Jeneé Osterheldt is a culture columnist who covers identity and social justice through the lens of culture and the arts. She centers Black lives and the lives of people of color. Sometimes this means writing about Beyoncé and Black womanhood or unpacking the importance of public art and representation. Sometimes this means taking systemic racism, sexism, and oppression to task. It always means Black lives matter. She joined the Globe in 2018. A native of Alexandria, Virginia and a graduate of Norfolk State University, Osterheldt was a 2017 Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where her studies focused on the intersection of art and justice. She previously worked as a Kansas City Star culture columnist.
Museum of Science
Roya Hakakian
Boston College - Gasson 100
Film Screening followed by a post-screening conversation with filmmaker David Abel.
Suffolk University - Modern Theatre
RAHSAAN HALL is the President and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. He leads the Urban League’s efforts to enable communities to overcome racial and social barriers that cause economic inequities and are exacerbated by sexual and domestic violence, by creating employment and economic development opportunities. Previously, Rahsaan served as the Director of the Racial Justice Program for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and prior to that Rahsaan was the Deputy Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice. He also served as an Assistant District Attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Rahsaan also serves on the boards of the Who We Are Project and the Hyams Foundation and is an ordained reverend in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Rahsaan is a highly sought-after public speaker and has received multiple awards and recognitions for his work, including Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers 2021, Equal Justice Coalition’s 2019 Beacon of Justice Award, Get Connected‘s 2018 GK100 Boston’s Most Influential People of Color, and the Massachusetts Communities Action Network 2018 Carry It On Leadership Award. ARLINE ISAACSON is a Co-Chair of the Massachusetts GLBTQ Political Caucus (formerly the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus), where she has lobbied on every major LGBTQ+ issue in Massachusetts. Arline advocated for the groundbreaking 1989 gay and lesbian civil rights bill and domestic-partnership benefits for Massachusetts public employees. Her fights have included LGBTQ+ parental rights, anti-bullying bills, hate crimes bills, transgender rights, HIV/AIDS legislation, and banning conversion therapy for minors. Arline also led the legislative battle for marriage equality, making Massachusetts the first state in the nation to defeat a marriage equality ban. SEAN SIMONINI is the founder of the Massachusetts Association of Student Representatives (MASR), an organization that uplifts and empowers student representatives serving on local and state school boards across the Commonwealth. Sean saw firsthand how powerful student sentiment can be after serving on his own school committee during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic and sought to establish a network that encourages students to be leaders in creating the change they want to see. He believes that students are essential partners in building better school environments and uniting communities around our common pursuit of a more accessible and impactful education system.
Old South Meeting House
Charlie Baker, NCAA president, former governor of Massachusetts, and co-author of Results: Getting Beyond Politics to Get Important Work Done. Barbara Kellerman, fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.
John F. Kennedy Library
Fintan O'Toole
Boston College - Gasson 100
Heather Cox Richardson, professor of history at Boston College and author of Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America. Tom Nichols, staff writer at The Atlantic.
John F. Kennedy Library
Linda Villarosa
Boston College - Gasson 100
Jason Blazakis
Boston Public Library - Rabb Lecture Hall
Matthew Desmond
Boston College - Gasson 100
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