C.O.R.I. REFORM ACTIONS ALERT
April 30 to May 14

Landmark reforms are so close!
We are calling on you to lend your support in what we hope will be the last leg of this campaign.

DO YOUR PART!
After years of tireless organizing and advocacy, the Massachusetts State Senate adopted a comprehensive CORI reform bill last November. Since then, Speaker DeLeo has made public commitments to address CORI in the House after the budget.

This creates a critical window to pass a CORI bill in the month of May.

Thousands of individuals and over 110 organizations have signed on as supporters of CORI reform. Community Change has been supporting CORI reform for years. We alert you to the following critical actions and ask you to participate as you are able:

CORI Coalition Meeting
Friday, April 30th, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Project Hip Hop
2181 Washington St. 3rd Floor, Dudley Square, Roxbury

Emergency update and briefing on the status of CORI reform, what was in the Senate bill, and immediate next steps in the campaign.

CORI Rally & Lobby Day
Thursday, May 6th, 12:00 to 3:00 PM
State House

We are calling for a major mobilization of CORI reform supporters to rally and lobby at the State House for passage of a House bill. Details are forthcoming, but all organizations in support of reforms are called to action!

Statewide Call-In Campaign
May 3rd - 14th
We will be contacting all endorsing organizations to help generate phone calls to the State House in the first 2 weeks of May. If you are interested in helping with this effort, please email atanaka@bostonworkersalliance.org

The reforms included in the Senate bill would make Massachusetts the first state to remove the CORI question from job applications, and would prevent dismissed cases as well as felonies over a decade old from being held against applicants.

CORI affects hundreds of thousands across the State, and represents a regressive barrier for low income communities and communities of color to build economic health and prosperity. Please help make CORI reform a reality!
Labels: CORI , Events

Vigil and Rally

TO PASS JUST CAUSE EVICTION

TOMORROW: APRIL 29, 2010
12:00 to 1:00 PM

in front of the Massachusetts State House
Join CITY LIFE/VIDA URBANA which has fought for over 2 years to win legislation that would protect occupants of foreclosed buildings against no-fault evictions by foreclosing lenders.

More than anyone, the Bank Tenants movement has focused on demanding an end to post-foreclosure, no-fault evictions. We have made that into an issue. We are very close to winning an important victory on this.

The Senate will vote on a measure giving just-cause eviction protection (eviction only for cause) to tenants in foreclosed properties. Although we are seeking small wording amendments, this central feature of Senate 2355 would be a huge victory. It would be the first piece of legislation protecting residents against large real estate owners in 16 years.

We were not able to win our goal of including former homeowners in this eviction protection. There is still prejudice about protecting former owners that we were not able to overcome. However, protections for former tenants gives important indirect protection for former owners in 3 important ways.
If an owner has tenants who are protected, the Bank can't clear the building and so has less incentive to evict the owner.

Organizations like City Life and participating lawyers can focus even more attention and resources on owners' cases.

The Banks general goal of mass eviction will receive a major defeat and hopefully open the door for more negotiations around owners. Therefore, we will be holding our vigil tomorrow to recommit ourselves to protecting everyone in foreclosed properties through our organizing, including former owners.
If you want to go from City Life's Jamaica Plain office, gather at our office at 11 am.
Labels: Events , Housing

Place Matters
May 12, 2010 - 12:00 to 1:30 PM
14 Beacon Street, Suite 604, Boston, Ma

Why is your street address such a good predictor of your health?

Living in a disadvantaged neighborhood leads to a 50-80% increase in risk for heart disease - the number 1 killer in the U.S. One reason is chronic stress. Worrying about violence, lousy schools, and unpaid bills; living in substandard housing or a polluted environment; not having good access to fresh food, reliable transportation, or safe public spaces - all of these have a negative, even toxic effect on health.

As Harvard's David Williams reminds us, "housing policy is health policy. Neighborhood improvement policies are health policies." Health of individuals is improved when residents, government agencies, local officials, foundations and private business work together and take health into account.

Join Community Change staff and friends for a screening of this film followed by a community conversation.

Please bring your lunch.
Beverages will be provided.
$5 contribution requested. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED.
RSVP at 617-523-0555 or janet@communitychangeinc.org.

Place Matters is the fifth installment in the Unnatural Causes film and discussion series.
Labels: Community , Education , Events , Health and Wellness

Saturday: join the Boston Interpreters Collective this Saturday in the rallies in Boston area. Arizona is the wake-up call. Got yourself out in the streets this Saturday. We probably could live without universal health care, but not with racial profiling. Help us to make this May 1st bigger than 2006.

Two options for you:

- Boston has a rally in the Commons from 12 to 2pm. Check www.bostonmayday.org.

- BIC folks will be going to East Boston. The contigent will be meeting at Everett City Hall at 12pm, Chelsea City Hall 1pm or for the final rally at Lopresti Park in East Boston at 2pm. Link on BIC's calendar: http://www.interpreterscollective.org/calendar/event/165
Labels: Events , Immigration , May Day

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the Massachusetts Jobs for Justice wanted us to let you know about these jobs available to teens and young adults.

The union is on strike on most of the Shaw's Supermarkets because the company has taken action to cut the benefits and wages of the 300 workers who work at Shaw's Warehouse and Distribution Center.

The job involves standing outside of a Shaw's Supermarket near the entrance to the parking lot with a sign asking people not to shop there during this strike. Also, asking people walking up to the store to consider not shopping there because of these issue.

 It pays $10.00 an hour and can be done during the day and/or evening at various Shaw's locations.

If you know of anyone interested contact Megan Pierce at United Food and Commercial Workrs at her cell phone at (202) 531-4823 or Russ Davis at Jobs with Justice (617) 524-9778
Labels: Job Opportunities

WASHINGTON --Dorothy Height, the leading female voice of the 1960s civil rights movement and a participant in historic marches with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others, died Tuesday. She was 98.

Height, whose activism on behalf of women and minorities dated to the New Deal, led the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. She continued actively speaking out into her 90s, often getting rousing ovations at events around Washington, where she was immediately recognized by the bright, colorful hats she almost always wore.

She died at Howard University Hospital, where she had been in serious condition for weeks.

In a statement, President Barack Obama called her "the godmother of the civil rights movement" and a hero to Americans.

"Dr. Height devoted her life to those struggling for equality ... and served as the only woman at the highest level of the Civil Rights Movement -- witnessing every march and milestone along the way," Obama said.

It was the second death of a major civil rights figure in less than a week. Benjamin L. Hooks, the former longtime head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, died Thursday in Memphis at 85.

As a teenager, Height marched in New York's Times Square shouting, "Stop the lynching." In the 1950s and 1960s, she was the leading woman helping King and other activists orchestrate the civil rights movement, often reminding the men heading the movement not to underestimate their women counterparts.

One of Height's sayings was, "If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time." She liked to quote 19th century abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who said that the three effective ways to fight for justice are to "agitate, agitate, agitate."

Height was on the platform at the Lincoln Memorial, sitting only a few feet from King, when he gave his famous "I have a dream" speech at the March on Washington in 1963.

"He spoke longer than he was supposed to speak," Height recalled in a 1997 Associated Press interview. But after he was done, it was clear King's speech would echo for generations, she said, "because it gripped everybody."

She lamented that the feeling of unity created by the 1963 march had faded, and that the civil rights movement of the 1990s was on the defensive and many black families were still not economically secure.

"We have come a long way, but too many people are not better off," she said. "This is my life's work. It is NOT a job."

When Obama won the presidential election in November 2008, Height told Washington TV station WTTG that she was overwhelmed with emotion.

"People ask me, did I ever dream it would happen, and I said, `If you didn't have the dream, you couldn't have worked on it," she said.

Height became president of the National Council of Negro Women in 1957 and held the post until 1997, when she was 85. She remained chairman of the group.

She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 from President Bill Clinton.

To celebrate Height's 90th birthday in March 2002, friends and supporters raised $5 million to enable her organization to pay off the mortgage on its Washington headquarters. The donors included Oprah Winfrey and Don King.

Height was born in Richmond, Va., and the family moved to the Pittsburgh area when she was four. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from New York University and did postgraduate work at Columbia University and the New York School of Social Work. (She had been turned away by Barnard College because it already had its quota of two black women.)

In 1937, while she was working at the Harlem YWCA, Height met famed educator Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of the National Council of Negro Women, and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who had come to speak at a meeting of Bethune's organization. Height eventually rose to leadership roles in both the council and the YWCA.

The late activist C. DeLores Tucker once called Height an icon to all African-American women.

"I call Rosa Parks the mother of the civil rights movement," Tucker said in 1997. "Dorothy Height is the queen."


By Ben Evans, Associated Press Writer  |  April 20, 2010
Labels: Black History , Civil Rights Movement

FREE TAREK! BENEFIT SHOW: Join us for food, raffle & live music to celebrate the release of the Free Tarek! Compilation CD, an educational fundraising project to help free our brother Tarek and all political prisoners!

SATURDAY, APRIL 24th, 2010
6:00pm @ Spontaneous Celebrations
45 Danforth Street, Jamaica Plain, MA (Stoneybrook T-stop on the Orange Line)
**GET THERE EARLY. SHOW WILL SELL OUT!**

$10 - 30 sliding scale suggested donation.
Any donation over $15 gets you a FREE CD with entrance!
There will be food, raffle, etc for sale.
All Ages! Wheelchair Accessible. No alcohol, please.

Featuring a combination of hip hop, soul and r&b performances in support of Tarek by 8 artists featured on the CD!

NATURAL BLISS (http://www.myspace.com/naturalbliss)
BROADCAST LIVE (http://www.myspace.com/broadcastlive)
SPIRITCHILD (http://www.myspace.com/spiritchildmentalnotes)
SISTAH MIA (http://www.myspace.com/sistahmia)
L.O.S.T. (http://www.myspace.com/lastofsoldierstaken)
STEPHANIE ROOKER (http://www.myspace.com/srooker)
MAJESTY (www.myspace.com/majesty360)
ABU NURAH (http://www.myspace.com/abunurah)

For more information about Tarek's Case and what you can do to help: www.freetarek.com
Labels: Events , Hip-Hop / Poetry

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/09/threats_of_revenge_put_police_on_guard/

By Maria Cramer
Globe Staff / April 9, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , BPD , Police , Police Brutality

Show your solidarity with the women at South Bay!

Saturday (4/10) at 12:30pm, Mass Ave and Melnea Cass Boulevard (just past Boston Medical Center by the Hampton Inn)

If you've been reading your email, you've heard about the deplorable conditions the women in the tower at South Bay are fighting. Grievances have been filed, calls have been made, and yet still the prison officials deny the allegations, while the issues with contaminated food continue. We are working with other prisoner advocacy organizations to take the next steps in terms of the legal battle. In the meantime, the women in South Bay need to see that they are not alone.

Come to Mass Ave and Melnea Cass Boulevard at 12:30 this Saturday and march to the Suffolk County House of Correction to keep up the pressure on the prisoncrats and to show some love to the folks inside. Bring noise, bring messages of encouragement, but most importantly, bring yourself-- and bring some friends, while you're at it!

The tower being what it is, we probably won't be able to see their faces, but they will be able to see ours! Both from later feedback and from engaging with prisoners through the walls during these demos, these supportive presences outside South Bay are really meaningful to the folks held captive to let them know that we haven't forgotten them.

For more information, please contact bostonabc@riseup.net.
http://baamboston.org
http://www.myspace.com/abcboston
Labels: Community , Events , Prison Conditions

Time: April 11, 2010 from 12:30pm to 2pm
Location: "St. Peter's Teen Center"
Organized By: Community

Event Description:
Sunday at 12:30, there will be a community meeting with the Police at Saint Peter's Teen Center on the issue of the death of Manuel "Junior" Da Veiga. The location is on Bowdoin Street, Dorchester, MA

See more details and RSVP on Blackstonian:
http://blackstonian.ning.com/events/event/show?id=2761975%3AEvent%3A7123&xgi=1mXOkLqBar6iMI&xg_source=msg_invite_event
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Community , Events , Meeting , Police , Police Brutality

This Friday, April 9th at 8:30 a.m., the trustees of the Boston Public Library will meet to vote on a budget plan which includes proposals for closing somewhere between four and eight branch libraries and cutting services at the main library in Copley Square.  BPL president Amy Ryan has endorsed a proposal to close four branches this year.  However, many believe that her ultimate  goal is to close all 10 branch libraries that she had originally targeted.  She has realized the opposition was too fierce when she proposed that many closings all at once, so she is being strategic and trying to pick off the branches a few at a time.

We need to IMMEDIATELY CONTACT BPL TRUSTEES, BPL PRESIDENT AMY RYAN, MAYOR MENINO, AND CITY COUNCILORS TO DEMAND THAT THEY NOT APPROVE ANY BUDGET THAT INCLUDES CLOSING BRANCHES OR CUTTING SERVICES.  THE TRUSTEES NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU BEFORE 8:30 FRIDAY.

It is clear, after hearing Amy Ryan speak, that this is not really about a budget emergency.  It's true that there is a budget shortfall that must be addressed.  But this shortfall is actually a convenient excuse for her to push a pre-existing agenda that seems Orwellian - that library services will be "transformed" and "improved" by cutting services and closing neighborhood branches.  Ryan's "vision" for the BPL is to have fewer, "big box" libraries and to provide library services via the internet.  She has completely discounted the role that branch libraries serve as community spaces - to her, "21st century" libraries are meant to exist primarily in cyberspace.  It's an ugly, misguided "vision" and completely discounts the loud, clear opinions expressed by patrons of the BPL.

Contact info below.  Thanks so much.

BPL public comment email: feedback@bpl.org
BPL Trustees clerk, Jamie McGlone: jmcglone@bpl.org
BPL president, Amy Ryan: aeryan@bpl.org
Mayor Menino: mayor@cityofboston.gov
City Council members: firstname.lastname@cityofboston.gov
Felix.Arroyo - at-large
Mark.Ciommo - dist. 9
John.R.Connolly - at-large
Rob.Consalvo - dist. 5
Maureen.Feeney - dist. 3
Salvatore.LaMattina - dist. 1
Bill.Linehan - dist. 2
Stephen.Murphy - at-large
Ayanna.Pressley - at-large
Michael.Ross - dist. 8
John.Tobin - dist. 6
Chuck.Turner - dist. 7
Charles.Yancey - dist. 4

For more information:
People of Boston, citywide library support group: http://peopleofboston.org/
official BPL budget page: http://www.bpl.org/general/budget/
Labels: Community , Education , Library Closings , Service Cuts

Cornered and seriously wounded by a barrage of police bullets, 19-year-old Manuel “Junior” DaVeiga pressed his .45-caliber handgun to his head Saturday, taking his own life on the same dead-end Dorchester block where moments earlier he had been mourning a murdered friend, authorities said.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley declared yesterday DaVeiga killed himself - and was not slain by cops - based on the preliminary findings of an autopsy of the Quincy man and a review of witness statements.

A team of three Boston officers and a state trooper assigned to a youth violence strike force had sought to question DaVeiga and several other youths gathered Saturday night at a sidewalk shrine on Navillus Terrace grieving the loss of 17-year-old Andrew Tavares, himself shot to death in Roxbury on March 28.

According to Conley, DaVeiga pulled out an unregistered .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun as the officers approached.

“Mulitple rounds of gunfire were exchanged between DaVeiga and the officers,” Conley said, noting that DaVeiga was left wounded - but still standing - by shots to his chest, hand and hip.

“Preliminary evidence developed to this point indicates that after the exchange of gunfire, DaVeiga reloaded his weapon, put the gun to his head, and shot himself. Police recovered the .45-caliber firearm from DaVeiga where he fell,” Conley added.

As he visited the block where one cousin died Saturday and another was being mourned, Michael Lopes, 18, of Dorchester struggled to fathom that DaVeiga would kill himself.

“His life wasn’t the best life, but I don’t think he would take his own life. He was a good person, always laughing and joyful,” he said, adding that he doesn’t hold any grudges against the officers. “It’s just another life gone. I just lost one cousin and now I lose another cousin to gun violence.”

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100406da_teen_in_gunfight_killed_self/

By Richard Weir
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality

The 19-year-old who was shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire with police in Dorchester Saturday night put his own gun to his head and fired, the Suffolk district attorney said yesterday, a determination police officials hope will settle anxiety among the area’s Cape Verdean community over the use of deadly force.

District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said yesterday that a preliminary investigation shows that Manuel “Junior’’ DaVeiga had exchanged gunfire with officers and a state trooper assigned to the Youth Violence Strike Force and that at one point he “reloaded his weapon, put the gun to his head, and shot himself.’’

Conley said police recovered DaVeiga’s .45-caliber firearm where he fell. The Cape Verdean teenager also suffered gunshot wounds to his hand, hip, and chest.

Conley said that an investigation into the shooting will continue and that officials will determine whether protocol was followed. State Police will conduct their own investigation because a trooper was involved.

“The investigation into DaVeiga’s death began Saturday night, continues today, and will proceed through the days and weeks to come,’’ Conley said.

The medical examiner has not yet ruled on a cause of death, according to Jake Wark, a spokesman for Conley.

The district attorney made his preliminary determination just as Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis met with members of the Cape Verdean community at police headquarters in Roxbury yesterday to explain what investigators determined in hopes of quelling unease and to call for a renewed partnership against the street violence that has rattled the community and led to Saturday’s shooting.

“The concerns are wider than the shooting; the concerns are about gang activity,’’ the commissioner said. “The Cape Verdean community is very aware, very cognizant of what’s happening. There are a lot of good people in the community who want to help us in stopping this.’’

The shooting occurred just after 9:30 Saturday. Police said members of the department’s Youth Violence Strike Force, along with the state trooper, went to the Navillus Street neighborhood in Dorchester to question residents as part of an investigation into a recent spike in violence.

The Globe has reported that police suspected DaVeiga had a role in much of that violence. At the time of the shooting, he had been visiting a makeshift memorial for a friend who was shot to death last month in Roxbury.

But when he saw police officials, he allegedly fled. He then turned and fired at the officers, who shot back, police said.

Davis said yesterday’s meeting with community members was organized by Deputy Superintendent William Gross, who supervises the district, and Deputy Superintendent Gary French, who oversees the strike force, to reach out to a community anxious over the use of force.

The meeting also included members of the Boston Public Health Commission, as part of the city’s Violence Intervention and Prevention initiative. A representative from St. Peter’s Church on Bowdoin Street was also involved.

Davis said the discussion was to focus on the root cause of violence that brought officers to the neighborhood in the first place. He said that only a fraction of the greater community is responsible for the violence plaguing city streets, and so those at the meeting discussed ways to reach out to families and to youth with jobs and summer programs.

Paulo DeBarros, president of Cape Verdean Community UNIDO, a community group, attended yesterday’s meeting and is working to organize another involving representatives from different social service providers, to develop an action plan to reach out to people in the neighborhood.

John Barros, head of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative and a member of the Cape Verdean community, said yesterday’s meeting was initially to call for transparency in the investigation into Saturday’s shooting. But the next step will be to determine how to avoid such situations in the future, he said.

“We outlined a number of steps on how to continue to work together to make sure the relationship between the community is not severed or worsened,’’ he said.

He said that the Cape Verdean community had developed a partnership with police over the past several years and that community leaders and police will need to reach out to the larger community to build confidence again.

“It’s a lose-lose for everyone, the police, the community, everyone, to have what happened Saturday,’’ he said. “So we want to make sure it never happens again.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/06/teen_in_police_clash_shot_self_da_says/

By Milton J. Valencia
Globe Staff / April 6, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality

Clashed with officers 3 days before, police say


Three days before his deadly encounter with police, Manny “Junior’’ DaVeiga had a violent run-in with officers in the same neighborhood, at the same intersection where he would die in the midst of a chaotic gunfight, according to a police report.

Last Wednesday afternoon, DaVeiga, 19, was standing with a group of other youths at a makeshift street memorial for a friend who had recently been killed, the report says. When the police approached them, DaVeiga allegedly taunted the three officers, screaming obscenities and raising his middle finger. They frisked him, found a folding knife in his pocket, and tried to handcuff him as he pushed them to get away, the report says. As he struggled, he allegedly broke off the mirror from a cruiser, while the crowd around the officers and DaVeiga grew, with up to 40 people yelling at police and one man shoving an officer.

Tensions erupted again between police and the crowd after DaVeiga’s death Saturday night in an exchange of gunfire with officers; the Suffolk district attorney says DaVeiga killed himself during that gunfight. Since then, police have been ordered to ride in tandem in cruisers, not alone, because police were threatened after the shootout.

The report sheds light on the tumultuous history between Boston police and DaVeiga, who had been associated with a Cape Verdean gang and had a history of mental illness, according to court records.

Yesterday, community and religious leaders said many people have questions about what happened the night DaVeiga died, and are anxious for the results of a full investigation.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley has said that DaVeiga began shooting at four officers, one of them a state trooper, after they tried to speak with him Saturday night in the area of Winter Street and Navillus Terrace, near the makeshift memorial to Andrew Tavares, a Dorchester 17-year-old and friend of DaVeiga’s, who had been killed on Maywood Street.

When police saw DaVeiga near the memorial, he allegedly turned to shoot at them. The four officers fired back, prosecutors said. DaVeiga sustained gunshots to his hip, hand, chest, and head. Prosecutors said the head wound was self-inflicted.

But Lynn Currier, executive director of Haitkaah Social Justice Project, which does youth advocacy work around the city, said the idea that the young man would have committed suicide in the midst of gunfire is “illogical.’’

“I’ve never in my life heard of a youth running with three shots in their body, stopping . . . reloading, and shooting [himself],’’ she said.

Jorge Martinez, executive director of Project RIGHT, said he believes the actions by police were justified, but that many in the community, particularly Cape Verdeans, believe police used unnecessary force.

“Fifty percent of the people were glad that the shooter went down and the other 50 percent think it was police abuse,’’ he said. “The Boston police are in a lot of trouble. They’re going to have to make amends to the Cape Verdean community, whether they were right or wrong.’’

Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said homicide detectives are working “day in and day out’’ with Suffolk prosecutors, who will determine whether any criminal charges are warranted against the four officers.

“What we’re attempting to do is get as much information as possible as quickly as possible,’’ he said.

Thomas Drechsler, a lawyer who is representing the city officers, said the actions of the men that night were justified. The officers have not been identified, but none of the city officers have any disciplinary records, he said.

“The young man put the officers in a position where they had no choice but to fire at him,’’ Drechsler said. “The officers acted in a very courageous manner.’’

According to court records, DaVeiga had a long history of mental illness. Last May, several months after he was arrested for assault and battery on a police officer, he was admitted to Bridgewater State Hospital for evaluation. DaVeiga was often depressed, self-medicated with marijuana and alcohol, and said he had hallucinations — he complained of seeing hockey pucks fly at him, according to a June 2009 report written by a hospital psychologist. At 13, he said, he stabbed his brother because voices in his head told him to, the 33-page report stated.

He underwent psychiatric evaluations several times as a teenager and was diagnosed with several conditions, including bipolar disorder and posttraumatic stress syndrome.

But the psychologist concluded that as long as DaVeiga kept taking his medications, he was not dangerous and did not need to be committed to a psychiatric hospital. After his encounter with police last Wednesday, he was released on $300 bail, according to court records. Three days later, he was dead.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/07/teen_had_run_in_prior_to_fatal_shot/

By Maria Cramer
Globe Staff / April 7, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality

Probe focuses on death of teen after shootout with cops


Police are scrambling to quell rising gang tensions following the death of a 19-year-old who authorities say ran from gang unit cops and then opened fire on them in Dorchester Saturday night before being fatally wounded.

“Patrols have been stepped up in the area for the last couple of weeks,” said Boston police spokesman Eddy Chrispin. “Obviously, it’s a tense situation and we have to take every precaution.”

Officials said an unusual calm start to the year gave way to a burst of gang violence in the last few weeks, culminating in the shootout at Navillus Terrace, near Bowdoin and Winter streets.


Three police officials told the Herald that cops are investigating whether the teen, wounded by police, then turned the gun on himself, delivering the fatal blow.

Police were conducting routine interviews with youths when they came upon the 19-year-old Saturday night, who tried to slip away from a larger group but was pursued by cops, sources said. The teen is a suspect in a recent shooting, but that was not why he was stopped, sources said.

As the chase unfolded, the teen turned around and began to unload a clip, aiming at four cops, including a state trooper, sources said. Sources said officers at the scene told investigators the suspect was wounded and then turned his .45-caliber handgun on himself.

Yesterday, a plastic gun and liquor bottles comprised a makeshift memorial for the deceased teen at the scene of the shooting.

The Boston Police Firearms Discharge Unit and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley are investigating the shooting.

“The nature of the fatal injury remains under investigation,” said DA spokesman Jake Wark. “Officers approached him, he fled, officers gave chase and it was in the context of that chase that shots were exchanged.”

Police are also investigating a fatal stabbing in Allston Saturday night, where a man was found stabbed at 7 Mansfield St. He later died after being transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Anyone with information is urged to call 1-800-494-TIPS or text “TIP” to Crime (27463).

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100405tense_situation_on_streets_probe_focuses_on_death_of_teen_after_shootout_with_cops/srvc=home&position=1

By Jessica Van Sack and O’Ryan Johnson
Monday, April 5, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality

Devastated by the recent death of a close friend, Manuel “Junior’’ DaVeiga went to pay condolences to the family Saturday night and then visited a makeshift memorial to him on Navillus Terrace in Dorchester, friends said.

Moments after he arrived at the memorial, DaVeiga was engaged in a shoot-out with police.

He died of gunshot wounds. It remains unclear whether the shot that killed him came from police or his own gun, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation.

John Cardosa, who grew up with 19-year-old DaVeiga near the site of the shooting, said he and several other friends were standing by the memorial when they heard two shots ring out and saw numerous police officers rush in their direction.

“Then there were more shots and more shots,’’ said Cardosa. “They didn’t have to shoot him like that, 15 times. He was running away and they just kept shooting at him.’’

Eddy Chrispin, Boston police spokesman, said yesterday, “Based on preliminary investigation, it appears he fired on us, and officers returned fire.’’

DaVeiga was among several men standing on a corner who were approached by police about 9:41, according to police. The teen fled when officers drew near, Chrispin said.

Police were in the area to question people who had been gathering at the memorial, made of candles, flowers, and liquor bottles, erected several days ago for 17-year-old Andrew Tavares, according to the two law enforcement officials.

Tavares, who was shot to death March 28 on Maywood Street in Roxbury, was a childhood friend of DaVeiga.

A police official, who requested anonymity because the case remains under investigation, said officers believed DaVeiga was involved in some of the gun-related violence that has been plaguing the area the past couple of weeks and wanted to talk to him.

The two law enforcement officials said officers believed DaVeiga was a gang member and carried a gun. When the officers approached DaVeiga, he fled, then turned around and began firing at them, the sources said. The officers returned fire, they said.

An autopsy will be conducted today, they said.

At the scene of the shooting Saturday night, Police Superintendent Daniel Linskey said police were investigating whether DaVeiga might have been shot with his own weapon.

One of the two sources said DaVeiga was shot in the head and stomach.

DaVeiga’s sister, Carla, said yesterday at the family home in Quincy that her brother wasn’t a troublemaker and was trying to make his life better. He was working toward obtaining his GED and had aspirations of going to college, she said.

“My brother would never kill himself,’’ she said. “He didn’t have the greatest life but he wouldn’t kill himself. He wouldn’t take the easy way out. The cops are the ones who are cowards. They shot him 15 times.’’

Their mother left Cape Verde about 20 years ago, she said. Carla DaVeiga was born in Cape Verde, but Manuel and another brother were born in the United States.

About two years ago, their mother moved the family from their home on Bowdoin Street in Dorchester to raise her children in Quincy because she felt safer there.

Yesterday, Carla said her mother was upstairs crying and declined to speak with a reporter.

DaVeiga fell near 10 Navillus Terrace. Yesterday, at the opposite end of the street where the memorial to Tavares had been erected, two candles marked the spot where DaVeiga died.

Isaura Mendes, a Cape Verdean peace activist, visited the scene yesterday and spoke with friends of DaVeiga’s.

“They’re in pain,’’ she said. “All the violence that they see, and they keep it all inside because they have nobody to talk with and they feel hopeless.’’

Mendes said she saw DaVeiga on Wednesday at the cemetery where Tavares was buried. A day later, she saw him at St. Peter’s Church on Bowdoin Street at a meeting she helped organize to counsel the area’s Cape Verdean youth.

“He was really sad; he felt so much pain because of his friend’s death,’’ Mendes said.

With the death of DaVeiga and the fatal stabbing of an unidentified man in Allston Saturday night, the number of homicides in Boston stood at 16 yesterday compared with 12 at the same time last year, according to Chrispin.

A spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney’s office, which is investigating the shooting, said the officers spoke with the teenager briefly before he fled and opened fire.

Jake Wark said three or four officers, including a state trooper assigned to the Boston police gang unit, were involved.

State Police, who have a specialized team to investigate police-related shootings, will also be assisting in the investigation, said David Procopio, spokesman for the State Police. He said the number of officers who fired shots and their identities would be part of the investigation.

“The preliminary investigation suggests that the suspect opened fire and that the police officers returned fire and that there were multiple shots fired from both sides,’’ Procopio said.

A firearm was recovered at the scene, police said yesterday.

The officers involved were taken to the hospital for treatment for stress and placed on administrative leave, according to procedure in a police-related shooting, Chrispin said.

Police officers were ordered to patrol in tandem yesterday because of apparent death threats directed at police after the shooting, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation.

At the family home yesterday, Carla DaVeiga said her brother was about to become a father; his girlfriend is expecting a baby. Manuel DaVeiga was a handyman around the house, always fixing things, she said.

“The last time I spoke with him, I believe last Wednesday, I told him to be careful out there, and he said he was and that he loves me.’’

Noah Bierman of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/05/man_19_killed_in_shoot_out_with_police/

By Brian R. Ballou and Maria Cramer
Globe Staff / April 5, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality

Women at South Bay are being served bug-infested food, are forced to live in flooded cells, and daily face unsanitary and dangerous conditions. Women are refusing meals and demanding that the situation immediately be put to rights.

Grievances have been filed about food infested with maggots*; rat droppings have also been found in prisoners' food.  The late rain may have been an annoyance to some of us, but it was flooding the women's cells in the tower where they are held.  One woman was given a plastic trash bag to deal with the leaks, which bag was soon filled with water.  Another woman took to using her personal property, blankets, towels, sheets, and clothing to stuff up the leaks, all of which was soaked almost immediately.  Even the ceiling of the visiting room was severely damaged by recent rain.  The facility is fewer than 20 years old.  In response to
the complaints, the institutional grievance coordinator declared the food and flooding situations “resolved,” despite the fact that the leaks have not been fixed and the food sanitation situation is merely being “investigated.”

Hidden in plain sight, this Boston facility is right off Mass Ave by Boston Medical Center.  The repulsive conditions at South Bay are bad enough in their own right, but consider that the captive population is much more likely to have compromised immune systems, whether because of hepatitis C, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, or an array of other conditions. For people suffering from chronic medical issues, South Bay's filth is nothing
short of a threat on their lives.

Call Sheriff Andrea J.Cabral this week at 617.635.1000, ext. 2100 and tell her that she is responsible for the health and wellbeing of those in her custody.  An effective public relations machine is not enough.  Demand that meaningful changes are made immediately with input from those women most suffering from the issues at hand.  The two most important issues to the women inside right now are 1. the food and 2. the leaky cells.  We encourage people to leave call back numbers and demand a response from the administration.  We also encourage you to write bostonabc@riseup.net and tell how your call went!

A woman wrote, “I just need some help.  No one helps the women here.” Please prove her wrong!

*When one prisoner complained to a guard about the maggots in her food, the guard retorted that it was “protein.”
Labels: Prison Conditions

A man was shot by police last night after first allegedly firing at the officers in Dorchester, police and sources said.

Police said the shooting happened at 9:46 p.m. on Navillus Terrace, which is near the intersection of Bowdoin and Winter streets. A police source said the man who was shot by police was killed at the scene.

The shooting happened after a state trooper and a plainclothes Boston Police Department unit began chasing a man through the neighborhood. Police would not say last night why the man was being pursued.

The source said during the chase, the man turned and fired multiple rounds at officers, then paused to reload his weapon.“He was fumbling with the clip and it was lights out,” the source said.

It was unclear last night how many officers returned fire. A police source said none of the police officers involved was harmed, but one or more were hospitalized for stress.

The shooting is under investigation by the Boston Police Department Firearms Discharge Unit and the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, which handles all police involved shootings.

At the scene, police pushed back a hostile crowd that swore at officers manning the perimeter.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1244564&srvc=rss

By O’Ryan Johnson and Stuart Cahill
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality

BOSTON -- Boston police said officers shot and killed an armed suspect Saturday night in Dorchester.

Police called the incident “an officer-involved shooting.”

The incident occurred in the area of Navillus Terrace in Dorchester.

Sources tell 7News that the officers involved were members of the Youth Violence Strike Force. Police said they were investigating the suspect. The suspect attempted to flee and officers pursued. According to police, the suspect then pulled a gun. Police said the officers "returned fire."

There were four police officers involved. They were not physically injured, but they were taken to a hospital for stress-related injuries, according to police.

Police did confirm that an officer discharged his weapon, and that the suspect was killed. The suspect's name was not released.

Police shut down streets to collect evidence while investigating the incident.

Keep it tuned to 7News for more details.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO139205/

(Copyright (c) 2010 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality

A teenager was shot to death in Dorchester last night after exchanging gunfire with police who were investigating gang activity.

Members of the Youth Violence Strike Force were near 11 Navillus Terrace investigating a recent spate of gun violence in the area, said Boston Police Superintendent Daniel Linskey. Several people have been shot and injured or killed on Dorchester streets in the past week.

Officers approached a man at about 9:30 p.m., and he drew a firearm and began shooting at officers, Linskey said. “The officers returned fire,” Linskey said at a press briefing last night.

The suspect’s name was not released. Linskey said he was 18 or 19 years old and was “involved with individuals involved with gang violence.”

The suspect died at the scene, Linskey said, but his body was still there late last night. Police are investigating whether the man was shot by police or by own weapon, Linskey said. He would not say how many officers fired or how many shots were fired.

Several bystanders near the press conference wailed “my son” and “my brother.”

Eddy Chrispin, a Boston Police spokesman, said no officers were struck.

The Suffolk District Attorney’s office is investigating.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/04/armed_teen_shot_to_death/

By John M. Guilfoil
Globe Staff / April 4, 2010
Labels: Boston Police Killings , Police , Police Brutality

FREE TAREK! BENEFIT SHOW AND CD RELEASE PARTY

Food, Raffle & Live Music to support TAREK MEHANNA and all political prisoners!

SATURDAY, APRIL 24th, 2010
6:00pm @ Spontaneous Celebrations
45 Danforth Street, Jamaica Plain, MA
(Stoneybrook T-stop on the Orange Line)

$10 - 30 sliding scale suggested donation.
Any donation over $15 gets you a FREE CD with entrance!
All Ages! Wheelchair Accessible. No alcohol, please.

Featuring performances in support of Tarek by 7 artists featured on the CD!

NATURAL BLISS (boston's pre-eminent female emcee, gritty hip-hop to reckon with)

BROADCAST LIVE ( NY-based radical hip hop and spoken word for liberation.)

SPIRITCHILD (freedom singer of the south bronx, hip hop for cultural revolution then evolution)

SISTAH MIA (community activist from the bronx, revolutionizing youth through hip hop)

L.O.S.T. (young emcee from new york with a raw, complex flow and a powerful message)

STEPHANIE ROOKER (soul-shaking & alluring music for empowerment & social change)

MAJESTY (hardcore progressive hip-hop artist using his gift for the upliftment of the people)

Tarek Mehanna is a young Muslim man from the Boston area who was recently arrested by the FBI after refusing to be an informant against the Muslim community. He is currently being held illegally in 23-hour solitary confinement.

Join us to celebrate the release of the Free Tarek! Compilation CD, an educational fundraising project to help free our brother Tarek. The CD consists of more than 30 artists who have donated their music to raise awareness about FBI repression and related struggles against racism and oppression. The CD has plenty of brand new material recorded specifically in support of Tarek, and features a musically diverse array of movement artists like Rebel Diaz, Climbing Poetree, Hasan Salaam, Sabreena Da Witch, Evan Greer, and Taina Asili. CDs are $10 - 25 sliding scale and will be available online as well as at the show!

For more information about Tarek's Case and what you can do to help: www.freetarek.com
Labels: Events , Political Prisoners