On September 6th, 2017 a message dropped from a Boston.gov email account announcing a "Farewell to Mattapan-Dorchester and the Haitian Community." Buried in the message (in the very last paragraph, in fact), was a a cryptic mention that there would "also be updates regarding Mattapan Square...and the addition of a new tattoo parlor." This struck me as curious, since I already had an entry in my calendar, by then, to attend a hearing of the City's Zoning Board of Appeals about a tattoo parlor slated to go into the building next door to where I live. The Zoning Board's hearing notice had arrived in snail mail weeks before. It confirmed what prior to then, was only rumor. So I resolved to go and lodge a formal protest; specifically about the lack of public process related the proposed change of "business uses" at 438 River Street in Mattapan, MA. I listened intently as Ruth Georges, out-going Boston Neighborhood Liaison, assured t...