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星期二, 6月 02, 2020

Community statements supporting black lives matters


Statements from the community:


June 2, 2020

Dear Friends of ACDC,

Over the past week, protests swept across America calling for justice for George Floyd and the many other Black and Brown people who had senselessly and needlessly died at the hands of the police. It was powerful and beautiful to see so many people come together with signs and chants of “I Can’t Breathe” and “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.”

Yet many news images focus on the subsequent violence and looting. While these images are painful to see, it is all too easy to get distracted by the damages from the core message – namely that there must be change to this system under which Black and Brown lives are discarded so callously, repeatedly.

Several stores in Chinatown suffered damages and loss on Sunday night, on top of the devastating economic loss and rise in anti-Asian sentiment from the pandemic. Across the country, many of the stores targeted were owned by people of color, many of them immigrants who have now lost their livelihood, built from scratch and with sacrifice. It is impossible to know how many of these small businesses will survive.

There will be temptations to blame the protesters. There will be comparisons to the L.A. riots. Except this time, it is happening concurrently with a global health pandemic. All this pain, anxiety and unknowns are compounding into an increasingly divisive society as injustices come to light.

This country has long pitted communities of color against one another, including Asian and Black communities. Asian Americans have often been used as a wedge to split apart people of color, such as the “Model Minority” myth, which puts us on an insidious pedestal while blaming Black and Brown people for their own sufferings. Divisiveness keeps the white supremacy system intact.

But we in the Asian American community must stand together with the Black, Brown and Indigenous communities. How can we ask others to stand in solidarity against anti-Asian xenophobia, if we cannot join the call now for justice for George Floyd and others like him?

We have a long road ahead of us. While we take care of one another during this pandemic, we must examine and address anti-Blackness within our own community, stand with our sisters and brothers in the Black and Brown communities, and work together to demand justice and dismantle racism. This time, we will not stand by silently.

Sincerely,

Angie Liou
Executive Director




Dear BCNC Community,
Monday was my first day as CEO of BCNC and I was excited to join this important and impactful organization.
However, Monday was not how I envisioned starting my new role – during a world-wide health crisis or national protests around racial injustices against Black Americans.
Since our founding, BCNC exists to build thriving families, and equitable and stronger communities. COVID-19 has fueled anti-Asian racism, xenophobia, and harassment. The families we serve as well as staff have felt fear and anger as a result. Racist and White supremacist sentiments do not contribute to a thriving community or healthy families. BCNC and I unequivocally condemn these racial injustices.
I believe our country has a lot of critical work to undo that source of fear and anger. Anti-racism work is important to our community, but also especially for our Black neighbors, friends, and colleagues, so they can live their lives safely and without fear. Unfortunately, it is tragically too late for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others. I believe any nonprofit agency serving immigrants or people of color is a social justice organization, and our approach to the work should be with an equity lens.
Therefore, just as we combat anti-Asian racism, we must seek to be allies and advocates with the Black community against racism and White supremacy. Without change and justice for Blacks there will be no change and justice for Asians, Latinx, Muslims, or many others. To be true allies to the Black community, we believe the Asian community must also be self-reflective and work to address our own biases and racism. These are difficult and painful conversations, but the work is important, and solidarity will result in change.
Our values will be important as we pursue this work. My professional background working as a counselor for adjudicated teens, at the Boston Children’s Chorus, and the Boston Public Library has provided me a set of diverse experiences grounded in values of love, resilience, creativity, respect, risk-taking, and justice to name a few. These values will undergird our work helping our community be safe and thrive.
My personal story includes these values. Like many of the families we serve, my story begins with parents making tough decisions. It starts with parents making a difficult decision to leave me at the steps of an orphanage in Seoul, South Korea with the hope of a better life and at the same time, an American couple in Southern New Jersey deciding to adopt a baby boy from Asia. Both stories start from a place of love, risk, anxiety, hope, and a little chance. Both couples made a personal sacrifice to "create a pathway to a brighter future" for me. It isn’t without reflection that I’m truly fortunate to be where I am today. In addition to a little luck, I am who I am due to many doors being opened to me by the love, care, and support of others. So, ingrained in me is the desire to give back, serve and help others achieve their potential. Sometimes that means teaching, inspiring confidence in someone, giving someone a first, second or even third opportunity, or just a kind word. It is what our staff does every single day.
Though we are living through challenging times, we need to raise our voices up for a just America. Raise our voices for equity, justice, and inclusion. Raise our voices for a better future.
That future is in our hands. That future is created by our coming together, intentionally planning, and moving the reality we want forward. I’m proud to see an organization that is resilient and adaptable, has incredible community knowledge, a deep desire to respond to our community’s needs, and most important of all a willingness to learn so the future is not foretold and is ours to write. I look forward to connecting with you and doing this work together.

With a heart full,

Ben Hires
Chief Executive Officer

885 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
ACE NextGen, a non-profit organization with a mission to connect, elevate, and give back to the Asian American Pacific Islander entrepreneur community, and its five chapters in Boston, Houston, Southern California, New York, and Washington, DC, stand in unity and solidarity with the black community in light of recent events. We strongly condemn racism of any kind.

We are calling upon our community to stand up and support the fight against racial injustice and inequality that persist in our country. Now is the time to stand up for each other by joining or contributing resources to organizations that advocate for the black community, people of color, anti-racism, and an equitable society, and by promoting open dialogue within our own circles about racism, biases, and activism.

And as always, we are here for our small business community especially during these challenging times as we navigate an ever changing environment. Please reach out if you need any help.

ACE NextGen will be reaching out to business leaders of the black community within our parent organization, National ACE, and our extended network to come up with a plan of action to best support the black community. If you’d like to be informed or get involved with this initiative, please contact one of your ACE NextGen national or chapter leaders.


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ATASK Stands with Black Lives

We stand with the Black communities of America. The pain, sadness and anger expressed across the nation is undeniable. Systemic racism, white supremacy, police brutality and the historic oppression of the Black community are not new. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Aubrey are only recent reminders. We are a nation that "Can't Breathe."

Remaining silent perpetuates racism and systemic injustice. We can no longer stay silent and must use our collective voices to demand change. ATASK is committed to joining Black communities and allies to dismantle the structural inequities that oppress Black, indigenous and people of color and divide our nation. There are many ways to raise your voice against racism and create a more equitable and inclusive society.
  • Educate yourself about Black history, anti-racism, anti-blackness, white supremacy, and systemic oppression.  And do this work without asking your Black peers to educate you.
  • Reach out and listen without judgement.
  • Learn how to be a better ally.
  • Support Black businesses.
  • Protest safely and peacefully. 
  • Donate to a charity that supports the Black community and social justice.
  • Vote for change.
  • Support government policies aimed at reforming unjust systems on the state and local levels.

In solidarity,
ATASK



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P.O. Box 120108
Boston, MA 02112
Hotline: 617.338.2355
Office: 617.338.2350

Rectangle: Rounded Corners: DONATE NOW




Statement from AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins on Racial Injustice and Disparities
En español | WASHINGTON—Today AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins released the following statement: 
“As we witness the protests over racial injustice and face the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we believe our nation desperately needs healing. The incidents of racial violence and COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on people of color are not random, but instead are the result of inequality due to a lack of social, economic, and political opportunities. Discrimination of any kind corrodes our communities and our society from the inside out. 
“AARP today continues to be guided by the promise that our founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, made over 60 years ago: ‘What we do, we do for all.’ Through our advocacy, programs, and services, we fight against discrimination, advocate for access to health care, and work to improve the lives of all people, especially those most vulnerable. As we consider this moment in time, it’s clear this work is more important than ever. During these difficult days, AARP will use its voice, resources, and trust in our brand to continue our fight for what is right so all people can live a life of dignity regardless of race, age, or income.

Letter to the Emerson Community from Dr. Lee Pelton, May 31, 2020
Today, I write to you as a Black man and as President of Emerson College.
There is no other way to write to you, given recent events.
I didn’t sleep Friday night. Instead, I spent the night, like a moth drawn to a flame, looking again and again at the video of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis white police officer. It was a legalized lynching. I was struck by the callousness and the casual dehumanization of Mr. Floyd. To that officer, he was invisible – the Invisible Man that Ralph Ellison described in his novel by the same name.
Black Americans are invisible to most of white America. We live in the shadows – even those of us, who like me, sit at the table of bounty. At the same time, we are hyper-visible in classrooms, work places, social settings, and as we go about our daily lives.
On Saturday, I was very angry. The persistent structural racism that undergirds American society and permits the police and others to kill black people is pernicious and ubiquitous.
We mourn George Floyd. But let’s not forget the other George Floyds of which he is but one:
Ahmaud Arbery was jogging when white vigilantes pursued him in their pick-up trucks, shot and killed him. A Harvard educated black birder, Christian Cooper, was bird watching when a white woman walking her dog weaponized the lynching trope in an attempt to summon police.
Do you remember Trayvon Martin or twelve-year old Tamir Rice or Sandra Bland or Philando Castile or Eric Garner or Freddie Gray or Botham Jean or Breonna Taylor?
Say their names. This is not new.
All of them dead. Each of them invisible.
I’m still angry. As President, I didn’t want to write in anger. But I also didn’t want to write the kind of platitudinous letters that ordinarily appear after these kinds of killings. I consulted my children on Saturday. One said, “Dad, I don’t think you need to say anything if you don’t want to. Who even knows what to say right now. And as you said, it’s more up to white people to say something now.”
I consulted friends and one of the wisest among them said, “Let [the world] know how you feel. Everyone who gets it will be better for it; the others, who cares. In some contexts anger is not an emotion; instead, it’s a moral.”
And so, I write today.
I watched the video over and over again well into the morning hours because I was mesmerized by the casualness with which the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. Chauvin dug his knee into his neck for almost eight minutes, even as Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” As he called on his Mama before he took his last breath, Chauvin continued to talk, he looked as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He didn’t stop until Floyd was unresponsive.
George Floyd was invisible. And it was his invisibility, a brutal white power structure and Chauvin’s dehumanization of him that killed him.
Floyd has a history. And so do I.
I was born in a house that had no indoor plumbing until I was six years old. Until they died, my mother and both of my grandmothers cleaned houses for middle class and rich white folks. My father was a laborer until he got a good paying job working at the City of Wichita, Kansas, where I was born and raised. When I was in high school, I didn’t know anything about private colleges or universities and even if I had, I would not have been able to afford one of them. So, I enrolled at my local public university, which was essentially a commuter school.
In my lifetime, I have been called the n-word by white people in every state and every city that I have ever lived in.
I have been pulled over driving while black more times than I can remember. I have been spit on by a white parking lot attendant. I was stopped 20 feet from my house by two white police officers in their cruiser, the searing heat of their spot light on my neck, guns drawn on either side of my car because I looked like a black man who was alleged to have stolen something from a convenience store. When I was living on the West Coast, I was pulled over twice in a single night by police officers because, according to each, I didn’t turn on my turn signal the proper feet before a stop sign. As president of the University before Emerson, two teenage boys drove up on the sidewalk to block my path home because I looked like someone who was suspected of stealing from neighborhood homes. When I asked what that person looked like they described someone more than twenty years younger than me. While visiting my cousins in Conway, Arkansas in the 70’s, I suffered the deep humiliation of having to go to the back alley of a local restaurant to order food. I was twenty years old. I was angry at the overt racism and at my cousins for enduring such indignities almost a decade after the passages of the two Civil Rights Acts of the mid-60’s.
That’s my history. And I have dedicated my life’s work to social justice in just about every aspect of American life, but especially for young people who grew up like me.
I also write to you today on the anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma riots in which Greenwood, then the wealthiest black neighborhood in America (called the Black Wall Street), was attacked by mobs of white residents because a 19-year old black shoeshiner allegedly bumped into a 17-year old white elevator operator. More than 800 black people were admitted to the hospital, and 6,000 Greenwood families were displaced as white vigilantes deputized by law enforcement killed more than 300 hundred black people and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of Greenwood, some of it carried out by private aircraft. It is the worst single incident of racial violence in American history, and I suspect not one in ten Americans have ever heard of it.
What happened to George Floyd is not new. It as old as 250 years of slavery and the Jim Crow laws that sought to marginalize and shut out black Americans from American society.
As my wise friend reminded me, quoting James Baldwin, “Any real change implies the breaking of the world as one has always known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, the end of safety.”
So, I have no words of comfort today because they would be inauthentic. They would absolve so many from coming to terms with their own silent complicity in the world in which we live.
As I wrote to someone today, “This is not a black problem, but a structural issue built on white supremacy and centuries of racism. It’s your problem. And until you understand that, we are doomed to relive this week’s tragic events over and over again. What changes will you make in your own life? Begin with answering that question and maybe, just maybe we will get somewhere.”
The most important question is: What are you going to do?
At an appropriate time, I will gather the community to talk about what I have written and what we might be able to do together to address racism in America, beginning first of all with an honest appraisal of ourselves.
Lee

昆士市政府6月8日起重開大門

City Hall Services To Re-Open To Public On Monday 
June 2, 2020 
QUINCY - Mayor Thomas Koch announced today that City Hall will re-open for public business on
Monday June 8, with residents encouraged to continue conducting business online or via appointment when possible to help maintain public health and safety amid the coronavirus pandemic. 
Occupancy in the building will be strictly limited to maintain safe social distancing guidelines, and all members of the public will be required to wear a face-covering when conducting business.  A number of safety improvements have been made to the interior of City Hall to help protect both the public and employees from potential exposure.

“The public health data is heading in the right direction in Quincy and the Commonwealth, and
providing the public access to its government is an important symbol of gradually getting us back to
normal,” said Mayor Koch.

While the building will be open, the Mayor encouraged residents to the extent possible to continue to
pay bills, apply for permits and conduct other business via the City’s website, www.quincyma.gov, or by phone.   A number of departments, such as the City’s Clerk’s Office issuance of  marriage licenses, will continue to do business primarily by appointment.  Residents are strongly encouraged to call ahead to individual departments: 

City Clerk: 617-376-1130
Assessors Office: 617-376-1170
Human Resources:  617-376-1066
Purchasing: 617-376-1074
Treasurer/Collector:  617-376-1095

Business in other City Buildings, including the Planning Department at Coddington Hall and
Inspectional Services and Public Works at 55 Sea St. will continue operating as status quo by
appointment. Please call ahead or visit the City’s website for services in those buildings.

星期一, 6月 01, 2020

悼念天安門31週年 6/4




波士頓市長強調保護波士頓安全 要追究遊行暴力責任

波士頓事長馬丁華殊強調要保護波士頓安全。(波士頓市府提供)
                          (Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓綜合報導) 波士頓市週日(531)晚的一場遊行從和平抗議變調為暴動,打砸搶,讓無數市民心驚膽顫還憤怒。波士頓市長馬丁華殊(Martin J. Walsh)(61)日下午舉行記者會也強調,這是攻擊波士頓市,必須追究責任。
波士頓警察局局長葛羅斯說明有53人被捕。(攝自記者會視頻)
                      根據波士頓市警察局局長葛羅斯(William Gross)今日下午1點在波士頓市長的記者會中表示,沒人想到這種事會發生在波士頓。昨晚的抗議活動,共有53人被捕,其中27人來自波士頓,2人來自外州,其餘來自麻州的其他市鎮。事件中有8名警察受傷。
                   波士頓市長馬丁華殊以沉痛的語氣,感謝那些和平遊行者,譴責那些施暴,行搶,破壞公物,殃及無辜者。他說波士頓市是個種族多元的城市,也一向重視黑人社區,那些種族歧視和不正義的行為是錯的,必須終止,偏見,仇恨和暴力行為的責任一定要追究。昨晚在波士頓市中心發生的搶劫,暴力事件,許多商店被打砸,甚至導致18名旁觀者送醫,向非洲裔美國士兵致敬的麻州第54兵團紀念碑都被破壞,這等於是攻擊波士頓市的價值觀,攻擊波士頓人。
   薩福克郡(Suffolk)地方檢察官羅琳斯(Rachael Rollins)(攝自記者會視頻)
馬丁華殊強調,黑人社區真的很傷痛,一生都在不公平對待中掙扎,但他也要保護波士頓市的安全,呼籲人們不要迷失了遊行是為爭取改變這焦點,反而讓心靈已經受傷的人們承受更多傷害。
             薩福克郡(Suffolk)地方檢察官羅琳斯(Rachael Rollins)十分激動。她先強調對受傷警員的關心。她說警察們只是執行工作,沒想到卻遭遇民眾以槍相向。現場的那些搶劫行為也讓人無法接受,既模糊了遊行的主要目的,更讓其他遊行者很丟臉。她的辦公室已至少起訴3人。
5月31日晚波士頓抗議遊行現場警民對峙。
(蘇宇寅提供)
             3人在昨晚將近午夜時分,被警察發現滯留在波約斯頓街上窗戶碎玻璃一地的Lord and Taylor百貨店內,每人都至少拿著一個還帶有Lord and Taylor價目表的金錶。
             羅琳斯也很直白的表示,和明尼阿波利斯市非洲裔男子George Floyd的死於一名白人警察相似,不少黑人的生命被偷了,被私刑處決了,被謀殺了,再也回不來了,白人社區卻還屢勸不聽,已讓人受夠了。
             為抗議明尼阿波利斯市非洲裔男子George Floyd的死於一名白人警察手中,波士頓市在週五有百餘人聚集在南端(South End)的彼得公園抗議之後,週日晚又有數千,甚至上萬人遊行到州政府示威,明(62)日在昆士市(Quincy)還會再有一場示威遊行。
             週日的遊行,在白天時都很平和,但夜色漸沉,人漸散去的9點多之後,少數流連不去的示威者,卻開始變得暴力。看電視直播的民眾也不可置信地看著遊行民眾和警察起衝突,華盛頓街上棍棒與瓶子齊飛,天空冒起煙花,警車被人燒了,街道兩旁的商店窗戶被打得玻璃碎落滿地,遊行的人也搖身變成搶匪,紛紛跑進店裡,抓了滿滿的一懷抱商品,就溜了。
             一整個晚上,從華盛頓街到紐百利街,波約斯頓街,電視台的新聞攝影鏡頭直播著暴民公然打砸商店門窗,入內搶劫商品,但大部分的鏡頭裏,卻不見有警察出現取締。
             麻州眾議員麥家威(Aaron Michlewitz)在臉書上表示,數以千計的人上街遊行,紀念George FloydBreonna TaylorEric Garner等許多黑人,棕色男女被執法人員奪去生命的悲劇,他認為自己及大眾都應該支持這樣的行動,但是看著他的轄區內也有許多地方被破壞,大大小小的商店被打砸,偷搶,讓人氣極,心碎,都想知道這場遊行到底哪裏做錯了,竟導致這樣的結果。
             雞肉飯傢伙(The Chicken & Rice Guys)創辦人蘇宇寅(Ian So)相信這場遊行會很和平。參加很重要,所以他去了。他在臉書上分享當晚見聞,直言他目睹了白人跑進跑出一家店面,打倒了一名守住店面,防止搶劫的女黑人守衛。他認為至少95%的遊行者都無意引發暴力,丟水瓶,詛咒警察,放煙花,搶劫的只是一小群人。有很多勇敢的抗議者還要那些搶劫者別搶。警察也展現極度的克制與耐心,有時候,只有10名警察面對著上百名示威者,忍受咒罵以及向著他們投擲過去的物品。那麼多的憤怒和分歧,要改變恐怕得花許多年。

Mayor Walsh released this statement about protests on Sunday, May 31, in the City of Boston.
I want to thank the protestors who exercised their right to free speech effectively and peacefully, making sure everyone hears their message. Tonight's protests were motivated by a righteous desire for equality, justice, and accountability in our country. I see you. I hear you. I will use my voice for you. 
 
I am angered, however, by the people who came into our city and chose to engage in acts of destruction and violence, undermining their message. If we are to achieve change and if we are to lead the change, our efforts must be rooted in peace and regard for our community.
 
I want to thank the officers of the Boston Police Department and all of the public safety agencies for their professionalism tonight. They are working hard, as they always do, to keep our city safe and treat our residents with respect.

Governor Baker Issues Executive Order in Advance of Phase II


BOSTON — Today, Governor Charlie Baker issued an Executive Order that  provides a detailed list of businesses and activities that fall into Phases II, III, and IV of the Commonwealth’s Re-Opening Plan. The Order also permits all Phase II enterprises, including retail, to begin preparations to safely resume operation in advance of the start of the second phase.  In addition to the retail sector, the Executive Order details further requirements for the safe resumption of amateur youth and adult sports and outdoor dining.

Effective immediately, the Executive Order permits Phase II businesses to reopen their physical workplaces to workers only to conduct necessary preparations prior to the start of Phase II.  Preparations include but are not limited to completing a COVID-19 Control Plan, implementing sector-specific protocols, and complying with Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards.
ORDER PREPARING FOR REOPENING PHASE II: On June 1, Governor Baker issued an order outlining details to allow for preparation for Phase II of the Commonwealth's reopening plan. ORDER (Accessible
CHILDCARE: On June 1, Governor Baker issued an order outlining details around the reopening of childcare providers. ORDER (Accessible)

VIEW UPDATED LIST OF ENTERPRISES IN PHASES II, III, and IV

Retailers: Retail stores will transition from curbside pickup and delivery-only to browsing and in-store transactions with restrictions at the start of Phase II.

Social distancing guidance requires each retail store to monitor customer entries and exits and limit occupancy at all times to either 8 persons (including store staff) per 1,000 square feet of accessible, indoor space, or 40% of the retail store’s maximum permitted occupancy, whichever is greater.

Grocery stores and retail stores with pharmacy services must provide at least one hour of dedicated time for adults 60 years of age and older, while all stores are encouraged to offer exclusive hours or other accommodations for high-risk populations. For staffing, stores should adjust workplace hours and shifts, including leveraging staggered arrival / departure, to minimize contact across workers and to allow for on-going and off-hour sanitation and cleaning. Stores should also conduct frequent disinfecting of heavy transit areas and high-touch surfaces.

Operators of enclosed shopping malls and other indoor, multi-tenant retail spaces must monitor customer and worker entries and exits to common areas and limit occupancy of common areas at all times to 40% of maximum permitted occupancy levels. Mall amenities like seating in food courts, children’s play areas, and arcades must remain closed, while mall food vendors and restaurants may only provide take-out or delivery service.

Once Phase II begins, these standards will apply to all retail businesses except for Farmers’ Markets, which shall continue to be governed by Department of Public Health guidance.  These standards will supersede and replace existing Department of Public Health guidance governing grocery stores and pharmacies.

Retailers that have been defined as providing Essential Services pursuant to COVID-19 Order No. 13 will be required to comply with these sector-specific safety protocols within one week of the date that Retailers are authorized to open pursuant to the Governor’s Phase II Reopening Order.

For full retail business guidance, click here.

Sports: The Order also allows organizers of amateur sports programs for youths and adults to open their premises to staff only to make preparations in advance of the start of Phase II.  In addition to requiring generally applicable COVID-19 workplace standards, the Order specifies that during Phase II organized sports programs will operate under the following provisions:
  • Limiting traditional contact sports to no-contact drills and practices;
  • Prohibiting games, scrimmages, and tournaments;
  • Separating participants to into groups of 10 or less;
  • Restricting the use of indoor athletic facilities to supervised sports programs and sport camps for youths under the age of 18.
Further sector-specific guidance for youth and adult amateur sports programs will be issued in the coming days.  Subject to the implementation of COVID-19 health and safety rules adopted by respective leagues, this Order permits professional sports organizations to reopen their premises to employees and other workers for practices and training; however, professional sports organizations are not allowed to engage in inter-team games and sporting facilities will remain closed to the public.

Restaurants: Lastly, the Order permits restaurants to provide outdoor dining service with restrictions upon the start of Phase II; providing continued positive progression of public health data, indoor dining may be authorized by a subsequent order during Phase II. In order to provide improved opportunities for outdoor table service, the order also provides flexibility to a local licensing authority to grant approval for a change for any type of license that permits the sale of alcoholic beverages for on- premises consumption. In both outdoor and indoor dining cases, restaurants will be required to comply with sector-specific COVID-19 workplace safety rules for restaurants.

On May 18th, the Baker-Polito Administration released Reopening Massachusetts, the Reopening Advisory Board’s report, which details a four-phased strategy to responsibly reopen businesses and activities while continuing to fight COVID-19. 

抗議Floyed之死 波士頓示威遊行也出現暴動 搶劫


               (Boston Orange 編譯)波士頓市為George Floyed之死在週日(531)舉行的抗議,以和平遊行開始,以暴動終結,讓許多人大為失望,波士頓市長,麻州州長也分別發表文告,支持和平抗議者,譴責施暴、搶劫者。
               George Floyed是一名住在明尼阿波利斯(Minneapolis)46歲黑人,525日時因為使用一張20元的假鈔購物,在店家報警後,被警察抓到。在逮捕過程中,一名白人警察用腿押著他的頸部,即使他呻吟無法呼吸,警察也無動於衷,接著他在送醫後宣告死亡。當時在場的旁觀者把逮捕視頻上傳網路,全美各地迅即出現譴責聲。
               明尼阿波利斯市率先於526日出現抗議遊行,入夜後更轉趨激烈,不但有人拿噴漆破壞店面,還有人拿小石頭擲警車,警察也穿上了防暴裝備,向群眾發射豆袋子彈和催淚彈。
               全美各地的多個城市,和明尼阿波利斯市隨後幾乎每天都有抗議行動。其中不少抗議活動演變得有點暴力,焚燒警車,樓宇,砸店鋪窗戶,門面,甚至還有百餘人衝進店裡,抱了商品就走,形同搶劫。
波士頓市週五晚大約有百餘人,手持要求種族正義等標語牌,高喊黑人的命也重要(Black Lives Matter)”等口號,從南端(South End)彼得公園(Peters Park)”遊行到第四區波士頓警察局,以及Nubian廣場。
這遊行起初也很平和。波士頓市第四區警察們有鑑於明尼阿波利斯的抗議失控,至少派出20名警察穿防暴裝備,戴著防暴頭盔,手持木棍的嚴陣以待。在小規模衝突之後,約有10人被捕。
週日(531)晚的示威,群眾共約數千人,從洛士百利(Roxbury)遊行到州政府大樓,分別有不下三起遊行。白天時都很平和,入夜後卻開始混亂,不但有人向警察丟瓶子,罐頭,燒了一輛警車,還沿著城中區(Downtown Crossing)到後灣區(Back Bay),沿街打砸店舖,偷盜商品,毀壞車輛,焚燒垃圾桶。警察丟的催淚彈氣味,也瀰漫了整個街區。
這種混亂場面,和明尼阿波利斯以及美國其他各地的抗議活動很像,但在波士頓卻已有幾十年沒出現過。
麻州州警在深夜時,還把麻州國家衛隊召到現場協助維持秩序。直升機也在天空中旋繞,控制場面。
在華盛頓街上,騎摩托車的警察們和示威群眾一度對峙。警察們都穿著防暴裝,示威群眾們大多數舉著雙手,但也有人丟瓶子,還有一群人把裡面坐著一名警察的一輛警車團團圍住,甚至跳到車頂,打碎了擋風玻璃。
波士頓市長馬丁華殊(Martin J. Walsh)在一份聲明中感謝和平的示威者,也感謝公安機構的專業表現,但對那些暴力表現很不滿。他說那些進入我們的城市,選擇從事暴力,破壞行動,削弱了他們所要傳遞訊息力量的人,讓人很生氣。如果我們要達大改變,領導改變,我們的努力必須根源於和平及尊重我們的社區
麻州州長查理貝克(Charlie Baker)也在周日晚發出聲明,稱警察殺死了Floyd是個可怕的悲劇,感謝週日在波士頓和平示威的群眾。他也要感謝所有警察及第一線工作人員保護人民。那些個別人士的暴力,搶劫,破壞財物行為是有罪的,懦弱的,更讓人偏離了上千麻州居民這天想要表達的有利聲明。
示威群眾中,包括宗教團體。洛士百利愉悅山使命浸信會教堂牧師Miniard Culpepper說,推動種族正義的行動才剛剛開始。這天參加遊行的教會包括波士頓浸信會牧師會議(Boston Baptist Ministers Conference),黑人牧師聯盟(Black Ministerial Alliance),牧師在行動(Ministers in Action),以及麻州教堂議會(Massachusetts Council of Churches)等。
由於波士頓市晚上9點起宵禁,遊行示威群眾也逐漸消散,但是有些人卻開始打砸冬日街和華盛頓接交界的The Corner購物中心,鞋店Footpaths的玻璃窗也被打碎了。晚上10點左右,學校街的一家珠寶店,窗戶被砸了,人們進店拿走商品。Walgreens藥店的窗戶也被砸了。停在天滿街Beantown Pub店前的一輛警車也被人放火燒了起來。
晚上9點半以後,儘管警察不斷告訴示威者,該回家了,零星的暴動,持續到凌晨一點,警察抱怨,有示威者以極為暴力的行動對待警察。
警察表示,他們告訴示威者別把玻璃瓶,冰水瓶之類的危險物品丟向警察,但有些人甚至是向警察丟磚頭或石頭。
由於示威遊行,MBTA的綠線,橘線及紅線地鐵經過公園街和城中區(Downtown Crossing)這兩站時,都過站不停。
一整個晚上,在波士頓廣場(Boston Common)上,至少有半打垃圾桶被燒了,沿著波士頓公園(Public Garden)那條街,也有好幾處小火。紐百利(Newbury) 這名店街,以及波約斯頓街(Boylston)也有好些店鋪被砸,商品被搶,警察後來派了廿,三十人列隊守住街道,店面。
由於其他城市的示威遊行變得暴力,不少團體及個人在週日的波士頓遊行發生前,都互相提醒,要小心。一些波士頓本地團體,包括NAACP,波士頓黑人的生命也重要(Black Lives Matter Boston),自行車不是炸彈(Bikes Not Bombs)還特地在臉書等處公開申明,他們並主辦或支持這一遊行。

Governor Charlie Baker Issues Statement on Tonight’s Protests

Governor Charlie Baker Issues Statement on Tonight’s Protests

BOSTON – Governor Charlie Baker issued the following statement:

“The murder of George Floyd at the hands of police was a horrible tragedy – one of countless tragedies to befall people of color across the United States. The vast majority of protesters today did so peacefully, toward a common goal of promoting justice and equality. 

“I am deeply thankful for their voices and their positive, forceful message. I also want to express my gratitude to all the police officers and other first responders working to protect the people of Boston from the individuals whose violent actions, looting and property destruction was criminal and cowardly – and distracted from the powerful statement made today by thousands of Massachusetts residents.”