Stepping Out for Justice with ‘Walk for a New Dawn’

By Sherry Zitter Every great journey begins with a vision. The Walk for a New Dawn began with a seed in Western Mass on June 16, 2026, when MA Catholics for Indigenous Rights were discussing how to raise awareness of indigenous concerns. Member Linden Jenkins said, “We should walk across Massachusetts to the Statehouse,” and David Detmold said, “I would do that!” It was he who came up with the name Walk for a New Dawn to emphasize the ways in which we want to deeply change life here for the better. And when I heard about the Walk, I…

Work to change the flag and seal of Massachusetts

By David Detmold The flag and seal of Massachusetts show a settler’s hand holding a Colonial broadsword over the head of an Indigenous man, with a Latin motto beneath, commonly translated: “She seeks a quiet peace with liberty under the sword.” A recent special commission established by the state legislature concluded in November of 2023, that the image on our state flag and seal is easily interpreted as “a celebration of the history of settler violence perpetuated against Indigenous people.” No one wants to have a sword hanging over their head. In 1985, former state representative Byron Rushing, a Boston civil…