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Old 02-03-2011, 09:20 AM
 
1 posts, read 2,498 times
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My family is the family that Michael Gaines was sentenced for harrasing. We are the Page Family and although I am not sure of its accuracy, considered by many the first black family. I was 6 tyears old when we moved to Ayles Road across from ross field in 1973. As I watched the few friends Id made, all white move away, hearing rocks crashing though our windows, and a shot gun sitting by the front door were a way of life for my family.
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Old 02-03-2011, 05:20 PM
 
1,201 posts, read 2,654,518 times
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Originally Posted by goyguy View Post
"Pioneers" from there, as well as folks looking to buy up and out of Roxbury and Dorchester, were given a far from warm welcome from the incumbent residents who were already stoked to a fever pitch from the busing battles.
Isn't it ironic that a number of neighborhoods formerly shunned in Roxbury and Dorchester have far higher property values than much of Hyde Park. I guess what goes around comes around.
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Old 03-19-2011, 01:55 PM
 
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Ther's much more to what happen at Ross Field then people know. The fight between a black family (The Brook's) and the white teenagers who hung around Ross was not so much (at least in the begining) over the color of a persons skin as it was about drug trafficking and customers. And to make a long story short, Mr Brooks won, he got rid of his competition. The sad part is more than one teenager went to jail, a total of 5 went to jail and although some of them would admit this was probably God's way of getting back at them for other crimes there was at least one of them who was totally innocent yet he went away for a year.
Gaines went to jail because he violated a court order to stay away from the Brook's house.
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Old 03-19-2011, 02:03 PM
 
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The Page family and the Brooks family are two separate incidents. I believed Gaines was sentenced because of the Brooks but make no mistake, the Pages were wronged, members of the Ross Field kids did attack them in their home and for that there is no excuse BUT understand the Ross Field Kids were 3 gangs that could number almost 100, the few (5) that attacked the Pages were shunned after that attack.
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Old 10-08-2011, 11:18 PM
 
546 posts, read 1,368,873 times
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My name is Bob Lanata and I grew up in Hyde Park on Tileston St on the Mattapan border right off of River St. does my heart good to read the names of the streets that I know so well. I loved my neighborhood.
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Old 10-12-2011, 05:38 AM
 
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RPABRAHAM, I had re read this post and just got who you were. I hung around at a place called "White City" which was a corner store in Hyde Park. We were friendly with the Ross Field guys/gals. I liked them all as I knew most of them since kindergarden. That was a sad chapter in most of our lives. Change was upon us and that was the reaction. I for one, felt aweful for what happend to your family. I only heard stories of what went on. I remain a "anti bussing person". Not for any predujice reason, but we lost the choice of where we could go to school. I thought that we were getting along slowly but surely until bussing put a damper on that. Hope the hate does not get passed down to the next generation. Yes, the Pages were wronged. I do hope that Karma has treated you well in the following years
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Old 10-14-2011, 08:53 AM
 
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Lady7775,

Hope your trip to Hyde Park helped. I realize that you posted this some time ago. Mention my name "Bob Lanata" and your husband may know me. We all knew each other back then. I played sports at Ross Field, had friends in the area as well. I just turned 56 and graduated Hyde Park High in 1974 and was actually a part of the class of 73.
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Old 10-14-2011, 09:14 AM
 
546 posts, read 1,368,873 times
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pfeels,

Great assesment of Ross Field. I take it you are from the area. Great bunch as far as I am concerned. All gangs had a few that made them look bad. I recently drove through the area and lots of memories kept popping up. I lived on Tileston St which was close to the Mattapan border right off of River St. Hung at the White City Corner Store. Went to church at St Josephs and knew booloads of kids from that area. ( I still use the term kids LOL ) Wish I found this forum earlier
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Old 05-10-2012, 07:30 PM
 
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I grew up at Ross Field. I was bused to a black school in a black neighborhood at age 6.
Michael Gaines was sentenced to jail for violating a court order to stay off a black woman's property. She lived across from Ross where these guys hung out. I was a pee wee when these guys were teenagers. Once he set foot on her property he was arrested for violating the order. He happens to be a productive and outstanding citizen today.
There was a second kid convicted of violating her civil rights for shouting racial epithets at her. He went to the old Deer Island for a little more than a year. David G
Yes these guys gave them a hard time for moving into a white neighborhood but......one of the Ross Field kids did take a shotgun blast to the shoulder from a black home owner earlier that year. So tension was high on both ends.
I saw a lot, my mother got car jacked (way before it was called car-jacking) by two black guys. My sister and friend had their purses snatched after one young lady was pistol whipped. So the there were plenty of black on white crimes happening all the time. These crimes never got the head lines.
Today the Ross field are is not safe...for anyone. I have many fond memories but don't miss it at all. I've been gone since 91 and haven't looked back
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Old 08-04-2012, 10:40 AM
 
5 posts, read 9,185 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Lanata View Post
pfeels,

Great assesment of Ross Field. I take it you are from the area. Great bunch as far as I am concerned. All gangs had a few that made them look bad. I recently drove through the area and lots of memories kept popping up. I lived on Tileston St which was close to the Mattapan border right off of River St. Hung at the White City Corner Store. Went to church at St Josephs and knew booloads of kids from that area. ( I still use the term kids LOL ) Wish I found this forum earlier
Paul Feeley, my brothers Jacky and Peter (as well as my sister Ann) were Ross Field Kids as was I. And yeah, there were a ton of good kids from all the "Kids" as everybody called their group ... Nobody would appreciate their neighborhoods being forced into change as was all of Boston, I would NEVER move back because of the bad taste left in my mouth but I have wonderfull memories of my youth.
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