Grover Wehman-Brown

“I work in schools, and the idea that students’ access to information about their bodies and their sexuality being limited … I don’t think it has a place in schools,” said Rachel Adams, a rally participant and member of Boston’s branch of Showing Up for Racial Justice—a group that organizes white people to fight for racial and economic justice, according to its website. “I don’t think censorship is ever something you wanna encourage.”

A member of the Mass Feminist Struggle Committee—a Massachusetts-based group that focuses on fighting for reproductive rights, according to its Facebook page—spoke out against the MFI. The member, named Bert, stressed the need for unity among oppressed groups and said the MFI was not only an enemy of the LGBTQ+ community, but also an enemy of women.

“Our enemies are united and they scorn us in the streets, in our doctors offices, in our schools, and online,” Bert said. “I look around and see that we, too, are united and we, too, are ready to fight.”

Bert said the MFI and its audience fear social progress and in turn pass laws that hurt the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and women.

By Maria Stefanoudakis and Aidan Gravina, The Heights

By Spectrum News Staff New York City

PUBLISHED 8:30 PM ET Oct. 17, 2023

The war in Israel continues to escalate after terror attacks from Hamas on Oct. 7 caught the country by surprise. Israel’s military has retaliated by pounding Gaza with a barrage of air strikes ahead of an expected ground offensive.

Hundreds of people were killed in a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israeli officials are denying responsibility for the attack, saying it was a failed rocket launch by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

This comes as calls are growing for Israel to stop its aerial attack on Gaza. A group of Jewish protesters gathered outside the White House Monday calling for a ceasefire. Another demonstration is planned for Wednesday outside Congress.

Rebecca Vilkomerson, a longtime community organizer and former executive director of the nonprofit group Jewish Voice for Peace, joined political reporter Bobby Cuza on “Inside City Hall” Tuesday night to talk more about the Israel-Hamas war.

Vilkomerson currently serves as a board member for the organization Showing Up for Racial Justice.

“

“Kentucky’s Democratic governor is leading in the polls, despite the majority Republican state political scene. Crossover governors have become an increasingly rare phenomenon outside of Kentucky.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We often talk about how polarized national politics has become, but what people may not focus on is just how partisan state politics has gotten with one party controlling all branches of government. There are a few notable exceptions to that – for instance, Kentucky, where a popular Democratic governor running for reelection this year has consistently ranked high in the polls despite Republicans sweeping other state and national races. But as Louisville Public Media’s Sylvia Goodman reports, popularity does not always equate to power.

SYLVIA GOODMAN: Kathi Johnson, a Democrat, spends her time knocking on doors in her part of far-northeastern, deep-red Kentucky, talking about divisive issues like abortion and inflation.

KATHI JOHNSON: I’ve had people talk to me about – that this country has just gone to hell in a handbasket. They want to blame President Biden for everything that’s gone wrong.

GOODMAN: But even her neighbors who support Trump are willing to consider reelecting a Democrat, Andy Beshear, for governor.”

Kentucky People’s Union Member, Kathy Johnson, Reported by Sylvia Goodman, Louisville Public Media.