"Hunger Then, Hunger Now: Black and Green" event, May 6

All are invited to the 18th annual Black and Green in Boston bridge-building event this Sunday afternoon, May 6th in Dorchester. The discussion portion will cover the Great Irish Famine, the current famine in Somalia and local hunger in Massachusetts.

Black and Green in Boston is co-organized by the Irish International Immigrant Center and the Montserrat Aspirers as a unique event bringing together Boston’s diverse communities for an afternoon of making new friends, discussion, entertainment and sharing a meal. It will take place from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Montserrat Aspirers Hall, 364 Washington St., Dorchester (Four Corners).

For more information please contact Ally Tzovaras at the IIIC at 617.542.7654 ext. 43 or atzovaras@iiicenter.org. Or, continue on for a video about the event from BNN and to read more!

The program will feature music and readings of contemporaneous letters from Ireland and the US during the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1849, a Somali youth group discussing the current famine and drought in Somalia and a food pantry representative on hunger in Massachusetts. 

Entertainment will be provided by The Contagious Band and a player of the Uilleann Pipes. A donation of $10 per person is welcome but not required; children 12 and under are free. Participating will be Somali young people from African Community for Economic Development in New England, who conducted research on the devastating famine in Somalia and organized a walk in 2011 to raise public awareness and help relief efforts.

“We are happy to partner with the Irish International Immigrant Center and the Montserrat Aspirers in the Black and Green event, to publicize the desperate situation in Somali that doesn’t make the daily headlines and to build relationships with our fellow immigrant service organizations,” said Abdulkadir Hussein, ACEDONE’s Executive Director.

For almost 20 years, the Irish International Immigrant Center’s Cross-Cultural Committee has worked to build bridges of trust, healing and friendship across old barriers, particularly between communities of Irish and African heritage. In addition to Black and Green in Boston, they have conducted a series of Cross-Cultural Coffees with local Brazilian, Haitian and Somali groups.