Black April

“Black April,” marking the Fall of Saigon, is not just a date in history, it is a living memory carried by Vietnamese families who were forced to flee their homes, rebuild from nothing, and rely on community to survive. When many arrived in the U.S., neighborhoods like Dorchester became places of refuge, where families leaned on one another, opened small businesses, shared language and culture, and slowly turned displacement into belonging.

Dorchester today is the result of that collective care. It is where generations of Vietnamese families ,and so many other immigrant communities, have built roots, raised children, and created spaces where culture and history are kept alive. These neighborhoods are not accidental; they are the product of resilience, mutual support, and the belief that everyone deserves a place to call home.

But that foundation is being shaken. Rising rents and the lack of real protections for tenants are forcing families out, not because they want to leave, but because they have no choice. People are being pushed away from their communities, from their support systems, from the places that hold their memories. They are sent searching for “affordable” housing that is increasingly out of reach, often without the networks that once sustained them.

For a community shaped by displacement, this is more than a housing issue, it is a moral one. We have already seen what it means to lose home. We know the cost of being uprooted, of starting over without stability. To allow it to happen again, here and now, is to turn our backs on that history and on one another.

That is why rent control must be on the ballot. It is a commitment to each other, that the families who built Dorchester, who cared for it and sustained it, are not pushed out of it. It is about protecting the heart of our community, preserving culture, and ensuring that future generations can grow up in the same neighborhoods that raised us.

Keeping people in their homes is how we honor the past, strengthen the present, and protect the future. Dorchester is not just a place, it is a community. And communities are worth fighting for.