Metro
A Life for a Life
Kristen’s Law and the pitfalls of criminalization
On different days, in different Rhode Island towns, Sue Coutu and Anthony Hollins both picked up the phone to the news …
The Price of Freedom
One bill’s attempt to reform bail in the Rhode Island Judiciary
“No human being should be in jail because they don’t have $150,” said Michael DiLauro, Deputy Public Defender of the state …
Hotsauce, Honey, and Jam
It’s the Saturday night championship game for the Providence Roller Derby League, and excitement is running high. “Hips Don’t Lie” by …
S.T.D. Free?
An inquiry into safe sex among young Rhode Islanders and the state of sex ed in RI public schools
“If I drink Mountain Dew after having sex, will that prevent pregnancy or HIV?” a teenager earnestly asked in one of …
Escaping the Textile World
Nudity and community in northern Rhode Island
The campsite is quintessential New England. Cornfields in the distance, wooden cabins nestled between tall oaks and pines, a cluster of …
Can You Gentrify a Vacant Lot?
The Jewelry District and the myth of the American urban utopia
During a Providence Ordinance Committee hearing this July, opponents of the proposed 46-story Fane Tower framed the project as a referendum …
The Wizard Behind the Wall
Rhode Island Democrats' turbulent year
Last week’s Democratic primaries in Rhode Island capped a year defined by party dysfunction and statehouse discord. The state party followed …
The House on Keene Steet
College Hill reads the zoning code
Along College Hill’s Keene Street, identical teal blue signs placed in nearly every yard point to a street united. Unlike other …
Missing the Mark
The reality of the gun control debate in Rhode Island
On April 10, hundreds of people packed the galleries of the RI State House. As the House Judiciary Committee voted to …
Home-Field Disadvantage
The PawSox take a swing at the State House
Three years after plans for the construction of a new Minor League Baseball stadium in Providence fell through, the State House …
Priced Out
DARE's fight for rent stabilization
Federal Hill couple Butch and Madonna Trottier, aged 78 and 76 years old respectively, spent three months of the past year …
Leaving the Dungeon
Rhode Island sex workers and the prospect of a union
The one-story wood framed building, located just a few blocks from the Rhode Island State House, used to be home to …
Who Counts?
The end-to-end census test in Providence County
It is no small task to count the nearly 326 million people who live in the United States and its territories. …
To the Benefit of Few
The histories of the Providence Preservation Society
102 Benefit Street, the Gershom Jones-John Howland House, is built on land that was first developed by Abraham Whipple, a captain …
We & the Sea
Locals respond to an ocean coup
Tim DeCristopher, a founder of the Climate Disobedience Center, stepped on a stool in the middle of the conference room. The …
Banking on Change
Ending pipeline financing through public pressure
Last Thursday, the FANG Collective and the Shame on Citizens campaign celebrated a victory after learning that Citizens Bank had ended …
Breaking Time
An interview with novelist Max Winter
Max Winter does not know why he was fired from the Brown Bookstore two weeks after Exes, his novel, was bought …
Selling Small
(Mis)Adventures in branding the Ocean State
In March 2016, Rhode Island made an ill-fated foray into the wild world of state-branding. Lawmakers put $5 million into the …
Without Report
Tension following allegations in Rhode Island schools
content warning: sexual and racial violence in schools. In July 2016 the Rhode Island General Assembly made a change to the …
Our Collective Resistance
AMOR's rapid response to state violence
Lincoln, Rhode Island resident Lilian Calderon never returned home on January 17. While attending a routine check-in meeting with Immigration and …
In the Meantime
Providence public school students circumvent a doomed architecture
When Alice Rayner was a senior in high school, they wrote a blog post for “the Purple Pages,” a Tumblr account …
A Future at Any Cost
An interview with Brenda Clement
Brenda Clement is the director of HousingWorks RI, a research organization and think tank at Roger Williams University that explores housing …
No LNG in PVD
Utility justice in South Providence and Washington Park
Monica Huertas is a community activist and mother of four. She lives in Lower South Providence, and the health of her …
A Different Shade of Blue
Inside the ‘big tent’ of Rhode Island's Democratic Party
In Rhode Island, the label of “Democrat” doesn’t mean all that much. Despite its reputation for being as blue as the …
Barefoot: How to Live Well in Hard Times
A tribute to Mark Baumer
The following are excerpts from Mark’s various work, pulled largely from his blog, Barefoot Across America. 1. Believe in the future: …
La Lucha Sigue
Migrant protection after the TPS repeal
On November 6, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke scheduled the termination of the temporary protected status for Nicaraguan citizens, …
Civil Death
RI statute removes civil rights from incarcerated people with life sentences
In his cell at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, Richard Paiva has slept without winter clothing and in unsanitary living …
A Winding Path
Providence is a divided city. Physical barriers—both natural, such as the Providence River, and manmade, like the I-95 highway system—work to …
Losing Ocean in the Ocean State
A fishing industry in crisis
After the rush of summer tourism at Point Judith, a small village home to Rhode Island’s largest fishing fleet, only those …
No Delusions
A conversation with Dr. Maung Zarni on the Rohingya genocide
content warning: state violence, sexual violence, genocide, Islamophobia, graphic bodily mutilation This fall, the persecution of Rohingya people overwhelmed global media …
Call Against Arms
A new RI law restricts gun ownership for domestic abusers
content warning: suicide, murder, infanticide In 2013, a Providence woman, fearing for her life, applied for a final protective order against …
Criminal Treatment
Rhode Island’s efforts to treat opioid-use disorders in its prison population
Michael is set to leave the prison in two days, ending an 80 day sentence for possession of a controlled substance. …
Bringing It Home
Rosa Parks’ house for public history and political action
content warning: racism, police violence This coming March, Providence will become a home for a memorial to one of the most …
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 …