Latest news with #BlackEconomicCouncilofMassachusetts
Boston Globe
02-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Hilina Ajakaiye is leaving Meet Boston for big role with national convention trade group
Staying in Boston also allows her to maintain her roles at local nonprofits, including as board chair of the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and a board member of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts. Ajakaiye joined Meet Boston, the region's tourism marketing bureau, in 2020 as its executive vice president. It was a pivotal moment when COVID-19 decimated the travel industry, and as the world re-opened, she helped CEO Martha Sheridan reposition Meet Boston to better support the industry's recovery. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Ajakaiye — a first-generation Ethiopian immigrant who understands how travel can provide economic opportunity — strengthened Meet Boston's connection to communities of color and helped spearhead the Advertisement That's a key reason why the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals wanted to bring Ajakaiye on board – to build the pipeline of Black travel professionals and bring awareness to the size of the Black travel market in the US, Advertisement 'There's a huge opportunity,' said Ajakaiye, who also wants to attract more Black tourists here from abroad. 'It's really a win and win for everyone. But a lot of folks don't know how to galvanize the community and how to make people feel welcome so that'll be my focus.' This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston's business scene. Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
28-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
On ‘blackout' boycott day, some closed their wallets, while others went shopping
The protest was organized by The People's Union USA, which appears to have been founded by a man named John Schwarz, is a 'movement of people, unionizing to take back control of our economy, government and future of our country' and fight against corruption and exploitation, according to its Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'For one day we show them who really holds the power,' the Advertisement The group has shared a rolling schedule of weeklong Nicole Obi, president and CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, said she supports the one-day effort as a demonstration that people coming together can have impact, and it 'has potential to be catalytic towards ongoing efforts,' Obi said. Beyond withholding their dollars from companies that don't reflect their values, Obi said, BECMA is urging people to support Black-owned businesses, on Friday and beyond. Sustained efforts to support Black-owned, diverse, and local businesses could also have tremendous economic benefits, Obi said, citing a 'I'd like for folks to, rather than going back to their old habits, actually live out their values by doing what we've been encouraging folks to do,' she said. Advertisement 'That energy ... use it for positive things, by actually supporting the organizations that are, in many cases, being affected and will still be affected after the boycott is over,' she said. The economic blackout, not surprisingly, drew its fair share of detractors. Erin McGarry, a 56-year-old hospital executive who lives in Canton, said she saved her Amazon cart of more than $400 worth of items to purchase Friday in her own protest of the boycott. She said she thinks it's 'a bit silly' to believe one day could have much of an impact, and she sees the corporations that are the main targets of the day as essential and beneficial players in the economy. 'First of all, one day of the economic impact isn't going to have a longterm effect on one of these large retail companies,' she said. 'And secondly, these companies that they're protesting are the mainstay of supply side economics for the United States.' Those who are participating in the protest, however, feel it could make some difference. James Hornsby, an 85-year-old Episcopal clergyman and retired social worker from Fall River, said he decided to participate in the economic blackout to take a stand against greed, 'immense corporate profits,' and rising rents. 'Excess profits are being made on the backs of poor and working people,' he said. Shoppers at a Costco in Everett on Thursday. The big box giant has won plaudits in some corners for maintaining diversity commitments while its rivals roll them back. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Boston Globe Hornsby pledged to not buy anything on Friday, and he said he'll be looking more carefully at the purchases he makes year-round. He has cut down his beef consumption because of its impacts on climate change, he said, and he stopped buying a certain ice cream brand that his grandson informed him is owned or financed by a right-wing supporter of President Donald Trump. The name of the brand was on the tip of his tongue Friday, but he couldn't quite remember it. Advertisement 'If you go shopping at any supermarket, it's there,' he said. 'But don't go today.' Fields, in Needham, said she has stopped shopping at Target since the corporation in late January. She recalled several long-term boycotts and their impact —including those by the NAACP of businesses in Mississippi in the 1960s, which culminated in a landmark Supreme Court ruling that boycotting is a constitutionally protected act. 'The Montgomery Bus Boycott, that was a year of people walking instead of riding,' she said. 'So, one day … that's nothing. That's not too much to sacrifice, one day of keeping my money in my pocket.' Stella Tannenbaum can be reached at
Axios
27-02-2025
- Business
- Axios
Black Boston in 2050: A commercial hub re-emerges
The year is 2050. The center of Boston is bustling with arts venues, restaurants with late-night menus and college students. This isn't downtown, but the city's geographical center and the face of Black Boston: Nubian Square. Why it matters: The Roxbury neighborhood is in the throes of major redevelopment, and business leaders envision a future that bolsters the local economy while preserving the area's culture and diversity. Between the lines: Boston's Black mecca has survived urban renewal, riots sparked by racism, decades of disinvestment and the COVID-19 pandemic. Barring any freak accident that decimates the neighborhood, Nubian Square is poised to live on and thrive into 2050, local business leaders and residents say. What's less certain is how climate change, traffic and gentrification will shape the majority-Black neighborhood. State of play: Developers, business leaders and advocates are transforming Nubian Square, planting the seeds for a prosperous city center, from upcoming developments with artist housing and college classrooms to new liquor licenses and creative spaces. Fast-forward to 2050: Nubian Square is home to small businesses, arts venues and nightlife, while local colleges churn out climate and tech workers, says Nicole Obi, president and CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts. 🚌 Transportation: The neighborhood's traffic may persist if people keep relying on cars, but Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of Embrace Boston, envisions a transportation hub powered by electric buses and more walkable streets. Ciyadh Wells, executive director of the Black arts organization Castle of Our Skins, sees Nubian Square being less walkable due to traffic. "Unfortunately, I think this area will always be transportation-challenged," Wells, a Roxbury resident, tells Axios. 👨🏾🔬 Workforce: If successful, the neighborhood's colleges will be producing top talent for the climate, biotech and tech sectors, Obi predicts. And everyone from entrepreneurs to politicians will be applying AI in their work. 🎵 Culture and nightlife: Picture an 18-hour scene with restaurants, musical performances and events for all ages. For Nubian Square to re-emerge as a commercial center, it must be a place where locals live, work and play from the morning to late at night, Obi says. Wells envisions a neighborhood where artists, business owners and residents pay homage to its past and celebrate who they are, be it through the library, her Black arts organization Castle of Our Skins or other venues. 🛍️ Commerce: Nubian Square is poised to draw shoppers and locals in 2050 like it did in the days of Nubian Notion and the music venue Roscoe's, historian Dart Adams predicts. Back in the 20th century, the demolition of the elevated train and efforts to focus commerce in Downtown Crossing dealt a blow to then-Dudley Square. Adams foresees the neighborhood fulfilling the vision that leaders had for downtown. Yes, but: One of the biggest challenges facing Roxbury ahead of 2050 is thriving while maintaining the fabric of its racially and ethnically diverse community. City after city have seen neighborhoods revitalized only for residents who spent generations there to get priced out, from Brooklyn to Boston's South End. A 2020 study on displacement suggests that gentrification disproportionally affects Black residents, pushing them outside their neighborhoods — and sometimes outside of their cities altogether — and into disadvantaged areas. 🏘️ Housing: The Nubian Square of 2050 has more residents — a mix of homeowners and renters in market-rate and affordable apartments, says Jeffries. Both Obi and Jeffries expressed concerns about gentrification, but say a variety of homeownership and affordable housing options — as well as investment in and collaboration with local businesses — can ensure the neighborhood's longtime residents don't get pushed out by 2050. Zoom out: Roxbury residents will also have to contend with changes to American society in the 21st century, which could affect housing conditions. The nation will continue to see the effects of climate change, with parts of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan likely experiencing more extreme heat and flooding. The country's racial wealth gaps are projected to worsen by then, with Black Americans' wealth dropping to zero by 2053, per a report by Prosperity Now and the Institute for Policy Studies. The stakes may be particularly high in Boston, which in 2021 had one of the largest racial homeownership gaps in the nation. Yes, but: Despite the hurdles ahead, Roxbury residents and community leaders envision Nubian Square as a paragon of Black cultural and financial success well into the 21st century.
Boston Globe
25-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Watch live: A discussion on the state of Black-owned businesses in Boston
Join us for a discussion inspired by The Boston Globe's recent project on the Green Book: 'The state of black businesses in Boston,' a conversation with Black business owners and community leaders hosted by the Globe and Black Economic Council of Massachusetts. Globe metro editor Anica Butler is talking to local Black business owners and community leaders about the continuing importance of Black-owned businesses and how we can celebrate and support them today. Watch the discussion live:
