Saliha Bayrak, Author at Neighborhood View

Incident sparks racial equity measures and further discourse in Malden

February 15, 2022 Saliha Bayrak 0

By Saliha Bayrak A series of recent events in Malden have deepened the city’s ongoing social discourse about racial equity, particularly as it relates to the Asian-American community, and have led to new initiatives by the City Council. On Dec. 11, 2021, roughly 100 Malden residents gathered outside the Malden City Hall Plaza, in a city home to over 13,000 Asian residents, for what they called a standout. The demonstrators held up signs reading “Stop Asian Hate,” led chants and created noise with drums and cymbals. The standout was part of an ongoing effort to address issues of race and representation in Malden, this time sparked by a social media post. In November 2021, images of City Councilor Jadeane Sica wearing a Halloween costume, which were deemed racist by organizations such as the Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition (GMAACC), were re-surfaced after being first posted on Facebook in 2019. Sica and her husband were portraying an Asian sex worker and Patriots owner Bob Kraft, a reference to Kraft’s arrest for soliciting prostitution at the […]

One year later, remembering a life cut short: Jaden Brito White

January 4, 2022 Saliha Bayrak 4

At age 18, Jaden Brito White was shot to death outside of his home in Malden. His family and friends describe what it was like to have him in their lives and mourn his loss a year after his death. By Saliha Bayrak Jaden Brito White was known for his contagious laugh, kind heart, and love for his family and friends that he made abundantly clear before his life was cut short on Dec. 29, 2020. Jaden and his mother, Nicole Brito White, would constantly tell each other “I love you” throughout the day, any time one of them entered the room. “I miss walking in the door and hearing ‘Hi mom. I love you,’” Nicole said. Nicole speaks highly of her late son, not only because of a mother’s bias, but because of the countless people in the community who have approached her after his passing and shared stories of how Jaden influenced them. “I realized that he touched almost this entire city,” she said. “He was an honorable person, he was trustworthy. He […]

Campaign season over: A look at the 2021 municipal election in Malden

November 11, 2021 Saliha Bayrak 0

By Saliha Bayrak. Photos by Keren He. On Nov 2, residents of Malden headed to the polls to vote for councilors-at-large, city councilors, and school committee members. Excitement was high as candidates and Malden residents stood outside voting locations with signs in support. Incumbent Craig Spadafora and two newcomers, Karen Colón Hayes and Carey McDonald, won seats for councilor-at-large. “We ran a very serious, competitive campaign from the beginning, and that was a campaign built on reaching out to all parts of the community,” said McDonald on an Urban Media Arts livestream during election night. His campaign focused on knocking on doors, working across neighborhoods, and ensuring that citizens had access to information in their own language, McDonald said. Peg Crowe (Ward 1), Amanda Linehan (Ward 3), Ryan O’Malley (Ward 4), Barbara Murphy (Ward 5), and Jadeane Sica (Ward 8) were re-elected for city council in their respective wards. Chris Simonelli joined Ward 7’s city council after a hiatus from city government, while Stephen Winslow, formerly councilor-at-large, was elected to the Ward 6 seat. The […]

A motorcycle parade of 3,000 rode for the 10th Boston‘s Wounded Vet Run

October 8, 2021 Saliha Bayrak 0

By Saliha Bayrak and Keren He. All photos by Keren He. More than 3,000 motorcyclists drove through the North Shore in a massive motorcycle parade on Sept. 19 for the 10th Boston Veteran Run, which raises money for wounded veterans. Led by motor officers, the parade started at the Boston Harley-Davidson store in Revere and rode through the cities of Saugus, Wakefield, Melrose, and Stoneham, and finally arrived at Anthony’s restaurant in Malden for a final ceremony. With participants chipping in $20, the event raised nearly $130,000 for four severely injured veterans, who were honored at the ceremony. The four honorees were Cpl. Vincent Mannion-Brodeur, who was injured by an improvised explosive device in Iraq and inspired the first run in 2011; U.S. Army Veteran Christy Gardner from Maine who lost both legs during her service overseas; Army Veteran Mike Liscomb from Maine who lost his left leg in Iraq; and Navy SEAL Dan Cnossen from Kansas who lost both legs during his service in Afghanistan. During the ceremony, Maj. Tom Schueman described his experiences […]

Ligia Noriega-Murphy begins her first school year as superintendent of Malden Public Schools

September 14, 2021 Saliha Bayrak 2

By Saliha Bayrak Equipped with 26 years of experience working in urban schools and a life-long pursuit of immersing herself in different cultures, Ligia Noriega-Murphy is starting her first year as the superintendent of Malden Public Schools. Malden is a new environment for Ligia Noriega-Murphy. Malden has a much smaller student population than Boston, where she previously worked in public education. Originally from Guatemala, Noriega-Murphy also graduated high school from Boston public schools. Yet, Malden is “so diverse with small communities that are so rich in different languages, different cultures,” she said. “There’s a lot of people that are so invested in making this district powerful and so unique and different. And that’s my job now, to make sure that we are going to be the best district in the nation,” Noriega-Murphy said. “I am already embracing how people just love the city.” Throughout her job interview process, Noriega-Murphy had a few opportunities to interact with the community that she would soon become a part of. A few of the things that struck Noriega-Murphy during […]

Community Spotlight: Asian American businesses and organizations make an impact in Malden

May 23, 2021 Saliha Bayrak 0

A look at Wah Lum Academy, District Kitchen, and the Chinese Culture Connection. By Saliha Bayrak and Kyla Denisevich. Photos by Keren He. What started off as martial arts lessons in the driveway of Mai Du 15 years ago is now the nationally renowned Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi Academy in Malden and Quincy. Lined with a diverse array of businesses and organizations, Malden is a microcosm of a culturally rich world. Many of these locations are owned and operated by Asian Americans — entrepreneurs and community leaders like Du who are shaping the city to reflect their culture. Asians are the second-largest ethnic group in the city, comprising 22.5 percent of the population. Asian Americans have made unmeasurable contributions to the city and played a significant role in the community, which sometimes goes under appreciated. Denzil Mohammed directs the Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute, which works to educate Americans about the contributions of immigrants. “More than 11% of immigrant Asians in the U.S. are self-employed, meaning they’re entrepreneurs, they have some […]

Malden aims to purchase District Court Building to transform into the Malden Center for Arts and Culture.

April 13, 2021 Saliha Bayrak 0

By Saliha Bayrak An imposing but empty brick building stands on the western side of Malden — abandoned after being deemed unfit to serve its original purpose as a courthouse. Now, city officials hope to turn the nearly 100-year-old building into a center that would house Malden’s lively arts and culture scene. The city of Malden is aiming to purchase the former Malden District Court building and transform it into what would be known as the Malden Center for Arts & Culture. Members of local government and Malden artists say that a center dedicated to arts and culture would be a much-needed benefit to the city. “We knew that there was this kind of nebulous cluster of artists that just needed a point to coalesce around. And that’s why we’ve been looking for an art center,” said Kevin Duffy, Malden strategy and business development officer. The idea was initiated by Mayor Gary Christenson; Duffy is playing a critical role in the first stages of this initiative — acquiring the building. Duffy worked with Christenson to […]

Malden High School students reflect on a year of remote learning

March 28, 2021 Saliha Bayrak 0

By Saliha Bayrak Having a conversation over the lunch table, waving to your friends between classes, sharing excitement over college admission letters — these are some of the things that Malden High School teenagers yearned for as they attended their classes virtually. As Malden High School (MHS) transitions to hybrid learning with a phased process that started the week of March 15, nearly one year after schools switched to fully remote, students look back on all the ways that online learning has impacted their life. Remote learning uprooted the life of teens around the city and forced them to reimagine what their high school experience will look like. Now they ponder on how they will move forward. Sheilly Patel, a senior at MHS, worries that she may miss some of the big milestones of high school such as senior prom and graduation. But she also misses the small activities that accompanied going to school in-person. Patel says that she often finds herself “missing that kind of little social things that happen in between classes,” and […]

Uncomfortable Conversations: Staff and board at UMA take on race and social justice through internal dialogue

March 2, 2021 Saliha Bayrak 0

By Saliha Bayrak As the nation rose to voice their indignation and call for an end to racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd, Urban Media Arts (UMA), joined thousands of organizations across the country and made a statement of solidarity to champion the Black Lives Matter movement. The staff at UMA (formerly MATV) did not want this statement to be a momentary and hollow expression of support without any actions to succeed it. In the months that followed, staff members began to have periodic meetings and discussions to address issues of race, injustice, and inclusivity, guided by the belief that every course of action begins with a conversation. Terlonzo Amos, the Director of Operations at UMA, believes there is an urgency to have these conversations now due to the recent blatantly unjust events that occurred throughout the nation. “These problems have always been in the Black and brown community…since 1619,” said Amos. “For those that may not have believed that these things were happening…a light was shown on it.” Amos often leads these […]