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Posts published in “Jamaica Plain People”

Skippy White: 54 Years of Hipping You to the Crossroads of American Music

By Richard Heath on August 3, 2015
Skippy White: 54 Years of Hipping You to the Crossroads of American Music
SKIPPY WHITE. EVANGELIST AND ENTREPRENEUR OF R+ B
SKIPPY WHITE. EVANGELIST AND ENTREPRENEUR OF R&B.

In August of 1964 my entourage and I (OK, there were just two with me), all newly minted  graduates of Framingham High School, went to the EM Lowes Centre Theater at 690 Washington St. downtown to see Bikini Beach with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello (ahhh …sigh…Annette!!).

(Reader advisory: Unless you’re over 50, most of the names in this story will seem like a foreign country…so just Google it…)

Meet Tenant Organizer María Christina BlancoTestifying at a City Council hearing: L-R: Jacqueline Gomez, Marta Franco, Crisanto Rosas, Zenaida Flores, Rita Paul and María Christina Blanco.

Meet Tenant Organizer María Christina Blanco

By Chris Helms on July 28, 2015
Testifying at a City Council hearing: L-R: Jacqueline Gomez, Marta Franco, Crisanto Rosas, Zenaida Flores, Rita Paul and María Christina Blanco.
Testifying at a City Council hearing: L-R: Jacqueline Gomez, Marta Franco, Crisanto Rosas, Zenaida Flores, Rita Paul and María Christina Blanco.

Tuesday marks the kickoff of a city-sponsored review of what Washington Street should be like from Forest Hills to Jackson Square.

A lot of interests will be in play as residents and officials build that master plan. Expect many of those voices to come from JP-based City Life/Vida Urbana, a tenants’ rights organization.

Jamaica Plain News recently walked Washington Street with María Christina Blanco, a lead organizer with City Life.

Faces of Wake Up The Earth 2015

By Chris Helms on May 3, 2015

A scene from the South Street Parade at Wake Up The Earth 2015

A parade participant gets a kiss from, a reader tells us, Rhea the Deerhound. Credit: Heather Goldin.

One of the joys of Wake Up The Earth is seeing Jamaica Plain’s people in all their diverse, goofy and beautiful glory. Here’s a sampling of the faces we photographed during this year’s parade and festival.

Neighborhood Council Member Moves to North Carolina

By Chris Helms on December 30, 2014

Daniel Pérez Lacera, center, hugs his children (Lyric, 8; Lanaedjah, 7 and Daniel, 5, at his last JP Neighborhood Council meeting on Dec. 23, 2014.

Daniel Pérez Lacera, center, hugs his children (Lyric, 8; Lanaedjah, 7 and Daniel, 5, at his last JP Neighborhood Council meeting on Dec. 23, 2014. Credit: Chris Helms

Daniel Pérez Lacera, who was serving his second stint on the JP Neighborhood Council, resigned to make his move to North Carolina permanent.

JP Women Played Big Role in Suffrage MovementJudith Winsor Smith, who for decades fought for women's suffrage, spent the last part of her long life in Jamaica Plain.

JP Women Played Big Role in Suffrage Movement

By Chris Helms on August 26, 2014
Judith Winsor Smith, who for decades fought for women's suffrage, spent the last part of her long life in Jamaica Plain.
Judith Winsor Smith, who for decades fought for women's suffrage, spent the last part of her long life in Jamaica Plain.

Tuesday is Women’s Equality Day, which celebrates women in the U.S. winning the right to vote. It won’t surprise you to know that JP has long been a hotbed of activism on behalf of women’s rights. Here are a few feminist forebears with ties to JP.

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