nubian square

$50 million in state funding for life sciences training in Nubian Square hangs in the balance of legislative negotiations on an economic development bill.

As we approach the end of formal sessions of the Massachusetts Legislature, state lawmakers have a chance to take a giant step toward addressing the wealth gap afflicting Black and brown communities in Boston.

Community Music Center of Boston, which provides youth music training to about 400 students and is one of the largest external providers of arts education to Boston Public Schools, announced April 4 that it plans to open a new space in Nubian Square on Washington Street, in the old home of the Nubian Gallery.

Stakeholders, supporters and neighbors gathered last Tuesday morning, enjoying refreshments and conversation on an empty lot of land that will soon be home to the new Franklin Cummings Tech campus.

Mmusi Maimane is no ordinary tourist trying to savor an authentic slice of a diverse community in Boston. He is a candidate running for president of South Africa and he got a sampling of the future of economic prosperity in one of the main commercial hubs in Boston’s Black community.

Today, we’re in Nubian Square. We’re standing on the corner of Malcolm X Boulevard and Washington Street, right in front of the “Faces of Dudley” mural on the side of Silver Slipper Cafe, a neighborhood staple.

If you’ve heard the strains of a classical violin or the soulful riffs of a saxophone wafting down the halls of the Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library in Nubian Square, you may have been enjoying the Roxbury Concert Series without even realizing it.

On a Tuesday afternoon in Nubian Square, Will Dunn walks his beat. The tall, bearded man in sweats and a T-shirt is greeted like a local mayor, waving at drivers who slow down to honk and say hello, wrapping friends in giant bear hugs and cracking jokes.

Local organizers are preparing for the unveiling next month of a memorial in Roxbury dedicated to Black veterans. The memorial in Nubian Square will be named after Edward Orval Gourdin, who served in the 372nd Infantry regiment during World War II and the 272nd Field Artillery Battalion in the Massachusetts National Guard.

Traffic was shut down along Washington Street between Palmer and Eustis Streets in Roxbury Saturday afternoon to make way for Black Market Nubian’s third annual Buy the Block Party — an event that celebrated Black Music Appreciation Month and the area’s creative contributions to hip-hop over the past 50 years.

“You’re in Nubian Square, the heart of Boston’s Black community,” state Sen. Liz Miranda announced to a dozen of her Senate colleagues gathered at the Roxbury Street headquarters of METCO, the voluntary school desegregation program. “It’s a place struggling to rebuild itself.”

Every month from April to October, The American City Coalition (TACC) will host vibrant cultural and community events in Nubian Square as part of the Savor the Square initiative.