PLEASE READ - petition for continuing Makanda Project concerts at the Roxbury Library

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Rodney Singleton

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Jul 21, 2025, 5:12:25 PMJul 21

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FYI from John Kordalewski of the Makanda Project....

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John Kordalewski <js...@verizon.net>
Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Subject: PLEASE READ - petition for continuing Roxbury Library concerts
To: Kordalewski, John <js...@verizon.net>

Hi,

I’ll try to make this as short as possible, although it’s a long story.

We have been told, by Boston Public Library officials, that the Makanda Project concerts can no longer happen at the Roxbury Branch during evening hours (outside of when the library is normally open). To me the reasons given seem somewhat head-scratching, but neither I nor the branch librarian has been able get them to change their minds.

It was suggested that we could move the concerts to 1 pm Saturday afternoon, so we could finish before the library’s normal 5 pm closing. That would not work well at all for the band, for a number of reasons. I’ve also spoken with a number of you about this, and the response has almost always been the same: Saturday night is much better.

We have therefore made plans to do our two fall 2025 concerts at Twelfth Baptist Church (where we played this past April). However, I do not want to give up on the Library. It has been our home since 2008, and the setting really fits the whole concept of these community-based concerts. Plus, it doesn’t feel right when the downtown authorities dictate that the neighborhood branch can’t use its space for the community in a way that the community clearly values.

The Fellowes Athenaeum Trust Fund gives grants for programs at the Roxbury Branch. They have funded 2 of our concerts per year since 2008 (and been one of our biggest sources of support). The Fellowes committee includes “downtown” as well as neighborhood representatives. Their application deadline, for programs taking place in fall 2025/spring 2026, is coming up in a few weeks. I have decided to reapply – specifically for 2 Saturday evening concerts in spring 2026 – as a way to keep the issue alive and hopefully elicit reconsideration.

I want to include, in the application, a petition showing the amount of community support for these concerts. I’m hoping to get a few hundred signatures. Would you consider signing? Here is the link:

Keep the Saturday evening jazz concerts at the Roxbury Library - Petitions.com

A few things:

PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL AFTER YOU SUBMIT. You’ll receive an email asking you to confirm signing the petition. Until you respond, your name stays in the “unconfirmed signatures” folder.
When you fill out the petition, near the bottom, there’s a place where you can select whether your name is or isn’t visible to others who visit the petition.
Comments are optional. If you do comment, please keep in mind that the issue is both the importance of the concerts themselves and the importance of having them in the evening.
Please share with others who may not be on our email list.

Thank you very much.

Also, our next concerts at First Church in Roxbury are Saturday August 16 and Saturday September 13.