January 2021

The Blue and Gold
January 2021
The Malden Police Department
Hires New
Civil Rights Officer
Krishany Marius
Lead Reporter
The Malden Police Department
hired a new Civil Rights Officer
Michael Powell and is proud to
have this title known to the city. It
was a position that was presented to
Powell and he took it without hesitation,
he had been investigating
hate crimes and hate incidents for a
while now Powell wanted to make
his position known
to the public. Powell
felt like this will
be an important
opportunity for the
police department
and the city of Malden.
He wants the
people of Malden to
feel safe and do not
want their rights to
be violated.
Powell hopes
to be an inspiration
towards little kids
and young people
“[He thinks] that if
[he has] a connection
with people
before [he] became
a police officer.”
He hopes that he
can inspire younger
people of all backgrounds.
He feels
as if “one of [his]
stronger attributes
[is he is] able to connect
with people in
a real way.” As time goes on Powell
wants to make his position educational
towards his younger audience
not only for the police department
but for the general public as well.
Powell looks forward to people
warming up to him and feel more
comfortable and to share their stories
and so he can address it with all
sides of the parties involved. Powell
stated that “the more people know,
the more people grow.” Some people
may not know that some of their
human rights have been violated
before, and the position Powell has
can allow people to feel comfortable
talking about certain things that
should be talked about more. It is an
educational well-known purpose to
let people know that they can come
to Powell freely even if they are unsure
if something leads up to a hate
incident, he wants to be involved in
the community to understand more
of these things.
Powell goes on and states that
“America definitely has some healing
to do as unfortunately [there is] a
lot of division in our country.” There
are conversations that need to be
talked about that are usually swept
under the rug and some people
are not comfortable talking about,
Powell said “we need to have more
difficult conversations that need to
Malden Police’s New Civil Rights Officer Michael Powell.
Photo from the Malden Police Twitter page.
be made comfortable.” Having a
general understanding of what your
rights are is important especially for
young folks to get involved with
knowing their rights they will have
a better understanding and opinion
on certain topics.
This new Civil Rights Position
has such an important impact on
Malden and helps Malden citizens
to have a better relationship with
the Malden Police Department. It is
something that can have such a huge
influence on young kids and young
adults who question many things in
the city that will be great for everyone.
It is more than just advocating
or being a guardian for folks that are
experiencing concerns about their
human rights being affected. This
new position is something the Malden
community can come together
and focus on the bigger things.
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
There’s a Lot.
Comic by
Carolina
Cuevas
New Mosque Ribbon Cutting
Ceremony
Chaimaa Assli
Lead Reporter
The Outreach Community and
Reform Center (OCRC) was established
on November 28th, 2006.
The purpose of the OCRC is to carry
on religious and charitable activities.
Before they got a new building,
they used to hold Eid prayers in
the Malden High School gym and
Ramadan iftars used to be held in
the cafeteria. The OCRC also invites
local and foreign Muslim Scholars
to further expand the knowledge of
the community and to educate them
about the different aspects of Islam.
In April 2019, the OCRC succeeded
in achieving a long time goal
that is getting a new place in Malden
to accommodate the growing
Muslim population in Malden and
to further develop its activities. The
renovation of the building took over
a year to make it suitable for an Islamic
center. The grand opening has
been delayed for months due to CO-
VID-19 restrictions and guidelines.
On Saturday, October 3rd the OCRC
organized a small ribbon-cutting
ceremony to officially open its doors
for the public.
Attending the ceremony was
Mayor Gary Christenson, Police
Chief Kevin Molis and some city
council members including Ward
4 City Councilor Ryan O’Malley
and Ward 1 City Councilor Peg
Crowe. This event was also open
to the neighbors. The event started
off at 2:00 pm with a tour of the
new building. Everyone got to see
the prayer room and classrooms
used for the weekend school. After
the tour, everyone gathered in the
prayer room to listen to the speakers.
The speakers included Abdul
Hamid, a member of the Board of
Trustees, then followed the Mayor,
and finally, Abdul Wahab Khushafa
closed off. After the speakers, the
Mayor, Police Chief, Abdul Hamid,
Laila Shari, and two City Council
members lined up to cut the ribbon.
Everyone was socially distancing
and wearing their masks. There
were hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial
wipes available for everyone.
There were also stickers on the floor
that showed everyone where to
stand.
Kindergarten classroom at the OCRC
learning the Arabic Alphabet. Photo by
Chaimaa Assli.
17
Mayor giving a speech before the ribbon
cutting. Photo by Chaimaa Assli.
Larbi Braer, a member of the
Board of Directors said that there
is a greater sense of community.
He states that “[they] are hoping to
spread a positive image of Islam and
to expand and reach out to the community
in a positive way.” They are
trying to improve the community as
much as they can.
When Mayor Christenson was
still a City Councilor, Adil Bousalem
contacted him about a vision
15 years ago. Christenson was “ in
awe” to see what they had achieved
and explained “It [does not] matter
where they are so long as [they are]
in Malden.”
To Adil Bousalem the new
mosque is a celebration of years of
struggle to achieve this goal. After
many years of fundraisers, talking
to the people of the city and trying
to find a place with the market in
Malden was not easy. Even with
this building, it took about a year
and a half to negotiate and secure
the area before it could finally
open. Bousalem states “the building
itself celebrates their hard work,
community, board members and
volunteers.” This is something they
have dreamed of for years and have
finally achieved it.
Police Chief Kevin Molis has
known this community right from
the beginning. When he first found
out about their existence he sought
them out. He believes that it is important
for a city to develop relationships
with people who decided
that this is where they want to live,
work and worship. Molis lives in the
neighborhood so this event is both
personal and professional. He said
it means a lot to him that a religious
community would see Malden as
a welcoming place. Although he is
impressed with the new place he believes
that “God can be worshipped
anywhere.”
The OCRC values the youth.
They believe that the youth are the
future leaders of Islam in America.
There is also an after school program
that teaches Arabic, Islamic
studies, and Quran at the OCRC to
the youth.
The OCRC intends to change
its name to the Malden Islamic Center
(MIC).