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April 11, 2025 1

Double Exposure: Photographer Lisa Tang Liu explores what it means to be ‘American’

Photographer Lisa Tang Liu made a career out of taking other people’s portraits. But she was never interested in taking her own photo — not even selfies on her phone. Then Covid hit, and some old, bad feelings from her childhood began to return. Having grown up in a predominantly white suburb in New Jersey as a child, she said, she felt “a sense of shame” for being Chinese. She wanted those around her to embrace that she was as […]

Demonstrators rally in support of Rumeysa Ozturk in Somerville in late March. Photo by Harmony Witte

April 11, 2025 0

Citizens’ Role in Defending Rights on Display in Öztürk Rally: Legal Experts, Activists

by Harmony Witte

“Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe.” This line was among the chants shouted by the thousands of people gathered in Somerville to support Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk in late March after she was abducted and set for deportation at the direction of the U.S. Secretary of State in what has by now become an international drama. The call from the protesters may have been more than a simple rallying chant, however, and more likely one of the […]

April 11, 2025 0

‘We Don’t Want to Repeat History’: State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven Discusses Activist Fred Korematsu, Öztürk, and Trump

by Adam Smith

The day before the Sampan had a scheduled interview with State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, her district was suddenly under an international spotlight. Thousands of people had come out to rally in the city of Somerville, part of Massachusetts’ 27th Middlesex District, for Rümeysa Öztürk. Öztürk is the Tufts University doctoral student who was detained by the Department of Homeland Security and was set for deportation back to Turkey — apparently, because she co-wrote an Op-Ed in her university newspaper a […]

April 11, 2025 0

Knowing About Birthright Citizenship’s Past Critical to Ensuring Its Future, Say Experts

by Darren Liu

“I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.” That quote, from the first U.S. president, George Washington in a letter penned in 1788, kicked off a panel discussion last month on the future and history birthright citizenship and Trump administration’s attempts to reinterpret the 14th Amendment. As clear-cut as Washington’s quote sounds, history tells a different story. That was a […]

April 11, 2025 0

REVIEW: ‘White Poverty’ Exposes Myths of Race, Class and Democracy

by Christopher John Stephens

The triple threat Venn Diagram bubbles of race, class, and social identity have conspired to define us as a nation since our founding. As we sit on the eve of our Bisesquicentennial in 2026, Americans are more divided and disturbed than ever before. Who are we? What have we become? Is this the legacy we really want to leave behind for our children? The much discussed (but never fully owned) “Project 2025” has planted seeds and borne fruit in the […]

Nita Slay outside the Mission Hill Church; Photo by Adam Smith

March 23, 2025 0

Killin’ It: Musician Nita Slay Talks About Cambodian Roots, Love of Language & Christian Influences

by Ava Belchez

Nita Slay, a musician and rapper from Lynn, said she finds pride in the lyrics of “Cambodian Ties,” a song by Foule Monk in which she also sings. In the song, Slay sings: “Cambodian ties / Cambodian in my skin / Breathing in this life / Rejuvenated skin / Cambodian gold / Cambodian sins / Breathing in this life to find the peace within.” “It gives me another lane that I can use that no else can,” said Slay, who […]

February 21, 2025 0

Behind the Drum, Cymbal and Lion, There’s Adrenaline, and Then Hunger

by Anna Hu

This is at once a specific story —one day in Boston Chinatown during the lunar new year parade — and an expansive one, which has played out time and time again in cities around the world. This is a story about colors, red fabric draped over a dancer’s back, golden sequins that catch the light, yellow fur in the lion’s mane, the whites of its eyes. This is a story about sound, the bright crash of red tasseled cymbals, the […]

February 21, 2025 0

Snake Mural Lets Viewers Send Wishes, Artist Hold onto Chinese Heritage

by Adam Smith

A red snake with gold “scales” is winding through the walls of the Pao Arts Center in Chinatown as part of a celebration of the Lunar New Year. “We invited people to come and cut out scales from a gold shimmery paper, and then we prompted them to write or draw their Lunar New Year wish,” said artist Amanda Beard Garcia, who painted the indoor mural over several days in January. “Some people made one wish and a few people […]

February 21, 2025 0

Order Said to ‘Criminalize’ Some Non-Citizen Students for Protest

by Adam Smith

With additional reporting by Harmony Witte and D.Y. Photo by Witte. In the spring of 2024, students at colleges all over Greater Boston called out what they viewed as a campaign of genocide in Gaza. The students objected to the U.S. paying for much of Israel’s military expenses. They protested their universities’ ties with U.S. companies who build the weapons and fighter jets used by Israeli forces, by calling for divestment and boycott. And they marched against Israel for dropping […]

February 21, 2025 0

Don’t Miss Out on These Credits

by Mark Cotton

Tax season, regardless of the year, is both confusing and stressful. This can lead to some families putting off their taxes, incurring needless fees and penalties. However, tax season is also an opportunity for families to claim a number of tax credits that can be highly beneficial to them. A common misconception is that individuals don’t believe they have earned enough income to be eligible for tax credits. The reality is that every person’s individual situation is different and working […]

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