Caribbean culture in living color
In some ways Douglas appeared to be swimming against the current, as he lugged his massive wheeled, 12-foothigh presentation along the up-hill parade route amid a procession of sound trucks leading T-shirt-wearing revelers.

District 7 candidates tackle economic issues in forum
The event, hosted by Roxbury Main Streets in collaboration with the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, The American City Coalition, and Urbanica at the Roxbury Residence Inn, covered topics ranging from small business growth to arts and culture, and economic support such as workforce development and housing.

Beyond Possible: BPS program links coding, robots and early college credits
From the second floor of The Possible Zone’s red-brick innovation center in Jackson Square, a squadron of robots clicked and whirred as they chased down green balls in a tangled field of obstacles and sped around a racetrack constructed with blue painter’s tape.

‘We will not be erased’: Boston leaders defend Black history
Inside the 219-year-old African Meeting House, where Frederick Douglass once thundered against slavery and Black families built their own schools as acts of defiance, community leaders gathered this week to warn against what they call an effort to erase America’s full history.

Teen voices on mental health shine at second annual youth-led film festival
Kassidy Silva-Bush (left) and Leureanny Fernandes pose for a photo at the Youth Purpose and Partnership program second annual film festival, Aug. 22. The program, run by Children’s Services of Roxbury, allowed the teens to create their own documentary and short film about mental health and express their voice on the issue.

“This history is not patriotic enough and needs to be changed.”
“This history is not patriotic enough and needs to be changed.”.

Whitewashing the past: The Trump administration’s challenge to Black history
For decades, American historians have worked to expand the national narrative beyond a simple story of progress and triumph, integrating the profound and often painful experiences of marginalized groups, especially African Americans.

How Black police and soldiers have resisted federal takeovers
President Trump has deployed federal law enforcement officers and the National Guard in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and threatened to take over predominantly Black Democratic cities by decree.

IN THE NEWS
Rev. Chris Hope leads two influential Boston organizations: The Hope Group and The Loop Lab, advancing ethical AI, workforce equity, and media arts training. The Hope Group is now a premier AI technical assistance and workforce consultancy, serving recent clients like Tufts University and the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts.

Move Hack.Diversity to Roxbury Community College
Despite boasting one of the nation’s premier tech clusters — buoyed by abundant venture capital, world-class universities and a sizable Black population — Boston still trails peer cities in producing Black-founded startups. Nothing illustrates that gap more starkly than the impending shutdown of Hack.

How Black educators experience, manage burnout
Teachers spend each and every day of their lives committed to building the future by educating children across the nation. Oftentimes, their job requires them to be more than teachers. They are communicators, collaborators and evaluators, investing in children’s futures at all times.

Millions of immigrants could now be scrutinized for ‘anti-Americanism’ and ‘antisemitism’
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, is changing its policies so its employees are required to consider “circumstances where an alien has endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused the views of an anti-American or terrorist organization or group,” according to the document.

New grant program helps business owners level up
“It’s really been like a perfect pairing for us, because we [are] able to sit in on the classes and gain the knowledge, but then we also have someone that’s assigned to us, our mentor,” she said. “We meet with him weekly, individually and collectively as a team.

BNBL and Big3 championships take center stage
The Boston Showstoppers in the girls’ division once again demonstrated their dominance by taking home championship titles in the 15-and-under and 18-and-under divisions. The Lee School won two championships in the boys’ division, winning the 13-and-under and 18-and-under championships.

Red Sox take three out of four from Yankees for half-game lead
The Boston Red Sox are playing some of their best baseball of this 2025 Major League Baseball season, taking three out of four games against the Yankees this past weekend in New York.

Caribbean Carnival
Boston’s Caribbean Carnival marked its 52nd year last weekend with parades through Roxbury and Dorchester that ended at Franklin Park. The celebration began at sunrise Saturday with the J’Ouvert parade and continued in the afternoon with a larger procession featuring dance groups, music and colorful costumes.

Prioritizing Health and Wellness
MADD Sports and NDUR visited Boston College on Sunday as part of a nationwide effort addressing mental health and impaired driving on school and college campuses. Student-athletes attended the event, and NDUR representatives posed with campaign branding during the stop.

Labor Day celebrations around town
Monday is Labor Day, an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. Boston has celebrations, block parties, and free museum admission around the city to commemorate the special occasion..

Chef Jesus Preciado opens Louis Corner in South End and the locals are lining up
This is the fifth restaurant in the neighborhood from MAZÍ Food Group, joining Desnuda Cocina & Bar, Gigi, Ilona and Kava Neo-Taverna. While many of the other restaurants play with international flavors, such as Greek at Kava and Latin and Asian fusion at Desnuda, MAZÍ’s executive chef and owner Jesus Preciado felt it was time for a change.

Boston Arts Festival — a showcase for local fine artists and musicians
While visitors explore the artwork, they’ll also enjoy live music by 10 different local artists over the course of the weekend. Samatha deLuca, Katie Dobbins, In Lieu of Flowers, Fly by Brass Band, Jessica Woodlee, The 94s, blindspot, Nick Zaino, James McCarthy and Ava Valianti will perform this year.

It’s official! August 30 is New Edition Day in Boston
The weekend will include a community block party in Roxbury, where it all began, and a ceremony renaming Dearborn Street as “New Edition Way.” Dearborn Street is near the site of the former Orchard Park public housing development where the band members grew up.

Gather ’round for the Campfire Festival at Club Passim
What do you call four days of live music, with dozens of acts, taking place in an intimate club in Harvard Square? It’s the annual Campfire Festival, in its 25th year, with about 60 musicians performing in short sets at Club Passim. Scheduled for Labor Day weekend, from Aug.

Black attorneys respond to president’s exec. order calling for elimination of cashless bail
In the two executive orders, one focusing on the District of Columbia, where the president has declared a “crime emergency,” and the other targeting jurisdictions nationwide, he has threatened to either withhold or revoke federal funding to local and state governments that offer cashless bail, citing the policy as a threat to public safety.

To close HBCU gender gap, help Black boys find their ‘spark’
In sixth grade, I signed up with some friends for a quiz-bowl style competition called the Black Facts Challenge. We studied as much as we could about Black Americans’ contributions to this country — Booker T. Washington’s founding of the Tuskegee Institute, the life of Duke Ellington, and more.