Regular contributor Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in the Old Colony Housing Project in South Boston, a neighborhood that held the highest concentration of white poverty in the United States. After losing four of his eleven siblings and seeing his generation decimated by poverty, crime, addiction, and incarceration, he wandered beyond the entrenched borders of his community toward solidarity and coalition-building with Boston’s Black and brown survivors and organizers.
At Northeastern University’s Honors Department, MacDonald teaches Non-Fiction Writing & Social Justice Issues. He leads an annual Northeastern University "Dialogue of Civilizations" classroom to Derry and Belfast, Northern Ireland, where students witness post-Troubles efforts happening at the intersection of justice and healing.
Join us on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large when activist, Michael shares his his efforts on multi-cultural coalition building to reduce violence and promote grassroots leadership from our most impacted communities.