LYNN — The North Shore Juneteenth Association celebrated Black History Month on Tuesday night with a virtual Local Black Excellence Forum.
This forum included a panel of local Black leaders, who were invited to have a conversation about adversities and healing, embracing one’s gifts and passions to achieve excellence, and helping future generations with practical advice and action.
“As the world burns, this small community comes together to have a genuine conversation with one another that will cultivate healing, understanding, newfound respect and admiration in efforts to manifest peace, love and unity our community ever so desperately needs,” said Michelle Richardson (La Poetica), a poet and community advocate who moderated the event.
Four panelists, participating in the event, took turns discussing the moderator’s questions and those posed by the audience.
First, they talked about challenges and adversities that they had to overcome in their own lives, what extra steps they were still making and what can be done for future generations. All four panelists spoke of different manifestations of not being themselves in the world, having to work “110 percent” while monitoring their behavior, shrinking themselves for other people’s expectations and being confused when people perceived them as “too friendly” or not “friendly enough.”
Adriana Paz, a Lynn resident, president of Prevent the Cycle, and a founding member of North Shore Women of Color, said that the hardest part on her journey was not being herself and focusing on how others perceived her. Paz was referring to being a Black woman from Colombia, identifying as Afro-Latina and being fearful of what others thought of her.
“My life experiences are valid,” said Paz. “I need to come as is. When I do that, I can confront the issues and problems that come before me honestly and fully because I am addressing it based on my needs and not what everybody else sees.”
Salem City Councilor Lev McClain said that as a young man of color he thought he needed to show the best performance and work the hardest in order to “get into slots.”
“I didn’t know how to ask for help, how to trust others,” said McClain. “I could not let people think that I wasn’t the most capable.”
McClain learned how to forgive himself and show vulnerability, he said, and now he sees that young men of color, like his own teenage son, need to know that it is OK to make mistakes.
Speaking about the lack of Black people when it comes to gatekeeping positions, Vick Breedy, an author of several self-published novels, entrepreneur and a self-care advocate, said that because of the lack of diversity in corporate organizations, oftentimes the majority becomes gatekeepers, not just singular people who have power over you.
“We’d be mistaken if we thought there was just one gatekeeper,” Breedy said. “If somebody else looks like you, (it) is because those types of jobs rely on recommendations from their employees and the demographics don’t change.”
She said she tries to refer people and tell people about the jobs because sometimes they don’t know these jobs exist or that they can absolutely do them. This is how people become their own gatekeepers, Breedy said.
Norris Guscott, the City of Lynn’s public-health coordinator and Food Security Task Force leader, acknowledged his privileges, citing his non-ethnic-sounding name, male gender and education, but said that he has absolutely experienced gatekeepers. He used to do research work for free as an assistant because he didn’t feel confident that he could get a full-time job like this. On another occasion, a professor he worked for refused to promote him.
“Am I not good enough? It makes you question yourself,” said Guscott.
That is why now he is very much involved with the hiring process in the city for his department and focused on equity and fair interviews. Guscott is also working on agricultural policy on the state level to make agriculture and food more equitable, to ensure people have access to the same resources and information.
Talking about generational trauma, the panelists came to the conclusion that some of it stems from double consciousness — the need to know “the assignment” and pass it onto their children, while other people around them don’t have to do that.
Paz said that it is important to stop normalizing telling children of color that they have to work hard but are going to get only half of what some other people get.
For Guscott, overcoming generational trauma was overcoming “the angry-man syndrome,” which used to make him walk on eggshells in the office.
“You really need a solid support system and network to overcome some of those generational impacts,” said Guscott.
The panel also discussed how young people can get to leadership roles and what current leaders can do to prepare their successors.
“People who are already now in the positions, who are going to be passing the baton need to be intentional about reaching out to others for mentorship,” said Breedy.
Leadership needs to hold forums, public dialogue and let young people know how things work and how they can get into those positions, Breedy said.
“The word of the year has been transparency and accountability,” said Paz.
Leaders need to openly look at who is around, who is not at the table, be truly inclusive in the change and admit what is lacking, she said.
The event was organized by North Shore Juneteenth Association, a group of community leaders seeking to educate the broader community about positive aspects of African-American culture and dismantle racism by using events and programming as a tool for change.
