Boston Scenes

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett is all smiles as he hoists the Larry O’Brien Trophy, given each year to the team that wins the National Basketball Association championship, during last Thursday’s “rolling rally.” This year, for the first time in 22 years, the honor of hosting that trophy belongs to Boston. For more on the rally, see pg. 10. (Amanda Montgomery photo)

Dr. Terrence A. Gomes, president of Roxbury Community College (right), is accompanied by Gov. Deval Patrick as they enter the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at the school’s 33rd graduation ceremony on June 6. Patrick, the first Massachusetts governor to attend a graduation at RCC, offered remarks, shook hands with graduates, and posed for photographs. Associate degrees and certificates were awarded to 235 graduates. (Photo courtesy of Roxbury Community College)

Kim Odom (right) speaks to the crowd at the 10,000 Strong Boston rally, held Sunday at the Playstead in Franklin Park, as her husband Ronald Odom looks on. At the event, organized in response to recent violence and community calls for justice, the Odoms spoke of seeking peace after the death of their son, 13-year-old Steven Odom, who was killed by a stray bullet near his Dorchester home last October. (Tony Irving photo)

(From left): The Rev. Dr. Ray Hammond and the Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond, co-pastors of Bethel A.M.E. Church; Bithia Carter, president, New England Blacks in Philanthropy; George Bowman, State Street Foundation; and Bill Overton, actor and activist, were among those in attendance on the opening day of the New England Blacks in Philanthropy “Building Stronger Communities” conference, held at John Hancock Hall. (Photo courtesy of Kelley Chunn & Associates)

Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury honored 31 young men in the seventh and eighth grades at a June 18 recognition banquet for successfully completing “Life Success Development” work, marked by significant grade improvement. The students have developed the skills to enter high school, achieve excellent grades, maintain disciplined attendance and display outstanding personal conduct. In attendance at the recognition banquet were life success coaches Michael McDonald (third from left) and Arthur Collins (third from right), New England Patriots pro scout Brian Flores (far right) and Dr. Carroll Blake, principal of Dearborn Middle School (center, kneeling). (Tony Irving photo)

(From left): Jim Botkin, a friend of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra (BLO), speaks with Pricilla Douglas of the BLO’s board of overseers and BLO Technical Director Emerson Kington at the orchestra’s recent fundraising gala, celebrating the second annual Landmark’s Festival at the Shell, beginning July 9 at the Hatch Shell. (Michael Dwyer photo)

MC Spice (center), host of “The Big Morning Thing” morning show on TOUCH 106.1 FM and the station’s program manager, leads a protest at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) offices in Quincy on Monday. The FCC recently fined TOUCH $17,000 for broadcasting without a license, a sum the station says it will not pay in the interest of challenging the agency and, as Spice put it, showing the world “what low-power radio stations must endure to provide programming that is relevant to our communities.” (Tony Irving photo)

YouthBuild Boston staff and students recently met three times with a delegation sent to Boston by Liberia President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for a visit coordinated by Dr. Edmund Beard of the University of Massachusetts. The delegation came to Boston charged with collecting information that will boost workforce development and education efforts in their country as it emerges from 14 years of civil war. (Back row, from left): James Bonds, Mulbah Jackollie, Ken Smith, Greg Mumford, state Rep. Byron Rushing, Francis Maweah, Beard. (Front row, from left): Charlotte Evangelynn Kaicora, Vida H. Bracewell, Musu Sharon Kardamie, Tomaa Davis, Francis N. Maweah. (Photo courtesy of YouthBuild Boston)

Students from the Thomas J. Kenny School in Dorchester gathered last Friday to celebrate peace by planting a “peace garden” and “peace pole.” The celebration was part of the school’s Peace Games curriculum, a national nonprofit that teaches violence prevention. Students, teachers and community members also honored the memory of former custodian Joseph Bagley. (Jay Kasparian photo)

Local students don aprons to participate in the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers (MAMLEO) Youth Cooking, Education and Nutrition Program. The program, which coordinates with the Boston Police Department’s Area B-2 Community Services staff and Haley House Bakery and Café, aims to teach youth from the Greater Boston area about developing healthy eating habits, good nutrition versus bad nutrition, and how to prepare basic healthy meals for the family. To date, the Roxbury Trust Fund-sponsored program has serviced over 125 students. (Photo courtesy of MAMLEO)