By Kumari Devarajan
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
On Sunday, June 11, Sumner McClain addressed a small crowd at the First Annual Needham-Wellesley Race Amity Day. He told a story about a white passenger on the T who deliberately moved away from him to the other end of the car. He described his first thoughts after it happened: “doesn’t he see me?”
His storytelling partner and wife, “Mama” Linda McClain, spoke about the first white lady she encountered when she was a child. She recounted having to ask her mother why the lady’s skin was so pale. In these stories and others, the duo highlighted tensions and silences that hover over national discourse on race. The audience was engaged and enthusiastic. “Mama” Linda led them in a rendition of “This Little Light of Mine.” The people clapped along with her drum and waved tambourines at the end of each story.
Amity means friendship. Race Amity Day is a celebration of the tradition of cross-cultural and cross-racial partnership and collaboration. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts made it an official holiday in 2015, thanks to the efforts of Rep. Denise Garlick of Needham.
The event had the feel of a community gathering. People came from all over the Boston area. Rep. Garlick shook hands and chatted with constituents. Old friends greeted each other, and parents recruited their children to hand out water bottles and tambourines.
Rep. Garlick addressed the crowd and acknowledged the significance of race amity today. “These are dangerous times,” she said, calling amity “the best tool and the best hope against racism.”
The guest of honor was Jean McGuire, who led METCO’s school integration program for 43 years. Under her leadership, the organization oversaw the placement of tens of thousands of students of color from Boston in suburban schools. She has championed equal access to education for her entire career. McGuire stressed the importance of emphasizing to the next generation that “we need an open and free society.”
Spoken word poet Jamele Adams, also known as Harlym 1Two5, revived the group — which was fading in the ninety degree weather — with poetry and rhythm. Clad in a backwards baseball cap and a tie-dye bandana around his collar, Adams called out each decade and had the audience cheer if they were born in that decade, revealing an eighty-year age range. He borrowed words from African-American leaders in American history, replacing Muhammed Ali’s famous line “I am the greatest” with “we are the greatest.”
In her address to the crowd, Rep. Garlick stated, “the work of race is very hard and always has been.”
When the event was over, she said she was pleased and hoped for more of the same for next year: “When we are talking about difficult topics,” she remarked, “it’s good to intersperse it with art and music.”
