✊🏿 40 years later ... this event is back in Boston

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

🗳️ Reminder: There’s a special election today to fill former City Councilor Kenzie Bok’s seat in District 8, so be sure to hit the polls (they’re open ‘til 8 p.m.). Make sure to double check where you vote and read up on the candidates here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• 100-degree weather

• L Street Beach reopens

• It’s an Audrey Poo

Up first...

COMMUNITY

Your NAACP Convention guide

The National NAACP Convention kicks off in Boston tomorrow. And the fact that it’s here is a big deal.

Here’s everything you need to know:

✊🏿 As a refresher, the NAACP is the country’s largest civil rights organization. It’s been around for over 100 years, and its annual convention brings together NAACP members and locals to discuss issues impacting the Black community and vote on its policy platforms. Boston is also home to one of the NAACP’s oldest chapters. This year’s theme is “thriving together,” which will be explored through a series of panels, discussions, and workshops.

🤝 Hosting it in Boston is a way for the city to repair its racist reputation. The last time the city hosted it was back in 1982 when memories of the busing riots were still fresh and a string of hate crimes dominated headlines. And despite the city’s attempts of changing the narrative, it’s still a tough one to shake, e.g. Micheal Che’s Weekend Update joke on SNL.

📅 The event soft launches on Wednesday with an official kickoff on Friday. Convention tickets start around $100, but there are tons of free events. The Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) starts Wednesday where high school students present projects for the chance to win scholarships; The Hub gathering space will feature vendors, a career summit, happy hour, and a Friday block party; and Sunday’s GospelFest will feature local gospel artists, including the Mayor’s Gospel Choir. Peep the full schedule here.

👀 There’s going to be a ton of big names in town. The biggest being Vice President Kamala Harris, who will deliver a keynote address. Other notable attendees include Pats owner Robert Kraft, Henry Louis Gates from Finding Your Roots, and rapper Meek Mill will be on a panel discussing how Black and Jewish communities can work together to fight the rise of hate. Hilary Clinton and Ayanna Pressley will also make an appearance.

📡 While the event is generally for the Black community, it’s open to everyone. Tanisha Sullivan, the president of the NAACP’s Boston branch, told the Globe that “sometimes people hear the NAACP, and they think, ‘Oh, that’s not for me,’” but that they’re doing everything they can to make it “the most accessible convention that the NAACP has ever held.” And if you can’t physically be there, GBH will be broadcasting live from the convention.

📱 Want more? You can learn more about the convention here.

TOGETHER WITH REV’D

Giveaway alert!

🚲 We’re giving away a $139 giftcard to Rev’d Cycling! To be eligible, refer a friend below and have them accept your invite between July 24-July 27 If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🥵 It’s going to feel like 100 degrees this week. Although the recent humidity might make you think otherwise, this year’s summer has been relatively cool — Boston has only had two 90 degree days, compared with 8 times at this point last year. But that trend will likely break on Wednesday as we potentially enter our first heat wave of the season. And the “feels like” temperature on Thursday and Friday will be around 100.

🏖️ L Street Beach is BACK, baby! 60 Mass. beaches may be closed for swimming, but today, L Street Beach isn’t one of them. The beloved Southie beach is finally reopening today after renovations on the Curley Community Center closed it for three long years. And that wasn’t the only hold up: Piping plovers, a threatened beach-nesting bird species, liked to hang on L Street Beach. But luckily, it looks like this year’s chicks have flown the nest.

🎶 Your commute is about to sound a whole lot better. Not only is the Blue Line free during the Sumner Tunnel closure, but riders are about to get a free concert during their commute. Starting today, Berklee students will perform outside Aquarium Station during the evening rush hour from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and at Wonderland Station during the morning commute from 8 to 10 a.m. on Thursdays through the end of August.

🧘 You can spend your lunch break in lotus pose. Due to popular demand, the Seaport Sweat fitness series is now expanding to The Superette with free Crown Yoga classes during lunchtime on Fridays from noon to 12:45 p.m. (a necessity after all those zoom calls). Classes are free, but registration is required here. And if yoga isn’t your thing, you can still check out the full roster of Seaport Sweat classes.

QUICK QUESTION!

🚇 What do you think of live music on the Blue Line?

ONE LAST THING

It’s an Audrey Poo

Wheaton College’s corpse flower is giving new meaning to “stop and smell the roses.”

The six-foot, five-inch plant living in the school’s greenhouse (fittingly named “Whiff”) officially bloomed for the first time in eight years this weekend. And it, quite literally, smells like the love child between hot garbage and decaying flesh.

But that didn’t stop more than 300 visitors who came by from giving it a sniff this weekend. Corpse flowers are unique in that they don’t bloom for years, but when they do, it only lasts a few days. So while it looks like Whiff’s 2023 moment has come and gone based on the plant’s livestream, just be sure to mark your calendars for five to 10 years from now.

🤢 Thanks for reading! You know, I may not elect to drive 40 minutes just to smell a rotting flesh plant. But you do you.

😬 The results are in: Nearly 50% of respondents to yesterday’s poll agree that Boston isn’t an easy city to make friends in, with one reader who said: “I once heard the expression, ‘if you wanted to make friends in Boston, you should have made them in kindergarten’. I'm from here and I think it's true!”

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