Worcester residents join governor's Council for Black Empowerment

BOSTON - Monday, Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order creating and naming members of the Advisory Council on Black Empowerment. The 30-person body, which includes four members from Worcester, will advise the governor on issues related to the economic prosperity and well-being of the Massachusetts’ Black community including education, health care, housing and workforce development.

“Massachusetts’ Black residents make tremendous contributions to our state, but far too often they face systemic barriers that hold them back from opportunity,” said Healey. “We look forward to working closely with our Advisory Council on Black Empowerment to explore how we can best support our Black community, reduce inequities and expand opportunity for all.”

Healey was sworn in Jan. 5, and the fact that such an action was taken so early in her administration was not lost on new council member Rev. Clyde Talley, senior pastor at Belmont AME Zion Church in Worcester. “I applaud the governor for putting this council together in the first place,” he said. “She’s being proactive to effect a positive change.”

The four members from Worcester are Talley; Fred Taylor, business representative/organizer with the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and president of the Worcester NAACP chapter; Che Anderson, vice chancellor for city and community relations at UMass Chan Medical School; and Moses Dixon, president/CEO of the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging Inc.

Right people for the right time

The council met for the first time Monday at the Statehouse in Boston, where each member introduced themselves and shared their goals and hopes as members. “There was a vast majority of representation of people from different industries, regions and backgrounds,” said Taylor. “She’s very intentional. Just by assembling that group of people, she's showing she’s keeping her word of making equity one of her top priorities.”

Both the variety of members and the governor’s attitude at the meeting had Taylor feeling hopeful for real change, he said. “I’m not used to being in a room with that many Black people in a position to help shape policies and make decisions,” he added.

Healey encouraged members to hold her accountable and to ask the tough questions, he recounted. “You don’t hear that often from elected officials.”

Talley shares the optimism, saying, “It’s the right group of people at the right time to effect change across the commonwealth.”

Working beyond Worcester

For Anderson, having a cohort from Worcester demonstrates a different approach from the new administration. “We’re seeing opportunities expand outside the bounds of Boston,” he said. “Shows the administration wants equity for all.”

“As the second-largest city in Massachusetts, it’s important to have a delegation from Worcester,” said Talley. “I’m glad that there are delegates from Worcester without us having to beg or petition, but were invited to be at the table.” Talley hopes in turn to be a voice for those who have yet to find a place at the table.

“One of the things that’s most important is that while there are four people from Worcester on the council, that doesn’t mean that only four voices will be speaking from Worcester,” Anderson said. He said he hopes to be accessible for open and honest conversations with community members and to pass along ideas or concerns.

“There’s a stigma that Worcester only cares about Worcester,” Anderson said, adding that he sees the advisory council as a chance to dispel that, and “show that we’re looking at the state as a whole for opportunities and we don’t have to work within silos, but work collaboratively to uplift the whole commonwealth.”

“It’s very good to have Worcester representation in the room but I don’t want it to be a regional thing,” said Taylor. “(The Black community) shouldn’t be thinking regionally. We need to consolidate and all work together.”

Listening and learning

“I got to Worcester when I was 17 years old and spent nearly half my life in this community,” said Anderson. “That has provided me an opportunity to work with different populations, different perspectives and to learn how to listen.” And to achieve their goals on the council, listening and learning will be essential for the Worcester delegation.

“Listening to the other people as part of the council and their different perspectives, one thing that amazed me was hearing some business owners didn’t know about available government funding,” said Talley, who now has made it a new goal to make sure businesses and organizations in the Black community are educated on the resources available to them.

Similarly, Taylor learned that civic engagement was not as high as it should be. “One of the women there, her thing is educating people on voting,” he said. “Such a small percentage of people that participate in voting, and that’s how you make change.”

Coming from UMass Chan Medical, Anderson’s first thoughts went to public health, which inevitably connects to education and employment opportunities for the Black community. “They all fall under social determinants of health: workforce opportunity, food security and education,” he said.

Working with his colleagues with a variety of backgrounds and skill sets, he hopes to affect these wide-ranging quality-of-life improvements.

“I want to open doors for Black people in the commonwealth,” said Taylor. “Help Black people produce generational wealth for them and their families. When we benefit, everyone benefits.

“This is a big piece of the pie and that pie is big enough for all of us.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Clyde Talley Che Anderson Fred Taylor Moses Dixon on Mass. Black council