We're outta here!

Common Cause Magazine, Winter, 1992 by Peter Overby

Secessionists claim that Roxbury could become as self-sufficient as Boston - which is to say not very - while gaining control of its education, law enforcement and other services. Half of Boston's $1.5 billion budget comes from the state and federal governments. Secessionists contend that Boston pols divert Roxbury's share to other neighborhoods. But real estate taxes, the bedrock of city finances. look doubtful.

"That's one of the significant problems we have," admits FATE chair Sadiki Kambon. But he points to other Massachusetts cities of similar size, which operate on budgets that Roxbury could raise. What's more, Kambon says, the 80s construction boom left Roxbury with the most valuable underdeveloped land in Boston. He predicts, "The developers will be coming."

Roxbury, an ethnically diverse section where Malcolm X grew to adulthood, is no stranger to poverty, powerlessness - or radical ideology. FATE and a predecessor organization have forced four non-binding secession referenda onto Roxbury ballots in six years. FATE leaders hope to have a city charter drafted by 1994, ready for referendum in all precincts that would be in the new city.

"We've been working on this now for just about a decade," says Kambon. a social worker. "The conditions that exist in our community are putrid."