Ethan Carr believes Franklin Park is one of the great urban parks in the world. Generations of Bostonians have loved this landscape and invested it with many diverse memories and meanings. Today the park is at a turning point. Mayor Wu has approved an Action Plan to guide its future, and the city and its partners have proposed new multi-million dollar construction projects. In this talk he argues that the time is right to consider the past, as well as the future, of Franklin Park.

In this presentation City Life/Vida Urbana (CLVU) shares its rich history of organizing in Boston to build the power of working class and BIPOC communities to fight for systematic change. Founded in 1973, and currently located in The Brewery, City Life is known for its anti displacement organizing, fighting unscrupulous landlords; defending families from foreclosures and evictions.

In colonial times, the system of slavery was a primary economic driver in the Northern colonies including New England.  Because colonists chose to grow their economy using enslaved labor, it was the standard practice of many New Englanders to enslave other human beings – both Indigenous and African people. New Englanders ran the Triangle Trade, enslaving, buying, and selling people.     Jamaica Plain was part of all of this history and at least 27 people were enslaved here.