Annie Kinkead, Mattapan
Annie Kinkead never did like to back down. It served her well in her career, as one of the few women of color working at New England Mutual Life Insurance Company; by the time she retired, she was supervising 49 people. It also served her well years later, as she took on the fight for her neighborhood with her beloved husband Gareth.
Below, in her own words, is a piece of that story.
“I’ve always been an activist. Even when we were growing up. I had somebody want to beat up my little girlfriend next door and I said, ‘Boy, you hit her, you’re going to have to hit me, too!’
So in terms of anything that I see that I feel is not correct, you know, I’m ready to move in and see what I can do about improving on it. That was a part of my makeup before I moved into this community.
But when we moved in, this community had a lot of crime. What had happened was, after redlining was lifted, people were free to move into the neighborhood of their choice, and as people moved in, they did not know each other.
And their houses were actually being robbed while they were on the lawn sunning themselves. Someone would have a U-haul and go right in their house and move all their furniture. Bold! Bold! I mean, crime was just rampant.
And we approached the police department and asked for some help, and they said, well, what with so much crime going on, it was impossible for them to be everywhere all the time. So my husband, he went around, he introduced himself to the people on the street, and invited the neighborhood to come to a cookout in the yard. And people did. And they got to know their neighbors.
Then we formed a committee. Mr. Paige across the street, who is now deceased, was our captain. And my husband was instrumental in getting signs made up, and they were attached to the cars: the Colorado Street patrol, the Messenger Street patrol. The men would have schedules, and they would patrol the streets, and the women would have walkie talkies in the house. And we communicated back and forth in terms of if they saw a robbery or something going on, they would call in, we would call 911, and the police would come.
Most of the men were veterans, so they were ready to protect their homes. I mean, we had big investments in this property here, you know, and we were not to be moved. And so the men had no problem grabbing somebody if they needed to and dumping them in the trunk. That didn’t happen. And I’m glad it did not. But at any rate, it was so successful that the crime rate went down.
We had monthly meetings in our house, and it got to be a real fun thing to do, so that it caught on, and we had to move out of the house. We moved into the library, then up the street to ABCD. Now we’re at the Mattahunt Community Center. The second Tuesday of every month. So we’re still alive and moving.”
Annie's story is part of a partnership between the office of Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell that brings together District 4 seniors and their formerly incarcerated neighbors to collect the seniors' stories. Annie was interviewed by story ambassador Derrick Sutton, who now works in the food services industry. “I was inspired by Annie's strength and resolve to this day," he said. "I hope to continue her legacy by working to improve myself and make the community better."
