a life drawing group together and they set out to find a space. “We were fortunate also to have the early support of Neicei Degen and Nana Goldberg who were facilitators of the cultural center building, an old fire station on Pearl Street. It housed elderly day care during the day and was open for rental at night,” Seager said. Seager applied for a grant from the Malden Arts Council and was awarded $250. This modest […]

Malden rallies for Black Lives Matter online and in the streets

June 14, 2020 NeighborhoodView 0

The anger and calls for change that have swept the nation over the police killings of unarmed African-Americans recently came through Malden. An online vigil was held on Thursday, June 4 (full video embedded below) and a march followed by a rally was held on Friday, June 6. Neighborhood View citizen journalists Amanda Hurley and Sky Malerba covered these events to capture the statements and emotions of participants who peacefully registered their outrage and demands for change. Here are their reports. (Feature image – top of page: artwork by Shaina Lu, member of the Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition) “Change can’t wait, and we need your help” By Amanda Hurley Erga Pierrette of Malden Community Organizing for Racial Equity (MaldenCORE) opened the online “Vigil for Black Lives Taken by Police and Condemnation of Police Brutality” on Thursday, June 4, with a call for unity to denounce the normalizing of police brutality against black and brown bodies. The vigil was attended by 388 participants on Zoom and has over 3400 views on Facebook and YouTube. […]

Isolation and togetherness: The COVID-19 impact on family life

June 5, 2020 NeighborhoodView 1

By Antonia Sheel and Amanda HurleyEdited by Stephanie Schorow and Anne D’Urso Rose Long-time Malden resident Karen Yates, a mother of two, makes it a point to wake up early and start the day with a cup of coffee, a little news, and quiet reflection. This helps her maintain a routine and sense of normalcy at a time when so many things are not normal. “Everything requires so much more energy,” she says. Her family has moved from the “auto-pilot” pace of everyday life to a new slower, ever-changing version. “It’s like moving through molasses.” The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting quarantines have had a profound impact on all of American society, not least of which is the American family. Children are out of school, parents working at home, or laid off from jobs, and extended families have either grouped together or stayed separate under social distancing guidelines. The citizen journalists of Neighborhood View reached out to several Malden families to chronicle their lives during the pandemic quarantine. While the families talked about uncertainty and […]