JP Area Stop Boston Olympics, a new local group protesting Boston’s 2024 Summer Olympics bid, is holding its first organizing meeting Thurs., June 11, 7 p.m. at Spontaneous Celebrations.
The effort is led by Jamaica Plain resident Chris Hoeh, a teacher and leader with the JP Youth Soccer program. He has been active in the NoBoston2024 anti-Olympics protest movement, which held its first meeting in JP last year. Hoeh told the Gazette that he expected to host a general NoBoston2024 event, but has ended up organizing a JP-specific group. It will “support the activities” of the NoBoston2024 movement and the separate No Boston Olympics organization, he said.
In an email announcing the meeting, Hoeh calls for “locally based resistance” to the Olympics bid, which is proposed by the private nonprofit Boston 2024 in concert with the City of Boston. The protest group’s initial organizing will focus on a June 30 JP meeting about the bid being held by Boston 2024 and the City.
“A Boston 2024 Olympics would have a devastating impact on JP, Roxbury, Dorchester, Franklin Park, the whole city,” the email says. “Our community stopped the freeway. We will help stop the Olympics and build for the city we need.”
The “freeway” refers to a plan to run I-95 through JP and other Boston neighborhoods, which was fought off by local activists. The route instead became the Southwest Corridor Park and MBTA/Amtrak rail lines. Spontaneous Celebrations, an arts and organizing nonprofit, is a legacy of that protest.
Spontaneous Celebration is located at 45 Danforth St. For more details about the event, see its Facebook page.
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To clarify- "he expected to host a general NoBoston2024 event, but has ended up organizing a JP-specific group TBy "host" I meant that I would work to find a location for a meeting of Boston2024. Once the site was set I was asked to work with community members to build on the momentum generated at local anti-Olympics events. I look forward to collaborate with JP area neighbors to stop the Olympics. I appreciate all the work that NoBoston2024 and NoBostonOlympics have done. I personally look forward to support these larger groups and know that their work will help us locally.