MY Town
The disconnect followed her through adolescence -- until she took a tour of the
South End and Roxbury in 1994. The experience fascinated Crockett. Buildings
she had passed daily came to life. Stories of people she had greeted daily were
revealed. It made her realize that the tale of Boston didn't end with the
colonists -- and that the tale was hers, too.
"It became clear to me these stories can transform people's perceptions about themselves and about Boston," she recalls.
That was the inspiration behind MY Town (or Multicultural Youth Tour of What's Now), the city's only walking tour led by teens. The five-year-old program, which is based in the heart of the South End, seeks to use the hidden and ignored stories of blacks, Latinos, and immigrants living in this 100-year-old neighborhood as a way to inspire civic activism among adolescents. Says Crockett, "Young people are searching for a greater sense of purpose. It's important for them to have an understanding of all the things that led up to them."
At a time when inner-city kids tend to be dismissed, MY Town does the opposite: it makes demands on them. Each year, 30 youth guides aged 14 to 20, from neighborhoods like Roxbury, Mission Hill, and Dorchester, create and then present one-mile tours of the South End. Focused along Columbus Avenue, Tremont Street, and Mass Ave, the tours, which have drawn more than 4000 people so far, feature 60 stops chosen with an eye toward the young guides' interests, family histories, and personal experiences. Unlike programs devoted to supporting kids individually, MY Town builds up young people by validating their take on community.
It's a responsibility that these teens appreciate. "We get what kids in other programs don't," says Michelle Simpson, 17, a South End resident who has worked as a guide for the past two years. "Without us, there would be no MY Town."
MY Town deserves recognition not just because it values urban youth, but also because it values urban neighborhoods. "It lifts up the stories of the community and its struggles and changes," says Mel King, a former state representative and well-known South End figure.
On any afternoon from April to November, South End residents can find MY Town guides amid packs of adults and kids from youth groups, camps, and after-school programs all over Boston. They might stop outside Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe, where Sammy Davis Jr. tap-danced for pennies as a boy, and where railroad workers organized with the Pullman porters' union. Or they might visit the Tent City housing complex, built on the site where activists, including King, pitched tents in the late 1960s to protest the loss of affordable housing -- and ended up winning.
But these tours also highlight less recognizable spots, such as the Columbus Avenue apartment complex Methunion Manor. Simpson has lived there all her life. As a guide, she has looked into the history of her home, and has found a personal connection. In the 1980s, the state threatened to foreclose on what was then a public-housing project. Faced with displacement, hundreds of tenants, including Simpson's grandfather, traveled to Washington, DC, to demand that the federal government hand the property over to residents. Methunion Manor is now a resident-owned development for roughly 800 families.
This is the type of information that makes MY Town truly special. Indeed, Simpson, much like Crockett before her, now boasts a whole new perspective on her native city. As she explains, "Before I worked for MY Town, I felt like there was nothing special about Boston. But MY Town made this place real for me. It made Boston my own."
For more information about MY Town, or to schedule a tour, call (617) 536-TOWN.