Silence Dogood's Precedented Times Series: Boston Resistance Then & Now

Join us on April 22, 2026, from 6:30–8:00 PM at Old North Church for the launch of the Silence Dogood Project’s Precedented Times Town Hall Series. Supported by Mass Humanities’ Promises of the Revolution initiative, this new series builds on the Silence Dogood Project’s projection-based storytelling to create spaces for live civic dialogue—rooted in Boston’s deep tradition of public dissent and collective action.

Inspired by historic New England town halls, this series convenes conversations in the very buildings where Bostonians have gathered for generations to wrestle with questions of liberty, justice, and power. Each event pairs leading historians with contemporary organizers to explore how today’s most urgent challenges have clear historical precedent—and how that perspective can inspire meaningful action.

Our opening program, Boston Resistance: Then & Now, will feature:

• Dr. Jane Kamensky, President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
• Kyera Singleton, Executive Director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters
• Rahsaan Hall, President and CEO of Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts
• Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts

Together, they will examine the forces shaping 18th-century Boston—from British imperial control to enslavement, Indigenous displacement, and the limits placed on women—to trace how those dynamics continue to resonate, and to discuss how we can learn from the past to take action today.

Throughout the evening, you will have the opportunity to contribute questions, reflections, and responses in real time. These collective insights will shape a culminating, community-authored statement—projected onto the exterior of Old North Church as a powerful closing moment, transforming individual voices into a shared public declaration.

Over the coming year, Precedented Times will continue with two additional gatherings in historic Boston sites, building an evolving dialogue between past and present.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Silence Dogood Project