Media Power: Massachusetts Needs a Public Fund for Local News and Civic Information
If the many overlapping crises of 2025 have taught us anything, it’s that any hope for our future lies in building strength at the community level.
Whether it’s protecting our neighbors against mass deportations, strengthening labor and tenant unions, assembling mutual-aid networks, or holding state and local lawmakers to account, our ability to weather the current political storm and lay the groundwork for what comes next will come down to how organized or connected we are.
But there’s a prerequisite material for this kind of community connection and powerbuilding: reliable, trusted information about what’s happening in our streets and in our halls of power. And right now, Massachusetts residents—like the rest of the country— find themselves in a fundamentally broken news environment.
Relentless consolidation, corporate greed, and an ever-changing digital landscape have hollowed out our local media system, creating a critical deficit of locally-rooted publicinterest journalism and civic information. A 2022 report from
Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism Local News Initiative found that a fifth of the nation lives in counties that are news deserts or are at risk of becoming one. This deficit most acutely impacts low income, rural areas.
The message, then, is clear: If we’re truly committed to building a democracy that serves each and every one of us, a structural reimagining of our local media system needs to be at the top of our collective to-do list.
It may seem like an odd time to make this call. After all, federal lawmakers recently passed the Rescissions Act of 2025, which stripped $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, ending government support for NPR, PBS, and their member stations. The bill was signed into law on July 24, making good on a threat that Republican leaders have been making for decades.
But beyond the federal chaos, there is a growing movement at lower levels of government to support informed communities. Dozens of lawmakers across the country are exploring legislation to support local news and civic information, and several of them are turning these bills into law. California leaders, for instance, just announced the creation of a new Civic Media Fund, which will distribute grants to local outlets across the state based on the most pressing community information needs.
That’s why a coalition of local journalists, community media leaders, scholars, and advocates— organized through the national Media Power Collaborative—is calling on the state legislature to join the wave. Massachusetts is ripe for the creation of an independent grantmaking body that can direct public funds where they’re needed most: to the newsrooms and civic information efforts that are closest to the communities they serve. This would include independent newspapers, nonprofit outlets, local digital startups, public access centers, and more.
Crucially, this approach comes with strong safeguards. Lawmakers would have no say in who receives funding; that role would be held by an independent board of community members, media leaders, and civic leaders. That’s how we protect press freedom and prevent political interference.
There’s also a proven model to lean on. Since 2021, the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium has distributed over $10 million to more than 60 projects—from revitalizing local newspapers to supporting community media in underrepresented neighborhoods. This model has the added benefit of attracting philanthropic investment, adding another pillar of financial support.
Massachusetts can—and should—be next. This state deserves more than news deserts and media monopolies. It deserves trusted, local journalism that reflects the realities of its residents and responds to their needs. A public fund for local news would represent a historic investment in creating a more inclusive, resilient, and democratic media system.
Our elected officials have the opportunity to take a powerful step toward that future. Let’s make it happen.
The Media Power Collaborative is a national coalition of community journalists, community leaders, and advocates who believe that a transformed media system is fundamental to civic and democratic health. MPC members are working across the country to advance policy change to support informed communities and local news. Visit https://mediapowercollab.org/ for more information.
Akbota
OSO GORDO’S VISION
Born and raised in Roxbury, Miguel Angel Sheppard is the Boston-based designer behind Oso Gordo, a contemporary streetwear heritage brand inspired by American workwear and the legacy of Black and Hispanic street fashion. The name means “fat bear” in Spanish.
Some of the artist’s earliest work was an effort to make a world that would fit him.
“I was really big when I first got into this stuff. Just a little thicker than I am now,” he said. “I really wanted to make the stuff that spoke to me that I wasn’t finding.”
Angel Sheppard soon realized that his designs should not just be about creating things that fit him personally, but uplifting the communities and cultures often left out of the conversation.
“Design, before anything else, is communication. And it does shape a lot of how we perceive the world around us,” he explained. “Design as it is, is dominated by white men and their Western design principles. It leaves a little to be desired from the majority of diverse people that do exist in these spaces and take up more space than the one community we try to adhere to.”
He thinks this sterile, overly academic approach to design does more than just marginalize non-white identities—it makes the world boring. Instead, he posits that the best works are those broad enough to communicate a message to anyone, while preserving enough authenticity and niche to tug at the hearts of specific identities.
Though he does not believe his portfolio is enough to dismantle authoritarianism just yet, the projects he works on consistently put the people of Boston at the forefront, working closely on grassroots projects by other like-minded creatives.
Angel Sheppard served as the lead brand designer for AIGO, a now-defunct vintage upselling operation located on Newbury Street. His responsibilities included directing the store’s visual language and how it was presented to customers, as well as designing original marketing materials and merchandise. He prided himself on AIGO being a third space for people interested in fashion, something he thinks Boston had lacked for a long time.
The store closed suddenly earlier this year. “I made my LinkedIn profile that week,” he
joked. “It all kind of ended up not mattering … but [AIGO] was something I wanted to do for a long time. And I’m happy to say I was able to do it.”
Fortunately, Angel Sheppard was not out of a job for long. While working on his senior project for Lesley University—a community arts zine titled The Mel, after late civil rights figure Melvin King—one of his professors would connect him with Thunder Road Projects. They brought on Angel Sheppard as the new creative director for their own “Mel King 4 Mayor” campaign, a revisitation into King’s life through the screening of The Brunch, a short film eulogy created in 2023.
“Mind you, I didn’t really know what an art director was. But I made a brand centered around the film as a whole. It’s going to be like a recurring project that we’re able to do for Boston-based events,” he said.
His success with the project affirmed what Angel Sheppard considers his driving force: “Spite—or the burning ambition to be better than I was the previous day.”
Angel Sheppard is competitive about design work—but not out of any animosity for his fellow artists, or at least not any he takes too personally.
“I’m friends with the best artists in Boston, people who are choosing to do something for the city and the community,” he said.
“I’m proud to be able to say that I’m a part of that. … You want to be able to stand next to these people, shoulder to shoulder, say like, ‘yo, I’m a part of this.’”
With his work on “Mel King 4 Mayor” wrapping in June, Angel Sheppard has resumed full-time freelancing while striving for his next big break as an in-house designer. He is prioritizing continuing to establish himself as a maker who can contribute to the culture and serve as a pillar for Roxbury and artists across the city.
Miguel Angel Sheppard can be found on Instagram at @miguelangelsheppard. His original designs can be found in-store at Found Boston in Cambridge or through DM. For business inquiries, he can be reached at miguelosogrande@gmail.com.
MASSACHUSETTS MINUTE
ET is back with Pasada Country
For those who reside outside of Massachusetts or the greater sphere of influence of Cape Verdean culture, the name Nelson Freitas may not stir any particular feelings. But for those in closer proximity to this subculture, Freitas and his music will certainly make you think back on a particular moment in life during which his Kizomba music cemented a lasting memory. For me, it reminds me of summer nights in Dorchester when my cousin used to play Don Omar, Mr. Vegas, and, of course, Nelson Freitas inhumanely loud as my aunt prepared arroz con gandules. Whenever I hear the opening moments of his hit-single “Rebound Chick,” I’m suddenly reminded of the scent of Dominican food, the sounds of illegal fireworks, and visions of groups of people performing wheelies on dirtbikes down Geneva Ave.
So when I first pressed play on Brockton rapper ET’s latest single “Pasada Country,” I was unexpectedly met with these reminiscent thoughts once more. The song samples the smooth, sultry, and instantly attention-grabbing instrumental that serves as the foundation for “Rebound Chick.” But instead of the laid-back, whispered tone of voice that carries Nelson across his original
version of the song, ET selects a different path. Seconds into the song, he unfurls a relentless onslaught of fast-paced raps that mention everything from loneliness and reflection to redemption and triumph. He has a way with words that switches between profound and entertaining instantaneously, with one bar being something that could be extracted from a novel and the next being a comical reflection about a girl he’s interested in.
It’s this dichotomy and ET’s ability to piece together unparalleled tracks that has drawn fans from far and wide towards the Van Buren Records member’s catalog of sounds. Like many of his records, “Pasada Country” taps into the inner complexities of ET and adds to the general mystique that surrounds him. This release is an exceptional first release for ET in 2025, and I, for one, am hopeful that it marks only the tip of the iceberg of what’s in store for the remainder of the year. Until then, tap in with ET, and get familiar with the other artists from the Van Buren Records lineup who have been putting on for Brockton this year.
FROM THE NOZZLE
Good graffiti is easy to find in Boston, from the PaintBox program that commissions local artists to spruce up otherwise dull utility boxes, to the Lynch Family Skatepark that is filled with vibrant paint. The top of Harvard Avenue opposite O’Brien’s Pub is home to one of the most unique graffiti exhibits in the city: a van covered in tags from its top to its tires.
“Graffiti is probably good to keep off of other people’s cars, but not mine,” said Pat McGrath, the owner and Virgil of Looney Tunes, a vinyl record store so full with good music you may get lost without his guidance. He also owns the iconic van-comeart-project. The graffiti van lives everywhere (due to its mobile nature), but can be found most consistently outside Looney Tunes (due to McGrath’s employment).
Around six years ago, McGrath’s white Ram ProMaster van was parked on the street in its signature spot outside Looney Tunes. Both the vehicle and hardware store next door were tagged by the same graffiti artist. The hardware store owners at the time were infuriated, but McGrath felt their response was a bit extreme. As a quiet gesture of defiant indifference, McGrath kept the tag on his vehicle, displayed clearly for the disgruntled neighbors, artists, and passerbys.
From then on, new tags emerged on the van until it was completely covered, and then covered again. McGrath described the project as “totally telepathic.” There was no formal announcement, no endorsement, no call to action from the town crier, but rather an unspoken agreement between McGrath and local graffiti artists that his van is a welcome canvas.
From time to time, McGrath receives well-intentioned outrage from those who are unfamiliar with the philosophy behind his art project-vehicle, but he’s much more concerned by cheap Vitrola and Crosley record players that are destroying records.
“They’re cute, beautiful, even seductive, but they’ll destroy your records,” McGrath warned me as the Allman Brothers Band swelled around us, playing on his impressive sound system.
Although McGrath maintains that he has nothing to do with the artwork that adorns his van, he has a few personal guidelines for the project. In Fight Club style, the first rule of the graffiti van is not to encourage graffiti on the van—this maintains the project’s “telepathic” essence. Secondary rules of the graffiti van are not to tag the van with hateful intentions, not to tag over a piece that is better than your own, and lastly, that splashes of color are appreciated.
Today, the van is a mosaic of tags, a dynamic collection of artists whose work can otherwise be spotted brightening alleyways, mailboxes, electrical boxes. Since McGrath rarely curates the tags by painting over them, the tags are always overlapping, at different stages of fading out or peeking through. It serves as a gathering point and representative pulse of artists who are currently transforming Allston. To McGrath, music, graffiti, and art are all related—and he doesn’t feel the need to interfere with the flow of good expression.
ART STAYS HERE save
central street
Paul and Karen Morse founded Central Street Studios, aptly located on 57 Central Street, in 1983. The four-floor building in Somerville has become an affordable hub for artists of all types looking for studio space in an increasingly expensive city. Now, those very artists are working to save the space that has allowed them to grow, and creating a model for maintaining a studio space in an increasingly expensive world.
ants and within the city itself. “One of the things that I love about Somerville is that people really care about the arts,” said Rains.
For many, the city’s arts and culture scene is inherent to its identity, something that Giamo highlighted.
“[This campaign] has brought us into community with all these people who have really broadened our horizons and made us feel like we’re part of an art town, which is what Somerville is supposed to be,” said Giamo.
At the time of writing, the campaign’s GoFundMe raised about $20,000 with a fundraising goal of $100,000. By envisioning a future where Central Street Studios can remain affordable for artists in perpetuity, Giamo is imagining a space where artists are free to take risks.
After over 40 years of ownership, the Morses are working to sell the studio to the Arts & Business Council (A&BC) of Greater Boston, intending to put the space into a cultural land trust that ensures it will be used as an affordable space for artists in perpetuity. The group is continuing the expansion of its “creative campuses,” which include a space in Lowell and developments in Worcester and New Bedford. While some of the funding will be provided by the city of Somerville, grants, and private donors, the artist-tenants and their newly-formed tenant union are currently crowdfunding to fill the gap to save their space.
WORK FOR THE COMPASS
be our production manager
After two years of running the Boston Compass, Akbota is passing the torch as the editor-in-chief and zipping off to graduate school (see pg 8 to wish them luck!). And so, the role of editing and curating Boston’s only arts and culture print newspaper is now available!
The BCN Production Manager is responsible for planning and executing the print timeline of the Boston Compass newspaper by ensuring that writers, featured artists, and designers meet the set deadlines in a timely and efficient manner. The PM will coordinate with a small team made up of BCN’s founder, Operation Wizard, 2-3 designers, and our rotating team of writers and artists, by arranging content, sending content deadline emails, copy editing articles, facilitating print layout/design/distribution, and updating our subscribers via Patreon. It will be your PAID DUTY to be in tune with the Boston area’s diverse arts and culture scene in order to field and pitch articles, scout writers, and offer featured artists the gig of designing the paper. Finally, you will need to facilitate layout during the last weekend of the month, which will take longer than you anticipate. Many challenges arise, and you will rise to them. Given the nature of the production cycle, it is certainly not a regular 9-5 job!
We are looking for someone familiar with arts & culture in/around Boston, is responsible, and who has an editorial sensibility! Being a fan of the paper and the DIY scene
definitely helps, but we also want to bring new folks into our longstanding community as well.
The position is $25/hour, and usually consists of 10 hours/week. Some weeks you will barely clock anything, but it will be made up with the intensity of layout weekend at the end of the month. Bota will be around to shepherd you before and during your first layout, and you’ll also have the support of our very small team.
Applications are due August 23 at 11:59pm and can be accessed by scanning the QR code below. Good luck!
The group has been working with the Art Stays Here Coalition, a group of artists and allies working to maintain artists’ spaces in order to keep arts in their communities. The group has worked to help maintain studio spaces across Greater Boston and is collaborating with other stakeholders to secure a cultural land trust for Central Street Studios.
“The idea is that specific properties, buildings, or money gets put aside for this preservation purpose,” said coalition member Ami Bennett. “The mission of a land trust is to keep whatever the thing is as its intended use and affordable.”
For many of the artists, the space has allowed them to expand their practices without breaking the bank. “I felt like I had won the lottery,” said Donna Rains, a fiber artist and member of the tenants’ union, when discussing the price of a studio space. “For me at that time, it was such a bright light.”
The band Sidebody, who uses the building’s basement to practice, echoed the sentiment. “We were really just looking for a place where we could settle and feel confident, that we could spend time there and take the time we needed to do all the things we do. [Central Street Studios] is right in between where all of us live, and it just seemed very lucky,” said Cara Giamo, a Sidebody member who is part of the tenants’ union.
The preservation campaign has led to a true sense of community both amongst the ten-
“[The space remaining affordable] will add some stability to the lives of the artists who are part of it, or might become part of it in the future, and it will allow all of us to take more risks and to do things with the studio that we couldn’t even envision before,” said Giamo.
However, in this climate, it is impossible to ignore that Central Street has been lucky in comparison to other studio spaces, many of which have been either converted into other spaces or become too expensive to ensure equitable access. This displacement has intensified over the last decade, according to the City of Boston. Bennett highlighted that despite this campaign’s hardships, it has been smoother than “other projects have taken two, three, four, or five years, or never come to fruition…this one has been a lot of the right things in place at the right time.”
Beyond Central Street Studios, Bennett and other coalition members hope to see a world where these campaigns are no longer necessary due to policy safeguards that prevent displacement from happening in the first place.
“Displacement has happened for a long time … And [any] successes that we’ve had or are about to have [are] not because there are policies and protections in place,” said Bennett. “It’s because a handful of people at the right time got together and decided to make it happen.”
To support the initiative to save Central Street Studios, please visit centralstreetstudios.org and attend their fundraiser block party on August 9 from noon to 5 p.m.
JOSIE WAGNER
Artists
8/13 Which Side? A Protest Music Teach Out A concert and discussion series celebrating and exploring protest music @ Lizard Lounge 7pm-10pm 21+
8/5 Academy Order, Battlemode, Feep, Woid Bear @ O'Briens Pub 7pm 21+ $10
8/7 Somergloom Treebeard
Media and Once Somerville present a multi-day underground heavy music and arts festival @ Deep Cuts and Crystal Ballroom. Get tix at somergloom.com 21+
8/7 Lost Film, Ivy Boy, Wooll @ Lilypad 7pm-10pm All Ages $10
8/8 Fyah Yawd Productions presents: RubADub Friday Reggae Dancehall Night ft. music by Ghetto Hype @ Midway Cafe 9:30pm 21+ $15
8/8 Endation, Happy Little Clouds, Cold Expectations, Ex Hyena @ The Jungle 8pm $11.85
8/8 Tertulia presents: A Night of Latin Jazz, Soul, Indie, and Folk One night, four Latine musicians! Come for a curated night of music for Pan-latin solidarity and community. @ Diversity Consignment @ 7pm-10pm Online $10, Doors $15
8/9 Acoustic Night ft. DS Scrolls, Luke Curran, Micah DeSelms @ The Square Root 8pm-11pm 21+ $10
8/9 Paper Lady, Skorts, The Croaks @ Deep Cuts Deli 7pm 18+ $15 @paprlady
8/9 Reclaiming Folk: Celebrating People of Color in Folk Music w/ performances by Valeria Orrantia, Anand Nayak, and Naomi Westwater. @ Cambridge Public Library 1pm-2:30pm
8/10 Scene's Sunset Hang An event combining the skills of local vj's, dj's & live electronic musicians. The extravaganza’s purpose is to showcase talent in Salem, the North Shore of Boston and beyond @ Salem Willows Park 2pm-7pm All Ages FREE
8/10 Sonic Environments ft. Eden Rayz's SHADOWHARP, Hinds, Federico Balduccim, Becca Pasley An Unforgettable Night of Experimental Music @ Lilypad 6pm-9pm All Ages $10 @ edenovearth
8/10 Castle of Our Skins presents: Sound Medicine and Mindfulness Workshop Led by certified Sound Healer Deshaun Gordon-King, this calming session invites you to slow down and connect through sound @ Museum of African American History 1pm-2pm $10
8/11 Cuck Zine presents BASEMENT CUCK idialedyournumber, Charlie Lomonaco, Make Out Palace @ 82 Fisher Ave Roxbury Crossing @ 7:30 pm All Ages $15
8/14 Singer Songwriter Night Hosted by Glenn Williams ft. Jackson Magee and Chloe Overbaugh @ The Square Root Cafe 7:30pm-10:30pm 21+ FREE
8/14 What's Next?? ft. Tomer, Gabriel Arantes, Beat-Nik @ Lilypad 10:15pm All Ages $10
8/14 Celebrate 10 Years of Johnnie & The Foodmasters ft. K.O. Queen, Electric Street Queens @ Deep Cuts Deli 7pm 18+ $12 adv, $15 dos
8/16 Indie Bohemia #12 ft. CLONE a genre-bending band based in NYC, Yurrn, The Tripps, Manuxxerviar @ Tanjore Boston 8:30pm $5 @indie.bohemia
8/16 Rat City Arts Festival A grassroots celebration of the diverse artists who live, work and perform in Allston-Brighton and Boston. Youth vendor or artist? Check out the Rising Rat Mentorship Program! @ Charles River Speedway 3pm-10pm All Ages FREE
8/16 JP Porchfest The 10th Anniversary! Visit jpporchfest. org for information, map and schedule @ 12pm-6pm All Ages FREE @dunamisboston
8/21 Hyperfix, Gunklung, Stars In Debt, Dyr Faser @ The Jungle 8pm 21+ FREE
8/23-24 Ratchella is a multimedia music festival for people who love rock music and believe that partying with your neighbors builds solidarity. Visit yardworkproductions.com for more info $32.50/day
8/23 EveryDejaVu Records presents: PIECES vol iv ft. Angel Javier, TEATEA, Borboleta with LAVAGXRL as DJ @ Lilypad 10pm All Ages $15
8/24 Sadurn, Mary St. Mary @ Deep Cuts Deli 7pm 18+ $20
8/25 Pop Princess Night with the Femmes @ Uncommon Stage 6pm-8pm
9/7 Both Kinds Country Music
DJ Night BCN Founder Sam P aka DJ Groan Man serves up country jams on a lowkey Sunday afternoon vibe. Come hungry! Best dressed gets a free LP! @ State Park Bar 3pm-6pm All Ages FREE @sampotrykus
9/14 Soulelujah on the Common All-vinyl DJ collective and dance party @ Uncommon Stage 12pm-
9/14 FUNK IT UP! Finding the Join your hosts, Sybill Disobedience and Lala Luscious, along with a live band and a fierce lineup of local performers— AGlamB, Audacious, Brae Edwards, Sindy, Reina Gold, and
Zon Legacy Pheonix—for a highenergy night of song, dance, ass, and titties. @ Crystal Ballroom Somerville 7:30pm 18+ $35.75
9/16 Underground Rap & Rage Showcase presented by Great Vibes Entertainment, hosted by Infamous A @ Midway Cafe 8pm 21+ $10
9/17 BamBara, Buck Gooter, Eden Rayz @ Deep Cuts Deli 7pm 18+ $15 adv $17 dos
9/18 Get 2 the Gig Boston and MassConcerts Present: Disiniblud Rachika Nayar & Nina Keith who perform an ode to queer utopia rooted in electronic experimentation @ Lilypad 7:30pm-10pm All Ages $18 adv $20 dos @get2thegigbos
9/18 Rose City Band, Wet Tuna @ Deep Cuts Deli 8pm 18+ $18 adv $22 dos
9/19 The Femmes @ Midway Cafe 9:30pm 21+ $15
9/20 ASTROFEST Battlemode/ thegirl/Stephanie/Joshua Sweet/ Adlo/See Love/Jake K @ The Jungle 4pm 21+ $17.15
8/1-13 KUROSAWA Film Series
Catch the 4K restorations of master director Akira Kurosawa's iconic films ahead of Spike Lee's remake of the incredible High and Low (screening 8/6, 8/11 + 8/13). Other films that can't be missed are Rashomon (8/2 + 8/3), Ikiru (8/6 + 8/11) and the highly underrated Red Beard (8/5 + 8/7) @ Coolidge Corner Theater $17
8/4-12 Altmania: A Robert Altman Centennial The American legend's summer salute continues with must sees including a Shelly Duvall double feature with 3 Women (1977) and Popeye (1980) (on 8/5) and the unlikely Altman rarity, Images (1972) (on 8/12) @ Brattle Theatre $15
8/6 Grey Gardens (1976) Somerville Theatre's Summer of Camp continues with Big and Little Edie and they stylishly codepend on each other @ Somerville Theatre 7:30pm-10pm $16
8/11 The Annual Big Lebowski Screening + Costume Contest Every summer, Bostonian's with taste grab their robes, meet up at the bowling alley and then head to Coolidge for the Coen Brother's coolest comedy @ Coolidge Corner Theater 7pm10pm $17
8/13 RARE Double Feature: Luis Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel (1962) & Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend (1967) The Brattle's Summer of Satire series features these two searing surrealist takes on bourgeois bullshit (both are must sees for fans of the directors) @ Brattle Theatre 6pm-10pm $15 single/$19 double
8/16 The Brood (1979) dir. David Cronenberg Coolidge After Midnite does it again with the perfect body horror classic to keep you up at night @ Coolidge Corner Theater 11:59pm $17
8/17 Premiere Screening! Video Heaven A nostalgic, documentarian ode to the history of the almost extinct Video store w/ director Alex Ross Parry in person! @ Brattle Theatre 4pm7pm $13
8/20 FREE Outdoor Screening of David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) Bring a blanket and some snacks to get cozy on the lawn for the campy prequel to the auteur's sexy, surrealist series @ Charles River Speedway 8pm-11pm
8/22 50th Anniversary screening of Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975) This epic masterpiece got a 4K restoration and deserves to be seen on the big screen to be fully appreciated. Don't miss it! @ Brattle Theatre $15
8/25 Double Feature: Cape Fear (1962 + 1991) Two killer casts shine in these dark, tense takes on the same thriller @ Somerville Theatre 7pm-10pm $16 single/$18 double
8/6 Pub Quiz @ The Square Root Cafe 8pm-11pm 21+ FREE
8/9 Food Security, Mental Health & Immigration Resources
A community event by More Perfect Union. Come to learn about your rights, consult experts and find resources. Lunch and refreshments provided. @ Dewitt Center 10 am-2 pm FREE
8/8 A Party for Your Inner Child Join for a one-of-a-kind immersive experience to support Actualization, a surreal short film by Jaina Cipriano about childhood fears, transformation, and self-reclamation. This is a weird, tender, candy-coated birthday party for your inner child. @ Another Age Productions 6:30pm-9:30pm All Ages $35
8/9 Sol Inspired + Pull Up Poetry’s Oshun Performance Arts Festival A day filled with Sol energy and powerful poetry performances celebrating Oshun @ Carson Beach 4pm-9pm
8/9 Mural Tour Un-monument | Re-monument | De-monument:
Transforming Boston presents a prolific mural tour feat. works by Problak and GoFive @ Boston’s Madison Park Technical Vocational High School 12pm-2pm All Ages
8/6 MOM* and the Making It Up Art Exhibition shines a light on the inner thoughts that we have as potential mothers, stepmothers, bio-moms, and children of mothers. Feat. an art exhibition, circus show and communal/collaborative artmaking activities @ Arts at the Armory 7pm Starting at $35/day
8/9 Opening Reception: Bodies of Work A group exhibition showcasing the work of current and former professional art handlers @ Distillery Gallery 6pm-8pm
8/12 Topical Popsicle Improv Comedy Show Take a bite of JP Improv @ Midway Cafe 6:30pm9pm 21+ $10
8/12 The Inkwell Open Mic Two songs or eight minutes, whatever comes first. Originals only. @ Midway Cafe 8:30pm 21+ FREE
8/16 A Wicked Pissuh Night of Burlesque ADHD Fever Dream presents A Masshole Revue @ Deep Cuts Deli 7pm 18+ $20
8/19 T-Valley: A Trans & POC Drag Show Hosted by Brae the Fallen ft. Tequila Cowboy, Neon Calypso, Crystal Doll @ Midway Cafe 8pm 21+ $10
8/21 Roslindale Comedy @ Square Root Cafe 7pm-10pm 21+ FREE
8/25 Veggie Tales SERVED Yes, it is a Veggie Tales themed drag and burlesque show! @ Midway Cafe 8pm 21+ $10
9/7 The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known Kim Dauber performs pieces from musical theater and pop @ Lilypad 1:30pm-4:30pm All Ages $20 adv $25 dos
8/9 Central Street Studios YART SALE & BLOCK PARTY Artist vendors, live music, limeade & hot dogs! Meet CSS artists, make art & have fun! @ 57 Central St in Somerville @ 12pm-5pm Free
8/10 Spark The Block Party 2025 Boston’s ultimate summer block party powered by Spark FM. A celebration of food, culture, and community! Come on down to Blue Hill Ave in Mattapan for Live DJS, Art, Performances and a Caribbean Food throwdown! @ Spark FM Online 4pm-9pm All Ages FREE
8/13 Transgender Round Table A guided discussion of the transgender experience. Snacks & art activities provided. RSVP at tinyurl.com/rndtbl @ Co-Lab Manchester 6pm-9pm 18+ FREE
8/14 Mass Transgender Political Coalition presents: Name Change Clinic Drop in anytime to be in community and get guidance and support with the legal name change process, cohosted by The Network/La Red @ Parker Hill Branch of the Boston Public Library 4pm-6pm FREE
8/14 What is a Garden: Connection, Memory, and Creativity Pao Arts Center and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum invite you to enjoy an evening of conversation, workshops, and food exploring themes of community, creativity, and urban gardening. @ PAO Arts Center 6pm-9pm All Ages FREE
8/15 Boston Street Art and Graffiti Walking Tour Walk with Rob Larsen, expert guide, checking out some of the best street art and graffiti in the city. Search on Eventbrite to register! Meets at the corner of Huntington and Gainsborough @ 2pm3:30pm $25-$50
8/16 15th Annual African Festival
of Boston A vibrant week-long Cultural Heritage Celebration and a flagship program of the Shalupe Community Alliance. Ft. live music, traditional dance, food, fashion, storytelling, youth programming, and more. Follow @africanfestivalboston to learn more and apply to vend! @ Boston Common All Ages FREE
8/16 Circle Squared and Somerville Arts Council presents: 24 Hours of Culture A FREE block party ft. great music, field games, and joy as a strategy for liberation. BIPOC folx are at the center of this block party, though all who understand themselves as part of the local cultural, liberatory, and Greater Boston community at large are welcome @ Union Square Plaza, Somerville @ 4pm-10pm All Ages
8/20 Playin’ Games Uncle Herby and Miranda Rae host a game night every month! Visit @playingameswith for more details @ Piano Craft Gallery @ mirandarae_music
8/23 North East Tea Festival The perfect place to indulge your love for all things tea @ Arts at the Armory 10am-5:30pm $15
8/23 Prospect Hill Observatory Block Party Fun, Music, Games, Dance, BBQ & more! Local musicians and artists! @ 23 Summit Ave @ 1pm-9pm All Ages
8/23 Lilypad Art Jam A community space for artmaking and open jamming! No one turned away for lack of funds. All humans welcome @ Lilypad 2pm7pm All Ages $5-$20
8/23 Hankey Ho-Down Saddle up and get ready to ride hard and dance harder at the Boston Ironsides’ Hanky Ho-Down, the wildest queer dance party this side of the Charles. @ Crystal Ballroom 8pm 21+ $35
advocacy
8/10 The History Project presents: Can’t Erase Queer/ Trans History An event of reflection, resilience, and remembrance as we honor the legacy of LGBT+ communities in Boston and beyond @ Club Cafe 11am-1pm $20-$40
8/20 Know Your Rights Training
This online training will cover basic Know Your Rights info, including rights in interactions with immigration enforcement, including when immigration comes to your home or stops you while driving, family preparedness, public charge, where to get legal help, and information on notary fraud and immigration scams. Visit miracoalition.org/know-yourrights-trainings to register. @ 12pm-1pm
8/25 Rest & Rise Retreat
Helping
Everyone Live Purposely (HELP) is gathering 50 participants for a no cost restorative 3-Night Retreat for QTBIPOC Organizers & Veterans. Spots are limited! visit tinyurl.com/ HELPbyAMG-retreat to register interest. @ Campsite in Pittsfield
Stop Gaza Genocide Toolkit
Visit uscpr.org/StopGazaGenocide to find actionable items from the US Campaign for Palestinian Right's Toolkits.
Know Your Rights: What to Do if You Are Arrested or Detained by Immigration This resource provides general information on what to do if you or someone you know is stopped, arrested, or detained by immigration or other law enforcement. Visit www.nilc.org/resources for more information.
Boston Liberation Center Open
Hours The BLC is a socialist, working class community center located right in the heart of Roxbury. Stop by to learn more about the work of the center and talk with the organizers, browse the community library, get some work done or just hang out! Tues & Thurs 4-8pm, Fri 1-6pm, Saturdays 10-4pm.
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition MTPC works to ensure the wellbeing, safety, and lived equity of all trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive community members in Massachusetts. Visit masstpc.org for more information.
opportunity
8/9 Surface Play: Exploring Texture, Form, and Transformation Join artist Jo Nanajian for a two-day, hands-on sculptural workshop that explores the fundamentals of building form and experimenting with surface. Open to all skill levels, build simple armatures using chicken wire followed by plaster strips to create your own sculptural piece @ Gallery 263 1pm 18+ $20
By 8/15 Musician Changemaker Accelerator Academy A 6.5-month social change business accelerator for 10 carefully selected socially conscious musicians from around the country to develop a social change program/pilot in their communities. Visit musictolife.org to learn more/apply.
8/16 Biolithic Builds presents: Boston Clay Plaster Workshops In just 3 hours, you’ll learn the basics of how to formulate and apply a durable and beautiful clay plaster from local soil, straw, and sand. Visit biolithicbuilds.com to learn more and register @ 1pm4pm 18+
By 8/23 Work for the Compass We are looking for a new production manager as our Editorin-Chief Akbota gears up for grad school. See page 3 for more
information and scan the QR code for the application. Good luck!
By 8/31 Performing Arts Funding Grant Program ETC cash grants up to $5K to nonprofit performance groups producing their own work. Visit etcconnect. com/About/Philanthropy/ Performing-Arts-Grant.aspx to learn more/apply.
By 9/1 The Lenny Zakim Fund funds under-the-radar grassroots organizations with budgets less than $350K that work to advance social, racial, and economic justice. Visit thelennyzakimfund. org to learn more/apply.
By 9/15 The Robert Lehman Foundation Grants up to $50K for nonprofit cultural groups advancing the visual arts in both American and global culture. A key focus is expanding access to art education in underserved communities. Visit robertlehmanfoundation.org to learn more/apply.
Dance Around Boston newsletter with dance classes around Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and the greater Boston area. Visit danceclassesboston. substack.com to sign up.
Get Listed on VisitMA.com
Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism hosts a statewide calendar and invites cultural organizations to contribute their events and attractions. Register at business.visitma.com.
The News by Kieran Teare-Thomas
Ineptitude by Jared Kellogg
Local Lore: The Ghost of the Footlight Club Theater by Jillian D. King @jilliandking
@britdeart
Closing Shift: What's on the Tape? by Brit Parry
Friendly Fella by Austin Ickes
@sticky ickes
MEET THE ARTIST
I’m a Somerville-based artist, cartoonist, printmaker, and designer. I did “ Bird Crimes” from BCN Comics Season 8. Gracing the cover of the August/September 2025 Issue are my cows, Mu and Dholi. They’re the two main characters from my space opera comic, which is in development stages. Mu and Dholi are a pair of cows from Lotinisia, a planet that has been utterly destroyed by greed and war. Mu is an amnesiac noble with no memory of his escape. Dholi is a former palace guard holding gory memories of his time on home planet, and their escape from it. The two of them now live the space urchin life, on an endless road trip to discover who they are, and who they will become in the aftermath of so much chaos.
What have I recently fin ished? I just finished my new comic, AFFLICTED, for adult readers, in the queer erotica anthology zine BOYS WITH TITS, pub lished by Naumin. The (dein dexed) zine is on sale on itch.io until September 30. On July 23, Itchio responded to payment processor pressure and deindexed all work tagged “Adult” on its platform. Speaking of, have you called Visa/ Mastercard and pressured them to end their unfair policy banning the sale of all adult content today? ;) You should call them!
What else do I do? I like making relief printed apparel that embraces people of all sizes, I
like painting and drawing in nature, I like botany, and I love spending time with my Void, Peter. I’m continuing work on my ongoing, longform trans-gothic ero-horror comic, LITTLE DEATH, which is a full color comic about a reclusive transgender man—who doesn’t feel safe enough to be out to his peers— plunging into a deep well of paranoia when a necromancer from a dark fantasy dimension manifests at his boarding school and in his dreams to haunt, seduce, and bend him to his will. It’s free on my website: littledeathcomic.com, for adult readers.
Today, I use the term trans-gothic to describe the leading theme of my work: trans-gothic is the idea that home is pain, and love is pain, so my characters have to redefine their idea of what home is and what love is, in order to feel at home and loved. In my stories, this idea is reproduced by my characters’ experience of being trans—redefining bodies, and expectations, and their relationships to bodies and expectations. You can find more of my art and words on all the sites through my Linktree at https://linktr.ee/ pompoison
Where does my fear come from? It fills my vision, I can’t see past it. How can I heal when
I can not even dream of a life without fear? I have spent my whole life trying to find the origin. My fear has teeth because it is inevitable, no one can escape it. It is inside my body, galvanic. Safety has always felt like a myth, something I don’t know how to believe in.
It is a normal day in elementary school until the teacher puts a trash barrel next to my classmate’s desk. I watch him throw up his lunch. Class goes on like normal, but my body is electric; I could power the entire school with the intensity of my fear.
School becomes a nightmare. I sob in the hallway, begging my mom to take me home. She never budges and I enter the classroom day after day with puffy eyes, feeling trapped. As I got older I became desperate to live a normal life. I looked for help but no one seemed to know what I was talking about. I must be making it up to get out of a test, or maybe I just wanted attention. No one is afraid of throwing up—that’s silly.
I know now that it is not silly, but exhausting. I am always listening in public restrooms for the sound of someone vomiting. When a car is pulled over on the side of the highway I crane my neck, did they stop because they were sick? I expect vomit everywhere.
I do the same for my own body. I calculate what I touch, what I’ve eaten, who I’ve been around. Am I sick? Will I get sick? I turn inwards and listen intently to the signals from my body. Do I feel sick right now?
I know that it is inevitable, so when will it come up?
After fifteen years it happens again. I clutch the side of my truck and my breakfast hits the ground. My vomit feels like velvet in my throat. There is a brief euphoria as my body takes over, purging what had been making
me feel sick for hours, and then a flood of relief. Shaking and smiling, I sit on the ground. I did it.
This fear has taken a lot from me. I’ve missed out on experiences, travel, foods and friendships. But it’s given me a mission and through that a concrete way to measure my own growth. I know I have had to stay absolutely present with myself to beat this fear. When there is nowhere to hide from my fear and I have no option but to show up, I become resilient. Because I live within this fear, I know that I can do hard things. In order to externalize my internal struggle, I have a tendency to set big goals for myself.
The origin isn’t important. What matters is where I am headed.
If you can relate, you are invited to my fundraiser party for my short film Actualization, a story about inherited trauma and the fear of vomiting. The event will be on August 8 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at 19 Needham Street in Newton, MA. You can find more info on Instagram at @jainastudio.
JAINA CIPRIANO
DEAR READER
`
AN EDITOR'S FAREWELL
Let’s end things with a messy story. In February of last year, I was walking my usual route to work in that weird, industrial part of Somerville when I saw my boss barrel down the road. She stopped, hopped out, and announced that she had been sent away. By the wind? Nah, by her boss. It was a beautiful spring day, with a sky so blue it felt wrong, and we were both laid off.
Daniel drove me home, where I applied for unemployment benefits quietly before closing the computer shut. I stared into space for about ten minutes before opening my laptop again and resuming layout for the paper. I was sending the March finals to print in a couple days and needed to finish the big list of happenings. Reader, do you think about how all the entries in that inner spread are bolded in a very specific way? Well, I was going through the Google doc and formatting each title one by one by one. Emo night at Midway Cafe, bold. Know your rights, bold. Onwards clicked my mouse, a little synecdoche of myself. I’m thinking, god, at the end of the day, at least I have the Compass. At least I still have Boston.
I’m always thinking about how the paper is artist-run, and I wonder whether I fit into that archetype. I’m a writer, sometimes, sure. But I’m not a muralist or a guitarist or a name on a poster in Allston. That’s okay. I like to think that my art during this time was collaging together the Boston Compass.
Burying the lede here—I’m leaving the paper to head to grad school in September. I’ll make a pit stop in Kyrgyzstan for my grandma’s 80th, and then I’ll be in Cambridge at some unnamed, historical institution. I feel like a different person now. I attribute my transformation to the newspaper, for being exactly what it is: a compass. It has led me to many people, parties, and paths that I never would have pondered otherwise. So let me say thank you.
I want to thank Sam for letting me be so annoying to him when I was very green to the gig. I also never kept up the practice of having weekly meetings with him, and he was honestly very forgiving about it. Same with
Kevin. The fact that he even took me on as an intern is astounding because as the current editor I definitely never had time for that whatsoever. I learned a lot about being chill. A big thank you to Emma for teaching me how to be an actual team member. There’s honestly too much to say here to the three of them, so I’ll save it for the next time we get beers. I’m sorry to the people who haven’t had the chance to meet them yet.
The paper wouldn’t exist without the designers. Adrian, Phoebe, Hannah, and Ruby— thank you for persevering through my insane design critique. Some of this has included moving text boxes two pixels to the right just to see what happens, and changing the font from Avenir Next to Avenir because the em dashes look wrong. They get it done every time, often past midnight.
There’s nothing I hate more than distributing the actual rag. I tried doing it once with Daniel when I was being cocky and it took like five hours and we somehow trapped Georgia in the car with us. So I want everyone to know that Marco, Sam, and Emma do it every single month. And then Marc, our accountant, pays everyone. Know your heroes.
Finally, thank you to all the writers who took a chance and actually wrote something for the paper. People at parties and cafes always tell me they want to write and then they don’t. No one’s ever gonna care if you never say it. So, please keep writing. Even if it’s kind of bad and I tell you to call me on the phone so we can discuss it—that’s a door opening, not closing.
It’s almost too obvious, too on-the-nose to mention the artists. This newspaper is the thank you letter. To all the people out there still being creative and smart and perceptive and social, keep going! And when the going gets tough—just think of how, at the end of the day, we at least have each other, right? We at least have Boston.
AKBOTA SAUDABAYEVA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE BOSTON COMPASS
