Lynn’s new CMCC director brings a fresh perspective

LYNN – Three months ago, Steven Godfrey took over as executive director of the city’s Community Minority Cultural Center, knowing that the organization must undergo changes to reflect American society as it exists in the new millennium.”Minority no longer means black,” the 39-year-old native of Boston’s South End said during a recent interview in the sparse conference room at 298 Union St., where the CMCC is headquartered. “In Lynn, it means Cambodian, Haitian and Hispanic as well.”Interestingly enough, as the composition of the U.S. population evolves, minority may soon include white, since the ranks of Latinos, Indians and Chinese are swelling dramatically.Lynn is also home to new waves of immigrants from central and west Africa, and the former Soviet Union.In the heyday of the late Martin Luther King Jr.’s push for civil rights, the word “minority” did indeed refer to blacks, but as Godfrey emphasizes, “We are now in the post-Martin Luther King era. These are different times. Today we take this word minority and define it very broadly. But if there had not been a tug-of-war between blacks and whites, the minorities that arrived here later would have had a much harder time infusing into the cultural fabric.”Besides, he said, minority can be used to describe many groups, offering as an example white recovering drug addicts who re-enter society and are viewed as somewhat apart from the mainstream.”We want this center to be open to everybody,” he said. “So we are going to campaign around the word minority, not just African-American. For the CMCC to be effective, it must embrace the entire community.”Godfrey is no stranger to Lynn. His wife, Rossanna Contreras Godfrey, hails from Lynn and her family still lives on Shephard Street. She holds a doctoral degree in education and works as a student support program director at Boston College. Her sister, Magnolia Contreras of Lynn, is director of charitable giving at the Dana Farber Institute.The couple, who met at the former Club Morgan nightclub on the Lynnway, live in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood with their 7-year-old daughter, Mila.Godfrey is a staunch community activist involved in many local initiatives, both in his immediate neighborhood and Boston proper. He comes to the CMCC from his former role as executive director of Action for Boston Community Development, Inc., which he compares to Lynn Economic Opportunity (LEO), a federal program designed to assist the needy with food, fuel, shelter and education.”I’m a member on a lot of boards and do all sorts of civic stuff. That’s part of who I am,” said, Godfrey, who holds a bachelor’s degree in urban planning from UMass-Boston.When not working, Godfrey shoots hoops or practices martial arts, mostly recently a Japanese form of contact sport.As head of the CMCC, Godfrey is, by default, the executive director of the Union Street Corridor, a community development organization he plans to merge with the cultural center.”We as an organization want to do a lot. But we don’t want to be the sole voice. We do want to be part of the fabric and bring good energy to the table,” he said, adding that the city’s stakeholders, from the mayor to the Lynn Housing Authority and other agencies already have shown a willingness to support his efforts. “Cohesion is important.”Among the first undertakings will be a complete facelift for the building interior and the transformation of the lobby into a more cheerful reception center and art gallery.”I’d like to see the minority factions in Lynn make their businesses more sustainable, get them to grow and become a part of the local business community. I see that happening as these business owners learn to speak English and diversify their workforce. That will help them infuse with the whole community, not just their faction,” he said.Dressed in a colorful three-piece suit, stylish eyeglasses and sporting neat dreadlocks, Godfrey projects an image of self-confidence and cool.”I’m political, but mostly I