In the News

The deal: $400 a week to stay in school. Is it worth it? ANDREW ZALESKI On a Tuesday in late May, Antonio Franklin sits in a makeshift classroom in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, ten years to the day after he stepped foot inside Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk to serve nine

Boston Uncornered will help gang-involved youth have greater access to opportunity, according to College Bound Dorchester. By Kristin Toussaint Published : May 30, 2017 | Updated : May 30, 2017 To Antonio Franklin, growing up in Dorchester was like being in the middle of a war. He was surrounded by guns, gangs

Josh Kenworthy MAY 24, 2017 —Tony Franklin was fresh off a 10-year prison sentence for assaulting a police officer. As he walked into court to see his probation officer he was “down and out,” he says. As a former gang member from Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, Mr. Franklin was standing at

By Ashley A. Smith May 19, 2017 If college is a key to improving one’s life, one Boston-based nonprofit organization is hoping it’s a key to improving an entire community. College Bound Dorchester, an organization that works with at-risk youth to encourage them to pursue college, on Thursday announced a new program

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYEMAY 13, 2017 BOSTON — A year ago, Kyle L. Gathers, a gang member and longtime drug dealer, was sitting in prison. On Saturday, he was sitting on the stage for his graduation from vocational school, where he was the student commencement speaker. “I lived in a

By Cristela Guerra GLOBE STAFF  MAY 19, 2017 Inside his 8- by 8-foot cell, Alex Diaz looked at his daughter’s pictures every day. On the prison walls, she remained 5 years old. Outside, she grew taller, older. He spent the first eight years of his daughter’s life incarcerated. His daughter

By Mark Culliton JANUARY 26, 2017 In his farewell address, President Barack Obama highlighted the corrosive problem of economic inequality. “While the top 1 percent has amassed a bigger share of wealth and income, too many of our families in inner cities have been left behind,” he said. If urban areas are going

AN INNOVATIVE PROGRAM GUIDES FORMER GANG MEMBERS FROM PRISON TO PROMISE  By Katherine Mangan OCTOBER 11, 2016 BOSTON Each time another jail-cell door slammed shut on Giovanne Morris, his reputation on the street rose a notch. But his self-esteem slumped. Looking back, the 24-year-old is troubled by how young men looked up