The People First @ EMW Gallery March 4

• Friday, March 4 at 8 PM - 10 PM

• pin	Show Map EMW Bookstore 934 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

More Events By EMW Bookstore

FEB27

East Meets Beats #19 Featuring KISWA, Hollowz, VND, and Dr.SUS Wonder Bar in Allston, Massachusetts 33 guests

MAR11

East Meets Words 11th Anniversary Featuring Bao Phi To be announced 29 guests

EMW Gallery
Presents "The People First!"
Opening Reception
Friday, March 4th, 8 - 10 p.m.

The title of this event is borrowed from a short-lived community newspaper created in the late 60s by community organizers in Dorchester during the period of heightened civil struggles. "The People First" not only reminds us of the legacy of last century's social spirits, but, more importantly, underlines the fight of citizens against governmental, political, and economic machines till this day.

Tenants movements in the Greater Boston area has constituted one of the major activism campaigns since the 50s. When Mayor Hynes introduced the concept of 'New Boston', he meant the demolishing of thousands of houses and destroying lives of numerous families and friends to save a dying economy. The Boston we live in now is the among the strongest areas economic-wise in the country, with the third highest median rent across the 25 largest U.S. cities (The Fiscal Time, http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/03/04/25-Most-Expensive-Cities-Renters; City-Data: http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Boston-Economy.html). However, it is always important to remember that all of these economic and urban improvements were founded on the disruption and destruction of local neighborhoods, such as the South End, East Boston, Roxbury/Dorchester, Somerville, the list goes on.

The People First! is a call for all people, who consider this land of Greater Boston a habitat, a community, and a place to call home, to come to EMW for a gallery show that reflects on this particular moment of our time in the housing movement. Artists from gentrified neighborhoods in the area contribute their pieces that engage both deeply personal narratives and collective memories of the values of homes and relationship lost in this city-wide gentrification process. Knitting stories from various areas in the Greater Boston, we hope to present a connected network of the fighting efforts against gentrification.

The main concept behind the show, and our hope towards the development of the housing movements, is best summarized by Anna DeFronzo of East Boston in a press conference downtown held by the Massachusetts Fair Share in 1975:
"Ten years ago, thirty mothers set out to save our neighborhood from the airport. They told us you can't fight power. They were wrong. Just imagine if all the neighborhoods get together, there isn't anything we can't win."


/// PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ///

Join us for another EMW Gallery opening on the first Friday of the month. Come meet the artists and mingle with the community. Light refreshments will be served.

EMW Gallery provides a space for the collaboration and presentation of works by artists from marginalized communities. Its values are rooted in culture, technology, and social justice.


/// LOCATION & PARKING ///

EMW Bookstore
934 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139

Free street parking is available but typically difficult to find after 6PM on Fridays. Visitors can pay for parking in Central Square (https://www.cambridgema.gov/traffic/Parking/cityparkingfacilities/cityparkinggarages.aspx), or take the T. EMW Bookstore is right between two chair accessible stops, Harvard Square and Central Square on the Red Line.