Story Library
The stories below are brought to you by people who live or grew up in the city and believe in the power of stories to bring Bostonians together. In their free time, these story ambassadors go out into their neighborhoods and across the city to record the life experiences of people they might not otherwise know. Story by story, we're building community across a divided city.
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ESSENTIAL PEOPLE PROJECT · POP-UP STORY SHOPS · HOW WE GOT THROUGH· Amplify Black Voices
Doris Dennis, Dorchester
“You had to use the back door, and you couldn’t mix in, or you couldn’t drink at the same fountain. And you know, they fought for it as the years went by, but lookin’ back, it didn’t bother me ‘cause I didn’t know any better. You get older, you learn, and realize that wasn’t nice, you know.”
Brenda Atchison, Roxbury
“I had a recollection back to an incident that happened in Norton, when my brother was shot at by a local police officer. So I wrote up the story and I called my brother to say, ‘Was I imagining? Did this really happen?’ And he had forgotten, too.”
Pamela Taylor, Dorchester
“When my grandmother died, my mother was really, really all alone. So she showed up one day, and she rang the doorbell, and I opened the door, and there she was! She had a suitcase and her little portable TV in her hand, and she said, “I’m coming to live with you.”
Sally Graham, Dorchester
“Even though we lived in the suburbs, and everything was happy happy, there was still a lot of conflict going on. Both of my parents drank too much, and sometimes there would be money issues, but we couldn’t talk about that because we were all very happy.”
Sonia Booker, Dorchester
“You can’t sit and lament and cry over things. Honey, I am legally blind. I have to wear hearing aides and everything else. You think I let that bother me? Don’t. Let. Things. Get you down.”
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