JP Community Forum Takes Aim at Local Issues

The third annual community sound off begins at 6 p.m.

After being postponed earlier this month, the third annual State of Our Neighborhood forum is on for tonight. The community conversation will focus on: The event will be hosted by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition and Jamaica Plain Forum. Several local businesses and organizations are co-sponsors for the event. The third annual State of Our Neighborhood forum is from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight at Kennedy Elementary School.

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5 Things You Need to Know Today: Feb. 25

Power outages hit (only) Jamaica Plain last night in the Boston area.

1. Are you still without power this morning? 2. There was a solid inch of snow on the ground at about 8 p.m. Sunday night, but it should all be gone by this morning. 3. The third annual State of Our Neighborhood forum is tomorrow night from 6 to 9 p.m. at Kennedy Elementary School. 4. The Casey Overpass 25 percent design hearing is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night at the English High School. 5. If your street or sidewalk is still covered, tweet @NotifyBoston.

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Author Al Norman to Discuss 'Occupy Walmart'

Al Norman is the foremost anti-Walmart activist in the U.S. For almost 20 years, Norman has helped countless people organize through grassroots efforts to fight the establishment or spread of Walmart and other big-box stores in their hometowns.

Katherine Power: From Guerilla to Grandmother

“I didn’t set out to be a terrorist” begins Katherine Power’s bio. Hear this local activist’s remarkable story of seeking peace and reconciliation in the wake of being accomplice to a heinous crime. Event is Friday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.

Five Things to Know: JP Forum on Response to Citizens United

Essential daily information at a glance, including this week's JP Forum topic: a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

1. Forecast: A chance of showers, mainly after 7 a.m. Cloudy, with a high near 74. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent. 2. Reclaiming Our Democracy: You can count on JP Forum to bring interesting speakers and topics to the neighborhood. That's true again on Thursday, as the topic is a movement for a constitutional amendment to roll back the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allows unlimited money in politics. 7 p.m. on Thursday at First Church in JP Unitarian Universalist. 3. Winesdays: Don't just drink wine...learn to taste it. With the help of an expert, savor a new selection from a featured winery each month at the Museum of Fine Arts at 5:30 p.m. this Wednesday and for several upcoming ones. Cost of admission is $25, which …

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Senator Bernie Sanders: Collapse of Middle Class has People "Simply Plain Old Exhausted"

The Vermont's senator, the longest-standing independent senator in Congress, spoke to a crowd of more than 350.

Senator Bernie Sanders ventured down from Vermont on Sunday to speak with residents of Boston about the current political climate and the topics that he addresses in his new book, The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class.  As the longest independent member of the U.S. Congress, he has spoken multiple times on issues of taxation, the income gap, health care, and more.  A crowd of 355 people at the First Church Unitarian Universalist Church welcomed Sanders with cheers and a standing applause.  Chuck Collins, the founder of the JP Forum, introduced the senator to the crowd.  Collins gave the audience some background on the senator’s recent filibuster, the basis for the book. The speech that …

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Former NPR Journalist Lisa Napoli Speaks of Bhutan, the Happiest Place on Earth

Napoli finds happiness in Bhutan: “I stopped thinking about what I lacked, but rather what I could give.”

What is happiness? With researchers racing to quantify what makes us happy and reports proclaiming, in order, the happiest countries in the world, we’ve become consumed with what specific things make us happy.  What can I do to achieve supreme bliss? Community members met at First Church on a cold Thursday night, Feb. 10, to ponder such things, and to explore the new book, Radio Shangri-La: What I learned from Bhutan, The Happiest Kingdom on the Earth, by Lisa Napoli.  Hosted by the JP Forum, people from all backgrounds, from Bhutan to California, listened intently to Napoli and then asked questions about her experiences. Chuck Collins, the founder of the JP Forum, introduced Napoli and thanked everyone for coming out in the cold.  He …

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Senator Bernie Sanders to Speak at JP Forum Sunday / Senador Bernie Sanders Hablará el Domingo

The outspoken independent Senator will visit JP Sunday. / El vocal Senador independiente visitará JP el domingo.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is the longest serving independent member of Congress, and acquired wide notoriety during the 2010 Lame Duck Congress as he spoke for eight-and-a-half hours against the extension of Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Sanders visits JP on Sunday to speak at JP Forum. Sanders has put his exhortation to the Senate in book form under the title THE SPEECH: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class, set for publication this month, with an e-book edition already available. Sanders' filibuster attracted so much attention that the online traffic crashed the Senate's servers. "The very strong response to my speech tells me that there is a hunger all over America for a …

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Gerry Wright Channels Frederick Law Olmsted in One-Man Play

Olmsted says about the parks, "Let it be not for present use and delight alone, but let it be of such a work that our descendants will thank us for it."

Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture and creator of Boston's Emerald Necklace and Jamaica Plain's treasured Jamaica Pond and Franklin Park, 'rode his horse in, through the snow' on Friday night to talk with community members about his life, his passions and his legacy.  Olmsted, as played by Gerry Wright, hit on themes of social justice, conservation and public health, asking the audience to see the similarities in problems in the past and today. The theatrical event, "Unhealthy People, Unequal Communities and Unwell Environment: Examining Olmsted's Practicality to Improve Society's Woes," was co-sponsored by the JP Forum and Community Caring Institute. First Church Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist welcomed in …

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JP Forum Discusses Supreme Court Decision that Gave Corporations Same Rights as Individuals

The Supreme Court's ruling on Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission dramatically altered how campaign contributions are made.

Jamaica Plain Forum is a program of First Church Unitarian that promotes conversations on pressing issues that affect the neighborhood and the planet.  Last night the forum featured Renée Loth, former Boston Globe editorial page editor, and legal rights advocate John Bonifaz, co-founder of Free Speech for People, presenting on the Supreme Court's ruling on Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission. The room was full to capacity, the audience paid undivided attention to and on occasions applauded the speakers, and during the questions and answer period poignantly commented and inquired on the subject's far reaching implications. Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission was a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that gave …

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