Usually when I tell someone I am from Dorchester, they ask,”Isn’t it dangerous?” I typically respond with a laugh and answer that “I couldn’t imagine being from anywhere else.” It’s almost an inside joke that only people from Dorchester get. Because when you are surrounded by some bad stuff, you have a chance to be the good. The people of Dorchester rise to the occasion on a daily basis. These tragic events didn’t build character; they revealed the character of our city to the rest of the world.

“Dorchester is a donation box at McKenna’s already filled to the brim at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday, two days after the Marathon bombing. Dorchester is a candle light vigil being moved to a bigger location to accommodate more residents. Dorchester is Nicole Didrikson raising money all year to run in support of the Boys and Girls Clubs, and the clubs having their members present her with the Marathon completion medal she trained so hard for and so truly deserved. Dorchester is thousands of people waving flags in Garvey Park to make sure all the good guys are seen and counted for, while the cowards who inflicted this pain hide in fear. Dorchester is replacing gruesome images of terror with a picture of an angelic eight-year-old boy holding a hand-made construction paper sign calling for peace.

“This neighborhood is so much more than the place where we live. It’s a family, and we have lost one of our own. But we refuse to live in fear. Instead we show the rest of the nation how to drive the darkness out with light. We give the world a small glimpse into what it means to be Dorchester strong.

Gabrielle White