DigBoston is a free newspaper with a ton of ads which centers purely around "events, humor and nightlife." But every once in awhile they put on their serious hats and do a serious story just so they don't forget what it feels like to have their words taken seriously.
When I was assigned to cover a Roxbury town discussion over a Walmart moving in to the poor Boston neighborhood, I expected to write an unconventionally humorless story. I'd have to inject a few harmless quips per order of my editors, but I didn't think I'd be moved at all. Instead, I soaked in the energy of the community meeting, and the people's refusal to admit the need for an abusive conglomerate in their neighborhood. Something sparked in me, and soon I was paying much more attention to the oft overlooked section of Boston.
Roxbury is poor, but it's not without its vibrancy. As much as I cringe each time someone in Roxbury runs out in front of my car--with children in hand--I receive more from their polite, thankful hand waves (for not plowing through them) than I see when I drive through the straight laced, uptight jerk squads of the financial district in downtown Boston.
I've definitely been paying more attention to the Rox since I visited them and heard some of their most prominent voices. And though the neighborhood is still two miles down the street from me, I've felt a growing urge in the past few months to leisurely hop on the T and see what's going on. I'm sure I'm not the first curious white boy to be thinking these thoughts, but I think I know what's kept others from actually going and checking things out.
The numbers say it plainly, and Roxbury is one of the most dangerous parts of Boston. But if you're walking around during warm daylight hours, enjoying Dudley Square, you have nothing to worry about. Any poor community that rejects the promise of a Wal Mart could use my business, and they certainly deserve to be recognized for the one of a kind shopping experience that every Boston neighborhood can boast.
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