“It speaks to the ongoing violence within the Black community about which there has been no significant response.”ĭrusela Gomes has lived in the Dorchester neighborhood where the woman was found since 2010 and said security in the area has declined since she moved in with her family. “So I am deeply saddened … we are deeply disturbed that there were two shootings here and that a person died,” Peterson added. “We affectionately know it as a place where we can come and relax and enjoy friendships. “Slade’s has a special place in the hearts of people in the Black community,” he told reporters outside the restaurant on Sunday.

Kevin Peterson, founder of the New Democracy Coalition and an outspoken advocate for curbing crime in Boston’s Black communities, said he’d been at Slade’s just last week and described it as a longtime gathering place in the neighborhood. “Even when there’s been crime, it still felt neighborly because you knew the majority of the people in the neighborhood. “It’s like, you can’t look at anyone anymore, you don’t feel safe, you don’t feel comfortable with the neighbors,” he said.

Rodgers said he feels his neighborhood has lost a sense of community that was more present when he was growing up. “That’s really sad,” he said of the shooting, as he stood outside a convenience store and looked across Tremont Street at the entrance to the bar. Pat Greenhouse/Globe StaffĮmployees coming in and out of the building Sunday afternoon declined to comment and said the owner did not wish to speak with reporters.ĭarnell Rodgers, who lives nearby and grew up in the area, said he used to go to Slade’s but hadn’t been there for several years. Kevin Peterson, cofounder and executive director of The New Democracy Coalition, made a statement outside Slade's Bar & Grill on Sunday.

A night at the roxbury insomnia