Black History Month in Boston and Malcolm X’s Legacy 🕊️

Every February, Black History Month invites us to slow down, look around our own city, and ask: Whose stories are we standing on?

In Boston, Black history isn’t just something that happened “somewhere else.” It’s woven into neighborhoods, houses, parks, and streets we walk past every day. And one of the most powerful threads in that story is Malcolm X—not just the national figure, but Malcolm as a teenager and young adult living right here in Roxbury and greater Boston.

As the city marks the 100th anniversary of Black History Month with events and programming across Boston, it’s a good moment to revisit Malcolm X’s local roots and what they can teach us about home, belonging, and equity today.

Malcolm X in Boston: A Story That Starts at Home

Though Malcolm X was born in Nebraska in 1925, he spent about twelve years of his life in Massachusetts, arriving in Boston around age 16. He moved to Roxbury to live with his older half-sister, Ella Little-Collins, at 72 Dale Street, just off what is now Malcolm X Boulevard.

That house—now known as the Malcolm X–Ella Little-Collins House—became a formative base. Built in 1874, it later earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places and has been the focus of preservation efforts aimed at honoring Malcolm’s and Ella’s legacy and opening the site to the public as an educational space.

When we talk about Malcolm X’s later global impact—from his powerful speeches to his evolving views on race, religion, and human rights—we’re also talking about someone whose worldview was sharpened in Boston… in specific buildings, blocks, and neighborhoods that still exist.

The Places That Hold His Story

If you live in Greater Boston, Malcolm X’s presence is closer than you might think.

A few key sites:

• Malcolm X–Ella Little-Collins House (72 Dale Street, Roxbury)

  This is the house where Malcolm lived as a teen and where Ella, a local civil rights leader in her own right, created a base for family, political work, and spiritual life. The home is now landmarked and part of ongoing efforts to preserve it as a place of education and human rights programming.

  
  

• Malcolm X Park (Roxbury)

  Not far from the house is Malcolm X Park, a public green space that carries his name and features murals and community gathering areas. It’s one of several ways the city acknowledges his legacy in the local landscape.

  
  

• Roseland-State Ballroom site (Mass. Ave)

  The original ballroom where Malcolm shined shoes has long since been demolished; today a commercial complex and apartments sit on the site. 

  
  

  Still, knowing what used to stand there reframes how we see the city: as layers of culture, segregation, music, and labor—all part of the environment that shaped him.

  
  

Boston has parks, boulevards, and murals in Malcolm’s honor, and there are ongoing conversations about creating a permanent, dedicated monument to him in the city—proof that his story here is still unfolding in public memory.

Malcolm X, Boston, and the Ongoing Conversation About Equity

Malcolm X’s life and work were rooted in housing, place, and power, even if he didn’t always use those exact words.

He spoke about:

• Economic exploitation and how wealth and property were controlled.

• The need for Black communities to have more say over their own neighborhoods, institutions, and futures.

• The importance of self-respect, self-education, and collective pride in the face of systemic racism.

  
  

Today in Boston, those questions are still very much alive:

• Who gets to stay in historically Black neighborhoods as prices rise?

• Which histories get preserved in brick and stone—and which fade away?

• How do we talk about access to stable, dignified housing as not just a market issue, but a human one?

  
  

At the same time, Malcolm’s legacy continues to be recognized nationally—from efforts to better preserve his childhood and family homes, to recent honors like renaming a New York subway station in his memory, and marking what would have been his 100th birthday with renewed public reflection on his ideas.

Black History Month, especially in a milestone year, is a chance not just to recite quotes, but to ask how those questions land right now, in our own city.

What This Means For Us as Neighbors, Owners, and Tenants

For a housing- and community-focused company like STRUCTR, Black History Month—and Malcolm X’s Boston story in particular—touches directly on our daily work.

It challenges us to:

• Remember that homes are not neutral: they’re shaped by policy, economics, and history.

• See neighborhoods like Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and beyond not just as places on a map, but as communities with deep, often under-recognized contributions to Boston’s story.

• Hold ourselves to a standard where “value” doesn’t just mean resale price, but stability, dignity, and belonging for the people who live there.

  
  

Honoring Malcolm X in Boston isn’t just about plaques and parks. It’s also about:

• Preserving and respecting historic Black sites.

• Supporting local Black-owned businesses and cultural institutions.

• Thinking carefully about how development, investing, and renovation play out on the ground, in real lives.

How You Can Engage This Black History Month

If you’re in Greater Boston and want to connect this history to your own sense of place, you might:

• Learn more about the Malcolm X–Ella Little-Collins House and the work being done to preserve it.

• Spend time in Roxbury’s cultural spaces—parks, murals, local businesses—and see them as part of a living story, not just a backdrop.

• Read or listen to some of Malcolm X’s speeches, including talks he gave in Massachusetts, to hear his ideas in his own words.

  
  

And, as always, reflect on your own role: as a renter, homeowner, investor, or neighbor, how can you help make Boston a place where more people feel safe, rooted, and at home?

From our perspective at STRUCTR, Black History Month is not a once-a-year sidebar—it’s a reminder that the work of cultivating homes for all people is directly tied to the histories and struggles that got us here, and to the futures we’re building together.