Mytown, an acronym for Multicultural Youth Tour of What's Now, is a youth organization based in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, engaging young people in learning about and teaching others about the local history of their urban neighborhood.

History and mission

Mytown was founded in 1995 by Karilyn Crockett, with a mission to "use the process of sharing local history to empower young people and build appreciation of urban neighborhoods. Mytown believes that young people and communities can realize the power local history has in increasing youth activism and decreasing the stereotypes that stigmatize urban neighborhoods." Since the organization's founding, mytown has trained nearly 300 low and moderate-income Boston teenagers in learning the history of their neighborhood, community and city. Once trained, members lead historical walking tours of Boston's neighborhoods to almost 10,000 Boston residents and visitors annually.

Founding idea

Founder Karilyn Crockett, as a young African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 girl, felt disconnected from Boston, the city in which she was raised. She went on a walking tour of Roxbury and the South End, learning about the history of the Pullman Porters, Tent City Settlement, and about the many migrants and immigrants from around the world that had built and transformed Boston over 350 years. Crockett's tour was transformative; for the first time she felt that Boston was a place that she could call "my town."