This video details the fall and rise of Boston's Roxbury district. After WWII the area followed a familiar pattern, with older residents migrating to the suburbs, general neglect from city hall, a long slide into neighborhood apathy and arson, and the final indignity of outsiders dumping trash and garbage on the vacant lots. By the mid-80's residents had had enough and formed the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. They started a "don't dump on us" campaign and went on to organize a multicultural grassroots effort to revitalize the neighborhood. This is an inspiring, upbeat but honest look at what it takes to organize a community. Partly narrated by residents and containing news reports and interviews with DSNI people, the video details the many steps it took to make the dream a reality. Roxbury can count itself lucky to have so many caring talented residents working on its behalf. This documentary will be useful to urban planners and community activists hoping for a similar renaissance in their back yards. Slightly overlong but recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)
Holding Ground: the Rebirth of Dudley Street
(1996) 60 min. $199. Holding Ground Productions (dist. by New Day Films). PPR. Color cover. Closed captioned (after 12/96). Vol. 11, Issue 5
Holding Ground: the Rebirth of Dudley Street
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