 This program is brought to you by Cable Franchise Vs and generous donations from viewers like you Hello and welcome to the Amherst weekly report from Amherst media My name is Claire Healy and we're covering the news from this past week in Amherst, Massachusetts First this week was election week, and it's been a highly contentious race Around Amherst many people sent in vote-by-mail ballots and others went to the polling stations to make sure their voice was heard in this election Our field correspondent Rebecca Duffy went to the polls and talked to people as they prepared to cast their ballots Thanks Claire. All morning We've been traveling to the different polling locations across the town of Amherst to speak with voters about how they feel about this upcoming election And what this election means to them Between the hours of 10 and 11 a.m. On election day voters have been slowly trickling into the banks community center in downtown Amherst to vote Julia LaFountain is a 20-year-old first-time voter who has many mixed feelings about the election It's really scary and nerve-wracking because there's a lot of different opinions from a lot of different people But I'm hoping that everyone's gonna make the right decision and that's gonna come out good in the end for everyone Her main concern lies with the communities of people around her. I'm just hoping that everything's gonna be okay after it I'm just more worried about the people of color and the LGBTQ community and how they're gonna feel But because we have a lot of those around this area, especially being from Northampton myself I grew up around that but I'm just hoping that everyone's gonna stay safe and happy for Amherst town council president Lynn Griezmer The 2020 presidential election is an opportunity for healing. I think it's one of the most important elections of our lifetime and I include my lifetime, which is over 70 years and I think that we're at a critical juncture in our nation We need to have an opportunity to heal many many wounds and the divides that have been created over the last several years Due to COVID-19 the town of Amherst has taken a number of health and safety precautions at each of its polling locations Griezmer thinks the town of Amherst has done a great job spreading out voters across town People are spread out People feel they can get to the polls like they always have So we feel very very strongly and we're assisted today by our ambassadors and a variety of other precautions The number of voters here at the banks community center has been pretty low We haven't even seen a line form outside by the looks of it It seems like many voters in Amherst have taken advantage of early voting the district warden here told us that they've seen over 2,100 voters vote in the last two weeks here reporting for the Amherst weekly report. I'm Rebecca Duffy Free Press, a media and technology advocacy organization has launched a new initiative called Media 2070 The project is rooted in a 100-page essay detailing the legacy of anti-black racism in media Organizations in both contemporary and historic news coverage across the country The essay argues the need for media reparations and both the essay and project were created by black identifying members and staff at Free Press Media We spoke with one of the founders of this project Colette Watson about the project and the vision it has for Reconstructing how media works by the year 2070 She describes the project as quote an invitation to dream and Transform the media system in a way that centers around quote the undoing of anti-black harm Which she says is foundational to achieving a more just media and democracy I am the vice president for cultural strategy at Free Press, which is the organization that has brought about the media 2070 project and media 2070 is an essay and website organizing hub That is an invitation to dream up media reparations media 2070 for us is an invitation to dream and In doing that dreaming to realize a world that's never existed before one in which black people have the capital to Control the creation of our own stories and then to control that through Production Distribution through all phases really of storytelling when you are talking about the creation of news media and reporting and just understanding our world Instead of defining what reparations might look like too deeply now She said the project is focusing on creating a space to explore ideas and dreams that different people have for reparations For us, it's been very important to not Too deeply define reparations, but to instead put forward media 2070 as a space a Welcoming and an invitation to co-create and dream and vision what reparations might mean especially for Unique local communities and unique identities within blackness. You're not just looking for Sort of singular policy interventions when we talk about reparations. We're talking about a fundamental reimagining a Transformation of the media system Watson detailed some of the history described in the essay such as the way that media Institutions contributed to and were complacent in the institution of slavery and how this demonstrates the way that quote Anti-black racism is in the DNA of our media system When you think about that that the very foundation of American media and even you know The founding of the nation is is made possible by this trafficking of enslaved persons It really makes you look take a look at how anti-blackness is in the DNA of our media system The project holds workshops and discussions that Watson said quote happened wherever the project goes She said that participants at the workshop expressed to her the heavy nature of the workshop and gratitude We've already had one grieving session That we gave the theme what will we leave behind and that was a session that was led by our team media 2070 we had a lot of journalists and folks who participated with us just to understand What are some of the practices steeped in the habits of white supremacy that will leave behind and then we're going to have More sessions that we'll host but then actually put that power into the hands of folks who are interested in and understanding the national history Surfacing the local history and then from there will begin also inviting folks in to start thinking about policy to start thinking about practices and just ideas and visions Through those local discussion groups, but at this point we're creating a consortium of folks Whether they are hosting local discussion groups are coming to you know the webinars that we host And the folks who take part in that energy are really going to comprise that consortium And that is something we'll be really standing up in 2021 Watson said for anyone hoping to get involved in the project or keep up with their work They can follow media 2070 on social media email them directly or visit the website She also encouraged viewers to look into its sponsor organization free press In our final spotlight of professors in indigenous studies We spoke with professor Kiara vigil from Amherst College about her her research and her experience teaching She said that before a researcher and an author. She is a teacher where I went to become a professor. I was a high school teacher So I after college I went to Columbia University teachers college and I that's where I really got into this To this kind of idea of like well as a teacher. I actually get to create the curriculum So I was really excited to try to infuse indigenous perspectives history Into a teaching of United States history that history wasn't about memorizing facts and dates and all that But it was really about what are the stories we tell ourselves about where we are now And and how do we connect back to whoever came before us? vigil talked about her book indigenous intellectuals sovereignty citizenship and American imagination 1880 to 1930 a collective biography of four native figures at the turn of the century She said in some ways. This is a book about herself It's really curious about like that moment in time and how to think about the native people as intellectuals as cosmopolitan kind of participants in The making of the United States, but also critiquing that nation at the same time to me This book was really about reconnecting to myself and to understandings of like a Native cosmopolitan experience in a diaspora, but also the ways in which that's you know kind of empowering and challenging Vigil is also co-convener of the Mellon Grant a $2.5 million grant that people within the five colleges can apply to and use to expand or create coursework on indigeneity. I help to Make sure we're following the guidelines of this really wonderful Mellon Grant of a multi-million dollar grant for the five college Native American indigenous studies program that we have to really you know Help students have more access to a lot of this learning And part of the grant is also about community outreach and being able to kind of do programming and events, right? For people even outside of the campuses in the area Native communities non-native communities as well She talked about the current book She is working on called natives in transit, which is about her great-great grandfather Who was an actor in Hollywood and the intersection of actors and activism really interested in like okay mid 20th century? All these native people are living in Los Angeles working in Hollywood What's going on? You know and I thought that maybe there was going to be this connection between Their work that they were doing as actors and like social activism And I have definitely found that like the more I get into the research the more I have found that these are people who are using you know the kind of monetary rewards of film work to try to You know mobilize calling it natives in transit because it's I'm trying to de-center the idea that native people are somehow always locked in One place and time and it's to show how mobile native people are Governor Baker has announced new COVID-19 measures intended to curb the rise of cases across the state These measures went into effect November 6th at 12 01 a.m The first measure is an order instructing residents to stay at home between 10 p.m And 5 a.m. With exceptions for activities like work critical errands and taking a walk It also instructed the early closure of certain businesses and activities and has a revised face mask order Asking everyone to wear face masks anytime they're outside even when they're further than six feet from another person Gatherings at private residences are limited now to 10 people and outdoor gatherings to 25 people All gatherings must disperse by 9 30 p.m And violations of these gathering rules will result in a $500 fine for each person present You can read the full order at the Amherst town website That's all for this week. Thank you for watching the Amherst weekly report from Amherst media We'll see you again at the same time next week