Although FLOTUS' Let's Move initiative is building steam, a Mattapan-based food and fitness coalition has sponsored an annual event for the past several years called "Mattapan Moving for Life." It's not exactly creating a groundswell among Mattapan's 25,000 residents, however, especially given two key factors:
- 26% of Mattapan residents are between 5 and 18 years old;
- living in 2800 Mattapan households.
The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) treats Mattapan like it's a "food desert." But is it? The USDA obviously doesn't consider it so. Mattapan is not color-coded pink on its "Food Desert Locator." Still the W. K. Kellogg Foundation has funneled money through BPHC into Mattapan for years now; ostensibly to redress the lack of access to healthy foods there. While a cornerstore initiative--called "Healthy on the Block"--has gained some traction, its too new to point to measurable outcomes; and too fragile because its funding raises questions about its sustainability.
Mattapan is a relatively stable community: where forty-two percent (42%) of its housing stock are single-family homes; where thirty-four percent (34%) of households are owner-occupied. Even though 54% of households are apartment dwellers, people 'check in,' but are slow to 'check out.'
True to it's name, perhaps Mattapan is "a good place to be." Contrary to this particular Native American translation (citation pending), a more sinister one posits that "Mattapan" means "evil is spread about the place" (Saugus Public Schools). Any wonder, then, that some refer to Mattapan pejoratively as "murder pan?"
At the time of this writing, a trial is underway for a 2010 quadruple murder on Sutton Street: a drug robbery already wrong; horrified all of greater Boston when it resulted in the death of a babe in the arms of its mother. Sadly, crime will always haunt the 'hood' so long as those who would bear witness against such acts are characterized as "rat," "snitch," etc. Cowering in fear is not freedom. Silence is, in fact, a form of social death.
So Mattapan has become a harbor, of sorts-- where Boston's criminal mischief often comes ashore. Though it's painful to admit it, criminals do roam freely here; and with the Commonwealth's blessings.
Several years ago, a "prisoner reentry center" was established right in the heart of Mattapan Square--the neighborhood's primary commercial center; over, and against the expressed wishes of community residents, in fact.
Instead of representing the will of the community, with the lone exception of then State Rep. Shirley Owens-Hicks, most public officials took to the task of bringing the community along (for the ride). This was not the first, nor would it be, the last time.
Mattapan. As if in the movies, a river runs right through it. This river, named Neponset, is now thoroughly polluted; after a very long period of paper mills dotting its shores, dumping chemical contaminants into it, the Neponset River can no longer sustain life.
All to say, the need for urgent action is great. The Neponset River rushes on; a metaphor for the experience of living, working, and playing in Mattapan today. Like the river, Mattapan can be a lure, but it can make you sick if you 'drink the water.'
All to say, the need for urgent action is great. The Neponset River rushes on; a metaphor for the experience of living, working, and playing in Mattapan today. Like the river, Mattapan can be a lure, but it can make you sick if you 'drink the water.'
Future posts will draw out, and on, this metaphor; as we look for action steps to advance Mattapan.
MCAD hopes to re-brand Mattapan as a cultural arts destination--as a bulwark against gentrification and displacement; as a way to shore up the neighborhood's cultural identity. We can find common ground.
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