Diversity and inclusion are essential components of a healthy community. We value, appreciate, and respect the diverse backgrounds and contributions we see every day in Arlington, Medford and across the Greater Boston area.
As February and Black History Month come to end, the work of supporting and celebrating these contributions does not. We’ve compiled a short list of activities and Black-owned businesses in our area, and we encourage everyone to support the businesses and activities in your own neighborhoods and communities this month, and throughout the year.
CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Visit the Museum of African American History
“At the Museum of African American History, we connect you to inspiring, authentic representations of life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Experience their heroic stories.”
“Celebrate the African-American patriots that played a vital role in the start of the American Revolution in Boston and in the formation of our country. Led by an 18th-century costumed guide, visitors view history through the eyes of African-American revolutionaries such as Crispus Attucks, Phillis Wheatley, Prince Hall, Peter Salem, and more.”
See works by Black artists at the MFA
“The Museum of Fine Arts presents several exhibits that focus on the work of Black artists. “Frank Bowling’s Americas” shows works that the British Guiana–born abstract impressionist painter made in New York in the 1960s and ‘70s, while “Touching Roots: Black Ancestral Legacies in the Americas” explores how African artistic traditions have continued to live on through generations of Americans, through painting, sculpture, textiles, and dance.”
SUPPORT BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES
RepHAIRations, 1339 Mass. Ave., Arlington
“Our mission is to provide a Black-centered, welcoming environment in which anyone and everyone can shop, discuss, question, advise, laugh, and appreciate textured hair and all the ways we choose to style it. We are committed to supporting and elevating other Black-owned businesses in every aspect of our own business. Our store is a gathering place - a hub for connection and celebration - where we celebrate US. Because when we love our hair, we love ourselves.”
Neighborhood Kitchen, 84 Spring Street, Medford
“The idea for this restaurant started in our kitchens, where we served our families and friends, and we are fortunate enough to have expanded to a space where we can serve our community and our neighborhood. Our cuisine is inspired by the Haitian meals we grew up on, with an Asian flair.”
The Coast Café, Cambridge, 233 River Street, Cambridge, MA
The Coast Cafe brings a piece of the South to the eclectic city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. From the delectable dishes to the familial atmosphere, Anthony Brooks has managed to instill pieces of his upbringing into the foundation of the neighborhood-favored restaurant, including its namesake, as it thrives in the very neighborhood in which Anthony grew up, ‘The Coast.’
MIDA, 782 Tremont St, Boston
MIDA is an Italian neighborhood black-owned restaurant. Chef Douglass Williams was named one of the top 10 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine, 2022 and Best Chef NorthEast, Semi-Finalist for the 2023 James Beard Foundation.
Black Owned Bos, 623 Tremont St., Boston
As a business services and consulting agency, Black Owned Bos. (pronounced "boss") creates spaces to amplify, incubate, and support. Black Owned Bos. officially launched in March 2019 as a platform and resource to highlight and lift Black owned businesses, places, spaces and the people moving the culture forward.
.png)
