Malden Reads Archives - Neighborhood View

Finding inspiration in Malden’s History: Inna Babitskaya

March 24, 2022 Joy Pearson 2

In May 2020, Malden Reads planned to host the Malden Mass. Memories Road Show (MMRS), a statewide, event-based, participatory digital archiving program that documents people, places, and events in Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories. Due to the pandemic, the in-person event could not be held. So Neighborhood View, in collaboration with Malden Reads, is contributing photographs and stories online as part of the Malden Mass. Memories Stuck-at-Home Show. The following story continues the series of participant profiles, which focus on photographs and what they mean to that resident of Malden. By Joy Pearson Although we all live in an historical context, our focuses differ. We are shaped by the places and cultures in which we have lived and in which we currently live. But only some of us have eyes that see history everywhere. Inna Babitskaya’s view of life is indelibly guided by historical and cultural lenses. She gravitates to and admires historic buildings. She seeks out biographical facts. When she writes, she writes from an historical point of view. This developed from Inna’s childhood […]

Malden residents enjoy the city’s first Winter Festival

December 21, 2021 NeighborhoodView 1

By Martha Bezzat, Fern Remedi-Brown, Laura Cummingham, Susan Margot Ecker, Nikita Sampath On Saturday, Dec. 4, the sidewalks of Pleasant Street were lined with about 55 local artists and craftspeople, eager to share their wares with Malden residents as part of the first Winter Festival, sponsored by the City of Malden. Malden Reads held its 2022 season “kick-off” event during the festival in the J Malden Center lobby. The group hosted poetry readings from local poets, children’s activities, dance videos from local dance group Monkeyhouse, and a raffle. J Malden Center also hosted the Chamber of Commerce’s 130th Anniversary closing event, which provided history and hot chocolate for crowds seeking warmth and nourishment from the cold weather. The event had the dual goal of “bringing customers back to our downtown to support our businesses and [giving] our residents an outdoor activity to enjoy themselves safely,” said Kevin Duffy, the Strategy and Business Development Officer for the City of Malden. However, a runaway car parked on Pleasant Street momentarily shook up the festive atmosphere when it began to roll, went […]

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 […]

Linda Mazonson Zalk: Places we’ll remember all our lives

January 12, 2021 Marielle Gutierrez 5

In May 2020, Malden Reads planned to host the Malden Mass. Memories Road Show (MMRS), a statewide, event-based participatory archiving program that documents people, places, and events in Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories stored in a digital archive at openarchives.umb.edu. Due to the pandemic, the in-person event could not be held. This summer the MMRS team invited anyone with a connection to Malden to contribute photographs and stories online as part of the Malden Mass. Memories Stuck-at-Home Show. Through January 2021, you can take part in the online version and submit your own photos via this link. This is the fourth profile in the series. By Marielle A. Gutierrez The physical places in Malden hold so many memories to its residents. However, over time, hometowns evolve—places that Maldonians frequented as a child or as a young adult are no longer there. There is no longer a physical place to attach a memory to. It is important to remember and record what is gone, or else an important piece of history is lost. Linda Zalk (formerly Linda Mazonson) may know this […]

Malden Memory Makers: Ron Cox stands up for history from a young age

December 17, 2020 Marielle Gutierrez 0

In May 2020, Malden Reads planned to host the Malden Mass. Memories Road Show (MMRS), a statewide, event-based participatory archiving program that documents people, places, and events in Massachusetts history through family photographs and stories stored in a digital archive. Due to the pandemic, the in-person event could not be held and so, this summer, the MMRS team invited anyone with a Malden connection to contribute photographs and stories online as part of the Malden Mass. Memories Stuck-at-Home Show. Through December, you can take part in the online version and submit your own photos via this link. The following is part of a series of participant profiles for the Malden Mass. Memories Stuck-at-Home Show for Neighborhood View. This is the second profile in the series. By Marielle A. Gutierrez If you are reading Neighborhood View, you may already know the name of Ron Cox. Cox has been a long affiliate of UMA, formerly MATV, starting as a volunteer in 1989. In 2006, he became the organization’s Executive Director in 2006, a title he holds to this day. As […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Malden Mass. Memories Road Show is coming!

January 31, 2020 NeighborhoodView 2

by Sandra Li On Monday, December 9th the Malden Reads organization held their first launch meeting at the Malden Public Library for the Malden Mass. Memories Road Show event that will be held on May 2nd. At the meeting, various other organizations across Malden were present to discuss more details in regards to the road show and volunteering. The Mass. Memories Road Show is a community history program that was first launched in 2004 and is coordinated by the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston). Since then, the event has digitized more than 11,000 photographs from across the state. The roadshow will be a capstone event for the 10th year anniversary of Malden Reads. Carolyn Goldstein, who is a representative from UMass Boston, explained that this event will be a “chance to bring people from all corners of the city together,” as it places an importance on archiving the stories and memories of residents. Goldstein presented a slideshow to all the organizations including Chinese Culture Connection, Malden Historical Society, and Massachusetts Senior Action Council, where she […]

Malden Reads catches fire: The timeless themes of Fahrenheit 451

January 16, 2020 professorschorow 2

A book that imagines a future without books inspired activities during opening-day celebrations on Jan. 11 for the tenth anniversary of Malden Reads: One City, One Book. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s landmark dystopian novel, has been selected for the “NEA Big Read: Malden 2020” – the first time Malden Reads has picked a classic novel as a book for the entire city to read and ponder. A host of events are planned to explore the novel’s themes, including film screenings, discussions, a podcast series, youth activities, and a presentation on Bradbury’s life and influence. Copies of the book are available at the Malden Public Library, including translated print versions, audio and electronic formats. This year, Malden Reads was selected as one of only 78 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Big Read grant. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the mission of the NEA Big Read is “to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.” […]

Lunar New Year celebration kicks off Malden Reads 2019

February 24, 2019 NeighborhoodView 0

By Frances Hui This year’s selection for Malden Reads 2019, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See, was feted last month during a celebration of Lunar New Year and the coming of the Year of Pig in a day-long event that featured Asian cultural performances, workshops, artwork exhibitions and refreshments at Malden High School. The Jan. 26 event, sponsored by the Chinese Culture Connection (CCC), Malden Reads and the high school’s Asian Culture Club, drew more than 100 people, including Mayor Gary Christenson and other Malden officials. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is about a journey of a Li-yan, a young woman from a minority tribe in China, who gives up her child for adoption. At times, the story cuts between her life and her adopted child’s life in California. Li-yan eventually moves beyond the limited education of the rest of her community, leaves her traditional village, and begins to experience the modern world in the cities of China, where she becomes an integral part of the tea trade. The book is about many things: […]