The Other Boston Busing Story

Metco
Massachusettes Department of Education
Metco Home Page

"The Program has been in existence since 1966 and was originally funded through a grant by the Carnegie Foundation and United States Office of Education. In that year the first Metco legislation was filed, the service provider METCO Inc. was established, and seven school districts began accepting the first two hundred Metco students. Currently, there are about 3,300 students participating in 34 school districts in metropolitan Boston and at four school districts outside Springfield."

"Many people know the story of Boston's school busing order that went into effect in 1975 and of the violence that it spawned (Forced Busing). Few, however, know about the 'other' Boston busing story the one about Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO), founded in 1966 by black parents and activists as a voluntary school desegregation program."

The Other Boston Busing Story: What`s Won and Lost Across the Boundary Line
by Susan E. Eaton

WGBH Forum Network
Discussion about the successes and failures of METCO,
America's longest running voluntary desegregation program.
Led by Susan Eaton, author, former METCO student, Gary Orfield, director, Project on School Desegregation

"history nearly as old as that of America"

Dorchester, Massachusettes (Wikipedia)

History

"Settled one month before its neighbor, Boston, in May of 1630, Dorchester has a history nearly as old as that of America. For its first two hundred years, Dorchester remained apart from Boston, existing primarily as a farming community with small commercial and industrial outposts along the Neponset River at Lower Mills and Mattapan Square, and along Dorchester Bay at Commercial Point."

The Battle of Dorchester Heights
Dorchester Reporter
The Freedom Trail

"The battle of Dorchester Heights was on March 6, 1776. General George Washington positioned his troops atop Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston. This gave the colonists the advantage of targeting the British, who were stationed in the city, below. Washington had hoped General Howe and his troops would either flee or take the hill. Howe chose to flee, and on March 26, the Redcoads evacuated Boston, and headed to Halifax, Nova Scotia."

Dorchester Atheneum - Lost and Endangered Dorchester

James Blake House - Boston's oldest house

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Recent Past



Death of an American Jewish Community
by Hillel Levine, Lawrence Harmon

"In a well-researched, instructive, controversial analysis, Levine, a rabbi and director of Judaic Studies at Boston University, and Harmon, former editor of Boston's Jewish Advocate , show how forces external to the black and Jewish communities of Boston undermined their relationship. At issue: blockbusting in the Roxbury-Dorchester-Mattapan sections of the city, where the mid-1960s population of 90,000 Jews has been reduced to 2500."

Streets of Hope : The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood
by Peter Medoff

"The distance between downtown Boston and downtrodden Dudley could not be measured by the less than two miles between them. One area reflected privaledge and reinvestment, the other prejudice and disinvestment. Beginning in the 1950's, disinvestment, abandonment and arson turned Dudley homes, yards and businesses into wasteland. By 1981, one-third of Dudley's land lay vacant."

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Notable



John F. Kennedy Library (above)

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The MBTA Redline - Subway line that spans Dorchester, Boston and Cambridge.

"the shot heard 'round the world"

Lexington, Mass is notable as the site of the opening shots ("the shot heard 'round the world") of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first engagement of the American Revolution.

Tour Lexington

Rosa Parks 1913-2005

TIME 100: Rosa Parks:

"Rosa Parks Her simple act of protest galvanized America's civil rights revolution"

The Sun Also Rises

The Sun Also Rises
Oct 6th 2005
From The Economist print edition

Japan's chances of prosperity and influence look surprisingly bright

"IT HAS taken an extraordinarily long time, but Japan really is now recovering from its debt- and deflation-ridden stagnation of the past 15 years. Proper jobs are being created, wages are rising and economists are raising their forecasts of economic growth—all despite worries about high oil prices and an American slowdown."

Tokyo Motor Show, October 22nd - November 6th

Tokyo Motor Show

General Public Days : Oct. 22 (Sat) - Nov. 6 (Sun)
Hours : Weekdays 10:00 - 18:00 / Saturdays and Holiday 9:30 - 19:00
Location : Makuhari Messe, Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture

God Bless the Child

Them that’s got shall get
Them that’s not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

Yes, the strong gets more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don’t ever make the grade
Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own
That’s got his own

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Billie Holiday
God Bless the Child

nbsa +×÷ (10/9 Shibuya, Tokyo)

10/9 Shibuya Venue: O-East, NBSA (National Band School Associates)

Japan is often perceived as impossible to penetrate or assimilate within. That is true to a point. However, most just don't know how Japan's society has a facet of every part of the world, including black culture. In so many ways, once you get past the language barriers, Japan seems to have more freedom for Africans than not. There is a continual momentum of fundamental change taking place here that often only music can express.

The nbsa fest was unlike none other, and went on for hours. Triumphant, returning from their magnificant Fuji Rock Festival performances, Inushiki ended the 7 hour concert event with an incredible set that left all in awe, friends and fans alike. ("This night has opened my eyes, and I shall never sleep again...")

Inushiki - aka Dogggystyle - Life is Beautiful