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Boston Globe
08-07-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Trailblazing Black journalist Sarah-Ann Shaw loved her Roxbury library. Now it bears her name.
Advertisement 'She would just want to encourage people to come to the library, to get books, to be literate, to share their love of learning and literacy, and, as importantly, to give their time and money to support programs at the library for the community,' Klare Shaw said. The BPL board of trustees has voted to rename the library, the largest branch in the BPL system, highlighting Shaw's civil service. The Roxbury branch, which opened in 1978, was the result of a merger of two branches, the Mount Pleasant Branch and the Fellowes Athenaeum branch. Klare Shaw said her mother supported the merger, but rallied to make sure that some of the money BPL made in the process went back to the local community in the form of scholarships and library programs. Advertisement Sarah-Ann Shaw was also a member of the 'Friends of the Library' group, which raises funds to promote and enrich library materials. 'She's kind of with me anyway, so I don't need a reminder on a building, but I think it is an honorable testimony to the work that she and so many others did to sustain that branch,' her daughter said. Dion Irish, chief of operations for the City of Boston, who grew up in Roxbury, said the decision to rename the library came about after over a year of community leaders asking Mayor Michelle Wu's administration to consider the honor. 'This is a great thing. It's not often that we have buildings named after people of color in Boston,' Irish said. Irish said the library plans to honor other important community members who knew Shaw, such as civil rights activist Mamie Jones, and Francine Gelzer, the first Black librarian at the Roxbury BPL branch. Shaw was born in 1933 and grew up in Roxbury. She was the daughter of two civil rights activists, and she covered public affairs in Boston after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Before then, Shaw was already an advocate for education and literacy. She was the cofounder of the Northern Student Movement, where she ran a tutoring program for kids at the time of desegregation lawsuits. Shaw's program 'Say, Brother,' now called 'Basic Black,' focused on Advertisement 'The symbolism of the library and Sarah is a perfect match. In a library, you get to imagine, share ideas, and explore, and all of that spoke to the foundation of who Sarah-Ann was,' said Peter Brown, a former colleague of Shaw at WBZ. Brown said that although Shaw covered hard-hitting issues like the 'Whenever she could cover a story about young people in the city doing something good, she would fight for it,' Brown said. For her work, Shaw holds the Chuck Stone Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Association of Black Journalists, an honor she shares with Oprah Winfrey. Alfreda Harris, legendary basketball coach and the 'We all worked for the same thing, which was the betterment of young people and our community and to support things that we felt made our community better,' Harris said. Community member Toy Burton, founder of the Roxbury Unity Parade, said naming the library after a Roxbury local is essential to uplifting the community. 'Sarah-Ann is a connection to the community,' Burton said. Burton said during the pandemic, she organized a 'Caravan for Sarah-Ann Shaw,' and locals drove by her house beeping and waving with gratitude for her years of community work. 'I hope that when kids walk through the halls of a public library named after somebody who grew up in the same neighborhood that they did, that they know they can do great things,' Burton said. Advertisement Maria Probert can be reached at
Boston Globe
26-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
GBH relaunches ‘Basic Black' as ‘GBH News Rooted,' plans to bring back version of ‘Greater Boston' later this year
'GBH News Rooted' will run as a 30 minute show on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. on GBH 2, with repeats on Friday at 7:30 p.m. on GBH 44 beginning April 8. A radio version of the broadcast will air on 89.7 and CAI later in the year. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It is my distinct joy and pleasure to serve as host of GBH News Rooted, following in the footsteps of luminary journalists like Callie Crossley, Kim McLarin, Darren Duarte, and the late, legendary Sarah-Ann Shaw,' Alston said. 'All of these exemplars advanced conversations on issues critical to Black and other communities of color during their tenures, and this moment is ripe for me to carry the torch.' Advertisement It was not immediately clear what platforms would carry the new version of 'Greater Boston.' GBH had At the time, chief executive Susan Goldberg said the shows 'no longer draw enough viewers to justify the cost of making them for television' and added that they would revamped as 'digital-first programming.' In a statement Wednesday, she said the return of the two programs reflects a positive trend for the organization, which is the largest producer of PBS programming and one of two NPR news stations in Boston. Advertisement 'GBH News is growing on many fronts — from our reporting and programs, to the number of people we're reaching, to the support our community is giving us,' Goldberg said. The relaunch of 'Basic Black' as 'GBH News Rooted' and 'Greater Boston' also come just weeks after The organization made a slew of other programming announcements Wednesday, including that interim ''Morning Edition' host Mark Herz is now the show's permanent anchor, and that its popular dayside show 'Boston Public Radio' has added a weekly media analysis segment during its Friday show held at Boston Public Library. Aidan Ryan can be reached at
