Continuing the Conversation: Community Planning and Development

On Monday, September 14th, Boston NAACP, in collaboration with The Berkman Center For Internet & Society at Harvard University and UMass Boston Professor Michael Johnson, will host its second conversation on planning and development processes and issues – and the need for community-led processes – highlighted by Boston’s attempt to bid to host the 2024 Olympics.

The following is a link to the FB invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/1493365124322250. We’d appreciate your help in spreading the word about this conversation.

Boston’s unsuccessful attempt to become the U.S. candidate for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games started a variety of powerful and important discussions about the future of Boston generally, many of which deserve to be continued. If we properly build on the momentum of these conversations, the legacy of Boston’s 2024 Olympic bid could be much more than regret and political division. It could instead usher in a new era of community engagement and involvement on major urban issues.

An opportunity has arisen to model a more democratic community planning process. I would therefore like to invite you to join me, Professor Johnson, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and other distinguished guests for dinner and discussion on September 14, 2015, from 6-9pm, so that together we can explore the possibilities offered by hosting the MINEPS VI conference, an international conference on youth and sport. More broadly, we will also be exploring new ways and tools with which Boston’s communities and citizens can more effectively discuss issues of significance, and make their voices heard in any related decision-making process.

The dinner will take place at Freedom House, 5 Crawford St., Dorchester, on September 14, 2015 from 6-9pm. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Annie Pruitt (apruitt(AT)cyber.law.harvard.edu) and Nia K. Evans (economicdev(AT)bostonnaacp.org) as soon as possible.

I very much hope that you can join us as we continue this important conversation.