Reading of the Combahee River Collective Statement (Central Square)
“If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”
- Combahee River Collective, April 1977
Come to the Central Square Library to gather for a reading of the Combahee River Collective (CRC) statement. Centered in Black feminist lesbian socialist politics, the CRC argued for the centering of anti-racist and anti-sexist politics within feminist and civil rights organizing respectively. Though the CRC is no longer active, its work and its members continue to have deep influence in Black feminism and beyond.
We will read the statement aloud together, sharing the words and wisdom of the Combahee River Collective with opportunity to discuss their continued resonance.
This event will be followed by a 4-session reading group to discuss the second edition of How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor. For more information and to register for the reading group, please see here.
This event was created in partnership with Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, the Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission, and the Cambridge Women’s Commission.
Moses Youth Center
The Moses Youth Center (Formerly known as the Area 4 Youth Center) was originally constructed in 1992. The building is 19,500 GSF with a concrete structure, large windows, skylights, and its original building systems. Named for Bob and Janet Moses, Cambridge residents, educators, and civil rights leaders, the facility is primarily used by the Department of Human Service Programs’ Cambridge Youth Programs division, which serves Cambridge teens through afterschool and summer programming. Nurtury, , an early childhood education provider, operates from the building’s basement level. Moses Youth Center also serves the larger community as a location for programs supporting new parents, community meetings, and a neighborhood voting location.
The building has been evaluated for systems upgrades several times and is currently in design for an upcoming capital project to improve the aging HVAC systems, repair critical plumbing infrastructure, and make key elements of the building more visually appealing for users. In addition, DPW Engineering is working on a project for street improvements around the building to help address and improve exterior water infiltration issues that have impacted the Youth Center. (Kristen, you could link to the port project that Gerry is working on if you think it is appropriate).
This project will enhance thermal comfort for staff and residents who use the Moses Youth Center. It will also further the climate goals outlined by the Cambridge Net Zero Action Plan through its transition to an electric energy system, which will decrease the building’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Play in the Public Realm
A summary of the many ways that parks and open space can be activated through programming and design.