SHOULD THE T BE FREE FOR ALL? \ DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21

GTFO: WORCESTER JERSEYS AS ART + CULTURE

SPECIAL: TREATMENT BARRIERS FOR TRANS PEOPLE 2 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 ENTERTAINMENT Like Never before!

DEAR READER YOU’RE READING AN VOL 23 + ISSUE 13 JUL 29, 2021 - AUG 12, 2021 AWARD-WINNING PAPER

BUSINESS I try to not bombard you with constant insider stuff about the media and journalism PUBLISHER John Loftus space, other than to remind people that we need their support (and the support of ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS advertisers, etc.) in order to keep up this work. But once a year I typically have the Chris Faraone great luck of getting to inform Dig readers of awards that our media makers brought Jason Pramas home from our national trade group, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, or SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Dawn Martin AAN. We’re a relatively small paper compared to many of the more than 80 alts like BUSINESS DEV. DIRECTOR us across the country, and to say we jab about our weight class is an understatement. Graham Wilson With four nominations this year, we’re one of the standout papers nationally. And FOR ADVERTISING now on to the winners … INFORMATION sales@digboston.com First, congratulations to Tadhg Larabee on an honorable EDITORIAL mention in the Health Care EDITOR IN CHIEF Chris Faraone Reporting category. His EXECUTIVE EDITOR nominated feature, “Boston’s Jason Pramas Murky World of Open-Source MANAGING EDITOR COVID-19 Vaccine Research,” Mitchell Dewar was extremely unique and ASSISTANT EDITOR Shira Laucharoen well-researched; in a year in NEW at R1 FILM EDITOR which almost every submission Jake Mulligan in every category was basically THEATER EDITOR a healthcare story of some Christopher Ehlers kind, this was an especially FOOD + DRINK EDITOR J.Q. Louise significant win. COMEDY EDITOR Next up, major props to Grace Symes, who like Tadhg was also an intern while they Dennis Maler were producing what would later be recognized as award-winning reporting. In a CONTRIBUTORS year when immigration coverage fell by the wayside for many outlets as resources Zakiya Alake, Sarah Betancourt, Tim Bugbee, Patrick Cochran, Monica Castillo, Mike Crawford, shifted to covering COVID, Grace placed second in the Immigration Coverage category Rob Duguay, Iñaki Estívaliz, Jordan Frias, for the March 2020 piece, “Coronavirus Leaves International Students Uncertain Haley Hamilton, Keiko Hiromi, Nate Homan, About Future.” Zack Huffman, Mark Hurwitz, Nyadenya Inyagwa, C. Shardae Jobson, Heather Kapplow, In the extremely competitive Investigative Reporting category (named for Laura Kiesel, Derek Kouyoumjian, Dan McCarthy, Washington City Paper alum David Carr, who went on to become an iconic champion Rev. Irene Monroe, Jane Regan, Noah Schaffer, of independent media, even as he wrote for bigs like the New York Times before Maya Shaffer, Claire Sadar, Citizen Strain, Grace Symes, Jean Troustine, Eric Twardzik, passing in 2015), Dig contributor Dan Atkinson placed second for his deep dives on Karine Vann, Derek Welcome COVID state contractor chicanery. And that was only the beginning—wait until next INTERNS year’s judges see the new stuff we are working on that front. Nancy Jiang, Hongyu Liu, Meg McCarney And finally, the big win of the evening went to Cagen Luse, who took the mighty first-place prize in the Cartoon category for his outstanding Lunchtime Comix/The AND MORE! DESIGN New Normal series. You can support Cagen’s work at patreon.com/LunchTimeComix DESIGNER and check out his events at facebook.com/ComicsInColor. At this rate, you’ll likely see Scott Murry his comics in more newspapers across the country soon. LET US BOOK [email protected] LAYOUT Svei Grundlick CHRIS FARAONE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF COMICS YOUR NEXT Patt Kelley, Cagen Luse, Bruce Quest DigBoston Need more Dig? Sign up for the Daily Dig @ digboston.com Phone 617.426.8942 digboston.com Here’s what’s happening online: EVENT! • TEAM BUILDING • BIRTHDAY PARTIES • SPECIAL EVENTS • BACHELOR PARTIES • CORPORATE EVENTS VIDEO NEWS ENVIRONMENT A video to accompany Our major feature Boston looks to take its ON THE COVER this week’s feature on on the struggle for biggest step yet to curb For Special Deals Visit: IG: @kwesithethird | kwesi.co elective surgery. sustainable housing in emissions. www.R1kart.com/BOSTONDIG Cover image and credit via Worcester Art Museum: MIZIZI, Ghana Baseball Jersey, Polyester, courtesy of Somerville. MIZIZI International, LLC. Courtesy of Kwesi Yanful with Creative Direction by Temi Thomas (@temithomas_) 100 Higginson Avenue Lincoln, RI 02865 401.721.5554 ©2021 DIGBOSTON IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY DIG MEDIA GROUP CORP. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION CAN BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT. DIG MEDIA GROUP CORP. CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. ONE COPY OF DIGBOSTON IS AVAILABLE FREE TO MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS AND VISITORS EACH WEEK. ANYONE REMOVING PAPERS IN BULK WILL BE PROSECUTED ON THEFT CHARGES TO THE FULLEST www.r1indoorkarting.com

STREET EDITION 3 NEWS TO US

JOE IRIZARRY (CENTER) IN JULY 2020 AT HIS SISTER’S HOUSE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

HIRED TO HELP END LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE, SHOWING WHY SECOND CHANCES ARE NEEDED “It’s important to have someone as a community organizer who has been affected by incarceration.” BY JEAN TROUNSTINE

“People need to understand how much prisons are serving a life sentence—more Rican, a soldier, promised the glories of the Tufts University Prison Initiative, said in a impact formerly incarcerated people can than 200,000 men and women—and US,” Irizarry said. Irizarry had a “traumatic phone conversation that she met Joe in 2018. have on the community,” said Joseph Irizarry, “people of color represent two-thirds of the upbringing,” he added, witnessing abuse not He was a “super-talented and grounded the newly hired community organizer for life-sentenced population.” only at home but in the score of foster-care student who had obvious leadership skills… the Campaign to End Life without Parole in In Massachusetts, one out of every 10 placements where he lived, beginning at age He’d get an idea and organize people around Massachusetts (CELWOP). CELWOP (which prisoners is serving an LWOP sentence. As eight. it… He is also a networker and someone who this reporter participates in) did a statewide of Jan Irizarry said that at 11, one family “treated wants to connect people and organizations search for an organizer before it hired 1, 2020, more than 12% of the Department me like a slave and called me ‘their little with other organizations.” Irizarry. of Correction population was over nigger.’” This, and his foster mother telling Since he was released on parole in 2020, Irizarry was speaking about his charge the age of 60, considered “elderly” in him he had a “gangster face” caused him Irizarry has continued with Tufts in the My to coordinate a statewide drive to increase prison. According to a fact sheet written by to run away from the home, grabbing a Turn Program, a re-entry initiative for people public awareness of the sentence of life the non-profit Prisoners' Legal Services, “Not bike and heading from Lawrence to Boston. returning from prison. He is a mentor for without parole (LWOP) and to galvanize only do people age out of crime, but it is also Eventually, he was picked up by a stranger younger students, and said he has witnessed public support in Massachusetts to end two to three times more expensive to house in a van who drove him and his bike to his own and others’ individual healing. He’s sending people to prison with no possibility an elderly prisoner.” Dorchester, where Irizarry pedaled to the also become a personal trainer, seeks to for release. In a far-ranging interview that began with Department of Social Services office. At first make fitness a lifestyle, and is involved with While there is pending legislation filed his years of abuse in the foster-care system he was thankful they placed him in another Inner City Weightlifting, which amplifies “the by state representatives Liz Miranda and and moved to his desire to end what is often home, he recalled, but in the next placement, voice and agency of people who have been Jay Livingstone to allow those serving LWOP called “the other death penalty,” Irizarry he was traumatized when his brother (who most impacted by systemic racism and mass to seek parole after 25 years (H.1797), many spoke about how he dedicated his life to had been placed with him) was raped by his incarceration.” people do not understand the need to offer giving back to the communities he harmed. caretaker. Sean Ellis, the other formerly incarcerated second chances, Irizarry said. Part of his job, He served 20 years for the gang-related Irizarry said he couldn’t take foster homes co-chair of CELWOP, a fully exonerated he noted, will be to educate people across murder of Angel Rodriguez in Lawrence in any longer after that and ended up living on prisoner and the subject of the Netflix series the state as to why those sentenced to life 2000. the street. Eventually, he committed crimes Trial Four, spoke to me about Irizarry’s new behind bars should have the opportunity to Irizarry was hired on July 1 with help from to get money to eat, and joined a gang—the role. “It’s important to have someone as a earn parole. funds provided by the Sentencing Project, Latin Kings—which housed him and gave community organizer who has been affected With the opportunity for parole, there a Washington, DC-based research and him a sense of family. “All I wanted,” he by incarceration,” Ellis said. is no guarantee that an applicant will be advocacy center. He plans to connect with said, “was to have power and be respected.” Throughout his wrongful imprisonment, released. But according to an email to me faith-based groups, unions, high schools, Irizarry became known as a fighter and Ellis said he experienced firsthand how the from Karter Reed, one of two formerly- colleges, and community-based and activist eventually became a gang leader. He told me sentence of LWOP strips away at a person’s incarcerated co-chairs of CELWOP, “The vast organizations as he seeks to create more they called him “King Camouflage” because humanity and victimizes family members. majority of those in prison for committing understanding of the viability of second he wore a lot of camouflage clothing. By age His hopes for Joe are the same as his hopes horrific acts bear little or no resemblance chances for those sentenced to LWOP. twenty, he was behind bars for murder. for CELWOP, “to end the sentence of life to their former selves. It is most often those Irizarry comes to the job with a Behind bars, he changed his direction, without parole.” who’ve done the worst who are the most background steeped in the understanding of stopped gang life, and learned what Irizarry is currently living in a sober home driven to change.” what often gives rise to crimes of brutality, healing can do, Irizarry said. He took part in and on lifetime parole because of his crime. In 2019, this reporter wrote about how what he called “cycles of trauma” that programs such as Restorative Justice and With this job, Irizarry said that one of the keeping people behind bars without any connect to “cycles of violence.” Project Youth where he told his story to first things he wants to do is “build bridges hope for release provides no assurance of Irizarry was born in the South Bronx in students. He trained service dogs for those of understanding between people on all more public safety and does not reduce 1980 in an area of “abandoned buildings and who are blind, deaf, or otherwise in need of sides of the issue.” He added, “As people, we crime rates or give victims the tools to truly dirty mattresses.” At age five, he witnessed a guide dog. “I always loved to read,” he said, stand on our own islands but we can still heal. The Sentencing Project, which has a murder. At that same age, he learned and began the joint Bunker Hill Community understand each other. Even if people do not launched a national campaign to end life from his father, “We never tell nothing to College and Tufts University college program want LWOP to end—our islands do not need imprisonment, has research showing that, the police.” His father, who met his mother at Concord Prison. to be together—we can create a bridge to nationwide, one-in-seven people in state in New York, was “a dark-skinned Puerto Hilary Binda, who is the director of the understand each other.”

4 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 NEWS TO US SHOULD THE T BE FREE? And other public transportation quagmires, from the MBTA to DC BY ZACK HUFFMAN

LOCAL improved service, the MBTA may continue about those who need these services. Should the MBTA be free for all riders? to face service cuts as fewer and fewer The answer depends on which mayoral workers are opting for public transit, NATIONAL candidate you ask. according to a recent report from McKinsey Nationally, major public transit projects are Current City Councilor Michelle Wu, and Co. (Ed. note: Not that we exactly slowly moving forward—at least on paper. LOCAL who announced her run before any of her trust McKinsey, who we recently reported Last month, the Joe Biden administration current rivals, was the first candidate to earned millions in consulting fees from reinstated an Obama-era grant of just suggest a fair-free transit system. Mass for work that appears to have been under $1 billion to support construction Fellow councilor Andrea Campbell used to rationalize mass evictions.) of a bullet train rail line that would link pledges a more modest approach to free The report predicts that with an Los Angeles and San Francisco. The grant transit on her campaign site, focusing on increase in options to work from home was a small portion of what could be free buses. and a reluctance to share breathing room an estimated $100 billion-plus project Kim Janey, who has the benefit of with strangers, public transit ridership stretched over a few decades, but it covered incumbency, announced the start of a pilot will decline. Based on current trends, the an important stretch of rail line in the first free bus program on MBTA route 28, which report predicts that half of the commuter phase of development. runs through Mattapan and Roxbury. rail ridership will be gone by 2025, making Former president Donald Trump John Barros’ transportation plan focuses it less likely that Gov. Charlie Baker will be cancelled the grant in 2019, delaying what more on increasing the number of bus eager to restore the severe commuter rail has already been a 13-year development routes in the city to make the MBTA more service cuts he made during the height of process. accessible, without touching upon what the pandemic last year. If completed, the line would be the should be done about the cost. When asked The high-priced COVID consultancy may largest high-speed transit line in the by a Boston.com reporter about his stance have already yielded results as Baker used country. The entire proposed system, on free fares, he said he preferred reducing a line item veto in mid-July to kill a 3% which is being developed in segments, will the cost of the MBTA for those most in budget increase for the state’s 15 regional eventually span about 800 miles. need of access, rather than for everyone. transit authorities. The 15 RTAs, which Naturally, a transit project of that scope Annissa Essaibi George, the fourth city includes bus, rail, and paratransit services, continues to get bogged down by fights STATE councilor in the race, has a transportation catered to about 23.3 million riders in over the details. plan similar to Barros’ in that she also is 2020, according to an annual report Most recently, California’s state not committing to a free MBTA, but would from the Massachusetts Department of Democratic party has butted heads with support cost reductions for some riders. Transportation. the Biden administration over the terms of The Livable Streets Alliance, which is In explaining his veto, Baker argued that the reinstated grant. Although the grant advocating for free buses, claims that the RTAs had received enough federal grant was restored, it now includes language about 70 cents of every dollar collected in money due to the pandemic that there requiring the use of overhead electrical rail fares goes back into fare collections. was no need to give them any more money, lines to power the train cars. Aside from the issue of a collections despite inflation essentially rendering Stakeholding state legislatures, system that is barely profitable, LSA is “level funding” as a budget cut. meanwhile, want to change the deal to pushing for a more accessible system, As of this writing, Democrats in the include battery cell technology to power including building more bus shelters, more legislature plan to override the veto. the trains. dedicated bus lanes to speed up the routes, Regardless of whether or not the extra The dispute underscores the dilemma and more at-level boarding of buses, which $3.5 million makes it back into the RTAs’ of the nation’s massively complicated makes it physically easier to board. budgets, Baker appears to be banking transportation needs, which will likely on public transit usage continuing to require decades of bipartisan cooperation STATE plummet beyond the pandemic. And if such projects are ever going to get fully- Regardless of the ongoing need for needless to say, he doesn’t care too much funded.

MEDIA FARM You can tell whether an editor drives to work or takes the T by the kind of headlines they write. STATE

“Democrats in California and D.C. “Free T bus rides come with huge “Unresolved issues remain after clash over how state’s high-speed price tags.” -Boston Herald Baker signs FY22 budget.” -WHDH rail should be powered.” - L.A. Times

NATIONAL

STREET EDITION 5 APPARENT HORIZON ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH, CASSANDRA Human unwillingness to surmount the pandemic means it’s unlikely we will stop global warming BY JASON PRAMAS

As I started a week’s vacation Friday evening, in many industrialized nations during the I happened upon a film called “Homo first wave of the pandemic. And just a few Sapiens” (2016) by Austrian filmmaker days ago, that same agency predicted that Nikolaus Geyrhalter that features scenes 2023 is on track to be the worst year for of abandoned human-built environments carbon emissions in history. around the world in the process of being Meaning that all the international climate reclaimed by nature. The effect being that treaties from the Rio Declaration of 1992 to of an eschatological science fiction scenario the Paris Agreement of 2015 aren’t worth the where our civilization has been destroyed in recycled paper they’re printed on. some catastrophe and no people are left to So what am I to make of our species’ witness the gradual erasure of all evidence of response to both a terrible pandemic that our presence. will likely kill millions more people before The same day I had read a steady stream it’s done with us and the accelerating of news stories about the Delta variant of catastrophe that is global warming? Both the coronavirus ripping through the US are caused by human action (despoiling the population as huge numbers of people environment, in brief) and made far worse ROOFING remain unvaccinated. While confusing by human inaction. Both crises result in LICENSED AND INSURED government public health messages— our political and economic establishments doubtless the result of medical experts being promising the moon in terms of swift overruled by politicians—have resulted in action to remediate their negative effects 617-903-2304 most people ditching masks in all situations. and delivering the scorched earth beneath Causing more “breakthrough”cases of our feet in the form of more profits for the the incredibly contagious Delta in fully- rich. Both result in most people becoming FREE ESTIMATES vaccinated people than evidently expected briefly terrified after hearing news of one and many more cases overall. related outrage or another and temporarily Notably here in Massachusetts, where trying to do the right thing for humanity EMERGENCY SERVICES a series of Provincetown festivities from and the planet, then relaxing prematurely July 4 onward have led directly to over and allowing themselves to participate in 400 cases of COVID and rising—including activities that make the situation far worse. Residential | Commercial in two fully-vaccinated people I know Be it taking off their masks in the case of personally. A situation I predicted in my the pandemic or buying more SUVs in the June 14 column “The Pandemic Is Not Over case of global warming. And continuing to Yet: Mass residents need to stop running elect servants of the rich sociopaths who amok in public spaces.” Not because I am in are running human civilization off the rails possession of any psychic, mystic, or spiritual throughout. Shingles powers, but by dint of simply keeping Well, as I sit here at home on staycation— up with the latest medical science in the unable to go anywhere else because the mainstream press. For which I was mocked absolutely unnecessary Delta wave of the Rubber by readers who don’t do the same in times pandemic in the US makes it too dangerous of crisis. Although most people are perfectly to do so—I cannot help but think that capable of doing so. Preferring instead to humanity’s future looks a lot more like that listen to their own selfish inner monologues, film “Homo Sapiens” than any more rosy Slate cherrypick what little they hear from experts assessment. Within decades not centuries. on social media, and mistakenly believe Which is to say that I’m not so sure the they are free to resume their pre-pandemic human race has much of a future. Because Copper lives—maskless and clueless. Spreading if we can’t defeat a virus that we’ve already a coronavirus variant many times as developed excellent vaccines against in contagious as the original virus as they go record time, how can we stop the vastly more Gutters about their rounds of family reunions, dance complex and pernicious threat that is global parties, and booze cruises. warming before it stops us. While reflecting on that development, I truly hope that you all will prove me I also read articles about a heat dome wrong through resolute grassroots action Chimney Caps that is about to settle over the middle in the service of humankind. But like the of the country and stay put for days. Yet Cassandra of Greek mythology—and I say another catastrophic heat wave of exactly this as an American of Greek ancestry—I Flashing the type that climate scientists have been sometimes feel that I am cursed to utter true predicting for decades—while political prophecies, but never to be believed. commercial grade establishments worldwide, captured by the oil, coal, and natural gas industries as Apparent Horizon—an award-winning professional caulking they are, have actually presided over the political column—is syndicated by the Boston continued catastrophic growth of global Institute for Nonprofit Journalism’s Pandemic carbon emissions. Which are on track to be at Democracy Project. Contact pdp@binjonline. their second highest levels in human history org for more information. Jason Pramas is ALL WORK GUARANTEED this year, according to an April report by the BINJ’s executive director, and executive editor International Energy Agency, after dropping and associate publisher of DigBoston. Copy- [email protected] significantly last year due to the lockdowns right 2021 Jason Pramas.

6 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 STREET EDITION 7 SPECIAL FEATURE

CROSSMAN NGUYEN BATES

ANOTHER YEAR WAITING During the pandemic, trans people faced yet more barriers to treatment BY TAYLOR BLACKLEY

As a professional drummer, Rikki Bates knows of the skull that serve as gender cues are had been postponed due to COVID-19. more confident,” she said. something about keeping time. altered. Not all people who are transgender But this hardship was nothing new. The process of transitioning looks different Over the past year, time has moved at an choose surgery, but some feel that one or a “This situation overall is not an unfamiliar for everyone. Regardless of whether people agonizing tempo. combination of these surgical interventions one to trans folks, just feeling disregarded or have surgery, they are not defined by the form “You’ve got to go straight up the trail and, is necessary for them to live their most not important enough,” said Humphrey. their body takes. you know, cut down trees with nail files,” she authentic life. Humphrey works at Fenway Health, which “Whether or not folks medically transition said. “It just takes a long time. … Well, the In Bates’ case, she had already received recently marked its 50th year of providing or not, our spirit and our character stays the clock’s ticking.” three gender affirming operations before the health care to the LGBTQ community of same,” said Nguyen. She was 4 years old when she knew she pandemic: two bottom, one top. These gender Boston and beyond. Around 15% of the In the behavioral health department, wanted to play drums. Around that same affirmation surgeries made life worth living. patients it cares for are transgender or mental health experts familiar with the time, she also realized she was different—and “Before I had any surgery, I just didn’t care gender nonconforming (meaning they experience of navigating the world as a something felt wrong. about anything anymore. I just didn’t care fall somewhere outside the binary view of person who is gender nonconforming can “I felt paralyzed. … I lost interest in about anything at all and just didn’t want to gender as male or female). Ensuring a gender uniquely understand the collective pain of the absolutely everything and just felt like I be alive,” Bates said. affirming health care experience where past year. wanted to die,” said Bates. After the surgery, everything changed. patients feel safe and understood is a priority. “There’s been a really drastic impact by At last, in March 2020, she had access to a “I just felt like this mountain of lead Candace Nguyen, 28, also works at Fenway the start of the pandemic on lots of folks who surgery she had known she wanted since she weights just went away,” she said. “Right away. Health as a clinical coordinator for STI and are trans and nonconforming,” said Annie first heard of it in the 1970s. At 66 years old, Right away, and it never came back.” HIV prevention clinics. Like many of the other Crossman, an outpatient psychotherapist. she was finally ready to set a date for a gender At every step of the way, she had to fight providers at the clinic, Nguyen is a woman of They have noted an extreme increase in affirming operation that would drastically her insurance over the medical necessity of trans experience, so she knows the anxiety of their patients’ anxiety and depression over improve the quality of her life. gender affirmation surgeries for her, a process waiting to express herself firsthand. the past year, with more people seeking help Then the coronavirus hit, and the whole that dragged on “at a snail’s pace” through “The fact that you have to wait to do that, for their mental health and experiencing world paused. months and years. But she never considered I think that’s more painful,” she said. Nguyen symptoms of mental illness. “To think that I was all ready to have this giving up. started her transition at 25 and had only Crossman, 28, offers mental health facial surgery and then have the rug pulled “It’s the only path towards me being able been on hormone therapy, which in her case counseling at Fenway Health. They have been out from under me was devastating,” said to love myself, which isn’t easy if you’re suppresses male hormones (testosterone) and working from home over the past year in an Bates. “It’s terrible.” transgender,” said Bates. supplies her body with the female equivalent apartment they share with their partner in She had no choice but to keep doing what On March 15, 2020, operating rooms in (estrogen), for a year when COVID-19 hit. Brookline. Many of the people Crossman works she had been doing for as long as she can Massachusetts shuttered their hermetically “I had this irrational fear that when with are from populations marginalized remember—wait. sealed doors to any surgeries that were COVID-19 happened, that the world was gonna according to racial, socioeconomic, ability, and During a year that has been stressful elective or nonessential. That included gender end before I actually get to fully live my life,” HIV/AIDS status, among other factors. and traumatic for everyone, transgender affirmation surgeries, along with anything said Nguyen. “I don’t wanna feel like I wasted Crossman largely attributes the abundance individuals seeking gender affirmation else that didn’t require immediate and urgent my whole life not living.” of patients seeking treatment to social surgery faced the additional stress of medical attention. Quarantining at home with family, she felt isolation and the postponement of gender postponed treatments that could be Operating rooms started performing disconnected from her community and her affirming treatments. lifesaving. nonessential surgeries on June 8, only to limit identity. “A lot of folks have been starring the Gender affirmation surgeries can be a capacity once again when COVID-19 cases “Every day I would just be waking up calendar for quite some time and no longer pivotal stage in a person’s transition. Doctors peaked in December. Over a tumultuous year, looking at myself in the mirror and it’s like I’m have access. … It gave a lot of people hope today have surgical techniques at their trans people waiting for their surgery dates not happy with myself. I’m not happy with the to have those surgeries scheduled,” said disposal that make it safe and feasible to were on an emotional roller coaster. body that I am,” Nguyen said. Crossman. She worries about the trans people alter parts of the body to better align with a “This was really, really hard on a lot of folks Now that she’s seeing results from her who, like all of us, have been isolated from person’s true gender identity. who had already been waiting for a really long hormone therapy, she feels like she’s living for their communities and barred from places Commonly sought procedures include time for these services,” said Elly Humphrey, a herself. that are normally safe spaces. bottom surgery (below the belt), top surgery therapist who facilitated a peer-support group “I’m finally like what I’ve always wanted Moving individual and group meetings (waist up) and facial surgery, where parts for people whose gender affirmation surgeries to be, and I definitely feel much happier and online offered one benefit—they were

8 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 accessible to people who may have limited access to Fenway Health in normal times due to geography. People in rural areas, like Bates, who lives down in Cape Cod in Orleans, could easily attend Humphrey’s weekly support group meetings over Zoom. For Bates, the opportunity to share her story with others who have been through similar trials helped her feel less alone in coping with the fact her procedure was delayed indefinitely. “There’s just constantly one delay after another, after another, after another, and it starts to feel like I’m just beating my head against the wall and this is never going to happen,” Bates said. She spent nearly a decade in court in order to secure her rights to transition- related medical care. Represented by lawyers from the New England-based GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, she appealed against her insurance, MassHealth, and its decision not to cover her transition-related care. This happened three times. At every turn, there seemed to be another obstruction. “Just trying to figure out all of it, getting all of these details to work, it was totally maddening,” said Bates. Finally, in 2014, she had the coverage she needed after former Gov. Deval Patrick directed MassHealth to provide coverage for hormone therapy and gender affirmation surgery. Before COVID-19 shut everything down, Bates had an appointment with Dr. Branko gender how I want to,” said Bates. “This is deeply, fundamentally important to you the operating room for close to five decades. Bojovic at Massachusetts General Hospital about me being stuck in this thing that I was right now is nonessential, just felt like a On March 25, Bates underwent a frontal to schedule the first in a series of several born into that was never, ever, ever fun and smack in the face for so many people,” sinus setback, the first in a series of about facial feminization surgeries. Her desired something that I would never, ever, ever, ever Humphrey said. “For people who have been five facial-feminization surgeries she plans result after plastic surgery is a softer, more wish on anybody else.” struggling with, let’s say, severe gender to have done at Massachusetts General traditionally feminine appearance. This This procedure, while still considered dysphoria, which is causing depression, Hospital. Her recovery is going better and process is a huge undertaking, and in her plastic surgery, is not cosmetic. It has the anxiety, sometimes suicidal ideation, it’s quicker than she could have hoped. case will include breaking, recontouring, and potential to profoundly impact her life. really, really hard.” “I only felt really bad for a couple of days reconstructing several parts of her skull. “To run into this situation where they’re Gender dysphoria occurs when there is this past surgery,” Bates said. “I’ve had years “This is not about me expressing my essentially being told this thing that is so a dissonance between what a person feels of torture, and that’s way worse.” internally and the form their body takes On April 16, Bates returned to have the physically. It can have overwhelmingly stitches removed and was already feeling negative effects on a person’s health. more healing than discomfort. There is a simple medical solution to “I really feel whole,” she said. gender dysphoria: gender affirmation The changes are subtle, but for Bates, the treatments, which ought to be agreed upon transformation is profound. together by the patient and provider. “I feel my forehead. I can feel what he did,” “They’re not something that is emergent, she said. “And it’s just so much softer and but I do think of them as a procedure that rounder and it just feels really good. I feel like is urgent for many people and lifesaving for I’m coming home.” many people,” said Dr. Robert Goldstein, who A thin pink scar that traces the edge is the medical director of the transgender of her hairline, the faint memory of the health program at Massachusetts General surgeon’s blade, is already fading. Even Hospital. though there are a multitude of incisions According to Goldstein, many patients still planned, more bones to be shaved and experience a delay in finding the care they more flesh to be surgically altered in order desire before coming to his clinic. These to achieve her desired result, Bates has delays can range from a year or two up to 20 reason to hope that the most painful part of or 30 years. They can result from relatively the process—waiting to live authentically, minor administrative errors, like paperwork waiting to feel comfortable in her own body, going back and forth between insurance and waiting to receive health care that is gender providers. In other cases, they are the effect affirming—is nearly over. of the patient experiencing discrimination as “I still got a whole bunch more surgeries they sought treatment. to go, but the goal is about to get reached,” Once a patient has initiated the process, said Bates. “There’s been all these other depending on the surgery that person wants, delays along the way, and I’m still working, the first opening could be six months, a year, chipping away at some of this mountain or even two years away. that’s still left. But, you know, I can see that “These are surgeries that are highly there’s sunlight up there.” desired, and unfortunately, there’s only so much space in the operating room on any This article was produced in collaboration given day,” said Goldstein. with the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Bates had been waiting for her place in Journalism.

STREET EDITION 9 CULTURE FEATURE

THE ICONIC JERSEY It’s not too late to catch this home-run exhibition that’s about a whole lot more than only baseball at the Worcester Art Museum BY RICH TENORIO

It seemed like a logical move at the time: affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Triple-A baseball jerseys, Corrales-Diaz said that she In 2017, Japanese-American designer G In 1908, the Boston Red Sox debuted jerseys team recently relocated to Worcester from had not found any, but there were some Yamazawa and Runaway teamed up to create that actually incorporated the team’s name. A Pawtucket, RI. The Woo Sox play their home elsewhere in New England, such Stall and a jersey that commemorated the experiences single red sock graced the front of the jerseys. games in the brand-new Polar Park, named Dean, which has its roots in Brockton, or of Japanese-Americans from a painful However, the new look got a thumbs-down for the locally-based beverage company. Draper & Maynard of New Hampshire. moment in history. from the Boston sports media, and went into “We borrowed a Worcester Red Sox jersey “It was so critical to a lot of towns,” “It honors Japanese-American baseball the dustbin of history. Now this design is to have in the show,” Corrales-Diaz noted, she said, noting that Draper & Maynard players incarcerated at Heart Mountain, back on display as part of a groundbreaking “thinking about sort of cross-institutional “basically supported an entire town with Wyoming, during World War II,” Corrales-Diaz exhibition that illuminates the history of promotions between the ballpark and the construction of sporting goods. There’s said. baseball’s beloved garments: “The Iconic museum.” the manufacturer Stall and Dean. You don’t The US government had relocated Jersey: Baseball x Fashion,” at the Worcester The entire exhibition is on loan, including see it at all in Worcester, although it has a Japanese-Americans deep inland, and some Art Museum (WAM). about 10 jerseys and two pieces of ephemera long tradition and history in terms of the of them played baseball at the camp— “It’s the first time you’ve seen this garment from the National Baseball Hall of Fame manufacture of garments.” “America’s favorite pastime,” Corrales-Diaz being talked about in terms of fan culture, and Museum in Cooperstown, NY. The Corrales-Diaz, who has a PhD in art history noted. “It’s an aspect of baseball history that’s pop culture status, a deep dive into the Smithsonian Institute also stepped in to help, from the University of North Carolina at been forgotten about.” design of the garments,” Erin Corrales-Diaz, including with the Musial jersey. Chapel Hill, came to Worcester after being a She also pointed to jerseys honoring BLM the curator of the exhibition, said in a phone “Most [museum exhibitions] sort of start faculty member in Ohio and South Carolina. and the Negro Leagues, including a Kansas interview. from their permanent collection and expand “I always had one foot in the door of City Monarchs replica jersey on display. This exhibition has something for outward,” Corrales-Diaz said. “Because of museums,” she said, noting that Worcester “There are a lot of the decisions you make everyone. For baseball history buffs, there are the construction of Polar Park and our desire itself is “great,” with “so much to do … every as a fan about your desire to wear a jersey,” items like the ill-fated 1908 Red Sox jersey to do a baseball-related exhibit, we did not weekend, there might be a fair, a play, you can Corrales-Diaz said. “To commemorate a once worn by Jesse Tannehill, and a 1952 have [items] and had to borrow historical go to a restaurant, there are so many great player, a Hall of Famer. A throwback jersey.” jersey worn by St. Louis Cardinals Hall of garments.” restaurants … there’s a new public market as With the Kansas City Monarchs jersey, “you’re Famer Stan Musial. Other jerseys indicate the Some of her favorite pieces are not well. There’s so much energy in the city. It feels really emphasizing, wanting to talk about a growing bond between baseball and fashion, jerseys, but rather stencils that were once like there’s not enough day and night to take particular aspect of history. The conversation such as a replica of the glittering uniform used to create them. The stencils and their in everything Worcester has to offer.” starts. It’s a way to spark some interest and Elton John wore during his 1975 Dodger accompanying felt samples were made by the So far, visitors have been taking to the discuss baseball’s history of segregation.” Stadium concerts immortalized in the film R.J. Liebe Athletic Lettering Company of St. exhibition. “One of their comments: ‘I had no In the late 20th century, the baseball jersey Rocket Man, and photos of hip-hop artists like Louis, which dates back to 1923. idea this was a way you can look at an object, also became a must-have in the music world. OutKast making jerseys into a trend in the “The stencils of the jerseys themselves are I had no idea there was an artistry behind “It was a particular favorite among hip-hop genre. material that has never been seen before in them,’” Corrales-Diaz said. stars,” Corrales-Diaz said, citing photos in There are also jerseys that show their an art museum,” Corrales-Diaz said. The Elton John replica jersey is one of the exhibition of Big Boi wearing an Atlanta increasing use by both designers and Created by the husband-and-wife team of the curator’s personal favorites, even if the Braves jersey and Jay-Z in a New York Yankees the public as a vehicle to promote social Robert and Alice Liebe, the company made museum couldn’t access the original. For jersey. justice, from honoring Black Lives Matter to “all of the lettering for the Cardinals jerseys longtime Red Sox fans, “Rocket Man” has As the exhibition shows, when it comes to recognizing Japanese-Americans who were and began doing more and more major another meaning—it was a staple at Fenway the baseball jersey, some trends don’t last, interned in camps across the US during World league lettering for teams,” she said, adding Park when Roger Clemens pitched there. Yet others have staying power, and still others War II. One jersey has an especially poignant that while jerseys are usually associated with this jersey is a throwback of a different kind. are timeless—like the advice given by one of Boston connection, as it remembers the manufacturers such as Spalding, “one of “It was a really pivotal moment in terms of baseball’s early enthusiasts, Henry Chadwick, Boston Marathon bombing attacks of 2013. the aspects I really wanted to bring forward designers looking at the baseball jersey, the in the 19th century. Up since June and running through is how many different hands had a role in baseball uniform, as source material, a source “One of the quotes I selected,” Corrales- September, the exhibition was inspired by the making the garments.” of inspiration,” Corrales-Diaz said. Diaz said, “was from Chadwick in 1869: ‘One newest team in Worcester—the Worcester Asked whether there were any Worcester- Fashion designers have also used baseball of the most important things as a team is to Red Sox or “Woo Sox,” a minor-league based companies involved in manufacturing jerseys to promote messages of social justice. be well-dressed.’”

10 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 STREET EDITION 11 SUN 8.1 [Leader Bank Pavilion, 290 Northern Ave, FRI 8.6 queens and kings against one another in a market basket Boston. $25/8pm. yachtrockrevue.com] bloomin‘ system vat of jello! The Somerville Flea The Sunflower Series Hosted by Kandi Dishe. Featuring perfor- Join us as we kick off our tenth year in Davis THU 8.5 The Sunflower Series is an annual perfor- mances by our wrestlers. Come get messy!” Square. The best local vintage purveyors and survival story mance series created by Boston musician, Featuring: Akira Oni, Blair Which, Coco artisans are back!! Come on out and support Shugri Said Salh with Harvard Book- artivist and poet Genie Santiago that is LaFreak, Jakk Bloodstone, Mike Hawk, Veina them after a year-long hiatus. Shop local! store aimed at creating a safe space for artists Darling, Vivienne Vagemite, and many more. [Sundays 10-4 August through mid-Octo- From Shugri Said Salh’s captivating and ut- allowing them to experience intimate bonds COVID update “Due to the recent uptick in ber. thesomervilleflea.com] terly original debut memoir, The Last Nomad: with their audience using performance and the delta variant we have decided that for the Coming of Age in the Somali Desert, which storytelling. Sunflower is collaborating with safety of our cast, employees and audience THU 8.5 chronicles Salh’s “remarkable journey from Creatives of Color Boston for this summer we will be requiring proof of vaccination to dad religion her idyllic childhood with a nomadic grand- show. Creatives of Color’s work is centered be maskless at all shows starting August 6. Yacht Rock Revue mother in Somalia to her escape from her around celebrating artists of color in the If you would like to be maskless at shows we “The music you listen to at the dentist's office country’s brutal civil war to her unfamiliar Greater Boston area and providing intersec- are asking that you show your vaccination while getting your teeth cleaned. We are sin- new homes in Canada and then California” tional safe spaces for them. This Sunflower card at the door to receive a stamp (a clear gle-handedly responsible for the reunion of 6 in “an unforgettable story of hope, survival, Series event would celebrate the beauty of photo on your phone will also suffice). If you out of 7 members of the band Starbuck. The and the shifting definitions of home”: “I am summer, nature, and reviving the Boston live do not wish to show your vaccination card or Yacht Rock Revue is the Greatest Show on the last nomad. My ancestors traveled the music scene we all miss and love so much are not vaccinated we will be requiring that Surf and the finest tribute to ‘70s light rock to East African desert in search of grazing land and will kick off with feature performances you remain masked throughout the night. We ever perform anywhere. Ever. The unashamed for their livestock, and the most precious from Billy Dean Thomas, Genie Santiago, will also have masks on hand for anyone who torchbearers of lite-rock will be performing resource of all—water. When they exhausted Shellz, Naomi Westwater, and Amanda Shea. needs or wants one.” on August 5th at Leader Bank Pavilion and the land and the clouds disappeared from There will also be food and bar open through- [Jacques Cabaret, 79 Broadway, Boston. at Indian Ranch in Webster on August 21. Far the horizon, their accumulated ancestral out the event. $20-$30 (ticket comes with a poncho). beyond your average cover band, YRR are a knowledge told them where to move next to [ONCE Somerville at Boynton Yards, Shows at 7:30pm and 10pm. facebook. touring phenomenon fulfilling the nation’s find greener pastures. I am the last person in Somerville. 6pm/$20 adv/$25 dos. on- com] need for soft smooth jams, covering the hits my direct line to have once lived like that.” cesomerville.com] of the 70s and 80s along with original songs. [Virtual via Harvard Bookstore With fel- FRI 8.6 - SUN 8.9 Last year they worked with producer Ben low Somali author Abdi Nor Iftin. 7pm/ FRI 8.6 beach bash Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, free. harvard.com/event/virtual_event_ jiggle it International Sand Sculpting Festival Neon Indian) to release their first album of shugri_said_salh] Drag Jello Wrestling “In coordination with the City of Revere and all-original music.” “Join as we unleash the BEASTS and pit drag the Department of Conservation and Rec-

12 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 PHOTO OF "CITY HELL PLAZA"PHOTO DANE HENRY BY NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED WHEN THEY CLAIMED THEY HAD EVIDENCE OF DIRT ON CITY HALL BUT A DECENT PICTURE NONETHELESS

reation, the Revere Beach Partnership is three-story Climb, play fun games, and excited to announce that we will be host- simply get out of the house to get a tasty ing a modified version of the Revere Beach drink with friends or make some new International Sand Sculpting Festival on ones! Boston Children's Museum is open- August 6th - August 8th. After having to ing its doors again...without the children.” cancel the famed event in 2020, due to CO- [Boston Children’s Museum, 308 Con- VID-19, we are excited to be getting “Back gress St., Boston. 21+/6:30pm. boston- To The Beach”! This year's event will be a childrensmuseum.org] celebration of the 125th Anniversary of Revere Beach, America’s first public beach! SAT 8.14 The event will feature beautiful sand circus blasphemous sculptures designed by the best sculptors Boston Comedy Blowout in America. In addition, there will be food “Hey South Shore, did you miss laughter? trucks, food vendors, exhibitors, and much Don’t miss Boston comedy legends come more. We are excited to welcome guests together for a stacked night of stand up from across Massachusetts, New England, comedy at South Shore Music Circus for and the United States back to Revere the Boston Comedy Blowout. Featuring: Beach and the festival. Steve Sweeney, Christine Hurley, Tony [Revere Beach. 10am-7pm. facebook. V, Jimmy Dunn, Corey Rodrigues, Jimmy com] Cash. Combined, these experienced late night gut busters have been featured in FRI 8.13 movies like The Town andMe Myself & child’s play Irene, appeared on talk shows and pod- Boston Grown-Ups Museum: Game casts like Letterman, Conan and The Joe Night! Rogan Experience , and have killed with “Roll the dice and just add ice...Boston comedy in clubs and theaters all over the Grown-Up's Museum is back! Feel like you world. Make sure to catch these Boston have a Monopoly on board-dom, or are comedy greats when they’re in your own you having Trouble finding something fun backyard!” to do? Let Boston Grown-Ups Museum [South Shore Music Circus, Cohasset. give you a Clue! Crawl to the top of our 6:30pm/$26-$42. themusiccircus.org]

STREET EDITION 13 LIFE

BLM IN THE BEDROOM Just how racist is Boston’s dating scene? BY SAYOU COOPER

“Sorry I am talking about race too much,” I suggestion to meet up again. of daily life.” Currently, according to data white associate whose indirect discrimination said sheepishly. With the appointments of Kim Janey as from the city’s Planning and Development is more harmful than they think. My date nodded politely and said, “Of Boston's first Black and female mayor and Agency, neighborhoods such as Beacon Hill, Dating apps do not help either. Probably the course. It’s OK.” Rachael Rollins as district attorney and Charlestown and Back Bay are more than 70% most glaring evidence of white supremacy in His response, specifically his demeanor, Ayanna Pressley in Congress, Boston seems white. the city’s dating scene is the fetishization and struck me as a bit ingenuine and added to to be becoming the place for emerging Black Looking at the ways we establish exclusion of BIPOC persons in online dating. In the long list of strikes I had already been millennials, specifically Black women. While interpersonal relationships, our professional a recent study titled The Uncanny Swipe Drive: mentally tallying all night on our walking the cost of rent can be hair-raising, the city’s and personal spaces are key starting points. The Return of a Racist Mode of Algorithmic date. I jokingly refer to it as my “Are You Woke concentration of universities and colleges, Unfortunately, Boston’s pedagogy from the Thought on Dating Apps, researcher Gregory Enough?” checklist, a series of questions or uptick of startups, and solid public transit getgo sets the tone for how we interact. Narr notes how algorithmic media such phrases I drop throughout meetups to cause offer immense perks. These attributes were Because under the masquerade of a liberal as dating apps “allow unconscious racial the usual discomfort on the topic of race. what drew me to the city three years ago to and progressive city, white fragility and preferences to be expressed without troubling After the Black Lives Matter movement complete my masters. solidarity flourishes, potentially making for users’ perceptions of themselves as non-racist. of 2020 and the minimal advancement But although these prominent traumatic experiences for BIPOC residents— These preferences … treat ‘attractiveness’ as for the betterment of Black lives, I am at appointments represent great strides in the including on the city’s dating scene. a zero-sum game … and ultimately amplify the point where I do not even try to make public sector, the effects are hardly felt by As a Black woman with an education and the salience of race as a factor of success for my remarks accommodating. My life as a most Black, Indigenous, and People of Color income level that’s higher than average for finding intimacy.” Add in the context of all twentysomething Black woman in the city (BIPOC) in the city. The history of redlining in my race and demographic, I find most of things Boston, and you may begin to see my revolves around the system of anti-Blackness Boston has permanently enforced segregation my academic and professional spaces to be point. coupled with misogyny, so racial discomfort along racial lines, with further impacts predominately white. Due to the plight of I am certainly not alone with this in conversations is truthfully the least of my manifesting on a social level too. As Zebulon race in America, white men are not exactly experience. While working at a nonprofit worries. Miletsky and Tomas Gonzalez wrote in a 2018 my desired pickings, especially after dating when I first moved to Boston, an Asian “Thank God I did not agree to meet at my piece for Black Perspectives, this segregation one. I am not particularly trying to date Jake American co-worker first introduced me place,” I thought to myself as we approached has had long-lasting implications for “Boston’s or Tanner down the hall who always seems to to the term “yellow fever.” Which is the the end of our walk. I quickly rushed through public housing and public education, in be perplexed when I change my hairstyle, nor strong sexual preference by white males for goodbye pleasantries, half-listening to his addition to virtually every other aspect am I interested in a seemingly nice-meaning persons of Asian descent. That, along with other racial fetishizations such as the Black women jezebel stereotype, are commonly perpetrated by white Bostonians on dating apps. I have lost count of how many times someone has asked me about my butt size or made some weird comment about never having sex with a Black girl before. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the exclusion of BIPOC persons in the city’s dating scene causes the same harm. The lack of BIPOC matchmakers, dating coaches, or events specifically catering to our demographic in the city is conspicuous. While different in objective when compared, the two practices are not mutually exclusive. For example, when speaking about this topic to a friend (who wanted to be identified as an upper-caste Indian graduate student), he noted how he received much fewer matches from white women compared to his time in Madison, Wisconsin. He theorized that due to Madison’s far less diverse population in comparison to Boston, his race and ethnicity made him much more exotic and a rarity there. With Boston’s moderate Asian population (third most common ethnic group), the uniqueness of being an Indian international student is not as strong. Coupled with the racial stereotypes associated with Asian men by white supremacy, specifically their emasculation, did not help to better his chances either. My friend’s experience is similar to mine and common for many BIPOC Bostonians maneuvering through the dating pool, both online and in person. It’s a constant vicious cycle of being wanted only for our racial features and excluded when those features are no longer in or desirable. At this point, what does it take to get an unproblematic fuck?

14 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 STREET EDITION 15 EATS

HELP WANTED As Boston-area restaurants struggle to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, they face another crisis that threatens their very existence BY MARC HURWITZ

It took well over a year, but the streets of be looking to get back to work within the realize—or don’t care—that their gripes might not be as big as that of a bustling Boston are mostly full again, with crowds of industry, but this simply isn’t happening. stem from the fact that many restaurants bistro that does 800 covers (individual people jamming many of the restaurants The reasons are many, including a good have gone from zero to sixty almost meals for you non-industry folks) on a busy and bars of the Back Bay, North End, number of folks leaving the restaurant immediately with the ending of restrictions, night. In some ways, the worst position to South End, Seaport District, and beyond. industry for greener pastures, as so much and often with a completely new staff that be in right now is that of a brand new good- Something doesn’t seem quite right though, of the work is low-paying, often entails has had little time to settle in. All of this has sized restaurant that is planning to open as some spots have empty tables on busy long hours, and can be extremely stressful, the potential to lead to even more workers its doors for the first time because while nights while others have closed back especially for such positions as line cooks walking away from the restaurant industry other similarly-sized places may need to down temporarily, and still others remain and servers. Restaurant workers have also which could ultimately cause places to shut fill 10 or 20 out of 50 positions these days, completely shuttered, having never opened had to deal with the same scourge that down permanently because if a dining a new restaurant could be looking to fill back up since the start of the pandemic so many others in the service and retail spot is already operating on razor-thin all 50 positions, which, in this market, is so back in March of 2020—and complaints industries face—rude and abusive behavior margins, you don’t need to be a financial difficult to do that some spots that have about inconsistent food and service abound. that seems to have gotten so much worse whiz to know how quickly things can fall everything else in place (including liquor Is there a single cause to all of these of late, so much so that some incidents in apart—especially since the Restaurant licenses) literally can’t open because they issues? Is it the remnants of the coronavirus the local area and elsewhere have actually Revitalization Fund is now depleted, and don’t have the staff. crisis that is bringing all this about? The turned into pretty big news stories in as of this writing, there are no guarantees So, where is this all heading? No one answer to the second question is obviously part because of the outrageous nature of that the program will be replenished which knows for sure, but ironically, one way yes, but while the first question is a bit more people’s actions. And, of course, there is the means that countless dining spots could the gap between restaurant jobs offered complicated, there actually is a common virus itself, which hasn’t gone away by any be left out in the cold just when they need and people looking for work may be thread, and one that may surprise you: means, and with the more-contagious Delta funds the most. fixed is if we see a slew of closures which There simply aren’t enough workers in the variant on the rise in this country, it can be It’s true that some models and concepts absolutely nobody wants, but it certainly restaurant industry right now. pretty scary having to deal with maskless in the restaurant industry may have the could happen. One well-known restaurant If you look on social media these days, people in the close quarters of a restaurant capability to survive better than others person in Boston recently hinted on social you’ll see that restaurant owners and day in and day out. during a worker shortage. Take a food truck, media that if more dining spots close due managers seem to be getting increasingly The worker shortage is, to put it plainly, for example; if you only need three or four to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund desperate about finding people to work turning into a nightmare of almost people to run it, it’s a whole lot easier to not being restored, there will be fewer for them. One local restaurateur recently unspeakable proportions, as it has the find enough workers than, say, a high-end work opportunities out there, but this asked if anyone would be up for any of potential to lead to a snowball effect that restaurant and bar that might need more may indeed work out in a strange way a distressingly-long list of job positions, dining and drinking spots might not be than 100 employees. By the same token, a for restaurant owners as fewer job offers ending the post with the word “please?” able to recover from, as they have already small family-run pizzeria, sub shop, Chinese means more of a chance of hiring those who In addition, a popular dining spot posted been greatly weakened by the pandemic takeout place, or bakery/pastry shop remain. But again, this isn’t how any of this that they would be temporarily closing and subsequent shutdowns. For any given might not have as big of a problem either, should work and it would be exceedingly because of insufficient staff, noting that restaurant, fewer workers can mean longer especially in the case of ma-and-pa places damaging to the entire industry in the long they didn’t want to risk not being able wait times for orders, dining rooms that where the staff might consist of four or five run. to offer the type of service that so many are unable to run at 100% capacity, and family members and maybe another worker Finally, there’s the wild card that no one customers were used to (fortunately, they overwhelmed kitchens not being able to or two. really wants to think about—what happens have since reopened). In another instance, a put out high-quality dishes on a consistent If you look at how bars and breweries run, if the Delta variant of the virus continues tweet went up that showed a vehicle with basis, and if restaurant owners try to entice it seems that they might fare better for the to hit those who are unvaccinated, and also job postings written on its back window potential workers with higher wages, most part as well, especially if food service results in more and more breakthrough and with two phone numbers listed below. this can lead to higher menu prices— isn’t really front and center. Take your basic cases among those who have gotten their There are many other stories like these and possibly much higher prices when neighborhood bar that serves pretzels, shots? As of now, it looks like any tighter in the local area, giving a sense as to the combined with the already-spiraling costs potato chips, hot dogs, and the like while health restrictions may be limited to a increasing hopelessness of the situation. of many ingredients needed to make the also being a beer and a shot type of place, return to mask restrictions and social You would think that with all the dishes along with rents and utilities. or think about a taproom where people are distancing, but if things get bad enough to restaurants having closed down either Sadly, these problems tend to circle right sampling brews and maybe ordering from warrant renewed restaurant restrictions or partially or fully for such a long time, a huge back to that ugly issue of bad behavior by a food truck that’s on the premises. If these even shutdowns, a work shortage—while number of people who were laid off would customers, some of whom don’t seem to places are short-staffed, the hits they take serious—will be the least of our concerns.

16 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 STREET EDITION 17 MUSIC QUICK HITS INTERVIEW: LOS ELK On the revival before the revival and reviving at the Sinclair BY ROB DUGUAY

ONCE + OOMPA + LAVAGXRL

Some decent venue news for a change

First up, we were overwhelmed with joy to see the header hit our inbox that read, “Good News for ONCE!” As in ONCE Somerville, the beloved venue that like most others is struggling to come back. More from the crew there:

“After over a year with no Boston’s Los Elk are a bit enigmatic. They’re not an alternative some new recording styles for it, some of it was done in the revenue, independent venues rock band, they’re not a funk band, they’re not a soul band, studio and some of it was done from our living rooms. We have been approved for and they’re not a jam band either. really had to adapt and become more resourceful and self- emergency relief funding! The At the same time, they combine these styles to create reliant for a lot of our recording stuff now but it’s also opened government’s upstart on this a groovy, rhythmic sound that gets people moving. It’s a up the floodgates for longer timelines just to make sure that grant distribution has been a purely original and organically refreshing take on music that everything is awesome and that every note sounds great. We bit… rocky to say the least, but consistently brings them outside the box. had a blast recording “Revival.” We wanted to give people a feel believe it or not, a few days ago, With fellow Bostonians the Q-Tip Bandits and Juniper, Los good song to lift their spirits a bit and it’s fun to interpret live. little, tiny ONCE Somerville Elk will take the stage at the Sinclair in Cambridge on July GF: Shoutout to Ghost Hit Studios for being such a great was one of the first to be 31. Ahead of that, I spoke with guitarist and vocalist Amir place. I recommend for anybody to go there, they keep on awarded!” Rivera, bassist Gabriel Follettie, and drummer Ryan “Bondi” adding things and it keeps on getting better and better with Bondell about a recent performance they posted on YouTube, a every session. “This money makes it possible summer single, playing a drive-in show in the cold, and getting for ONCE and the people amped about the upcoming gig. One of the major things that kept live music alive last year who work here day in and in the midst of COVID-19 was drive-in shows and you guys day out to keep going. With Back in April, Los Elk filmed a full studio set and posted it as got to be part of a Halloween themed one with the Cape Cod renewed faith and energy, we a free gift to fans. It was recorded at Ghost Hit Studio in West alternative rock act Crooked Coast last October in Falmouth. can continue our search for a Springfield with Ryan Lecours and Alyssa Pascucci handling What was it like playing at a drive-in? Was it different from new, permanent home while the filming. Who had the idea to do this video and how were any other show you've played? Was it weird hearing car horns producing a high-level series of you able to link up with the studio and everyone else to make rather than hearing people clapping? outdoor shows this summer.” it happen? Ryan “Bondi” Bondell: That was a really great experience Gabriel Follettie: We saw a lot of other bands responding because it was our first time doing something like that. And of course we’re watching to the pandemic in a similar fashion. They found somewhere I’m sure in some capacity drive-in shows existed before the countless artists who will to do a live set with a group of people so we wanted to do the pandemic but they became a staple concert variation once hopefully be rocking all these same. Ryan is an old friend of ours from back in college and everything played out like it did. It was really, really bizarre to venues, like LAVAGXRL, whose he’s done a lot of work with us, we love him. It was natural that be in this huge field and looking out at 150 cars just kind of new single on Green Line we got him to film it and we did the set, it was a great thing to like honking at you. Honestly, what was also really cool about Records, “Fall so Far,” drops get out to people while we were all kind of stuck in limbo. it was that people were really making the best of it and they on Aug. 6. And Oompa, who were almost tailgating it by setting up chili cookers outside is following the Dephrase- Did you approach the video as a regular recording session their car with folding chairs, blankets, snacks, drinks, wine, produced summer single (and or did the experience feel a bit more unique due to the and that kind of stuff. Even though it was a lot more separated incredible accompanying circumstances of it? than what we’re used to with everybody being in their own video) GO with Dan GF: It was definitely unique. We’ve done one-off songs in little bubble, it was still really nice to see people coming out on DeCristofaro with “LEBRON,” a video format but never a full set before this one and it’s a relatively cold night, it was actually freezing. a “hard-hitting track about definitely a challenge to capture that live energy without an We’ve played some cold outdoor shows before but that doing what one wants, while audience. We live and breathe for that live moment, everything might have taken the cake. People came in full force, bundled others do what they can.” is going towards that. I think it was an amazing experience up and ready to enjoy some music, it was great. Little did we From Oompa’s camp: “With a and we’re all happy with how it came out. know that it was going to be our last show of that magnitude nod to legendary basketballer for literally the rest of the pandemic so in hindsight it was a LeBron James, Oompa plays This past August you guys released the single “Revival.” Was really wonderful time. with linguistics by repurposing the song recorded during the pandemic last year? Or is this the word into a verb in honor something that you had sitting on the shelf and you decided Speaking of shows, the upcoming one at the Sinclair will be of James' resilience despite the to put it out to give people new music to listen to? Los Elk’s first legit one in the Boston area in quite some time. odds. LEBRON is about feelin’ Amir Rivera: With a name like “Revival” it almost suggests What are your feelings going into it? yourself, defying naysayers, that it’s about the reopening but it’s totally unrelated actually. GF: Over the past month or so we’ve had some shows and the battles no one knows It’s more of a coincidence but we wrote it a while ago and leading up to this one but we’re very excited. We got some about - or as Oompa explains, we’ve been playing it for a while, we wanted to get some new stuff prepared and it’s going to be the first big Boston blowout ‘knowing you’re a bad bish.’” music out. It’s one of those songs where we’ve all had a blast since the pandemic so we’re going to come in guns blazin’, Also out Aug. 6. -Dig Staff writing so it’s an easy pick to put out to the people. We tried we’re pumped.

18 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 STREET EDITION 19 FILM MOVIE DIARY IMAGE FROM HE GOT GAME, COURTESY DISNEY GAME, COURTESY HE GOT FROM IMAGE HE GOT GAME A totally absurd story that’s all too real in America

​Whether it’s as the impish, easily-

IMAGE FROM NAOMI OSAKA, COURTESY NETFLIX OSAKA, COURTESY NAOMI FROM IMAGE memeable superfan sitting (or, more often, standing) courtside at Madison Square Garden, or as the director of six intros made for this year’s NBA Finals, Spike Lee REVIEW: “NAOMI OSAKA” has become one of the faces of Garrett Bradley’s authorized profile film on the standout tennis modern basketball fandom. So it’s star—correcting the record or part of the problem? easy to forget he’s the same man who once made He Got Game BY JAKE MULLIGAN (1998), not only one of the great American sports films but also one of the most potent critiques of the commercial side of the An essential text on the current state of is the central and unanswered question of on its own, but as depicted in Naomi game. In fact, He Got Game better celebrity personas, three-part nonfiction Naomi Osaka, which purports to offer “an Osaka it can’t help but suggest more self- than any other film captures miniseries Naomi Osaka (2021) is less of a intimate look inside [Osaka’s] life” but is aggrandizing motivations—especially the flawed and exploitative sports movie than a star movie. Bookended really more about the countless ways she’s because the edit contextualizes the choice institutions that structure both by her championship runs in the 2018 been perceived already. Saying at the start by cutting to her agent Stuart Duguid our consumption of basketball and 2020 US Open tournaments, the that the “amount of attention that [I] get saying, “she stopped the game of tennis and the game itself—which 113-minute project features ample game is pretty ridiculous,” Osaka appears clearly for a day, which had never been done in is “just a game,” as the saying footage to illustrate Osaka’s world-class uncomfortable for the vast majority of history,” just another guy flippantly using goes, and a mass media product tennis prowess. But way more often it’s the time she’s onscreen and says nothing public relations-crafted press-release at the professional level, but about how Osaka presents herself to the in the voiceover to dissuade such an language while speaking about the most inexplicably, for Lee and anyone world in a more general sense: The series interpretation (neither does the precise crucial American political movement of else who counts themselves as a is a sensorially overwhelming and highly timing of the project’s distribution, which this generation. Which brings us back fan of the sport, a thing of beauty skeptical rush of scenes depicting photo comes just weeks after Osaka made news once again to the film’s real subject—the too. sessions, video shoots, press conferences, by pulling out of Grand Slam tournaments emotionally violent relationship between The story is absurd: a man is plane rides, marketing conferences, and for reasons connected to mandatory press celebrities and their public. provisionally released from public appearences, all guided by voiceover conferences). Given that focus, the series’ most prison in order to convince his audio where Osaka talks about the careful But that all raises another question: Is crucial scene actually comes at the start son, a top basketball prospect, touch she and her team applies to how the film standing apart from or instead of episode two, “Champion Mentality,” to sign with the governor’s alma they represent themselves in public. secretly complicit in the invasive media when Osaka’s at the fall 2020 ADEAM mater. But, as with many of Lee’s Probably the clearest theme of Naomi culture that Osaka so explicitly opposes? fashion show to debut a collection that best works, He Got Game stops Osaka is that the modern sports celebrity Is Naomi Osaka really letting us into the she co-designed herself. Sitting in the short of becoming a full-on satire, now crafts their public-facing identity with inner truth of Naomi Osaka, or is it just crowd awaiting her turn on stage, she deftly moving between a kind of the same precision they grant to the game another cultural transmission from the becomes the center of countless gazes burlesque and genuine, unironic itself—and if the project falters on a purely very savvy team behind her very successful all crossing against one another. Osaka’s melodrama. The premise also artistic level, that’s only because it doesn’t celebrity persona, which drew $34 million in the audience looking at the show, and allows He Got Game to connect go far enough asking why. in corporate endorsements last year alone? the audience of the show is looking at mass incarceration with the All three episodes are directed by That made her “the highest paid female her, and the whole thing’s being filmed business of sports, showing Garrett Bradley, who utilizes many of the athlete ever,” per Forbes, a fact that isn’t by various cameras (including Bradley’s, them as two ways in which white stylistic trademarks established by prior mentioned once during this nearly two- the fashion show’s, and the crowd’s) for American society continues to works like America (2019) and especially hour series that’s mostly about how much countless more audiences (watching films, exert control over Black people Time (2020): Compositions often look she resents having to be in the “spotlight.” live television, and social media) who’re post-slavery. The climactic image, up at people to frame them like mythic And while one could say that her wealth all projecting their own wants and needs a ball defiantly thrown over a figures; close-ups and slow-motion are goes without saying, one might also say onto Osaka, but who’re at the same time prison wall by the father and carefully deployed to bring us closer to that it’s still narrative malpractice to let all having wants and needs projected back caught by the son practicing certain people’s facial gestures and body that go unsaid. onto them by Osaka herself, who resents miles away at his new college language; home video footage is regularly These representational matters grow their attention but can’t help courting it court, ingeniously makes that spliced in to create a more aesthetically even more fraught during the final more for the sake of money, power, cultural connection literal—positioning specific portrait of years past; the main episode, “New Blueprint,” which depicts attention, creative fulfillment, or some the handling of the ball as a point subjects are given their own equipment Osaka’s developing political consciousness uneven combination thereof. of resistance against hegemonic to facilitate more direct collaboration during 2020 and culminates in her choice Naomi Osaka hardly sorts out its forces from Attica to the NCAA. in crafting their self-image; and finally, to wear face masks that feature the provocative dynamics, but it does at [ ]-Etan Weisfogel camera movement is almost constant, names of Black Americans that were killed least capture them clearly, in the process with most shots either zooming into or without significant repercussions during delivering a scarily ambivalent portrait of He Got Game is available on away from the person onscreen, as if to the entirety of the year’s US Open. This American life in the era of social-media DVD, VOD, and to subscribers bring us closer while also suggesting an action comes as part of a longstanding surveillance. [ ] on HBO Max. unbreachable distance. tradition of political activism in American Whether the viewer is close or distant sports and is totally beyond reproach Naomi Osaka is available on Netflix.

20 DIGBOSTON.COM | 07.29.21 - 08.12.21 STREET EDITION 21 SAVAGE LOVE What's for Breakfast BY PATT KELLEY SACK LUNCH BY DAN SAVAGE | @FAKEDANSAVAGE | [email protected]

My wife got drunk at a vacation house equally inert wife (did she have no reaction we rented with a bunch of friends and to being rejected by you?) don’t make your cheated on me with my best friend in the question seem any more credible. hot tub. They didn't have sex but they did But on the off, off, off chance there is other things. I wasn’t there but there were a wife, there was a vacation house, and eight other people in the hot tub and the something happened in a hot tub…. jets were on so no one else saw what was If you can’t make a credible threat of going on “under the water.” My wife told divorce, HOTWATER, then you’re fucked. me about it afterward and I was hurt but Your wife wants to dictate terms and set also kind of excited. She proposed we “even conditions—conditions like you’ll only get the score” by asking my friend and his wife X from her (X = coming in her mouth) if to have a foursome. They agreed but the she gets to do X with someone else—and experience was miserable. My wife and my if her behavior at that vacation house are friend were very into each other and my any indication, HOTWATER, she’s gonna X friend’s wife was willing but I was having a around with other guys whether you like hard time enjoying myself with a woman I it not. You can tell her she’s not allowed to had no interest in while my wife did things do anything like that ever again—you can for my best friend that she would never insist on strict monogamy—but having do for me. She let him come in her mouth, seen what she’s capable of, under and over which is something she never she lets me do, the water, will you ever feel comfortable and she did it right in front of me. Now she letting your wife out of your sight again? says she will do that for me but only if she Will you ever be able to leave her alone can keep doing it for him. This seems deeply with your best friend Groot again? unfair. We have kids and I don't want to get If the thought of your wife cheating divorced but I'm concerned that I'm going turned you on, HOTWATER, you might to keep getting hurt if I stay. What can I do? be able to make this work. And perhaps I need… it does turn you on. You said you were Help Overcoming Terrible Worries About excited when your wife first confessed This Entire Relationship what she’d done in that hot tub with your best friend, but things went south during Hm. I’m not convinced events went the foursome you had to “even the score.” down as described, HOTWATER, or that your Maybe you don’t want the score to be wife went down as described—hell, I’m not even? If the thought of a “deeply unfair” convinced your wife exists. There are just one-sided open relationship turns you too many “unwilling cuckold fantasy” trops on—if the thought of getting to come in in your letter, HOTWATER, from your wife your wife’s mouth, say, one time for every cheating on you in the most humiliating ten times your best friend gets to come in way possible (with your best friend and in her mouth—then you should think about Comfortably Dumb front of other friends), to your wife doing sharing that information with your wife. BY BRUCE QUEST things for another man that she won’t do It could be the start of something big—it for you (and doing those things in front of could be the start of an invigorating sexual you), to the sexual blackmail your wife is adventure—or it could be the beginning now subjecting you to (she’ll allow you to the end. come in her mouth on the condition that But seeing as the end seems inevitable your best friend gets to keep coming in anyway… why not go down swinging? her mouth). And the presence of an inert- bordering-houseplant best friend (did he have nothing to say to you?) with the >>>SAVAGELOVECAST.COM

savagelovecast.com

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