Access to quality information is a public good. It’s core to our democracy, quality of life, and (as demonstrated by the current pandemic) health. But, boy, is it a tough business.

Enter the East Bay Media Group, a venerable Rhode Island institution. The Bristol Phoenix, the oldest of seven newspapers the group prints weekly, first published in 1837. Jock Hayes and his brother Matt are the current stewards of the company. His family has been running it since the 1920s, so they know something about persisting through hard times. As he puts it, “It’s a way of life.”

Why does local ownership matter? Jock sums it up nicely in his description of his work: “There’s a lot to it, but it all begins and ends right here in our communities.”

News outlets that rely on advertising from small and locally-owned businesses have seen their revenue dry up at the exact same time that access to quality local information is more critical than ever. This is one of COVID-19’s terrible ironies. And in the throes of that reality, some outlets are recommitting, innovating, and building forward. That is one of humankind’s beautiful ironies.

Jock spoke with me from their archives (hence winning the Coronacast Best Zoom Background Award). He offered generous and thoughtful reflections on:

Their mission to be a “steady source of credible, honest information.”
How East Bay Media Group is responding to COVID-19 and “the humbling and overwhelming support” they’ve received from the community.
Questions he’s asking himself as they start to look ahead. For starters, he wonders, “How far ahead can you look right now?”
The fragility of our social structures, made obvious to him the past few months.
His own personal coping strategies.
My fellow Rhode Islanders, I implore you: subscribe local. (Here’s a good place to start.)]]>
I suspect that grab bag was bounced up and down a few dozen times, and maybe thrown against the wall once or twice, over the past few months. As coronavirus spread through our communities, Elyse was for several weeks the company’s single editorial staff member. That means she was finding, writing, distributing, and promoting content online while considering the future of their magazines.

It was a lot. A lot of work, a lot of hours, a lot of stress, a lot of change. Elyse focused on supporting their small business partners and pivoting to more current stories. “Instantly, I made that switch,” she describes, “from the later to the now.”

She’s been inspired by the resourcefulness and sheer determination of her fellow entrepreneurs. (You can get a taste for that in their COVID-19 Rhody Resources round-up.) Quoting Governor Raimondo, Elyse says, “‘There’s no option to stop.’ That’s sort of been my mantra. Like, there’s no option to stop. We have to just all do what we can to make this work.”

No matter the uncertainty, Elyse’s mission remains true: “I want to show everyday people doing special things to make your own little corner of the world lovely and interesting.”

We thank you, Elyse and Providence Media, for making Rhode Island a little more lovely.]]>
Trust me, you want Lisa on your side.

The pandemic hasn’t slowed things down for Foster Forward, but Lisa was kind enough to take a few minutes to talk with me. Here’s my primary takeaway from our conversation: the pandemic has proven the universality of the agency’s five focus areas for foster youth. As we rebuild our world, education, housing, income, supportive and trusted advisors, and mental well-being seem like pretty good places to start.

“I’m hoping that the silver lining in all of this,” Lisa said, “is that it really pushes a common agenda that helps people live healthier, more successful lives.” I’m hoping that, too.

My second major takeaway from Lisa? Get a puppy.]]>
As the founder of #YESPVD!, Juan produces events and activities focused on education, entrepreneurship, career exploration, and community and civic engagement to engage youth ages 13-24. He spoke with me about:

How he’s applied a mindset of continuous improvement and proactiveness to himself and his community work — and what this means for him during quarantine.
The many times his cousin Michael Van Leesten proudly introduced him as the person who first brought Jay-Z to Providence.
How it feels to see his community severely impacted by the coronavirus.
The realities of having his family of five home “all at once, all the time.”
What #YESPVD! is doing to keep youth engaged and learning during the stay at home orders.
Juan knows a thing or two about perseverance, so let’s hope that light is getting closer.]]>
Ramona Santos got right to the point when I asked about her experience during the time of the coronavirus. “It’s nothing new,” she added. “We know what we have in our education system and how it impacts communities of color. But I think that this was a new way of seeing things.”

Ramona would know. She is a mom, social worker, and co-founder and executive director of PLEE (Parents Leading for Educational Equity). She has spent the past two months guiding and advocating for parents who are supporting their children in the transition to distance learning. “This is like a big monster that we’re trying to wrap our heads around,” she said, speaking particularly passionately about the challenges for parents of multi-language learners and children with disabilities.

Big heart and spine of steel, that’s how I’d describe Ramona. She has tremendous empathy, and she’s absolutely relentless when it comes to ensuring Providence children have the public education they deserve.

“There is little that we can do to change this pandemic,” she told me. “The nature of this is beyond the control that we have. Whatever we can do, whatever is in our control, we have to focus on doing that… Focusing on what we can control to try to make change. That’s where I’m at.”

Perhaps this is the message we all need right now.]]>
When I asked John how he was doing during COVID-19, he responded, “counting my blessings and privileges.” His wife, Karen, is a physician with a community health center located in 02909, the hardest-hit zip code in Rhode Island. John notes, “I see greater awareness of some of the inequities from folks who don’t typically talk about them or even use that language, so I’m hopeful that the conversation continues as the health care situation stabilizes…And we’ll start to work hopefully more collaboratively toward some solutions.”

Used to haunting the halls of the Rhode Island State House during the first half of each year, John and his organization have shifted to supporting online open meetings and voting-by-mail. “One thing we’ve seen is a lot more people attending public meetings,” he said. “People are going to demand that ability once this is over.”

(As we should.)

Dear reader, you’ll want to watch all the way to the end for John’s three civically-minded tips.]]>
David took time from his weekend to share with me some thoughts on the past few months, from being “incredibly lucky and incredibly grateful” to live in an area with relatively few COVID-19 cases, to his meaningful career at Cisco supporting remote work for so many people these days, to the loss of a friend to the disease. “It’s something that I never expected to experience in my life.”

David has clearly thought a lot about the current moment, which he hopes is an inflection point for our world. As many others have expressed, he feels hope for what could be and fear of the alternative. “I hope what comes out of it is a positively changed world in which we feel connected because we are connected,” David concluded. “We are connected, and therefore we can do good for each other, we can be kind to each other, we can include each other.”

Yes, please. ]]>
I spoke with Lisa on June 3, in a week when our community and our nation — still reeling from the coronavirus — is crying out from the oppression and violence perpetuated for centuries against Black and African-American people. Going into our conversation, I felt heavy and unfocused.

Reflecting on the past two months, Lisa said, “There’s a great awakening to how interdependent we are on one another as a society and as a human race.” And then she said something that struck me as particularly profound: “We see that for the same reasons we had to stay inside to protect each other’s health, we’ve been drawn outside to protect each other’s rights.”

Yes to that. And yes to the hard work of being antiracist, yes to small and local, yes to the helpers, yes to the New Next.

Listen to the full conversation for more on how Hope & Main responded to community needs, the impact on member businesses, and what this might mean for the future. And stay to the end for Lisa’s Springsteen shout-out.]]>
Damian is founder of Ocean State of Mind, a mindfulness-based science and research initiative supporting ocean conservation and human health. He draws on his background as an educator, entrepreneur, and systems builder to use mindfulness practices to strengthen the human/nature connection.

“That journey has led me to start thinking about how do we help an individual human take stock of who they are, what they’re feeling, and bring some sort of control back to their lives,” Damian said. “And nature has a huge part in that. I think a big part of our disconnect in society is that we’ve also pulled away from our relationship with the natural world.”

Damian sees the connections between COVID-19 and the worldwide protests against racism and oppression. “There’s some really important conversations and changes that are happening in our country and around the world around the topic of race,” he said. “And we have to get those relational things right if we’re truly going to be able to walk forward as a species. Coronavirus has sort of put everyone on notice.”

My own efforts to develop a mindfulness practice have been pretty pathetic. I am easily distracted during daily life and easily triggered when the stresses rise, as they inevitably do. On a much bigger scale, I fear that happening in our world, as our attention lurches from one moment of outrage and despair to the next. How do we (individually and collectively) sustain intent as we walk forward?

“My bet and my sense is that if we go back to our own intuition, and if we learn to listen to our own wisdom that’s inside of each of us right now, that’s the path forward,” Damian offered. “That includes the really challenging internal deep dives that folks of privilege like myself have to do to shift these institutional, systemic pieces of injustice that are all over the place. So it’s not a rush back to the normal; it’s a recreation of a more just world where everyone has opportunity.”]]>
Theresa founded T-Time Productions to bring untold inspiring stories to life. With projects like Third and Long, a documentary which examines civil rights in this country through the integration of pro football, she weaves education and entertainment via great storytelling.

Theresa seeks to bring more accurate and inclusive histories into the classroom, as textbooks and classroom materials traditionally tell a one-sided and exclusive version of what happened. “Some of this historical stuff lays the foundation for some of the challenges and systemic issues we have right now,” she pointed out.

Witnessing the uneven impacts of COVID-19, educational inequities made worse by distance learning, and the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd has not been easy, but it has reinforced Theresa’s work and purpose. “At certain points, I just had to shut down and process and regroup,” she acknowledged.

Theresa draws, not surprisingly, on history — in this case, her own family’s legacy. “I look at the history of my ancestors. As a people, we can look back and look at the strength and the dignity and the grace that we have come through some of these things,” she notes. “And it doesn’t mean that we’re not pushing for change, but it does give me hope that that’s the underlying lineage and foundation of how we’re going to deal with this.”]]>