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South End Technology Center Closes After Nearly 30 Years, Sparking Rally at Tent City
The South End Technology Center, founded by the late civil rights activist Mel King, has shut down after almost three decades of providing free tech education to low-income residents. About three dozen people rallied outside the Tent City complex on Saturday, demanding answers and warning that profit is eroding community institutions.
BOSTON â A technology center that for nearly 30 years provided free computer education to low-income residents in the South End has closed, prompting a community rally outside the Tent City apartment complex on Saturday.
The South End Technology Center, founded by the late civil rights activist Mel King, shuttered recently, according to community activists who organized the demonstration. The center had worked to bridge the digital divide by offering free technology education to Boston-area residents.
About three dozen people gathered in front of the center at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Yarmouth Street, where speakers linked the closure to broader concerns about the management of Tent City, a subsidized, mixed-income complex that has a long history of tenant activism.
âWe cannot allow the foundation of our communities to disappear in the name of profit,â said Dyandra duBoulay, a lifelong Tent City resident, addressing the crowd.
The closure is the latest flashpoint in a series of disputes between the management of the apartment complex and many of its tenants. Residents have previously raised concerns about maintenance and security at the property, which was born out of a historic community struggle for affordable housing.
Mel King, who died in 2023, was a towering figure in Bostonâs civil rights movement and a champion of working-class housing. The technology center he founded became a neighborhood institution, offering classes and access to computers for those who might otherwise be left behind in the digital economy.
Saturdayâs rally underscored fears that the closure could be a harbinger of further changes at Tent City, where residents worry that community spaces are being sacrificed. Organizers said the demonstration was intended to draw attention to the loss of a resource that served generations of Bostonians.
The closure also raises questions about the future of the technology centerâs space within the complex and whether another community-focused use will replace it. Residents are calling for transparency from management and for a commitment to preserve the services that made Tent City a model of mixed-income living.
As the crowd dispersed, duBoulayâs words lingered: a warning that the institutions built to support working-class communities are not guaranteed to survive without a fight.