Malia Lazu
In 2026 America will celebrate its 250th year of existence. As celebrations are being planned for this important year, conversations are happening around how best to acknowledge and honor the complexity and hypocrisy of the American experiment.
How we tell the American story has evolved from a false narrative about a harmless, inspired white, Christian nation to a more honest recounting that accepts genocide of indigenous societies and slavery as a core strategy along the journey of the past two-and-a-half centuries. There is real power in ensuring the story we tell is honest, reflective and hopeful. A truthful narrative is more important than ever for 2026, as younger generations push to repair the harms of the past and present and set America on a less extractive future.
Over the last decade and on some of Boston’s most hallowed, historic ground, there has been a movement to ensure the city tells its story in a more honest way that amplifies the voices of enslaved people fighting for their freedom and of indigenous people who shaped America’s past and future.
Revolutionary Spaces has been bringing people together to explore the American struggle to create and sustain a free society, singularly evoked by Boston’s Old South Meeting House and Old State House. These buildings were gathering spaces for the open exchange of ideas and the continuing practice of democracy, inspiring all who believe in the power of people to govern themselves. I am a proud board member because we are working to tell the whole story of the birth of the USA.
Last year, Revolutionary Spaces led the way in redefining and demonstrating what the 250th anniversary of American Independence can mean for Boston. To commemorate the semiquincentennial of the Boston Tea Party, the group unveiled three new exhibits, including “Impassioned Destruction,” which places the Boston Tea Party in dialogue with the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Its Raising Voices festival was an invitation to raise our voices and explore the meaning of protest in a free society, and the play they commissioned and launched at Old South Meeting House, “Phillis in Boston,” brought history to life in the very place where it happened and asked visitors to remember that there were many struggles for freedom under way in Revolutionary-era North America.
An Immersive Experience Downtown
As it looks ahead to 2026 and beyond, Revolutionary Spaces envisions even greater opportunities to explore the resonant phrase “created equal” through its ambitious plans for creating a cultural campus anchored by an immersive exhibit at one of their historic sites.
The cultural campus seeks to breathe new life into the north end of Washington Street in downtown Boston, transforming it into a vibrant cultural zone that connects both visitors and locals to Boston’s rich revolutionary heritage. These plans for the 250th include moving physical spaces into the 21st century using technology and inclusive storytelling.
An immersive experience will anchor the cultural campus, extending the history into the very streets where it all unfolded. It promises to elevate Boston’s history brand, making it not only a beacon of the past but also a powerful lens through which we can view and address our current challenges.
Reflecting on the bicentennial in 1976, which brought a generational investment in our history infrastructure and significantly expanded the visibility of the Freedom Trail, we must now consider the investments needed for this moment. Revolutionary Spaces’ initiative to create a dynamic cultural campus and immersive experience represents an unparalleled opportunity to connect Boston’s storied past with the present, transforming our city’s history into a dynamic resource that can help us to address our current needs and aspirations. By supporting this vision, we can invest in both our history and our future.
Corporate executives in Boston, especially bankers and developers, should embrace this opportunity to help build a bridge between a narrowly defined white history and the broader history of America in all its diversity. With their support, the story can be shaped for current and future generations.
Malia Lazu is a lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, CEO of The Lazu Group, former Eastern Massachusetts regional president and chief experience and culture officer at Berkshire Bank and the author of “From Intention to Impact: A Practical Guide to Diversity.”
