Metro
Edges and Borders
New luxury student housing on Canal Street
Rhode Island is building. New residential projects are popping up all over the state, but the bulk of development is concentrated …
Revolution Navigators
Empowerment and critical thought in the Rhode Island Urban Debate League
Inside an auditorium in Brown University on Saturday afternoon, October 21st, the Joker, Darth Vader, and Rosie the Riveter listen to …
Free Lunch
Pawtucket schools provide food to all students
At least 40 percent of children in Pawtucket schools do not have a lunch to bring to school everyday. More than …
Mt. Hope is Pokanoket
TheIndependentreceived this joint statement by Students and Alumni for Po Metacom Camp (SAPMC) and the Providence chapter of the Progressive Student …
Unidos por Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican efforts in Rhode Island after Hurricane Maria
Belen Florez’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing last Tuesday. Nearly every five minutes, the screen of the cordless phone of JP Foley …
Hiding Places
Under a bush on Blackstone Boulevard. The harbor from up on the barrier. Waterplace Park. Under the bridge on Francis Street. …
Guarding Safety
The contentious implementation of the Providence Community Safety Act
“The community of Providence won this campaign, not the politicians and not the police, but us. We worked on this ordinance …
The Road to Resilience
Raimondo's new plan to protect Providence
Three days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston and two days before Hurricane Irma hit South Florida, Shell Oil Company …
A Community Blossoms in Fox Point
Providence garden offers members food and friendship
At the entrance of the Fox Point Community Garden in Providence, a painted sign greets guests: “Welcome visitors! You can pick …
Keeping Time
Changes at the RI Historical Society
Phoebe Bean walked past the library on 121 Hope Street in Providence every day while attending Brown University, yet never had …
No Apologies
Following Representative Moira Walsh's path to the Capitol
The Rhode Island General Assembly’s youngest Representative—26 year-old Moira Jayne Walsh—thinks her colleagues have it all wrong when they avoid canvassing …
Defending DACA
What you need to know: On September 5, 2017, President Trump announced his decision to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood …
The Right to Identify
An upcoming municipal ID program in Providence
Entering a public library, opening a bank account, accessing government social services: to many, these processes seem simple. Carrying a card …
Shakespeare (In the City)
How theater is bringing Providence schools together
In 2008, Martha Douglas-Osmundson and her 14-year-old daughter traveled to London, excited to immerse themselves in London’s theater scene. They watched …
When Will the Sentence End?
A call to end public housing discrimination in Rhode Island
Edwin Rivera is an active member of Behind the Walls, Providence grassroots organization Direct Action for Rights and Equality’s (DARE) prison …
Running out of Shore
The future of Providence's seaport
While the presidential election dominated media coverage on November 8, 2016, another item on the ballot in Rhode Island had potential …
In Pursuit of a Living Wage
When working hard isn't enough
Marcia Ranglin-Vassell knows what it’s like to struggle to provide for herself and her family on a minimum wage salary. A …
The Indy Classifieds
PERSONALS—WOMEN SEEKING MEN Will You Be Mine, Lincoln Chafee? Me: An attractive and successful 31 year-old professional, recently moved to Providence. …
White Wall
A call to action
On the corner of Benefit and College Streets, it would be easy to glance over the Radeke Façade, which looks like …
The Limits of Probation
Alternatives to jail time in an age of mass incarceration
Rhode Island has 23,000 people on probation. That is 2,793 people per 100,000 residents, the second highest probation rate in the …
Dispatches From the DMV
Confronting bureacracy and emerging victorious
Distractions can be physical or mental in nature and are often a combination of both. A physical distraction is one that …
Beyond Dakota Access
FANG Collective brings the anti-pipeline fight home to Rhode Island
At 10AM last Thursday, three people affiliated with the FANG Collective, an activist group dedicated to environmental justice, locked themselves to …
Forging Home, Forging Intimacy
ProvSlam and the next generation of youth poetry
“I’m so excited, and you should be too.” Cutting through the animated flow of chatter, Charlotte Abotsi, the master of ceremonies …
Raising Prices, Closing Doors
RIPTA fare hike impacts Rhode Island's most vulnerable
content warning: mental illness, isolation, state-violence Blossom Segaloff lives on the East Side, in a small apartment in an affordable housing …
Something More Than Money
A community against Achievement First expansion
In the courtyard that joins Classical and Central High Schools off Westminster Street, Classical student and Providence Student Union activist Jayleen …
Aiming Higher
Undocumented students' access to higher education in Rhode Island
Javier Juarez, a student at the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), was walking to class when he came upon two …
Finding Refuge
A new model delivers healthcare and perhaps more
Omar Bah ran through the Gambian night. Echoes of soldiers shouting and dogs barking came from every direction. The memory of …
Rise Up
Providence responds to the inauguration
On January 21, just after 1 PM, residents from across Rhode Island gathered in front of the State Capitol in response …
Renewal For Whom?
Considering historic preservation in Providence
In 2013, Providence deemed Benefit Street the city’s “mile of history.” The street, which sits one block east of Main Street …
Boxed In
Ending Solitary Confinement in Rhode Island
Content warning: mental illness and suicide “It’s like being buried alive,” stated an inmate incarcerated in a solitary unit at Rhode …
City In Resistance
Providence community leaders weigh in on organizing after the election
Like many people, we are still trying to process the events of the past two weeks. To help make some sense …
This Is Solidarity
Rhode Island's growing Racial Justice Coalition
“We want people in the streets. Unions stopping work. Consumers refusing to buy. Bystanders stepping in, everyone calling racism out.” The …
Providence, The Day After
+++ The day after the election, Mary Piñeda, 28, worried about whether or not she would be able to stay in …
An Interview With Governor Gina Raimondo
On her politics and priorities, past and present
Under the vaulted ceilings of her office in the Rhode Island State House, Governor Gina Raimondo lays out her political priorities …
Who Sets the Table?
Food infrastructure and food justice in Rhode Island
A few hundred feet from Brown University’s boathouse in India Point Park is the future site of EatDrinkRI’s Central Market, a …
Small State, Big Gaps
Segregation in Rhode Island's Public Schools
Historical events and legislative records might suggest that Rhode Island’s schools should have been equal and diverse a long time ago. …
An Abbreviated Timeline of Voting in Rhode Island
After a year that’s felt a little like an episode of Survivor, featuring older contestants and more liberal use of spray …
Asthma and Eyesores
Wind, gas, and environmental racism in Rhode Island
“I’m a big proponent of wind and offshore wind, but the short-term solution to bring down energy costs for businesses and …