Ukrainian Church

Christ the King Ukrainian Catholic Church, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA

Arab Christian Church

 The Arabic Evangelical Baptist Church, West Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts

Boston's Polish Triangle

Change is inevitable in ethnic neighborhoods. New York's Little Italy is a fraction of what it used to be. Even Harlem, the spitiual heart of Black America, is experiencing broad demographic shifts that leave some wondering what the future holds.

Boston's Polish Triangle is no exception. The neighborhood is situated in a triangle between Boston Street and Dorchester Avenue, hence the name.

It once teemed with Polish immigrants. But younger Polish-Americans are moving to the suburbs, and new immigrants from Asia and Latin America are moving in their place. The neighborhood's population is now barely half Polish, and locals wonder about the future of the struggling Polish American Citizen Club.

We can't stop the impact of immigration, gentrification, and suburbanization. Each generation strives to do better than the one before it. Certainly the children of Polish immigrants worked hard to get an education, earn a decent living, and afford a nicer house with a yard in the suburbs. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Most people don't strive to remain in a multi family triple decker without a driveway if they can afford better.


It's possible for the ethnic flavor that made the Polish Triangle special to remain even if the identity of those moving in is different. Polish-Americans can continue to support the neighborhood's businesses, its' social club, and its Polish Catholic parish, even if they now live in places like Quincy and Braintree. The Polish Triangle remains the symbolic heart of a community that can't be duplicated in a suburban strip mall.

 Home of the Polish American Citizen Club

 Euromart, specializes in Polish and European groceries.

 DJ's Super Market, specializing in Polish food products

Storefront of the closed Boston Street Deli & Market, damaged from a fire in 2010.

Chechen-Americans fear retaliation

Ever since the Boston Marathon bombers were revealed to be ethnic Chechens, a fear of reprisals has ripped through Chechen immigrant communities. Some worry about revealing their ethnicity to Americans, others fear a crack down on immigration.

It probably doesn't help that Americans in general know little about their homeland. Few appreciate its history, the nationalist movement against Russian authority, and Putin's hard stance against Chechnyan separatists.  Evidently fewer can even locate Chechnya on a map.

Few Chechens reside in the US

The Boston Marathon bombings earlier this week have brought a spotlight to the Chechnyan community. The two suspects in the bombings, brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were naturalized U.S. citizens originally from Chechnya. A report shows how there are few Chechnyan immigrants to the United States, as most American cities refuse applicants from this region. One estimate has the number of Chechens in the US to be no more than 250 persons. Additionally, the majority of those immigrants granted asylum are women. Very few men are granted asylum due to American anti-terrorism policies.

Meanwhile the Chechan president, Ramzan Kadyrov, has blamed the acts of terror on the Tsarnaev brothers American upbringing. Compare that reaction with the humility of their uncle Ruslan Tsarni of Maryland, who expressed shame for his nephews' actions.

Armenian Memorial Planned for Boston

Ground broke today in Boston on a memorial honoring Armenian immigrants to the United States. It will also honor the memory of over 1.5 million Armenians killed by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. The memorial will  sit on the city's Rose Kennedy Greenway. Space for the park was made possible following completion of Boston's "Big Dig", which freed up land once the elevated highway weaving through downtown was buried in tunnels under the city. In attendance today was Karekin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The New England Holocaust Memorial

The New England Holocaust Memorial is located in Carmen Park, on Boston's Freedom Trail. It is one of the more interactive Holocaust tributes in the US, and its' design is rich in symbolism.

Six glass towers rise from the memorial. Six million numbers are etched in the glass, representing the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust.

Each tower represents one of the major Nazi extermination camps: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor, and Treblinka.

Visitors pass through the towers on a black granite path. A steel grate covers a six foot deep chamber at the base of each tower. Smoke rises from charred embers at the bottom of these pits, evoking thoughts of the gas chambers used in the camps.

Commendatore Menino

Thomas M. Menino is Boston's longest serving mayor, and the city's first Italian-American mayor. Now, Menino adds one more honor: the title of "Commendatore Menino" after being knighted by the Italian government. He joins a list that includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and race car driver Mario Andretti.

A commendatore is a member of an Italian honorary order of chivalry who ranks next above an officer and next below a grand officer. The honor is awarded by decree of the President of Italy, and Menino's title was approved by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

Menino, the city’s first Italian-American and longest-serving mayor, was awarded the title by Boston’s outgoing Italian consul general Liberio Stellino. The honor was approved by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2010/08/very_special_knight_mayor_tom_menino#sthash.42dN3hvl.dpuf

Menino, the city’s first Italian-American and longest-serving mayor, was awarded the title by Boston’s outgoing Italian consul general Liberio Stellino. The honor was approved by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano. - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2010/08/very_special_knight_mayor_tom_menino#sthash.42dN3hvl.dpuf