On September 15, the New Hampshire Executive Council voted four to one to eliminate funding for three family planning centers that provide 80% of the non-abortion services under the New Hampshire Family Planning Plan. These services include: annual exams, birth control, cancer screenings, disease testing, and sexual abuse counseling. This vote to defund affects over […]
Public libraries serve the whole community. Every public library operates under the Library Bill of Rights, established by the American Library Association, in part to guarantee freedom of speech and patron confidentiality. Most libraries include those rights in their particular policies. Patrons and members of the public can feel free to express their views, often […]
On May 28, I attended the first of a two-part workshop, “But I Don’t Feel White: Let’s Talk Race,” co-sponsored by the Wilmot Public Library and Wilmot United Congregational Church’s Racial Justice Steering Committee. In response to recent letters that were critical of this event, written by three people who did not attend, I wish […]
As the authors, we were saddened and disappointed to see our book, Let’s Talk Race: A Guide for White People (New Society Publishers, 2021), characterized in a letter in the August issue of The Andover Beacon from Brianna Marino, Kathy Prieto, and Jessica Fraioli, as “the very embodiment of critical race theory (a divisive and […]
As members of the Racial Justice Committee of the First Congregational Church of Wilmot, we are deeply saddened to have read the letter in the August 2021 issue of The Andover Beacon, pages 7 and 8. The signatories of the letter objected to a workshop co-sponsored by the Wilmot Public Library and the First Congregational […]
Can’t believe September and fall are upon us. The weather this summer certainly has been at extremes at times. There was so much rain and wet in July it was impossible for the farmers to cut and put the hay in as usual, and gardeners saw many vegetables not growing and producing as they usually […]
“White privilege. White fear. White guilt. Ingrained, systemic racism is being revealed and yet many white people have been unable or unwilling to talk about it. The conversations need to start now. Let’s Talk Race confronts why white people struggle to talk about race, why we need to own this problem, and how we can […]
In her June 2021 Report from Concord, Louise Andrus writes that she has many times asked herself why we have so many laws and why we keep passing more and more laws. She states that it is her “belief that every time a law is passed, the law takes away someone’s rights.” I am aware […]
When did we all actually gain the freedoms we celebrate as Americans? ● Was it on July 4, 1776? Certainly not! Even here in East Andover into the early 1800’s, some white-skinned people were indentured or declared “paupers” whose servitude and labor was auctioned off to wealthier citizens, as if they were enslaved chattel. (See […]
The State Budget I proudly supported last month was historical in many ways. The Republican legislature created a budget to cut taxes and spend less. Some examples: Business Profit Tax reduced to 7.6%. Cuts to the Room and Meals tax we all pay, but will help boost tourism especially. $100 million in direct property tax […]