Eagle Feathers #265 – Somerville’s Shadows

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

You don’t have to look very far to find mysterious, frightening, supernatural, spine-chilling, spooky and ghostly tales, stories, and legends that are grounded in Somerville.

For some of us it feels like forever since we’ve shaken off the cares and concerns that seem to be bearing down so heavily as we observe the divisions and discord that has been so prevalent in our society over the past few years.

Another election is just around the corner, and the national election is coming up next year. The balance of power in Washington will be in play, and more than ever it seems as though so much will be at stake in that particular election cycle, no matter which side we align with.

*

Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Ruth Hoberman

Curb cuts, kneeling buses, closed captions, and audible walk lights were a start. But disability rights activists are now asking for more: representation. This means representation in positions of power as well as representations in the media that they have themselves created. “Growing up, I never read a book with a main character like me written by a disabled author,” Rebecca Burke writes at the start of In Between Spaces, an anthology of work by thirty-three writers who identify as disabled. In solidarity with other underrepresented populations, Burke insists that publishing – long dominated by its “cisgender, heteronormative, ableist, and white supremacist history” – must make room for more diverse voices. In Between Spaces addresses ableism in particular: the assumption that bodies and minds differing from social norms or notions of health are defined solely by that difference, and that they therefore need “fixing.” Look elsewhere, these writers collectively suggest – at infrastructure, attitudes, and institutions – for what needs fixing.

*

Jim De Filippi writes: I am primarily a novelist, having published forty books. I am a Vietnam Era veteran and retired school teacher who has been living in Salem for ten years.

Arrests:
*

Kyanna Halliday, of Dorchester, October 18, 2:52 p.m., arrested at Assembly Row on a charge of larceny over $1200.

Early voting starts October 22; Registration deadline is October 29; Election Day is November 8 

 The Massachusetts general election is Tuesday, November 8. This election will determine Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Auditor, Representative in Congress, Governor’s Council, Senator in General Court, Representative in General Court, District Attorney, and Sheriff. There are also four ballot questions. Sample ballots are available at somervillema.gov/sampleballots. Somerville voters can vote early, by mail, or on Election Day.   

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the event scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, October 22 has been cancelled. They are hoping to reschedule at a later date.

This event below will still take place at The Somerville Museum, 1 Westwood Rd:

City Halloween Celebration Scheduled for October 27, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and the City of Somerville are excited to invite all local ghosts and ghouls to “Truck O’ Treat” on Thursday, October 27, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. outside City Hall.