Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street (1996)
Special Guest: John Barros, Chief of Economic Development, Boston
The film tells a story of hope and activism in the face of overwhelming obstacles. In the aftermath of decades of disinvestment by government, banks, and industry, the residents of an ethnically diverse Boston neighborhood joined together to rebuild their community. In this one-hour documentary, residents and other participants tell how the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) turned a community around through grassroots organizing and planning.
Neighborhood Matters is a lunchtime series that celebrates the ways in which community groups have shaped the neighborhoods surrounding the Northeastern campus. This series is co-curated by the Northeastern Center for the Arts and the Archives and Special Collections at the Northeastern University Library.
Lunch will be served.
Partner: Northeastern Center for the Arts, Archives and Special Collections, Northeastern Libraries
Part of the Neighborhood Matters Screening Series
John Barros
John Barros was raised in the Dudley Street neighborhood in Roxbury. At age 17, he was the first teenager elected to the board of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI). After attending Dartmouth College and working for the Chubb Group of Insurance companies in Manhattan, Barros returned to become the organization’s Executive Director in 2000. In February 2014, Mayor Martin J. Walsh named Barros Chief of Economic Development.
Archives and Special Collections at Northeastern University Libraries
The Archives and Special Collections at Northeastern University Libraries houses and carefully curates a diverse collection of historical records relating to Boston’s fight for social justice; preserving the history of Boston’s social movements, including civil & political rights, immigrants rights, homelessness and urban and environmental justice. They focus on the history of Boston’s African American, Asian American, LGBTQ, Latino and other communities, as well as Boston’s public infrastructure, neighborhoods, and natural environments.
The primary source materials they collect and make available are used by community members, students, faculty, scholars, journalists, and others from across the world as the evidence on which histories are built. An understanding of the past can help inspire the next generation of leaders to fight for economic, political, and social rights.