Metro
Progressive Percolation
A selection of profiles on the state’s most forward-thinking politicians
On September 8, progressive candidates across Rhode Island swept the local Democratic primaries, upsetting incumbent Democrats in a way that made …
When a Dorm is Not a Home
The institutional harms caused by Brown’s Office of Residential Life
content warning: sexual assault Paint peeling down the walls, a broken heating system, and mice scampering under the bed. As many …
On Track?
Advanced academics and the pipeline to Classical
An increasingly broad body of social science research demonstrates that educational tracking—the separation of students by evaluated academic ability—disproportionately disadvantages low-income …
Consider the Lobster (Again)
Climate change puts RI lobsters in hot water
Peter Brodeur was only a few miles away from his home on the Narrow River in Narragansett, a seaside community in …
Lost in Translation
Providence public schools, multilingual pedagogy, and the coronavirus crisis
ENTERING: The language of achievement and deficit Two comprehensive reports researching the conditions in the Providence Public School District (PPSD) came …
A Socially-Distanced 2020 Census
How Rhode Island is attempting to count every single one of its residents
The United States Census Bureau has historically declared April 1 as a national "Census Day," a time to unite the nation …
Shelter from the Storm
Gov. Raimondo needs to open up hotels, dorms to people experiencing homelessness
The front-page headline of the Providence Journal on April 4 proclaimed, in bold type: Raimondo: Stay home, or ‘more people will …
Civic Duty Calls
Contested Civic Education in Providence
Standing in front of a poster board she had prepared for the Providence Community Day at Asa Messer Elementary, Chloe Feit, …
Chalked Up
Introducing an Indy series on public education in RI
In 1993, the Public Education Fund—a nonprofit organization composed of Providence business leaders, educators, and citizens concerned about local schools—sponsored a …
School District Déja Vu
Two Education Reports, Two Decades Apart
This is the first installment in the Chalked Up Metro series The year was 1993. The Providence River was still covered …
Healing Through Theater
How a Trinity Rep actor helped Sheila Bentley tell her version of PVD history
For Rebecca Gibel, the actor who played Sheila Bentley in Trinity Repertory's fall 2019 production of The Prince of Providence, the …
Muddy Matiello
A look at the RI Speaker of the House’s Abuses of Power
Speaker of the House Nicolas Mattiello, arguably one of the most powerful figures in Rhode Island politics, has been shrouded in …
Detention, Incarceration, Deportation
The Wyatt Detention Center and the national prison-industrial complex
PLACING THE WYATT IN CENTRAL FALLS The Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility is located across from a park. A wide expanse …
Sirens, Camera, Action
Policing entertainment in East Providence
The sun is officially down, but a morose blue still lingers in the sky behind Sergeant Michael Rapoza. He’s driving somewhere, …
Molehills Out of Mountains
A close look at Governor Raimondo's 2021 Budget Proposal
Reading budgets is like eating broccoli stems: miserable! Gina Governor Raimondo’s annual budget proposal, released this past January, is a multivolume …
Taking 287g Agreements to Court
An interview with activist Sherrie Andre
photograph by Steve Ahlquist content warning: police violence Late in the summer of 2018, activists from the FANG Collective, a nonviolent …
The Cold Shoulder
A flawed system is endangering RI’s homeless
When Harry lost his home in October, he went to one of Rhode Island’s largest emergency shelters: Crossroads Rhode Island. He …
Archiving Activism
Creating a collective memory of radicalism in Providence
On the afternoon of Saturday, October 26, a group of educators, students, activists, and community members gathered in a basement room …
What Brown Could Pay
Brown’s property tax exemption and the crisis of public school funding
“How is it that a city—a small city—can continue to have public schools that fail repeatedly?” In an interview with the …
Making Ends Meet
Food Insecurity in Rhode Island
Rows of shelves, stretching from the floor to the high ceiling, hold hundreds of pallets of everything from canned beans to …
A Jury of One's Peers
How low jury pay limits court justice in Rhode Island
This was not the first time Senator Elizabeth Crowley had served on a jury, and, for the most part, she felt …
Great Streets, Mobile City
Envisioning an equitable transportation system for the creative capital
Zooming down College Hill last weekend on our bikes, a friend and I criss-crossed our way downtown, barely avoiding cars and …
Dispatches From Pronk
Last Monday, hundreds of Providence residents—artists, activists, students, misfits, puppets—danced the night away to the upbeat cacophony of Providence’s own What …
Clean Energy, Muddy Waters
Offshore windmills pose changes and challenges for fishermen
From a distance, the Block Island Wind Farm looks innocent. The blades spin in lazy circles, and at night, red lights …
Right & Wrong & Right on Red
A look at Frank Caprio’s courtroom reality show: Caught in Providence
Judge Frank Caprio has a knack for extracting narratives for his courtroom reality show, Caught in Providence, where Providence’s traffic violations …
The Bully Buster
Monica Huertas: Democrat for Ward 10
She stood amid overturned toy castles and idle trucks and talked canvassing routes, missed calls from constituents, and the newest batch …
Plants and the City
A new vegan restaurant’s place on College Hill
Approach the new pedestrian bridge on the Providence River on a weekend night and you might quickly be distracted by crowds, …
Rhode Island is Where the Wild Things Are
Coyote culture in New England sparks fear of infestation
Before announcing its plans to close all its US locations, Shiru Café severely limited its free options. This fact has nothing …
Treading Water
Can the ProJo stay afloat in the Ocean State?
Before ad revenue dried up, and before the financial crisis, and Facebook, and the smartphone, and Craigslist, the Providence Journal was …
Catering Contract Concerns
An open letter on catering workers’ contract negotiations
Since September 2018, Brown University catering service employees have been negotiating their contract with the University in an attempt to unionize. …
From Decrim To Recrim
Ten years of recriminalized indoor sex work in Rhode Island
Every Wednesday night, Bella Robinson parks her tangerine Nissan Rogue inside the faded lines of the lot by the McDonalds and …
Providence Bites
Providence Can't JUMP by Ella Comberg I risk hyperbole when I say that the first time I rode a JUMP bike, …
We're Not Gonna Take It
Contesting the state takeover of the Providence Public School District
In late June, the Providence Public School District was rocked by a devastating report that implicated everyone from teachers to governmental …
Caught in Rhode Island
An investigation into how court fees and fines trap low-income Rhode Islanders in poverty
When Roberto Torres appeared in District Court on February 14, 2019, and plead no contest to a reckless driving charge, he …
Mattiello and the Machine
Nicholas Mattiello and the centralization of the Rhode Island House
Nicholas Mattiello has been touted as the most powerful man in Rhode Island. This power stems primarily from his position as …
Waving the Flag
Competition and community at the Providence Gay Flag Football League
From a distance, the scene looks and sounds not unlike a standard fair-weather gym class. Players clad in mismatched jerseys dart …
A Friday For Our Future
An interview with the organizers of the Rhode Island Youth Climate Strike
At 11AM on Friday, March 15, hundreds of thousands of students around the world walked out of their classrooms. From London …
Sealing the Deal
Competing narratives of conservation in the Narragansett Bay
It was not ideal weather for seal watching. The wind coming off of Rome Point was strong and unflagging, pressing against …
Cleaning Up the Workplace
Fuerza Laboral pioneers the first worker cooperative in Rhode Island
Last December, in a spacious, carpeted conference room inside Navigant Credit Union in Central Falls, nineteen graduates of the second annual …
There's Still Something in the Water
The Public Health Crisis of Providence's Lead Pipes
The Providence Water headquarters in Lower South Providence is wedged between Mashapaug Pond—contaminated, still, from toxic waste emitted by the old …