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By Kerri Provost, May 19, 2013 9:29 am

A building which Trinity College employees say had been slated for academic use has been turned into a police substation.

For almost twenty years, there has been a police sub-station on the corner of Ward and Affleck Streets, just blocks away from Trinity College.

A glance at the campus safety log over the last several weeks shows that crimes which would land non-students in court are typically handled only by the college administration. Continue reading 'Trinity Gets Its Own Police Substation'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 2, 2012 9:39 pm

The takeaway from The Connecticut Forum on Saturday evening: if you want to be regarded as having vision and brilliance, you have to be given options in life.

Both Neil Gaiman and Neil deGrasse Tyson remarked that being able to work in the fields where their interests and talents could flourish is what enables them to be seen by others as visionaries. Though she did not say it, Neri Oxman‘s choices as a young adult exemplified this. She began pursuing one degree and was three years in before realizing that it was not for her. Had she not made the switch from medical school to architecture, her contributions may have been less groundbreaking.

Hearing this truth from these well-respected individuals, one is left to wonder– are all youth empowered by our society to explore their dreams and talents, or is their vision and brilliance potentially squashed by pushing them toward filling workforce demands?

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By Kerri Provost, December 6, 2011 10:38 am

The tents are still up at Turning Point Park, but Occupy Hartford has shown few signs of life in recent weeks. After a strong showing at their kickoff march in early October, active participation has waned. There has been high turnover of activists, both those living in the tents, and those dropping by or showing support from afar.

The declaration of its impending death comes from those who have worked closely with the group, saying that those still involved in the encampment “don’t even know they are on a sinking ship.” In recent weeks, there have been hints that Occupy Hartford was on the verge of imploding.

The inexcusable mishandling of the sexual assault on site may have been the final straw for many who had previously offered their support for the local incarnation of the Occupy movement.

The move away from Occupy Hartford appears to be taking two forms Continue reading 'Occupy Hartford: Post Mortem'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 7, 2011 2:48 pm

Roksana Mun of DRUM

“We’re not asking you to speak for us. We can speak for ourselves,” said Jasmine Burnett of SisterSong and Trust Black Women.

In a time when progressive movements still lack diversity and many refuse to have meaningful conversations about privilege, such words are refreshing to hear.

Burnett was one part of the panel last Friday at La Paloma Sabanera; Denisa Jashari, Marie Lausch, Carmen Cordero, Roksana Mun, and Marissa Janczewska also presented on the history and current state of women’s oppression at the forum sponsored by Socialist Action. The opening and closing speakers were occasionally heavy on the socialist rhetoric, but those in the middle spoke plainly, with the intention of being understood by all. Continue reading 'Power and Privilege at Women’s Forum'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 6, 2011 10:15 am

Three police on horseback kept themselves at a respectful distance from activists near the Bank of America on Park Street. Saturday morning’s march had been billed as a family-friendly, law-abiding event, yet a speaker from Occupy New Haven threw around phrases that could be interpreted otherwise, at one point telling the throng to “seize the banks,” while the crowd stood opposite one. It is this uncareful rhetoric that escalates tense situations and alienates others who would have joined in. It makes one curious as to who this “99%” actually is if there is a lack of sensitivity toward those with children (this, in effect, primarily excludes mothers from the movement), those who can not risk arrest because they can not afford to be bailed out from jail, and those who can not risk injury because they lack health insurance.

Ignoring the weight words carry only further dilutes the message.

As the anti-Bank of America activists walked down Broad Street and Park Street, residents and shop owners, for the most part, looked puzzled. Sometimes the chants were about banks getting bailed out, but other times, the chanting called for an occupation of Hartford; little thought seems to have gone into what this might sound like in a neighborhood where many residents’ native countries have actually experienced occupation.

And this population along Park Street is not one Occupy Hartford activists should want to alienate. If anyone knows something about poverty, unemployment, rental housing, and medical bills, it’s Hartford locals. According to data from HartfordInfo.org, 42% of Frog Hollow residents live below the poverty line; the median household income for this neighborhood is just above $17,000. Almost all of the housing in this area is rental. The Park Street corridor might not have as much to say about student loans as some of the Occupy Hartford activists, but the residents could offer more insight about what it is like to live paycheck-to-paycheck and worry about whether or not the electricity will not be shut off that month.

Despite the lapse in judgement by a few, Saturday’s march remained peaceful. The police-to-activist ratio was something like 10-to-1, perhaps in part to the public announcement that civil disobedience was being discussed as a possible tactic. While activists stood across from Bank of America, one was inside closing her account, which was, after all, the purpose of Bank Transfer Day. Continue reading 'Occupy Hartford: Marching through el barrio'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 2, 2011 12:21 pm

The City of Hartford has been providing periodic updates for residents who are temporarily living without electricity. The latest press release states:

Schools are high on the priority list when it comes to restoring power to the City of Hartford.  CL&P officials have also assured all town and city leaders that municipal offices and large industrial and commercial sites are high on the list as crews work to get electricity back on line.

“These areas are critical to our residents as we work to get back to some sense of normalcy.  Please remember that downed lines need to be treated as energized lines, so please do not go near them.  To help ensure public safety, police, fire, and public works are all teaming-up with CL&P crews to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible, but we need your cooperation,”  said Mayor Segarra reiterated.

Committed resources include 5 CL&P crews with an additional 6 going active about 1:00 p.m., this will bring 11 total crews active by day’s end.  They will be focusing their efforts along Prospect Avenue, Kane Street, Reserve Road, Maple Avenue, Nelson Street, and Blue Hills Avenue, among others. In addition, 8 city and contracted crews will be working to remove debris and open roads. Two of those crews are dedicated to the Blue Hills neighborhood, which is one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in Hartford.

Hartford residents are reminded that even without power, we have advantages that those in rural areas do not. Continue reading 'Power Restoration'»

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By Kerri Provost, August 31, 2011 2:54 pm

photo courtesy of Afonso Lima

Click here to read about how a student in Hartford opted out of the Connecticut Mastery Test.

The Connecticut State Department of Education website makes the No Child Left Behind threats both clear and obscure at the same time:

Schools will be responsible for improving the academic performance of all students, and there will be real consequences for districts and schools that fail to make progress.

The phrase “academic performance” is Continue reading 'Back to School Guide: Reclaiming Your Child’s Education (2/2)'»

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By Kerri Provost, July 22, 2011 2:12 pm

Because the Hartford Democratic Town Committee convention did not start on time, there was opportunity to check out the fashions. Continue reading 'Is this what Democracy Looks Like?'»

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By Kerri Provost,

A large room crammed full of powerful people (and those aiming to be) dressed in red, white, and blue, with buttons and signs galore. The party casts its votes, maybe some numbers don’t match up and a recount is needed, but the endorsements get made and the evening moves on. Reporters pushing their way through to get to the newly endorsed or to those left behind. That’s the image that comes to mind, and to an extent, that is what happens. But for those who have never been to a convention and who are not politically connected, it might be eye-opening to learn that the behind the scenes “back room deals” are not so secretive after all.

The Hartford Democratic Town Committee’s convention was scheduled to begin at 5:30 on Thursday evening in Bulkeley High School’s air conditioned auditorium. We assumed that this was the fake time, which is told so that events kick off on time about thirty minutes later. Segarra’s supporters were gathered around the building’s entrance with signs and stickers at 4:30 pm. By all accounts, I thought I would be home by ten, latest.

Upon entering, we had our choice of seats. Nothing was roped off. Nobody was serving as an usher. I sat with Emily of Live in Hartford, and near reporters from The Hartford Guardian and The Hartford News, two small, local newspapers that work hard to get the story, like journalists from days of yore. We were in the second row, center, and nobody seemed to mind.

Waiting for the event to begin, we noted who was conversing with whom. Julio Concepcion, an HDTC member, stopped over and we chatted about the waves he made when he publicly questioned the 2-2-2 strategy days prior. In the audience was a young man, a teenager about to enter Hartford Public High School after attending Bellizzi. He began the evening as the embodiment of idealism. We never saw if he looked the same, or disenchanted, when he slipped out later.

At 6pm, we thought the event was going to begin when the committee announced that the little people had to move our seats:

The rationale made sense. Leave room so that HDTC members can easily access the microphone and be heard; one wonders why this was not announced earlier. One also wonders why this was even attempted, as the members were scattered throughout the auditorium, some griping that they could not hear, all the while not moving their seats, despite the vacant ones now reserved for them. Continue reading 'Behind the Scenes at the Hartford Democratic Town Committee Convention'»

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By Kerri Provost,

2-2-2 Continue reading 'Hartford Democratic Town Committee Convention: Numbers Game'»