Boston's historic Harriet Tubman House sold by @UnitedSouthEnd and demolished... for LUXURY CONDOS.
Thread 👇🏿
Thread 👇🏿
Since 1908, the Boston Harriet Tubman House was the historic community hub for Black and working class people in the South End — until it was demolished to make way for luxury condos. 
In 1904, six Black women — including one of Tubman’s friends Julia O. Henson — rented the first Harriet Tubman House at 37 Holyoke Street in the South End to provide shelter to other Black women who had just moved from the South.
Since then the House served as a refuge for its community, offering services such as job training programs, adult education, senior programs, child care, art exhibitions and much more.
Every day, neighbors gathered in the lobby to socialize in a safe, welcoming environment.
Every day, neighbors gathered in the lobby to socialize in a safe, welcoming environment.
The Harriet Tubman House also housed six nonprofits that served the local community — all of which are now displaced from the neighborhood due to its sale and demolition.
The Harriet Tubman House was sold by nonprofit @UnitedSouthEnd in the rapidly gentrifying South End.
Starting in 2015, USES allowed the House to deteriorate to later justify its sale to luxury condo developer New Boston Ventures for $13.25 million.
Starting in 2015, USES allowed the House to deteriorate to later justify its sale to luxury condo developer New Boston Ventures for $13.25 million.
@UnitedSouthEnd refused to fundraise for the House and cut all programs for adults, including seniors, while spending down their endowment and generously compensating their leadership team.
@UnitedSouthEnd could have sold the House to another nonprofit to keep this irreplaceable hub in community hands, and in fact received bids that would have both accomplished that aim AND earned more money than the deal with the luxury condo developer.
@UnitedSouthEnd and New Boston Ventures boast that the development will have 17% “affordable” housing. The cheapest of those units would sell for $186,400.
The median net worth of Black families in Boston is $8.00.
(That's not a typo)
(That's not a typo)
The community-wide struggle began in 2019 with the Black-women led I Am Harriet coalition, which @bostonpsl joined that summer.
The coalition organized a number of demonstrations in hopes to build a mass movement strong enough to save the House.
The coalition organized a number of demonstrations in hopes to build a mass movement strong enough to save the House.
https://twitter.com/BostonPSL/status/1296597888487829504
One coalition member and lifelong South End resident told Liberation News, “The greed and deception of @UnitedSouthEnd, the City, and developers stole this community’s last piece of Black history.”
It is a tragedy that capitalism’s rapacious profit motive destroyed the Harriet Tubman House.
The city government and developers will continue their path of destruction across the historically Black Roxbury neighborhood.
The city government and developers will continue their path of destruction across the historically Black Roxbury neighborhood.
The people must continue to rise up and shout, “Enough is enough! People over profits!”
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
