Uncategorized Archives - Page 5 of 30

Malden Reads never stopped reading: 12th year kickoff will happen on Dec. 4

November 26, 2021 Martha Bezzat 2

By Martha Bezzat Malden Reads, a community organization with the mission of literature for all, will launch its 2022 season with a kick-off event at the Winter Festival on Dec. 4 that showcases this year’s selection: An American Sunrise: Poems by Joy Harjo, the first Indigenous Poet Laureate of the United States. Malden Reads members are excited about the opportunity to showcase a book by an Indigenous author. “This is going to be a very unique reading experience,” said Meredith, a self-described “recent recruit” to Malden Reads. Meredith is an alum from NYC’s New School with a background in the poetry performance arts scene, which includes poetry readings and slams. “It’s a very different experience than reading a core curriculum by mostly white people. It will highlight the differences between Indigenous and colonial writing. It’s a great shift in perspective,” she continued. Felicia Ryan, another first-year steering committee member, said, “It’s a brave choice because poetry can be off-putting for people but this book of poems is extremely accessible for people.” Highlighting Malden Reads’ role […]

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 […]

BIPOC Alumni Detail Difficult Racial Experiences in Malden Public Schools

October 22, 2021 fremedib 1

Six BIPOC graduates tell stories of racial microaggressions from teachers and administration during their years attending Malden Public Schools and offer ideas for improvement. By Fern Remedi-Brown and Kyla Denisevich Students in the Malden Public Schools – a district with one of the state’s largest percentage of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) enrollments – say they have experienced forms of racism that range from incidents of micro-aggression to unsupportive environments to acts of outright prejudice. The reporters who initiated this Neighborhood View article interviewed six BIPOC alumni of Malden Public Schools. In this article, the alumni recount their experiences and offer ideas for an improved environment. The student body in Malden is diverse: 20% African American, 23% Asian, 28% Hispanic, and 24% white. The teachers in the Malden Public Schools are predominately white. There have been as few as six Black educators in the school system at the same time. Representation of the demographics of the students in the staff is important, said the former students. They say that the lack of diversity in 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 […]

For local Haitians, the pain of tragic events in Haiti continues

September 29, 2021 annedr 1

By Anne D’Urso-RoseMartha Bezzat and Ose Schwab contributed to this article Right after the devastating earthquake in Haiti on Aug. 14, Nekita Lamour of Malden received a message from her cousin from Jérémie, in the south of Haiti. Her family’s home was completely destroyed and her cousin went into labor when the earthquake started. Her baby son was born the day after the earthquake and she is now living in makeshift housing under tarps with her husband, the new baby and her two other children. “I thought of my half brother and his wife who had a baby right after the 2010 earthquake and were living in the same kind of situation,” Lamour said. “The baby died because of the breezes and the germs that are not conducive to a baby’s health. But I didn’t tell [my cousin] that.” The enormity of Haiti’s suffering can overwhelm any sense of actionable empathy; the island nation has suffered from two massive earthquakes in the last decade and a recent presidential assassination. For non-Haitians, it can be easy […]

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, […]

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 […]

Green Thumbs in Malden: How Does Your Garden Grow?

September 2, 2021 Martha Bezzat 0

By Martha Bezzat Bonnie Blanchard contributed to this story. Behind every cucumber is a vine, and behind every vine is a gardener. Here are stories of Malden gardeners and why they love the green. Some of our interviewees asked that only their first name be used. Peggy Mixes Flowers and Veggies for Her “Quiet Place” Walking through Peggy’s vegetable garden in Ward 4 brought on salad cravings. Cucumbers vines wrapped around trellises, and green tomatoes seemed to watch as you walked among them. Peggy started gardening 34 years ago and grows her vegetable and flower gardens in her front yard, so they often invite neighborly chats which lead to her sharing her vegetables. Her garden is “her quiet place.” She grows juliet tomatoes, romas, zucchini, summer squash, hot peppers, carrots, cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, early girl tomatoes, basil, cilantro, parsley, romaine lettuce, banana peppers, spinach, swiss chard, kale, green beans, black beauty eggplants, and Japanese eggplants. She bought raised beds for her vegetable garden from Costco, as well as other gardening supplies, like soil and fertilizer. Peggy rotates her crops […]

Community Spotlight: Brazilian Community Members Paving a Pathway for Success in Malden

August 26, 2021 Kyla Denisevich 0

By Kyla Denisevich A restaurant owner, insurance company founder, and two pastors each came here with a different mission, but all demonstrate Brazilians values, culture, and work ethic. Malden is home to a population of 61,000 people, and as of 2019, 81.5% of those residents were born outside of the country. In Malden, the Latinx and Hispanic population is 8.5 percent. Most Brazilians don’t identify as Hispanic because they are not a Spanish-speaking country, therefore, it can be hard to categorize Brazilians in demographic calculations. However, their contributions to the community are difficult to miss. Massachusetts has the second largest Brazilian population behind Florida because Brazilians were initially attracted to existing Portuguese-speaking communities in Massachusetts. Large-scale migration from Brazil first began after Brazil’s military coup in 1964, then again during the late 1980s when an economic crisis hit Brazil. The United States remains one of the main destinations for Brazilian emigration. Brazilian immigrants are the most likely ethnic group in Boston to be self-employed, with over a quarter starting their own businesses. Also, Brazilians have the […]

Chamber of Commerce festival brings alive Malden’s business and commerce past

August 22, 2021 Sky Malerba 0

By Sky Malerba On July 24, Malden residents, many dressed in top hats and long dresses, moseyed outside the Converse Memorial Library for a special summer festival. On the shimmering front lawn, a trio of singers sang hymns from their open songbooks. Ginger beer was sold, old friends and strangers alike greeted each other. The scene may have resembled something from 1891 but this particular festival took place in the year 2021 from 3 to 6 in the afternoon, as part of the larger Malden Summer Festival series. The “1891 Night” festival, in which participants dressed up in period Victorian costumes, marked the 130th anniversary of the Malden Chamber of Commerce. Founded on March 31, 1891, the chamber now has over 300 members. Asked about the event’s theme, Chamber of Commerce President Donna Denoncourt, dressed in an off-the-shoulder white gold dress, said, “We wanted… to recognize the history… and all the chamber does in connecting people.” The Malden resident, who began her career as a financial advisor with Waddell & Reed in 2013, has been […]