Director of People and Career Development

I think part of being Latina, Latino, Latinx, Spanish or Hispanic is understanding the difference between all of those terms. I was taught to call myself Spanish or Hispanic, when in reality I was referring to two different things. One meant I was from Spain, which I am not, and the other was referring to my ancestry and language.

Let me explain so we can all better understand what the terms mean especially since it’s National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Growing up, and maybe this was just my family, but calling myself Latina was frowned upon. I am not sure why. I don’t know where I learned that this word was not to be used. I was taught to call myself Spanish or Hispanic. Maybe someone, somewhere said Latina sounded too Spanish.

You might think of Hispanic and Latino as terms used to describe racial categories, like the terms white, Black, or Asian. The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” refer to ethnicity and culture, not race. In the United States the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” (or “Latina” for a woman, sometimes written as “Latinx” to be gender-neutral) were adopted to loosely group immigrants and their descendants who hailed from what is now known as Latin America. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, they have slightly different connotations. It is important to clarify that the categories refer only to a person’s origin and ancestry. A Latino/a or Hispanic person can be any race or color.

In contrast, Latino refers to geography, specifically people from Latin America including Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Similar to being Hispanic, being Latino says nothing about your race. A person who is Hispanic may also be Latino, but this is not always necessarily the case. For example, a person from Spain would be Hispanic but not Latino because Spain is a Spanish-speaking country but not a Latin American country. A person who is Latino may also be Hispanic. For instance, while people from Brazil are considered Latino (because Brazil is one of six Latin American countries), they are not considered Hispanic because their native language is Portuguese not Spanish.

Today, I proudly identify as a first-generation Latina whose parents are from Guatemala and Puerto Rico, and I speak Spanish and English. I am not Spanish because it’s easier for English speakers to say, or Hispanic because the U.S Census lists it as an option. I am Latina.

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Many in Massachusetts remember or have studied the horrible stories of school desegregation in Boston. I didn’t grow up here but experienced a different kind of desegregation when I lived in Arlington, Virginia in the mid-1960s. In the fall of 1965, I started eighth grade at Gunston Junior High School. The previous year Gunston had been 90-95% white students, as were four of the other five junior high schools in Arlington at the time.

There was one junior high school in the Green Valley section of Arlington that was 90-95% Black students. Of course, that school had been allowed to fall into significant disrepair, so when Virginia schools were finally ordered to desegregate, the school serving Black students was closed and those students were bused to the adjoining white schools (note – it was only the Black students who experienced busing, because their school had been neglected and eventually torn down). Interestingly, school administrators held no meetings of students or parents in preparation – probably to avoid confrontations with white parents – I just showed up in September and the 8th grade class was now almost 50-50 Black and white students!

The next city over from Arlington is Alexandria which took a similar approach to desegregation (rarely is what occurred considered to have been “integration’), which is reported as mostly accurately portrayed in the movie, ‘Remember the Titans.’

Alexandria consolidated its high schools into one high school, T.C. Williams High School (unbelievably named for a segregationist school superintendent from the 1950s. Alexandria only just voted to rename the school in December). I had white friends who attended T.C. Williams the year they integrated, which was also 1965. In both cities, to no one’s surprise, while there was a lot of racial tension and fighting in the schools, there was far more difficulty among the adults then there were among the students.

‘Remember the Titans’ portrays sports, football in particular, as a potential bond for students and possibly a school and community at large, but that was over-dramatized. I remember the local Pop Warner football and Little League baseball teams being all white as the coaches and local business sponsors resisted Black players joining. Fortunately, there were teams on the other side of the city that were not white-only teams.

I was a preteen, so I had no idea of the importance of that time. And I know for most of you the 1960s is ancient history, but I encourage you to ask family members who were alive then about any experiences they had with desegregation, here or elsewhere in the country.

It tells the story of something that’s really going on right now, and even before the pandemic and during this pandemic,” said Donald Faison, who played Petey Jones. “We’re still dealing with fear in America.”

While the adults had the more difficult time with desegregation, a wonderful benefit that I experienced was not only having Black classmates and teammates but having Black teachers and coaches. I have many memories of the great role models for us as kids – similar to the coaches reflected (somewhat accurately as reported) in ‘Remember the Titans.’ The movie story lines were overdone to create drama, but the reality of the tone and tension is 100% true.

I hope we can all invest the time to learn more about desegregation, and Black History in America – all 402 years since the first slave ships arrived – as we strive to hold ourselves more accountable to pursing a more just and equitable world.

Read more about school desegregation here:

Washington Post – When a Va. County closed its schools rather than admit Black students

ESPN – Two decades later, ‘Remember the Titans’ is still relevant

The Atlantic – The lasting legacy of the busing crisis

Washington Post – Petey Jones, star on ‘Remember the Titans’ football team, dies at 65.

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By Amy Hogarth
Director of Recruitment and Inclusion

We are thrilled that the new administration is giving racial equity respect and attention – there is no time to waste when it comes to systemic change. It is invigorating to see our leaders who have white privilege use that privilege to take steps to empower folx who need equity.

The work is only starting – it is very important for those of us in social work to help ensure the voices of the unheard are heard and are represented by those making laws, making change and helping support folx of all races, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.

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Contact: Michelle Hillman
508-380-5486 (cell)
Michelle_Hillman@waysideyouth.org

Framingham, MA – Wayside Youth & Family Support Network received a grant for $29,769 from the MetroWest Health Foundation. Wayside will use the grant to create an Equity Training Center that will launch this year.

The new training center will provide educational workshops, personalized consultation services and community presentations to schools, local community groups, nonprofits and social service providers to challenge systemic racism, white privilege and increase equity within their organizations.

The goal of the center is to educate our youth and families, community partners and other nonprofits to develop anti-racist policies and practices that will challenge the strongholds of systemic racism. Trainings will be led by Wayside’s staff who are experts in diversity, equity and inclusion.

“We are beyond thankful for the grant from the MetroWest Health Foundation,” said Wayside’s President and CEO Eric Masi. “This will greatly benefit our community by educating people about diversity, inclusion, and equity. These free trainings will inform people about the daily oppression Black and brown people face and how to prevent it.”

This center intends to serve as a resource with a range of training topic available to the community and individuals including how to create systemic organizational change, talking about anti-racism with kids, examining white privilege and learning to have uncomfortable conversations about race and racism.

About Wayside Youth & Family Support Network: Founded in 1977, Wayside Youth & Family Support Network is a non-profit, nationally accredited human services agency headquartered in Framingham, Mass. dedicated to building strength, hope and resiliency through its family-based outreach services, residential treatment programs, and community-based counseling services to thousands of children, youth, and families throughout Central, Eastern and Northeastern Massachusetts. To learn more about Wayside, please visit www.waysideyouth.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Vice President of People & Culture and Chief Diversity Officer

After the murder of George Floyd companies issued statements of outrage and committed themselves to improving their corporate culture. They also raced to hire a Chief Diversity Officers (CDO) to guide them in just how to do it without making costly mistakes. As the title implies, CDO’s are responsible for developing and implementing the diversity, equity, & inclusion strategy of an organization. They oversee initiatives, employee relations and tie business outcomes to the diversity, equity and inclusion work of the organization. They can create real organizational culture change with the proper budget, reporting structure and support. As CDO’s value has risen across industries, it’s important to pay attention to more than just their titles. Follow the work they are doing in cities like Boston which hired Dr. Kathryn Crockett, a published author and MIT lecturer of Public Policy and Urban Planning as its Chief of Equity. Boston Mayor Walsh established a cabinet-level position “to embed equity and racial justice into all City planning, operations, and work moving forward.”

Under Dr. Crockett’s leadership, the Office of Equity will be charged with leading the Administration’s efforts across departments to embed equity into all city work, and actively work to dismantle racism by putting an intentional focus on supporting communities of color and marginalized groups across all departments, and building equitable governmental structures to sustain this work.

Read about what strategies CDO’s have tried and tested. Below are links explaining the importance of CDO’s and a few to watch for.

Harvard Business Review: Do you know why your company needs a Chief Diversity Officer?

Medium: What is a Chief Diversity Officer and Why Does Your Company Need One?

City of Boston: Dr. Karilyn Crockett

CNBC: NBA appoints Oris Stuart as chief people and inclusion officer

Workday: Carin Taylor bio

FairPlayTalks: 2020’s Top 50 Chief Diversity Officers

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Director of People and Culture, Chief Diversity Officer

Have you ever tried to learn another language? It’s hard! So why is it that multilingualism is demeaned by certain groups and celebrated by others?

It’s called privilege. A recent tweet pointed out the double standard with the simple question “What’s considered classy if you’re poor but trashy if you’re rich?” The question garnered hundreds of comments including “Speaking two languages.”

The answers revealed more than a double standard – they revealed how people wear privilege differently. It’s glorified when privileged people to speak two languages but demeaned when people without privilege are multilingual.

Often racist policies and stereotypes are meant to otherize and devalue groups for who they are even if it contradicts itself. Immigration policies welcome refugees when they are from the former Soviet Union, but ban them if they are from Syria or Central America. The backlash to English as a second language (ESL) and English-language learner programs (ELL) are in contrast to the coveted spots in full immersion schools.

Today I ask you to appreciate multilingualism. Try to learn another language. If you already speak another language, wear it loud and proud. I invite you to add it to your email signature, business card, LinkedIn profile, etc. Do you speak a language most Americans don’t know? Be loud and proud and let people know. Don’t recognize a language in someone’s email signature or resume? Google it! You’ll find that there are more than 7,000 languages spoken in the world today.

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On July 17th Civil Rights leader and Congressman, John Lewis passed away. He was the last remaining March on Washington speaker where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Lewis’ legacy is a lifetime of anti-racist actions.

Learn about him the sacrifices he made to secure voting rights for Black Americans. Start by reading the late Congressman’s biography and find out why he was often called “one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced,” “the conscience of the U.S. Congress,” and “a genuine American hero and moral leader who commands widespread respect in the chamber.”

Watch the documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” the movie “Selma,” read his autobiography “Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement.” Google his speeches including the historic oration the then 23-year-old gave at the 1963 March on Washington and find out why he was urged to edit his original version.

Then follow his example and get in “good trouble.”

Then honor his legacy by requesting your mail-in ballot for November and calling the Senate Majority leader’s office at (202) 224-2541 to ask for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

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Black-owned businesses have long been shut out of capital, loans and lines of credit due to discriminatory practices and systemic defunding of Black communities. Attempts by black business owners to generate wealth have been met with resistance and violence. In 1921, a mob of white vigilantes burned 35 city blocks, killed 300 black people and injured 800 in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, an area known as Black Wall St. Over the course of two days Black Wall St., one of the most affluent African-American communities in the United States, was destroyed during the race riot known as the Tulsa Massacre of 1921.

Black-owned businesses continue to face barriers that put them at a financial disadvantage. Most recently, during the COVID-19 crisis that has disproportionately impacted Black communities, black business owners were unable to access federal loans through the Paycheck Protection Program. The small business program was run through private banks, making it more difficult for Black-owned businesses to receive loans as well-resourced businesses jumped to the head of the line. While adjustments have since been to help minority and women-owned businesses secure funding, the aid has not come quick enough as 41 percent of Black-owned businesses have closed since February compared to 17 percent of white-owned businesses.

Black-owned businesses need your support now. What can you do? Shop, eat and advocate for Black-owned businesses in your neighborhood, city and state. Click here for a list of websites and apps including the Official Black Wall Street.

Resources for Black-owned business in the Greater Boston area:

Black Economic Council of Massachusetts

A List of 50+ Black-Owned Restaurants in Boston 

Crowd-Sourced Spreadsheet of Over 150 Black-Owned Businesses

List of Black-Owned Companies in the Boston Area

Here’s a Running List of Black-Owned Businesses to Support in Greater Boston

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