Somerville Voices

Last week, I described Centro Presente, who we are, what services we provide, and how we work. This week I want to write about what we are trying to accomplish in the broader Somerville community. Our first priority is to detoxify the political rhetoric around us, to really clean that up so that you have a cleansed environment, a cleansed earth, where we can start planting good policies.

I would like to introduce my organization, Centro Presente, to this great city, which is our new home. Actually, we’re not new to Somerville—we’ve worked here for many years, and we have hundreds of Somerville members, but we recently moved our headquarters to 17 Inner Belt Road.

Join us for the re-opening of the Mystic Community Garden at the Mystic Housing Development. The opening takes place as part of the Mystic Providers’ annual picnic for Somerville Housing Authority tenants. Drop by anytime between 3 and 7 to tour the garden. Just drop by the The Welcome Project’s table in front of the…

Join us on Wed, Aug 20th Tuesday, August 19 for the re-opening of the Mystic Community Garden at the Mystic Housing Development. The opening takes place as part of the Mystic Providers’ annual picnic for Somerville Housing Authority tenants. Drop by anytime between 3 and 7 to tour the garden. Just drop by the The Welcome Project’s table in front of the Mystic Activity Center at 530 Mystic Ave. We’ll walk you over for a tour of the new garden.

When Jack Hamilton began serving as the Executive Director of CAAS (the Community Action Agency of Somerville), Ronald Reagan was President, postage stamps cost 20 cents, IBM had just introduced the first personal computer running on MS-DOS, and PacMan-mania was sweeping the country. After more than a quarter-century of service to Somerville’s low-income residents, Hamilton has announced he will retire as the head of Somerville’s anti-poverty agency at the end of 2008.

On August 5, from 8 - 9 p.m. on SCAT’s celebrated DEAD AIR LIVE show, the Tibetan community will offer viewers a first-hand report of what Tibet was like before the Chinese invasion, and talk about what it was like to have to flee their beloved homeland and become exiled citizens of the world. Tune in to SCAT Channel 3 next Tuesday, for a fascinating and moving account of a beautiful culture and people, who cultivated the roof of the world.

I’m passing on a message from Welcome Project at the Mystic Housing Development. They’re asking for volunteers to help rebuild the community garden over there. They’ve already put in two days of work, and the next is this Saturday, July 12, 9 to 3. After that, Wednesday, July 23, 5 to 8.…

Conguero Vicente Lebron has been a cornerstone of the Latin and jazz scenes in Boston for over 30 years. He is currently being held in a Homeland Security prison and threatened with deportation.

The recent raids at the Pilgrim Pride poultry plants that garnered nationwide media attention only underscore the fact that future ICE raids are imminent.