The Third Decade

Yo, Improper Bostonian! Is that really all you found?

Normally I enjoy the Improper Bostonian and look forward to reading what's new and interesting around town. I also generally think they put together one of the better Best of Boston lists, better even than Boston Magazine's. This year's edition of the Improper's Boston's Best list, however, was seriously lacking in geographic and ethnic diversity. Couldn't they find anything else going on in Chinatown, JP, Dorchester, and the South End other than restaurants and bars? Each of those neighborhoods has large concentrations of Latinos and Asians, but you'd hardly know it by their choice of categories and the winners. And what of Roxbury, Mattapan, and East Boston? As far as I can tell, those neighborhoods weren't even included or considered as the panel did its survey.

I'm not begrudging the winners for their placement in the magazine. Boston has many, many exceptional restaurants, bars, arts venues, and entertainment options. But, even if I were to concede that not a single establishment in the "outer" neighborhoods was able to compete on a citywide basis, wouldn't there at least be some way to acknowledge that there are quality options in all of the neighborhoods? Given that some of the categories are neighborhood bars and neighborhood restaurants, where are the entries from East Boston, Roxbury, and Mattapan?

Just using Roxbury as an example, Merengue, Haley House, The Savant Project, and Ashur would have been some of the eateries that could've been judged for best neighborhood restaurant. Brigham Circle also has enough bars to give the reviewers something for the neighborhood bar category. Considering how overlooked Roxbury is most of the time anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if the panel found tons to consider for the best-kept secret category, too. How many of them know about the Shirley-Eustis House or the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists?

Again, this isn't to say that the winners don't deserve their spots in the sunshine. But this collection of recommendations doesn't even begin to cover the full breadth of diversity that exists in Boston. I suspect that the choice of categories is one of the underlying reasons, as well as the need to satisfy advertisers. Still, how would this list look if it included additional categories like best soul food, Dominican food, African-American history tour, Latin music & dance venue, Asian cultural resource (the magazine only mentions food), Caribbean festival, neighborhood tour (most neighborhoods including Chinatown, JP, Roxbury, and Dorchester have them), and neighborhood arts venue?

I'm hoping that their August 12th Neighborhoods issue will be more inclusive, although I believe that I'm going to be disappointed again. I sent a letter to the editor last week and followed up with a voice message encouraging him to include Roxbury in the neighborhoods issue. Both messages referred to the Roxbury Cultural Network, which I hope he will use as a resource. Let's see if he sends someone out to do some legwork. With the Roxbury Film Festival, Discover Roxbury's high tea at the Shirley-Eustis House, and Berklee's Jazz at the Fort coming up, there are a variety of options on the table for the Improper to learn something new about one of the "outer" neighborhoods and add it to their body of knowledge.

For those of you who would also like to contact the editor to encourage him to expand the magazine's horizons, contact Andrew Rimas at andrew@improper.com or 617-859-1400. Please leave positive messages and constructive criticism that reflects the true quality and character of our communities.

Full disclosure: The Third Decade works at Discover Roxbury, a member of the Roxbury Cultural Network.

No more Banner?

First UniversalHub then the Boston Globe report that the Bay State Banner will be shutting down. This sucks! If the Banner really does shut down, there's going to be a big void in Boston's communities of color when it comes to print news. What I don't understand is why the Banner didn't take a page out of the Globe's playbook and report on its own situation months ago. Hello, that's news! Did the publisher really have to wait until now to say the paper needs help?

It's good to be home

For the first time in years I left Boston during the July 4th celebrations. A handful of friends and I drove north to Ogunquit, ME to enjoy some peace, quiet, and time on the beach. I'd never been before, but I found it a very pleasant town. The people are nice, the beach is pristine, and it's easy to get around partly because, for the most part, Ogunquit is basically three streets that all converge near the coast. After a few days of going to the beach and eating at nearly every restaurant in the town, I was wondering what else there was to do there.

My friends, all of whom live in Worcester, kidded me by asking whether I miss having clean air and open space (which I guess is abundant in Worcester). I thoght about that while riding the subway today, and I can honestly say "not really." The air here isn't that bad. Besides, it's the people, the bustle, and the pace that make living here so great! I'd be so bored living somewhere slower and relatively empty. The few times I visited Worcester, that city felt like a ghost town. Boston's energy - and even the attitude - are what keep me going and make this city unlike many others. I'll concede wishing that customer service here were much, much better, but it's a small price to pay for everything else that makes living here so interesting and fun.

I guess I know where I'll be celebrating July 4th next year.

Michael Jackson

Rest in peace.

The Color Purple: Recommended

If you're in the Boston area and haven't bought tickets for The Color Purple yet, buy them soon. I had the good fortune of seeing the show last night for the opening and have the feeling that any remaining tickets will be snatched up soon.

Despite the heavy storyline, the musical is full of life, light, and humor; I didn't expect to laugh and be moved as much as I was. The entire cast was great and presented solid singing, dancing, and acting, although the woman who plays Sophie stole the show. A good deal of the crowd quoted her line "hell no" during intermission and on the way out of the theater. She also received some of the loudest applause at the curtain call. Celie, of course, was good, too. The actress convincingly played Celie from childhood to middle age, and through all phases of innocence, struggle, and rediscovery. Overall, though, the whole cast was fantastic.

So, go see The Color Purple. You won't be disappointed.