Beverly's diversity director working for change

Aug. 2—BEVERLY — When Abu Toppin spoke to a longtime resident of Beverly recently, the woman wondered why anyone would think that her hometown, with its nice beaches, beautiful parks and good schools, was not a welcoming place.

"Why wouldn't people want to be here?" the woman asked Toppin.

Toppin's response goes to the heart of his work as the city's first-ever director of diversity, equity and inclusion: "I said to her, 'That all depends on your perspective.'"

Toppin went on to explain that, as a person color, he had questions when he moved to Beverly that she might not have ever considered. Why are there no people of color in city government? Why are there so few teachers of color in the schools? Will his children feel safe and supported? Where is he going to get a haircut?

"You don't know because there's nothing there to tell you, 'Yes, that's OK,'" Toppin said.

A week later the woman emailed Toppin and told him she was rethinking her perspective. That's the kind of progress that Toppin is hoping to make as he leads an effort to make Beverly a more welcoming place for people of color.

Toppin, 50, was hired in January as the city's director of diversity, equity and inclusion. He grew up in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta and Suffolk University Law School, and worked primarily in the financial services industry providing support and guidance on a more diverse and inclusive workforce. He lives in Beverly with his wife and three children, ages 12, 10 and 5.

Beverly is one of several communities in Massachusetts that have hired a DEI director, as the position is known, since the national reckoning on race and social justice that was prompted by the murder of George Floyd last year. Toppin recently co-founded the Massachusetts DEI Coalition to provide a supportive network for DEI directors and to share ideas.

Toppin's goals are large in scope — to "dismantle or disrupt," he said, a system that was intentionally designed to benefit only a certain segment of the population. But he's approaching the work on an intensely local level, including reaching out to underserved sections of the city and having one-on-one conversations with people like the woman who wondered how the city could not be considered welcoming.

As an example, Toppin said he and Ward 1 City Councilor Todd Rotondo recently met with residents of Apple Village, the subsidized housing community that is located off Route 128 and in some ways isolated from the rest of the city. The city surveyed residents about their needs and, as a result, is planning to increase the reduced-cost bus service at Apple Village from two days to five days a week, replacing a little-used stop in Beverly Farms.

Toppin said a lot of the residents were unaware that the bus service was even available to them. Many were also unaware that Toppin had been hired by the city, and that other people of color, like City Councilor Dominic Copeland, School Committee member Kenann McKenzie, and Beverly Public Schools Director of Opportunity, Access and Equity Andre Morgan, were also in positions of leadership in Beverly.

"We're really trying to amp up ways to increase that communication," Toppin said. "A lot of that is going out to these communities and being visible there. When people of color see other folks of color especially in leadership positions, it signifies something to you. It makes a difference. It means, 'Oh, somebody's going to be acknowledging me, somebody's going to be recognizing my needs and my concerns and thinking about those things on a high level.'"

Toppin and city officials and volunteers have held a variety of events and taken on several initiatives designed to increase awareness and address issues of equity and discrimination. There have been celebrations of Pride Day and Juneteenth; a community conversation on symbols; a panel discussion on race and equity in the Beverly Public Schools; and a reading of Frederick Douglass' speech "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July."

Toppin and the Beverly Public Library created a book discussion group called BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Voices, with an emphasis on works that address systemic racism and inequality. The city created a Race Equity Task Force to review policies and procedures for racial inequities, and a Civil Rights Review Board to investigate and refer citizen complaints about possible civil and human rights violations.

As an example, Toppin said a woman contacted the city about a note left on her apartment door that included a racial slur, and police investigated the matter.

"It was nice for us to be able to hear her out, counsel with her, give her a voice," Toppin said. "So people feel like they're not forgotten."

Toppin said the city is also looking to diversify its workforce; develop programs to improve credit, homeownership and business opportunities for people of color; examine curriculum changes in the schools; work with Beverly Hospital to bridge gaps in health care access and equity; develop better understanding and engagement with police; and establish more cultural awareness of the BIPOC community.

Toppin said conversions about systemic racism can be difficult for people, and he acknowledged that not everyone is on board with these efforts. He said he received a long voice mail from a woman objecting to teaching critical race theory in the schools. But either way, he said, the conversations must take place.

"It should be part of our everyday thinking, because it's so ingrained in our society," he said. "This racist system has been built into the very fabric of our society. And that was intentionally done. In order to change it we must be intentional in what we do. The big thing I say to people when I've challenged them to look within themselves is to have courageous intent because — and nine times out of 10 it's a white person I'm giving this message to — you are now going to be challenging a system that's benefitted you."

Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.