The Reckonings Project invites you to dream about the future of jazz and celebrate its storied past in Boston this September as we help activate Jazz Square, the corner of Massachusetts and Columbus Avenues, in collaboration with the Boston Jazz Foundation, Bob Barney and the Clairemont Neighborhood Association, Wally’s Jazz Cafe, Jazz Boston, and Union Church. Events on Friday September 27th and Saturday September 28th will include a concert and panel at the Red Room and sessions at Wally’s Jazz Cafe. On Saturday, Dzidzor Azaglo will lead the audience through the dedication of Jazz Square with music and speakers. Throughout the two days, Reckonings will contribute with portable historical markers on the history of jazz clubs in Boston and a self-guided Boston Jazz Tour organized by Northeastern students. These contributions build upon the work that students, staff, faculty and community members have done as part of the Black Artists of Boston project.

The Jazz Square Activation Collaboration emphasizes the richness of the past, present, and future of jazz in Boston. The project is working to increase the prominence of jazz in the city and the development of the music form, hosting live music events and supporting local artists and venues. In collaboration with Reckonings, the Boston Jazz Foundation and the Jazz Square Activation team applied for and won a Neighborhood and Downtown Activation Grant in May 2024 from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.

Supporting the Boston Jazz Foundation, a Jazz Square partner, in its mission to cultivate a diverse community with equitable resources for jazz artists, Reckonings has been documenting the community’s goals for the future of jazz in Boston. Envisioning this future, Boston Jazz Foundation co-founder Seba Molnar says, “Our vision is to make Boston a destination hub for jazz and the arts. We envision a future in Boston where artists can not only survive but thrive, making a living off their craft, and where music lovers from all over the world come to experience the rich culture and diverse music scene here.” Co-founder Moriah Phillips shares, “Looking ahead, I envision establishing consistent opportunities for artists to support themselves and share their art with the community. In the long term, I hope to see Boston emerge as a renowned jazz destination, much like New York.” At a fundraiser in May 2024, Reckonings multimedia editor co-op Jeta Perjuci and Doctoral Research Assistant Sayyara Huseynli asked community members what they imagine the future of jazz in Boston to look like. Their vivid responses are included in a video filmed by Jeta Perjuci and edited by Reckonings multimedia editor co-op Julia Block. And in July, during the Boston Jazz Foundation’s Charles River Jazz Festival, the Reckonings Project and the Claremont Neighborhood Association staffed a tent with displays on the history of jazz in Boston and talked with members of the audience. Watch the full video here and learn more about the Boston Jazz Foundation here.

The Jazz Square Celebration will be part of Northeastern’s inaugural Arts, Humanities, and Tech Weeks this fall (AHTWeeks 2024). For details on the September festival, see Events.

“Unsettled Accounts” is a community-university collaboration dedicated to documenting, investigating, and archiving past and present injustices in housing and land ownership in Boston, which have had a disproportionate impact on Black Bostonians. Co-led by Roxbury activist Dianne Wilkerson and Northeastern urban planning and public policy professor Lily Song, the initiative works in partnership with the Reckonings Project, the ICA (Institute for Contemporary Art) teen photography collaborative, and Homes for Equity. Since 2022, Song and research assistants Aakilah Rashid, Maria Salim, and Ethan Matthews have interviewed Black Bostonians who lost their homes or businesses for a variety of reasons. In some cases, the city took properties by eminent domain related to urban renewal and highway projects. In other cases, people lost their properties due to questionable tax liens, utility bills, refinancing practices, or court proceedings. With support from Reckonings and Unsettled Accounts, the ICA teens created a digital archive with the interview transcripts and photos of the interviewees and interlinked it with oral histories collected by Homes for Equity. Explore the “Unsettled Accounts” archive and timeline of discriminatory housing and land ownership policies here, and see the zine compiled by the ICA photography collective here.

In spring 2024, Lily Song from “Unsettled Accounts” and Dzidzor Azaglo and Jeta Perjuci from Reckonings also contributed to two community conversations hosted by Homes for Equity at the Dewitt Center, focused on housing discrimination in Roxbury. The team asked community members: “What does repair look like to you?” Reckonings multimedia editor co-op Jeta Perjuci compiled the responses into a video that encapsulates community members’ visions for reparative justice.

Watch the full video here.

Homes for Equity is a collaboration between Opportunity Communities (OppCo), Nuestra Comunidad, and the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA). Learn more about the initiative and its events here.

Witness the extraordinary leadership that has shaped Northeastern and Boston communities and experience parts of Boston’s largest public art project by visiting the Black Women Lead exhibit on the Boston campus. This exhibit is open to the public through September 2024 at Northeastern Crossing, located in the International Village Residence Hall at 1155 Tremont Street. The exhibit is part of an ongoing collaboration led by Grove Hall Main Streets to honor the important role that Black Women have played and are playing in Boston’s past, present, and future. Since 2023, portraits of 212 inaugural honorees of the Black Women Lead project have lined Blue Hill Avenue on light pole banners designed by local artist Kamali Thornell and Baltimore-based artist Brianna Young. The Reckonings Project, along with Northeastern Archives and Special Collections, the Boston Research Center, the Center for the Arts, the Africana Studies Program, and the Office of City and Community Engagement, is working with Grove Hall Main Streets in order to make sure that these women are known to a broader public through physical and digital exhibits, media reporting, and school curricula.

This Northeastern Crossing exhibit highlights several of the 212 inaugural honorees of the Black Women Lead project who have special ties to the Northeastern community. One of them is Margaret A. Burnham who co-directs Northeastern’s Center for Law, Equity and Race (CLEAR) and the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project. She is recognized internationally as an expert on civil, human, and comparative constitutional rights, and in 2021, she was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a member of the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board. Another honoree is renowned activist Charlotte Matthews-Nelson, founder of the Greater Roxbury Chamber of Commerce, who served on several university-wide bodies at Northeastern, including the Commission on the Status of Women, the Affirmative Action Council, and as president of the Black Faculty and Staff Association. Other influential women and role models honored at Northeastern Crossing include Lilla G. Frederick, Ekua Holmes, Lisa Simmons, Jean McGuire, Alfreda Harris, Gloria White-Hammond, Elma Lewis, Valerie Shelley, and Jackie Jenkins-Scott.

In May 2024, Northeastern’s Office of City and Community Engagement hosted a Black Women Lead luncheon to celebrate the opening of the exhibit and the women honored. Speakers included the executive director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets Ed Gaskin and Chimel Idiokitas from Northeastern’s Office of City and Community Engagement. Other attendees included Régine Jean-Charles, Director of African Studies at Northeastern, Jessica Reynoso from Grove Hall Main Streets, Chelsea Lauder from City and Community Engagement, Giordana Mecagni and Caitlyn Pollock from Archives and Special Collections, Uta Poiger and Jeta Perjuci from Reckonings, and several co-op students who welcomed some of the honored women and their guests. Reckonings multimedia editor co-op Jeta Perjuci created a video of the event which can be viewed here. The exhibit and video celebrate these women’s leadership in the Northeastern community and their place in Boston’s vibrant Black history.

Read more about the Black Women Lead project here, including the full list of 212 honorees.

The Boston Jazz Foundation, in collaboration with Reckonings and other community partners, will hold the Jazz Square Celebration on the evening of Friday, September 27 and the afternoon of Saturday, September 28 to celebrate the dedication of Jazz Square and to spotlight the storied, complicated history of jazz in Boston’s South End and the vibrant present and future of jazz music. Jazz Square, located at the intersection of Massachusetts and Columbus Avenues, is the Northern end of the ARTery. Admission for all events is free.

Friday, September 27,  7pm
Jazz Square History and Live Music 
at The Red Room at Cafe 939, 939 Boylston St., Boston
(Mark your calendars, ticketing information to follow.)

Saturday, September 28, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Jazz Square Dedication Ceremony
at SRV Patio, 569 Columbus Ave., Boston
11:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Performance by New England Conservatory musicians
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Speaking and musical program guided by Dzidzor Azaglo

To keep the celebrations rolling, visit Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club in Jazz Square after the festivities on both Friday and Saturday night!

Come visit members of the Reckonings Team at SOURCE 2024 to learn more about the work we do and how you can become involved! We’re always looking to collaborate!