Wednesday 20 May 2015

On Being an Olympic City - Point 4


It's not often we encounter a man with such a brilliant sense of style. From the gleaming shoes to the well-tailored suit with a stunning selection of contrasting textures and colors in his shirt and tie, our handsome man showcases how one can ride the T in comfort while exhibiting brilliant style. And ever the perfect gentleman, he offered his seat to a nearby person with disabilities. That's classy!

Speaking of making room for others, that brings us to our 4th of 5th Points on hosting the Olympics.  

We're aware that Boston 2024 plans to make use of our public park system for Olympic game venues. Our concern with that plan is that our public park system is managed by small organizations operating as "stewards", ostensibly on our behalf, who in reality are excluding minority participation in our park system. One example of this tone deafness is how the Emerald Necklace Conservancy so freely publishes photos online promoting events where white people are exclusively the ones enjoying the parks and black people are exclusively the ones pushing the wheelbarrows and digging the dirt. There are other similar organizations acting as "stewards" of our parks. But if our stewards operate so openly in such an exclusionary manner, what kind of Olympic games will people of color in our community experience? Will the white women from Party in the Park be the exclusive ticket holders for Olympic events held in our parks while the African-American kids are working in the kitchen?

If we want to successfully host the Olympic games we should first reclaim our public parks.

Location: Red Line at Central
Imagined Profession: Mergers & Acquisitions Attorney
Photographer: FTH


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The Hotties on the T Team