Category: Granite Views

At a religious ceremony last weekend, in the beautiful woods of New Hampshire, the priest counseled us to come together across our differences and to pray for one another. While that sentiment seemed reasonable among the small group of relatively like-minded folks gathered in the snow that morning, I realized it was directed ultimately not just to us but beyond, even nationally across our country. The challenge of that admonition was for each of us to look above what divides us to what we have in common. But in all honesty, that’s hard to do when so much of what has happened recently seems inevitably to drive us even further apart.

Tonight, as I write this, while watching the memorial service for the victims of the pandemic who were grieved at the National Mall, and especially when the 400 lights came on along the Reflecting Pool, each one casting a reflection in the shimmering water, as if to ripple out through each glistening reflection the individuality of every single tragically lost life from families across our nation, it became so very clear that that truly is what we have in common.

For regardless of partisan identity, as human beings we all grieve the loss of our loved ones.

In that other, almost religious service this evening, we were counseled, “To heal, we must remember. It’s hard sometimes to remember.” Yes, it is hard to look beyond the tragedy of our personal losses: the deaths of those who didn’t die with their families at their side, who died in the compassionate care of nurses and doctors who maybe knew them only by name and brief acquaintance, but who gave them tender ministration in our place. Yes, to hold that sorrow and look around to so many others with whom we share loss and to remember they, too, are our brothers and sisters.

Ancient wisdom tells us that “Nothing is as strong as a heart that has been broken.” Might this nation of broken hearts look up through our pain and remember who we are?

Rituals are things we do as a community at times of profound change and deep feeling. They can bind us up as individuals, but they can also urge us as fellow human beings to lift one another up. Truly, this I believe.

What kind of state do we have and what kind of state do we want?

At a time in the history of our country in which we appear to be more polarized and alienated than many can recall us being before, there is, nonetheless, a growing awareness of and a resolve to address systemic and interlocking social injustices in our country and in our state. Throughout our history, high-profile events – such as recent and senseless deaths of many people of color – have jolted most Americans out of their ignorance or complacency and forced them to acknowledge stark realities. But there is still another effect that should be noted. Such events can also bring greater recognition of the existence of individuals, organizations and initiatives that, all along, have been working quietly, and relatively out of sight, for social justice in all our communities. These are people and groups who have often done their work in silence and in silos. Their overall goal? To try to make New Hampshire the best place to live, work and prosper for all people, a state that is respectful and honoring of difference.

Nearly 20 years ago, a large-scale event took place at the Center of New Hampshire that recognized and celebrated “Champions of Diversity.” Twenty years later, New Hampshire is more diverse than ever, but the goal of a widespread embracing of diversity has yet to be attained. We hope that the recent tragic events across our country will awaken here at home a greater engagement in the pursuit of this goal. To that end, a number of us believe this is the moment to try to build a broad coalition of organizations to strengthen these efforts. We seek to ask if it is time to consider bringing back a statewide effort that would have as its primary purpose recognizing the great work that is being done in support of New Hampshire’s diverse community.

Different now from 20 years ago, there is a growing number of young people who are anxious, even impatient, to see change and who need to be connected with others, especially across generations, to form effective networks for education, policy development, legislative advocacy and mutual support. To make a start, we hope to find common interest and, eventually, partnerships with foundations, professional and business associations, businesses large and small, and affinity groups to explore possible next steps. – Fred Bramante & Stephen reno

Are you interested in joining such a conversation? Let us know at fredbramante@gmail.com or stephen.reno@usnh.edu.

A few weeks ago, the Union Leader printed a story with the bold headline “NH scores among the top when it comes to race and health equality.”

The article was based on a recent report by the Health Opportunity and Equity (HOPE) Initiative and it pulled statistics stating that 67 percent of Black adults in New Hampshire have “very good or excellent” health compared to 59 percent of whites and 56 percent of Hispanics in the state.

Only at the end of the Union Leader piece was there a passing mention of the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities. I am struggling to see how these facts were not taken under consideration prior to going to print.

The Governor’s Covid-19 Equity Response Team (GCERT) provided their Initial Report and Recommendations to Gov. Sununu in July 2020. In their 50-page analysis, the group of public health experts from across the state provided a clear statistical case about these disparities and highlighted the full range of determinants, which often have racial bias woven into their fabric.

The GCERT report examined the cases of Covid-19 based on one’s racial-ethnic identity. Unfortunately, these are not always reliable statistics, primarily because our systems often do not do a good job of capturing demographic information accurately and completely, as we’ve seen with the Covid disparities data — as is also seen across the country according to the Covid Tracking Project. Additionally, given the reality of institutional and systemic racism, some individuals may not want to reveal their true racial-ethnic identity out of concern for potential discrimination.

One important contributing factor that wasn’t covered in the article is how our relatively rural state was impacted by the opioid crisis. In our nation’s health care model, white people are often doing “better” because we are being compared to communities of color; otherwise we, too, would have poor health outcomes. The closing line in the analysis section of the HOPE report summarized this reality: “Although white populations generally fare better on most measures of opportunity than most other populations in the state, white adults in New Hampshire have higher rates of premature mortality.”

Headlines are often not the full story. If we are truly committed to being a state where everyone has equal opportunity for good health then we are going to need to seek truth in the lived experiences of people who are suffering disproportionate impacts — including for both the Covid-19 pandemic and the opioid crisis. The GCERT report provides a solid starting place to truly create a healthy state where all structures support belonging, equity and good health for all.

Twenty years ago Hippo published its first print issue — that’s about 1,040 issues ago. At the time, we had an idea of what we wanted to do — publish a weekly paper that covered Manchester’s food, arts, entertainment, culture and news. Central to that plan was to create a quality publication that we gave away.

Hippo started as a blog in the late winter of 2000 as a way for me, a reporter for the Union Leader at the time, to write those stories that didn’t fit a daily newspaper. As I recruited fellow reporters to write for it, it became more like a local Huffington Post of its day. It didn’t really have an editorial vision or focus. We just did it for fun.

That started to change in the spring of 2000 when Dan Szczesny, also a reporter at the Union Leader, joined me. He would edit the zine and I would try to figure out how to make it something that we could do for a living. Back then (and even now, locally) that meant publishing in print. Dan and I didn’t have much money between us so we needed a partner who could finance us. Former gubernatorial candidate and radio host at the time Arnie Arnesen suggested I speak with Jeff Rapsis, a former publisher of “Little” papers, a group of weekly newspapers outside Manchester owned by Nackey Loeb. He was also a former reporter for the Union Leader, Keene Sentinel and Claremont Eagle Times. It turned out Jeff and I had worked for the Keene Sentinel 10 years apart. Jeff took a chance on Dan and me and invested in our vision for an arts and entertainment weekly. The three of us formed a partnership that exists to this day.

In the fall of 2000 we began assembling a group of volunteers, many our friends, who would help write and deliver Hippo in our first year. As we started putting that first issue together in late December 2000, businesses, events and nonprofits stepped up to advertise. We would not have survived that first year without all of that support.

Twenty years later, in the midst of a pandemic, we’re still here, though we now cover all of central southern New Hampshire, and are still extremely lucky to get financial support from our readers and local nonprofits and businesses. That support enables us to continue to be New Hampshire’s largest publication, the state’s only arts and entertainment weekly and one the few remaining in New England. Thank you all. We’re very grateful to have your continued support.

This week, I want to offer an inside look at Hippo’s first year publishing, 2001, and at this past year, 2020 — our two most challenging years. What follows are my recollections, with excerpts from recollections of other people who were there for those two years.