Updated at 11:10 a.m. July 27, 2023
Boston While Black is hosting their third annual Family Reunion this Saturday at the Lawn on D in the Seaport. The event is a daylong celebration of Black experiences, community and culture.
“We thought a family reunion would be a great way for us to amplify the Black culture that already exists in Boston, past and present, as well as create new memories and new traditions, particularly in the Seaport,” said Sheena Collier, founder and CEO of Boston While Black, on Boston Public Radio on Friday.
The Family Reunion came about as a way to celebrate Black culture in the summertime.
“Family reunions are big in my family,” said Collier. "They date back to Emancipation, where Black families were separated and it [a reunion] was a way for people to reconnect and find each other, and find out where their family members were.”
Boston While Black is a membership organization for Black professionals, students, entrepreneurs in Greater Boston that curates several events per month for its members. It started in 2021 as a digital community. Members connect through an app and online to find jobs, share where to find Black doctors, or where to get their hair done.
"We're really focused on how we create spaces of belonging for Black people in the city so that we feel a sense of welcome,” Collier said.
The Family Reunion is free to the public, and is meant to be an intergenerational event, Collier said. There will be double dutch lessons, a row of food trucks that highlight Black-owned food businesses, karaoke contests, trivia and live music.
Oompa, one of the event's performers, is a rapper and artist based in Boston who recently started a collective and cultural agency called Outlaud.
“The goal there is just to create sustainable careers for artists and creative workers in the city of Boston,” said Oompa. The Family Reunion’s goal to bring Black people together and showcase Boston’s culture and arts scene aligns with the mission of Outlawed. “It seemed like a great opportunity to put our heads together.”
One of the food vendors will be Fresh Food Generation, which is a Caribbean American farm-to-plate food truck and restaurant.
“It started with wanting to see access to healthier quality food in low income neighborhoods, in neighborhoods where people look like me, that was culturally relevant,” said owner Cassandria Campbell. The food truck started in 2015, and in 2021 she and her partner opened the restaurant space on Talbot Avenue in Dorchester.
“It's really been focused on creating a quality experience for people to come in, a zen experience. So we have lots of plants, we have a plant wall, we have a nice patio. I'm getting people to eat smoothie bowls for the first time,” Campbell said.
In addition to food and live performances at the event, there will be face painting, balloons, and a Spades tournament. For those who want a calmer reunion experience, there will be a “zen garden” with yoga, paint and sip and low sensory spaces.
The Family Reunion takes place one week before the NAACP National Convention, happening in Boston from July 28 through July 30. That timing was intentional. Besides creating experiences, Collier said Boston While Black is about changing the narrative around Boston as a place without Black culture.
“We decided to make it leading up to [the convention] so that we can start to welcome people that are coming in, and so that people just get a different kind of entrance into the city,” she said.
This story was updated to expand a quote from Sheena Collier and correct the spelling of Oompa's cultural agency.
