Education

October 11, 2024 0

‘Join or Die’ Argues Clubs Can Save America. But Is It Just Groupthink?

Is the downfall of Democracy dependent on something as simple as the decline of social clubs? That’s the central theme of “Join or Die,” a documentary film that screened at film festivals in 2023 and is currently making the rounds at community film screenings across the country. “The trend toward greater polarization in America did not begin five years ago. It certainly did not begin with Covid. It didn’t begin with Trump. It began 50 years ago. You can see […]

September 27, 2024 0

‘Most Famous Woman in China’ Visits Hub

by Yuchen Hong

Chinese author and mega celebrity Yue-Sai Kan, while on tour at Boston University’s Tsai Performance Center on Sept. 16, discussed her cross-cultural influence in promoting China abroad, and introduced her aptly titled new book, “The Most Famous Woman in China.” Kan’s journey from a modest start to becoming a global media icon and influential philanthropist coincided with China’s dynamic transformation over the years. Both topics were her focus at the meet-and-greet book event. “I’m both a witness and a participant,” […]

September 27, 2024 0

Chinatown Celebrates Opening of New Upper School after Decades of Using Aging Buildings

by DongDong Yang

Josiah Quincy Upper School Head Richard K. Chang, and Chinatown community members and city officials on Sept. 12 celebrated the ribbon cutting of the new Josiah Quincy Upper School in Chinatown. The school, serving grades 6-12, opened for the 2024-2025 school year with modern facilities including a media center, fitness center, and band rooms, all aimed at helping the Boston students reach their full potential. The $223.6 million project was jointly funded by the City of Boston and the Massachusetts […]

September 13, 2024 0

Bias Against Muslims, Palestinians Permeate Press: Rights Advocate

by Adam Smith

The contrasts in the headlines were striking. Projected on a screen were copies of online stories from The New York Times and the BBC News, both covering killings in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israeli bombings of Palestinians in Gaza.Pointing out the differences in the treatments, Hena Zuberi of the nonprofit human rights group, Justice For All, noted how in one set of headlines, the group carrying out deadly attacks, Israel, goes unnamed, and in the other, the […]

August 9, 2024 0

Report: State Sorely Lacks English as Second Language Classes for Immigrants

by Esther Wang

The Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center is among several nonprofits in Massachusetts offering free English classes aimed at preparing immigrant students for college and jobs. But as the influx of immigrants to Massachusetts – including undocumented migrants – has increased, so has the demand for English lessons. And now many nonprofit groups like BCNC say Massachusetts is in a state of crisis when it comes to providing English classes to the people who need them most. Case in point: BCNC is […]

August 9, 2024 0

‘Where I Belong’ Opens Book on Identity, Trauma. Co-Authors discuss healing Identity of Asian Americans

by Christopher John Stephens

If a sense of belonging requires a secure sense of place and identity, the very act of engaging in a diaspora means the goal will always be out of reach. In their new book Where I Belong: Healing Trauma and Embracing Asian American Identity, co-authors Soo Jin Lee and Linda Yoon look toward building a bridge between the home that was and the home that might never become fully realized.As co-directors of Yellow Chair Collective, Lee and Yoon effectively make […]

July 26, 2024 0

PEERS Group Aims to Help Autistic People Make Friends

by Yizhen Zhang

When it comes to education and autism spectrum disorder, the focus in recent years has been on early childhood education. There are many services for young children with ASD, such as early intervention programs, preschools or other school-run programs, says Dr. Jenny Chu, who runs the Boston PEERS Social Skills Program in Brookline. But services – especially community-based ones for teens and older people with autism – are much harder to come by. Helping fill a small space in the […]

June 7, 2024 0

‘Yellow Face’ Explores Identity Across Generations, Continents

by Harmony Witte

“I’m always thinking about, ‘why are we doing this play now?’,” actor Michael Hisamoto told the Sampan of the Lyric Stage production of “Yellow Face.” Hisamoto has a key role in the play, written by David Henry Hwang. The semi-autobiographical show is about the playwright, who appears in the play and is the narrator. It’s about Hwang’s life, his father, and the period of the 1990s and the 2000s. It covers big themes like the “yellow peril” and the Asian […]

June 7, 2024 0

An Untold Victim of Anti-Immigrant Speech: Latino Teens and Families

by Esther Wang

Naikiry, a 20-year-old community college student and full-time worker, knows first-hand the trauma that can be caused when a Latinx family falls apart as it moves the U.S. Her family began to unravel when they emigrated from the Dominican to the U.S. in 2015 and were forced to leave behind her mother, who has yet to join them here. The separation, along with the shock of arriving in a new country, caused Naikiry’s family to fall into depression, loneliness, and […]

June 7, 2024 0

Sometimes Hard Work is Not Enough: So Expand Earned-Income Tax Credit

by Angela Divaris

The Earned-Income Tax Credit has been widely hailed as one the most successful antipoverty programs in the country, and it’s time our state allowed immigrants without Social Security numbers to benefit from the credit, too. The EITC is aimed at boosting the incomes of low-to-moderate earners, especially those with minor children. There is a rich body of research showing how the EITC lifts millions of households out of poverty and encourages employment. Massachusetts is among the 31 states that have […]

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