Press

Pittsfield, Massachusetts received over $40 million in federal relief through the American Rescue Plan Act President Biden signed into law in 2021. Its allotment from that windfall to the Berkshire Black Economic Council has led to a flourishing of the city’s Black businesses, which are filling vacant storefronts downtown and contributing to a culinary golden age for Pittsfield.

A new scholarship program from the state now gives back to students who plan to make a career caring for people in their communities. With the passage of the fiscal 2024 budget, Gov. Maura Healey and state legislators set aside $18 million to cover the costs nursing students at community colleges would normally take on in tuition fees, books and supply costs.

A portrait of Agrippa Hull (1759-1848), who was born free in Northampton and became the most prominent Black landowner in Stockbridge, has been borrowed by New York City’s American Folk Art Museum for its new exhibit, “Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North.”

Area veteran groups decided to recognize Bradley as Veteran of the Year during services following the city’s annual Veterans Day Parade. The honor was bestowed in front of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument just off South Street, as part of remembrances for those who gave their lives in service to their country. Bradley, who’s still recovering from a heart attack earlier this year, was lauded and given a standing ovation by his fellow veterans and onlookers.

WILLIAMSTOWN — A new work on Broadway had its start at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” — which follows a day in the life at a Harlem hair braiding shop — was commissioned by the festival in 2018, but was never staged in Williamstown before its world premiere on Broadway this fall.

NORTH ADAMS — McCann Technical School held a pinning ceremony Tuesday for 24 students who completed the school’s postsecondary practical nursing program.

Simon’s Rock presents activist and author Shanae Watkins as the Keynote speaker for the Symposium on Social Justice and Inclusion.

Former World Champion NBA player and coach Clifford Ray visited the Berkshires from Oct. 18-20 to discuss his book, “Big Clifford Ray Saves the Day.”

GREAT BARRINGTON — In what she described as “a miracle,” a postal worker and her family of five are the winners of a housing lottery that will allow them to purchase one of the few affordable homes in town.

The Berkshire Innovation Center and other local stakeholders have big plans for this empty Pittsfield business park. They want to build an “innovation district” and reclaim the region’s history as a hub when companies like General Electric called it home and employed around 13,000 at its height.

Adegbalola is traveled to the Berkshires on Friday, Oct. 6, to perform in a benefit for R.O.P.E. (Rights of Passage and Empowerment), a mentorship program for young women of color and young people identifying as female or non-binary.

Smooth and sharp, minimalist but inspired and mellow yet forceful: Sunny War’s set was as paradoxically powerful as the artist’s name would indicate.

MHA’s Anchoring Equity blog series profiles the work of our members as they work to advance health equity, diversity and inclusion in their organizations and in their communities.

The Black Legacy Project released their album on September 22, and performed at the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, where the project began.

The Milwaukee-based singer-songwriter graced the stage during the annual three-day FreshGrass Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts 

Steve Sumpter out of Pittsfield (8-0, 7 KOs) will be fighting James “Pitbull” Perkins (12-0-1, 9 KOs) in “Pandemonium at the Palladium” in Worcester. It will be an eight-round bout between two undefeated up-and-comers for the vacant International Boxing Association (IBA) Americas Super Middleweight belt.

Jacob Ming-Trent starred in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the New Spruce Theater in Lenox (70 Kemble Street).

The Massachusetts State House is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated exhibition “Reinventing Rockwell and Beyond” by renowned artist Pops Peterson, running now through October 16.

Keith Hamilton Cobb was working on a staging of his play “American Moor” — which will be seen at Tanglewood.

On Sunday and Monday, Aug. 13 and 14, she’s debuting “An Evening with Lillias White” at Mr. Finn’s Cabaret at Barrington Stage Company.