As part of reporter Meghan Volcy's three-part series on the intersection of Black history and transportation justice throughout United States history, she spoke to Shavel'le Olivier to learn more about her work with the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition and how transportation justice ties directly to health, housing, and community empowerment.
StreetsblogMASS: Why is transportation such a vital issue for Black communities?
Shavel'le Olivier: At the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition (MFFC), we think about transportation not just as a system of roads and buses, but as the thread that connects everything else people need to live: food, jobs, green space, physical activity, and care for their mental health. Every basic need requires access, and access starts with the ability to get there.
StreetsblogMASS: What does the intersection of transit and justice look like in your work?
Shavel'le Olivier: When you think about transportation and well-being, you also have to think about food access. It's not just about whether you can get to a corner store, it's also about what’s in that store. Are there healthy food options when you get there? Is there a bench in the green space you finally reach? Is the space clean, welcoming, and usable? Transportation is the first step, but what you find at the end of your journey determines whether you can truly live well.
At MFFC, our programming works to address these intersections of housing, food, health, physical activity, and more, because they’re all social determinants of health. We want to reduce the barriers that make it harder for residents to simply live.
That’s why we created the Transportation Talks series back in 2020. At the time, major projects were happening in Mattapan, between the Cummins Highway redesign, and other city-led planning efforts. We wanted residents to understand why their voice mattered. Why should they show up to community meetings? How does the way they travel impact how they eat, how they move, how they work?
We partnered with the City of Boston on one of those talks, featuring Charles T. Brown speaking on Arrested Mobility. After our first Transportation Talk, the Boston Transportation Department hired Mattapan residents to help engage the community in the redesign of Mattapan Square. For the Cummins Highway project, the city broke meetings down by topic, from lighting, to sidewalks, to parking, so residents could engage in focused conversations. They sent out emails about project updates and timelines.
StreetsblogMASS: How do transportation improvements risk displacing the very communities they’re meant to serve?
Shavel'le Olivier: Still, we can’t talk about transportation without talking about housing. There could be a beautiful new bus stop or commuter rail nearby, but what good is that if the people who’ve lived there their whole lives can’t afford to stay? People are being penalized for living near improvements that were supposed to benefit the community. They want to stay and enjoy what’s being built, but instead, they’re being priced out of the neighborhoods they helped create.
MFFC believes in education and exposure. Residents should understand what’s happening in their community so they can make informed decisions. They don’t have to like a proposal, but they should know what’s being proposed, why it’s being proposed, and how it affects their lives.
We’re here to connect the dots between movement, wellness, and power. We don’t want to speak for the community, we want to support them in speaking for themselves.
Shavel’le Olivier is the Executive Director of the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition.
Read more from reporter Megan Volcy's special report on Black history and transportation justice:
