WBCA Podcasts

Boston Neighborhood Network News

Black Boy Joy Summit in Roxbury, Taste of Allston Fest, 34th Annual Addiction Recovery Month Celebration, City Life Vida Urbana and residents of Green St. protest at 59 Green St. Malden against poor living conditions and discrimination, Interview with Sophie Blum (Director of Education) about Coolidge Corner Theater Coolidge Classroom Program.

Broadcast on:: 11 Oct 2024
Audio Format:: other

(upbeat music) - Good evening, Boston. Welcome to BNN News. I'm Natalie Kanler. Thanks for tuning in. Last Friday, an inspiring gathering in Roxbury celebrated and uplifted the achievements and potential of black and brown youth. - Have some confidence in who you are. You deserve to be here. You are absolutely enough. And don't let nobody tell you nothing sideways or different. - On Friday, black and brown youth were celebrated and empowered at the Black Boy Joy Summit in Roxbury. The event posed an opportunity for these young folks to connect with their peers and learn from successful leaders who have come from similar circumstances. - Youth look at us for advice, for sage, because one, and we look like we might've had a commonality and experience. Two, that when we are serving them and knowing that we're doing something that's gonna make them better, make their lives better, whether not teaching, coaching, advising, or whatever that is, that for us, this is a great opportunity to make sure that they know who is gonna help them, but also that they have the opportunity to do that for someone else. - I feel that the youth will definitely get a positive impact when they meet leaders that look like them or from the same community and inspire them. I think the most important piece is being inspired, have the inspiration, getting engaged, being involved, within the community that they actually live in. - This vibrant and inclusive space creates an atmosphere of inspiration and motivation for young people who have grown up in low-income communities. The Black Boy Joy Summit brings this community to life and creates a place where everyone can thrive, no matter the origin story. - I think it's very impactful that we have these successful people in the community that are caring about us and they're working with us because they were once in our shoes, going through the same troubles and the same things we go through. So the fact that they made it from the same place and they have that perspective, it really adds weight to their words. - It's a really great feeling to have Black leaders from that community watching over me. It's good to know that I have somebody who has got my back and who is there for me and ready to push me forward, even when I have bad times, good times. They're gonna be watching over me, making sure I do good things and great things. - The yearly event also collaborates with the CCM Education Group to drive transformational change and equitable access to quality education. It's our leaders' jobs to make sure that Brown and Black students are educated to the same degree, to the same quality as everyone else. Education is the key to upward mobility. It's imperative that kids believe in themselves, that kids are given the academic identity that they'll use to help them persist throughout the educational system. - I believe education is one of the most important things. Malcolm X said that it's the passport to the future. I've always firmly believed in that. That's why I work in education because I believe that that's the way that kids can take those dreams and make them reality. - The summit aims to engage with every young man who attends, empowering them to thrive and feel supported as they pursue their fullest potential. - I think that's really powerful that they can see what's possible in their future so they can be me and better, right? So that they can become better. And I think that's always the goal. It's how do you help young people get seats at tables and be powerful individuals within the city? And this is a really great opportunity for that. - I think we have to do a better job with our folks to make sure that we take on the responsibility and we really generate this curriculum for how we can help our young people and how our self-improvement can influence them. So we really have to humble ourselves in a sense. And I think this is a perfect example today where we need to really reach back and help our young people develop. - Through education and empowerment, the Black Boy Joy Summit equips young men to overcome challenges and strive for success in their communities and beyond. - On Saturday, Alston was alive with the delightful smells and diverse cuisines as residents and visitors united through their shared passion for food. - Alston was filled with the sweet and savory aromas of a variety of cuisines. As residents and visitors brought the community together through a shared love of food at the Taste of Alston Fest on Saturday. - Taste of Alston is an important event because it allows for community restaurants to come and allows for people in the neighborhood to come together and have an opportunity to meet each other and build a really strong sense of community in Alston, which is very important. - Having festivals like this is really important because food really is the center of community. It's the center of family, like at home dinners, going out with friends. I find learning about all these different local spots has been incredible. And today I've learned like two new places in the area that I'm definitely gonna be checking out, bringing some friends too. Yeah. (laughs) - By including local restaurants and artisans, attendees tasted a sample of the variety of food that Alston has to offer. Alston Main Streets organized an event that highlighted the pride that Alston residents have in their neighborhood, while both during the local economy. - This is an awesome festival. It's the kind of festival we need to bring the community together. It was a beautiful sunny day. People are happy, people are talking to each other and they're reconnecting. - It takes a long time to put together one of these tastes of Alston events, but it's completely worth it. Promoting the restaurants in our neighborhood and letting people taste the food and get used to and learn about new restaurants that they may have walked past hundreds of times or some of the newer restaurants. It's absolutely crucial to promoting our neighborhood, increasing business and making people happy. - The event was an opportunity to slow down, get to know your neighbor, and further immerse yourself in the Alston community. - Taste of Alston is so important because it's bringing in the community that lives right here, walking distance from the Jackson man. And people are tasting food, talking to each other and just engaging with each other. They might walk down the street, not talk to each other, but here it's just an open community for people to meet each other and taste delicious food. - The taste of Alston Fest truly captured the heart of the neighborhood, where every bite fostered connection, community and a deeper appreciation for Alston's vibrant local culture. - Last Thursday, the 34th annual celebration for Addiction Recovery Month brought together friends and advocates. - Last Thursday, to honor Addiction Recovery Month, Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, or more, through the 34th annual Addiction Recovery Month Celebration Day, where friends, advocates and individuals in recovery came together to recognize why recovery is possible for everyone. - We know that addiction and dependence are powerful. They're not a choice, but recovery is. Recovery is constantly choosing in every moment to be more like the person you wanna be. And maybe those moments add up to hours a day, a week, the weeks turn into months, the months into years, but it never stops. Every moment, that choice is there to make. And making it takes so much courage and so much strength of character. So wherever you are on that journey, I wanna congratulate you on choosing to be there and being here today. - Attendees filled out the Schubert Theater and listened to words from founder and executive director, Marianne Fangulans, who, after 26 years of dedication, is retiring from her position at more recovery. - You are a miracle, and we are all creating miracles. You have a voice, it is so beautiful, and needs to be heard, and has been heard. And as we always say, if your face is visible and your voice is vocal and you are recovery valuable, and then we're gonna be victorious. - Moore believes that suffering from addiction is not a sign of inferiority, but a debilitating disease that requires medical treatment and emotional support. - I want to remind all of you of your value, your worth, your incredible potential. You are not defined by your past struggles. You are defined by the strength of you as a human in your strength to seek a better tomorrow. You are defined by the choices to keep fighting when the road seems too long and too big. - When you feel along, and you're trying to recovery, when your family doesn't have the right education about the subject, and you feel that you are left out, it's impossible for you, and it's so hard for you to get clean or reach sobriety, because connection is the opposite of addiction. When your family supports you, the increase of probably the success is high. - Those who are on the path to healing know that choosing life takes strength and courage, and through Moore, their stories can light the path for other people who are struggling. - It was very tough when people were trying to lift me up when I wasn't ready. You need to warn it, but now with all this awareness that we spread and all the help that's out there, it makes us know that people care about us, and they want to see us succeed, and they want what's best for us. - The toughest part of recovery is losing everything and having to work to get it back. But the hope that I have is that when I look at all my peers in recovery, I know that it is possible through connection and through recovery, and through just being around the people that know what it's like to lose it all, but know what it's like to get it all back. - The most important thing for Angel right now in addiction, now that I'm in active recovery and not addiction, is to help others, to give back, to share my story, to give other people hope and inspiration that it can be done. - Through Moore, recovery is real. Activists and residents of 59 Green Street in Malden joined forces to protest against poor living conditions imposed by property management company. Activists from City Life, Bida Urbana, and residents of 59 Green Street in Malden came together to protest the unfair living conditions and negligence from property management company speak in communities. - Beacon doesn't listen, it's important that you continue doing what you're doing, demonstrating and asking Beacon to sit down and have a negotiator and have a mediator so that he can and Beacon can respect you, respect your building, and respect the opportunity for you to live in dignity. - Because we have tried and requested a meeting with the mediator, with Beacon, and have been ignored. We have a lot of issues, concerns to be addressed. - A few of the Maha management does not treat residents equally or freely. Rules are made up as they go along. Rodents and then insects are not being taken care of. There is one cleaning person for the entire building. - The 90 units in this building mostly house elderly residents from the ages of 60 to 90, and the conditions they're living in are unsafe, dirty, and practically unlovable. - When you don't get any respect from property management, like we have had the experience of here, you don't feel safe and that eats away at your mental and physical health completely with a lack of safety. - We got mice and roaches primarily. You know, we've got seniors who have been in this building and they just report, you know, the problem's just not getting fixed. It's not getting fixed. We see it over and over and over again. You can bring an exterminator to an individual apartment, but if you don't make comprehensive repairs to the building, it's just not going to get fixed. You're going to keep having seniors with mice and roaches in their apartment. It's not right. - It's clear to these residents that beacon communities has shown a lack of respect for their tenants, especially seniors. - So we know the Golden Rules to respect their elders, right? And if this, if beacon management has simply respect to the elders, they would have learned how to listen and not attack. They would have learned how to work with the tenants and not punish them and not simply tell them to shut up or write them up from subordination or because they didn't like the way their mouths were moving. Just for respecting their elders, they will go ahead and fix the issues with the rats and the pests and the roaches and the mold and everything else that doesn't work. But instead, they close their doors and tell them they don't want to see them in the office. The lack of respect is the parliament of the morality here. - The residents who are mainly senior citizens are sick and tired of this situation. They supposed to be living in better conditions. They should be treated as human beings, which they're not. - Residents hope that the protests will incite negotiations between beacon communities and the 59 Green Street Tenant Association. But until then, city like Peter Urbana will continue to fight for the rights of tenants all over Boston. - Problems, the way management decided. - The Coolidge Corner Theatre has launched Coolidge Classroom. Its first youth education program offering free field trips for students in grades six through 12. Developed with local educators, the program supports the existing school curricula across STEM, world languages and humanities while engaging media literacy and cinema studies. Sophie Bloom, who became the Coolidge's first director of education in July, 2023, has led its development. They joined us in studio to discuss Coolidge Classroom and how this new program will inspire a new generation. Enjoy the interview. - Let's talk about the new Coolidge Classroom program, what inspired you to create this program and what do you hope students will get from it? - Yeah. So my background is in film, but also in the classroom. I taught film in English for six years at Lexington High School before I came to the Coolidge. And I loved being in the classroom. I could talk to students about film and literature all day. But the position at the Coolidge, which was newly created as part of the theater's expansion, felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to take what I was trying to offer students in the classroom and share it with even more students and have an even greater impact. And also an opportunity to give students like my own and other teachers like me access to the theater's resources and the ability to see a film the way that it's meant to be seen right on the big screen in one sitting instead of superimposed on the whiteboard with the previous classes, dry erase markers mirrored over the character's faces. But most importantly, film is such a powerful engine for discussion and dialogue. So I'm really excited to be able to use film as a way for students to engage in conversation with each other to learn not just about film, but about other folks in their community. - Awesome. And it seems like such an exciting thing for a student to, oh my gosh, we're gonna go see a movie at a theater. That's gonna be our class trip. That's gonna be our excursion. That's why do you think that excite students so much? And what do you hope they will initially think when they get to the theater? - There's something about leaving the school that gives you permission to learn on your own terms. So even if you're doing the same thing that you do in the classroom, sitting in a circle, sharing out your observations and inferences, the fact that you can do it in a space that feels like it's designed for you. Yesterday the students were talking about like, it's nice, the chairs were comfortable. I'm not distracted by that. And I'm eating popcorn, right? That they're able to engage or give themselves permission to engage in a way that you don't necessarily get to do at school with as many interruptions and stressors as are on the minds of young people as they're moving through their school day. - Absolutely, yeah, I can definitely be distracting when you're in the same place every single day. - Yeah, yeah. - Getting exposed to that new environment, you know? And what kind of activities will the students be doing in this program, they come into the theater, what's the day look like? - Sure, it's a three hour program and each one includes an introduction to the film, lunch provided by the theater, the screening itself, popcorn of course, and a discussion facilitated by yours truly, and supplemental resources are also shared with teachers and students in advance that they can take back to their classroom with them if they wanna continue the discussion there. - Awesome, and yeah, you just talked a little bit about giving students and teachers resources. Is there a certain algorithm that you use to pick out all of these films in terms of what you think the students will be interested in, what they will absorb in terms of that with their regular school curriculum? - Yeah, so I've been fortunate to work with an advisory committee of teachers from five different districts and four different disciplines, 'cause there's a lot of cross-referencing that needs to happen in order to understand and address the needs of students from different districts, the disciplines, ages, you name it, right? So we kind of pooled our ideas and our curriculum to say what are shared themes, looking in particular for films that are intersectional and interdisciplinary so that students could talk about, let's say, computer science and anti-bias education in a film like Coded Bias, which we're gonna be screening in the spring. What's another example? Something like Persepolis, the adaptation of Marjonsa Proppy's graphic novel, is both it's in French and Farsi, so it dovetails with world language, but also with history and obviously literature since it's an adaptation of a graphic novel. So that was what we were trying to do and also to be able to create something that represents the depth and breadth of students' own experiences and includes an entry point for students of all different backgrounds and identities. - Awesome, and now I think of it, which schools are you guys participating with? - Anyone is welcome to sign up. - Cool, in the classroom, no, right now, we just finished a couple of pilot programs, this program is brand new, this is our first year. Our first students arrived on foot from Brookline High School and we just busted some students in from Newton, but we've got folks coming from Boston Public Schools from as far as Weymouth, and so we're also committed to providing pro bono transportation and meals for students, so that's often the greatest barrier for teachers, honestly, to getting students the kinds of opportunities that they would like them to have, like this program. So hopefully we'll be able to remove some of those barriers to access, to be able to reach students from not just the greater Boston area, but maybe all of the Massachusetts and beyond. - Absolutely. - Lastly, how would you like to see this program grow in the future? What about like two, three, four years from now? - Yeah, we have, there's always been education programs at the Coolidge, I like to say that Coolidge Education is Coolidge programming, right? Film brings people together in to think critically and have engaging conversations, no matter what, but our, we've always been limited, but in terms of our capacity, both in terms of kind of the physical building and manpower. The expansion that opened in just this past March 2024 really marks our transformation from a funky art house stalwart local cinema to a landmark for cinema education, serving the greater Boston area. So I'm really hoping that this program and others like it at our theater and maybe elsewhere continue to expand in collaboration with local community organizations so that we can serve more students and their families and their teachers. - BNN wants to remind all of our viewers to register to vote for this year's elections. To register to vote or check of your registered, go to vote.gov. That's V-O-T-E dot G-O-V. Thank you for watching Boston, that's our broadcast for tonight. As a reminder, you can stream or watch the news on demand@bnnmedia.org. Each episode will be re-broadcast at 9.30 p.m. and 11 p.m. on X and 80 channel nine, is down channel 15 and Fios channel 2161, and make sure to check out our BNN HD Excitedy channel 1072. You can also hear us on the radio, Friday's at 7.30 and 9 p.m. and Monday through Thursday at 9 p.m. And now you can watch BNN news on the go with the cablecast app. For BNN news, I'm Natalie Candler. I'll see you next Friday. [MUSIC PLAYING]