Inclusion Archives - Wayside Youth & Family Support Network

One Anti-Racist Action You Can Take Today: Understand Intersectional Feminism

Wayside Team — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 10:52:31 +0000

Daniela Thermora
Career Development Manager

When someone doesn’t know what intersectionality is, the way I can best describe it is by comparing my core self to a long, main street. The street can be narrow in places and turn sharply in others. It can gently slope or become a steep incline. The main road can also cross with avenues, boulevards, terraces and even a few cul-de-sacs. There are sections of the road that may be less traveled, or with fewer distinctions, but each is an aspect of the main route.

All the intersections along the main road are what makes me, me. Without them, I am not me.

When the concept of intersectionality was introduced to me, I thought, “This definition is literally what I’ve been looking for all my life to explain why I am who I am.” By understanding ourselves and being able to explain to others how all the different parts of ourselves show up in our daily lives in our interactions with others, at work, at the supermarket, and even in our neighborhood, makes us have a better understanding of humanity.

I show up in my life to the outside world as a woman; I express my femininity with my hairstyle, my clothes and even with the makeup that I wear a few times a week. The world experiences me as brown, Latina and short. Some people may experience me as curvy, others as overweight. Some see me with my children, and know I am a mother of girls, without knowing the journey I had to take to have them. The bottom line is that this is just how the world sees me, but I come to the world with many more dimensions and lenses than just woman, brown, short, curvy, overweight, mother. I experience the world with many more intersections, parts of myself that people don’t see; my education, my social economic status, my citizenship, my trauma, my mental health, my stressors, my family history, where I’ve lived, my culture, my languages, my genetics, etc. That’s what intersectionality is to me – the things people see and the things they don’t.

What would happen if we were more willing to understand that people show up in the world as their whole selves, not just the work self, for instance? What would happen if we were to understand that all of the different parts of a person’s identity influence the way they exchange ideas and socialize? What if we examined how certain aspects of identity – race, class, sex, economic status, education – color the way people are perceived in the world?How can we show them humility and understanding when we disagree or want more from them?

By taking the journey and understanding all the intersections of our identity, we don’t have to pick just one part of the road, we can show up in the world with our entire, whole selves.

Resources:

Time: Kimberlé Crenshaw on What Intersectionality Means Today
UNWomen.org: Intersectional Feminism: What It Means and Why It Matters Right Now

TheConversation.com: What Is Intersectionality? All of Who I Am
The Opportunity Agenda: Ten Tips for Putting Intersectionality Into Practice

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Opinion: ‘Stand In Solidarity with Asian American Colleagues and Friends’

Wayside Team — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 06:19:03 +0000

The Op-Ed below appeared in the Framingham Source on March 20, 2021.

FRAMINGHAM – Our Framingham group of stakeholders are committed to working in collaboration. Our goal is to increase progress in creating an environment of inclusion which is diverse and equitable for all members of our community.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in early spring last year, human rights groups across the country have noticed a pattern of targeted hate crimes against Asian Americans. Recently released data confirmed that the number of racist incidents against the Asian American community has indeed skyrocketed.

Massachusetts has reported 67 incidents (likely under-reported) of verbal and physical assaults, only a small number of which would qualify for prosecution under most laws against hate crimes. Attorney General Maura Healey is co-sponsoring legislation to reform the state’s hate crime statute to expand the law.

As we celebrate the Lunar New Year, these news stories are particularly heartbreaking. What is supposed to be a time of celebration and togetherness for millions of people around the world has been marred by these senseless acts of violence. We must remember that where a person is from should not matter in how we view them. The government of an individual’s country should not matter in how we view them. We believe that we are more alike than we are different and have similar goals with respect to freedom, health and happiness for ourselves and our families. We are not able to be inclusive when we only see our differences.

We urge everyone in our community to stand in solidarity with Asian American colleagues and friends; to speak up in the face of injustice in all its forms and to take care of each other in every way we can. We all need to be understanding of the fact that as humans our actions can create an environment of greater inclusion. In our busy days we must take time out to evaluate the environments we work and live in, and make changes if we are not inclusive. In addition, we must always take action to prevent any scenarios where hate, discrimination, bullying, and inequity are allowed. It can not be accepted and will only decline if we act collectively to put a stop to it.

Recent reports include the murder of an 84-year-old Thai man walking in his San Francisco neighborhood; a subway attack in New York City in which a 61-year-old Filipino man was slashed across the face with a knife; and a number of assaults targeting older Asian Americans in California and New York and the most recent murders of eight people in Atlanta.” It cannot be accepted and will only decline if we act collectively to put a stop to it.

To start, here are some important organizations fighting for Asian American rights. Be sure to follow and engage with them as they begin planning next steps and actions following yesterday’s horrific attack.

● Asian Americans Advancing Justice
● Asian Americans Advancing Justice
● Stop AAPI Hate
● National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
● 18 Million Rising
● APIA Vote
● APIA Health Forum
● National Council of Asian Pacific Americans

Signed by:

Business Community:

Jim Giammarinaro, President Metrowest Chamber of Commerce
Towma Rastad, Business Marketing Group Account Representative| Wegmans Food Markets
Scott Richardson, AIA, LEED AP Principal and Vice President of Gorman Richardson Lewis Architects (GRLA)

Faith-Based Community:

Rev. Dr. J Anthony Lloyd, Greater Framingham Community Church
Emmett G. Price III, Ph.D. Professor of Worship, Church & Culture Executive Director, Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Deborah L. Clark, Pastor of Edwards Church, United Church of Christ, Board of Wider Missions and Coordinator of Open Spirit: A Place of Hope, Health & Harmony
Rev. Gregory Morisse, The Plymouth Church in Framingham
Rev. William Tanner, The Plymouth Church in Framingham

Non-Profit Leaders:

Jim Cuddy Executive Director South Middlesex Opportunity council (SMOC)
Eric L. Masi, Ed.D President & CEO Wayside Youth & Family Support Network, Inc.
Helen Lemoine Executive Director Leadership MetroWest
Martin D. Cohen President/CEO MetroWest Health Foundation
Paula Kaminow Vice President, Operations-Framingham and Contracts, Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center
Lino Covarrubias, Chief Executive Officer JFS of Metrowest
Steve Kerrigan President and CEO Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center
Anna C. Cross Executive Director MetroWest Nonprofit Network
Paul Mina President & Chief Executive Officer United Way of Tri-County
Maria Rosado Pelham Learning Center
Diane E. Gould, President & CEO Advocates, Inc.

Education Leaders:

Kyle Amber Clark, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer The Learning Center for the Deaf (TLC)
Robert A. Tremblay Superintendent Framingham Public Schools
Joseph Corazzini Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Diversity and Community Development Framingham Public Schools
Javier Cevallos, President Framingham State University
Constanza Cabello, Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement Framingham State University
David Podell, President, MassBay Community College
Jake Hepler, Leadership Giving Officer, Development and Alumni/ae Relations at Northeastern University School of Law
Frank Tipton, Executive Director, Christa McAuliffe Charter School

Civic Leaders

Yvonne M. Spicer Mayor of Framingham
Maritsa Barros, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, City of Framingham
Congresswoman Katherine Clark – Fifth District of Massachusetts.
Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland), Represents the MetroWest communities of Ashland, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway and Natick which comprise the 2nd Middlesex & Norfolk district.
Jack Patrick Lewis – State Representative – 7th Middlesex District
Carmine Gentile – State Representative – 13 th Middlesex District
Marian Ryan – District Attorney – Middlesex County

Community Leaders:

Esta Montano
Paul R. Joseph

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Wayside Youth & Family Support Network Awarded $29K Grant From MetroWest Health Foundation

Wayside Team — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 03:08:48 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 15, 2020

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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10 Things We Want White People to Do to Celebrate Juneteenth

Wayside Team — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 09:00:47 +0000

By Guimel Carvalho, Director of People and Culture and Amy Hogarth Director of Recruitment and Inclusion

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, marks the day when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery. It was June 19, 1865 and although the Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves more than two years earlier there was minimal enforcement in Texas due to a lack of Union troops.

Each year, Juneteenth is a day for Black people to celebrate freedom. This year Juneteenth carries deeper meaning in the wake of Black lives lost to police brutality in the last few weeks and months. It’s hard to think that freedom is on the minds or in the hearts of Americans after the murder of George Floyd, after demonstrations for liberation or after the President was planning a political rally today.

Black and Brown people are calling on white people to stand with them and take action. They’ve been fighting too hard and too long. It made us think about what do we want white people to do to celebrate Juneteenth?

10 Things We Want White People to Do to Celebrate Juneteenth

We want white people to deeply consider the wound of racism on the hearts of every Black American.
On Juneteenth we want white people to read, study Black history, Black poets, Black leaders, Black achievements.
We want white people to do things about racism as readily as they do things for their own children.
We want white people to make a list of resolutions, of promises, of vows about what will it take for them to use their power, their privilege, their platforms of power to give space to Black and Brown leaders.
We want them to find an accountability partner and make the list public of what actions they will take. They CAN do this on social media. A lot of those actions will be giving up privilege and making room for folks who they may not have noticed have no room at all.
We want white people to stop talking about how uncomfortable it is to talk about racism or police violence.
We want white people to stop being afraid of their own internalized white supremacy. We want them to search and look within at hard facts of thought and deed. Who cares about being comfortable? What about being true, brave and real instead?
Then we want white people to stop talking and listen to what needs to be done.
We want white people to plan on spending time in spaces with folks who are not like you.
We want white people to hold other white people accountable not on social media, instead with measured voices that call folks in to look and wrestle – to change. We are interested in courageous conversations, in hearing folks out and in allowing themselves to feel terrible and to let that feeling be a crucible for change.

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16 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Books Our Staff Love

Wayside Team — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 23:14:26 +0000

Wayside’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee is constantly exploring new ways to fulfill our agency’s mission of being anti-racist and inclusive. It’s a constant learning process as we work to promote our DEI principles and engage 500-employees across 19 sites. Our committee shared some of their top book picks that inform their work to understand one another, acknowledge hidden biases and challenge racist systems and behaviors.

Staff Recommendations:

Taiany Goulart, site manager, Wayside Medford

How to Be an Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X Kendi

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire

Carlton, Wayside DEI consultant

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn

Jodie Nierintz, senior program director, Wayside Milford

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Fredrick Mann, Wayside clinician

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love, and So Much More by Janet Mock. “Mock’s Story of growing up in California and Hawaii as a low-income trans girl of color.”

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay. “Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health.”

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. “This book looks at the ways we do harm by failing to understand one another, a problem Gladwell investigates through the child-abuse scandal involving Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the deceptions of financier Bernie Madoff and the TV, and more.”

Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald. “This book explores hidden biases that we all carry from a lifetime of experiences with blind spot cover social groups – age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, or nationality.”

Other recommendations:

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in The Cafeteria by Beverly Tatum

On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case For Hope by DeRay Mckesson

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