May 22, 2025: The House and the ABC

The Fabulous 413

Amherst is perhaps the most densely concentrated locale of academia in western Mass., and today we give you a glimpse of how the wealth of knowledge is shared with the wider community.

Amherst A Better Chance (ABC) is part of a national initiative to help Black, Latine, Indigenous and Asian students in underserved school districts achieve their dreams. Started in the late sixties, it’s been bringing young people into its residential academic program to help the transition to college and beyond.

We meet the residential directors, Temistocles Ferreira, or Tem Blessed, and Nancita Alejandro, and scholar Frank Partida to learn about the program, national initiative and how their education is a community-wide effort.

And Congressman Jim McGovern has had a very busy 48 hours, so we get more details of the conflicts that are associated with the latest bills and budget hitting the floor of the House of Representatives.