Ronald Mitchell

1 week ago | baystatebanner.com | Ronald Mitchell

MIT Professor Karilyn Crockett has declared “there’s no bigger challenge than the racial wealth gap.” She’s right about that. One needs to look no further than the “Color of Wealth,” the study the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston released ten years ago, which found median household wealth in the metro area was about $247,000 for whites and $700 for U.S.-born Blacks. That’s a Grand Canyon of a gap.

3 weeks ago | baystatebanner.com | Ronald Mitchell

As publisher and editor of the Bay State Banner, I am occasionally invited to take part in media events around the city and most recently had the pleasure of attending a GBH media forum where I met Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. The first professional librarian to hold the post since 1974, she was also the first woman and African American put in charge of the world’s most important library. Less than 48 hours later, President Donald Trump fired her without explanation.

1 month ago | baystatebanner.com | Ronald Mitchell

A quick dive into housing statistics across Massachusetts produces a discouraging picture forthe future of the commonwealth. Rising rents and soaring sale prices are driving people from the state, especially the young, and putting key industries at risk. When you add proposed federal housing cuts to the mix, the doom-and-gloom prospect veers towards the disaster zone. The average rental unit in Boston costs over $3,300 a month, a staggering sum for low-income and working families.

1 month ago | baystatebanner.com | Ronald Mitchell

As we mark President Trump’s first 100 days in office, it’s hard to decide where to begin to assess the damage he has done to the nation. With a flurry of executive orders on his very first day in office, Trump took aim at immigrants, based on myths about some eating pets and most threatening public safety, launching raids across the country, scuttling due process and rounding up mostly Latino and Black immigrants. Some innocents have been swept up in this indiscriminate dragnet.

1 month ago | baystatebanner.com | Ronald Mitchell

The decision of City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson to plead guilty to federal corruption charges and resign at some point has set off a debate over whether the city should hold a special election to fill the District 7 seat representing Roxbury and parts Dorchester, the Fenway and the South End. At least eight candidates have shown interest in replacing Fernandes Anderson, who was first elected in 2021.