Boston Scenes

Mayor Thomas M. Menino announces improvements to the Dudley Square shopping district while MBTA General Manager Richard Davies and city councilors Felix Arroyo and Tito Jackson join in on the festivities. (Yawu Miller photo)

Children’s Services of Roxbury (CSR) held its annual fundraiser in the ballroom at UMass Boston. CSR’s CEO Pamela Ogletree (c) is joined by Stephanie Lewis (l) and Colette Phillips. (Tony Irving photo)

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (c) led a forum on “Building Better Small Businesses” at Roxbury’s City Fresh Foods (CFF). Joining Brown are (l to r) Milton Benjamin, CEO for Initiative for a New Economy (INE); Glynn Lloyd, founder of CFF; Sheldon Lloyd, co-owner of CFF; and Thomas Hollister, INE board chair and COO of Global Partners. INE is a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening minority businesses in Massachusetts by helping them grow and add jobs through management and financial planning assistance. (Don West photo)

Mr. George Seaforth, a longtime resident of Roxbury, is seen blowing out the candles marking his 100th birthday at a gathering organized by his daughter, Mrs. Sandra Seaforth-Gaither, at the Museum of the National Center for African American Artists in Roxbury. (Hakiim Raquib photo)

Rev. Russell Best, parochial vicar at St. Patrick Parish in Roxbury, poses for a family photo after concelebrating the 10 a.m. Mass with Auxiliary Bishop Robert Hennessey, Rev. Waldron, pastor and several other priests on Sunday, June 26.  An overflow congregation applauded Best as he observed the 25th anniversary of his ordination this spring. (Patrick O’Connor photo)

Boston’s own Soul City  will heat up City Hall Plaza with the sounds of Motown on the first night of Mayor Menino’s Wednesday Night Concerts, July 13 at 7 p.m. (Photo courtesy of the city of Boston)

Head Start children from Paige Academy in Roxbury showcase their African drumming talent at the recent ABCD Head Start Celebration on the Boston Common. More than 3,000 children, parents, teachers and staff members from 29 ABCD Head Start centers across Boston came together to celebrate the 46th anniversary in Boston of the nation’s premier early childhood education and care program for low-income pre-school children and their families. (Don West photo)

American Idol vocal coach Debra Byrd (r) works with singer Sofia Sandoval (l) during a clinic at Berklee College of Music on June 26. The event was an up-close-and-personal evening Q&A session for Berklee students and the community with the award-winning singer, vocal arranger, actor and producer, who has mentored contestants on all 10 seasons of American Idol. (Phil Farnsworth photo)

Harvard Law professor Charles Ogletree lectures to 40 young black males, between the ages of 8 and 18 at Harvard Law School on June 25, 2011. The young men are members of a Baltimore-based group called Mentoring Black Males in the Hood. (Kip Hall photo)