Massasoit Participatory Action Research Students Participate in Network for Educators and Housing Activists

On December 7, Massasoit Participatory Action Student Researchers met at Northeastern University in Boston, for the second meeting of the Boston-PAR Network for Educators and Housing Activists entitled, We Refuse to Forget! An Intergenerational Conversation with Our Elders About Justice, Mobilizing, and Engaging Communities. The focus of this meeting was to learn from experienced, justice-oriented activists who have extensive experience supporting the African American community in Boston from the 1960s through the present. The Elders shared examples of how working in the community can be healing for the individual activists and the community.

The Boston PAR Network first met in October to kick off this collaboration between their PAR practicing organizations: the Massasoit Community College Participatory Action Research Insititute, headed by Dr. Tara Gully-Hightower, Shinelle Kirk of The Healthy Neighborhoods Study, and Dr. Particia Krueger-Henney of the UMass Boston PAR community. This Network was founded to prioritize a participatory learning community for educators and housing activists. The PAR Network members are comprised of college faculty, K-12 educators, educational leaders, researchers, and members of community-based organizations. The network is a space where participants can be introduced to the theory, methods, ethics, and praxis of Participatory Action Research (PAR). Individuals or teams who would like to try using PAR, are invited to come to the network to ask questions, receive feedback from the PAR Network members, and learn more about the epistemology of PAR.