June 2, 2022

Dear Mr. Trabucco, Ms. Marino, Mr. Brown, Ms. Coletta and Mr. Ciciotti,

We were saddened and stunned to learn that the Pembroke Select Board made the decision to dissolve your town’s five month old DEI committee at its meeting on May 25, 2022.

Municipal-level committees that support the principle that every person has equal value and dignity no matter who they are exist in cities and towns across Massachusetts and the United States. They may be called different names, such as DEI committees, Human Rights Commissions, etc., but they all serve to provide resources and support for individuals who experience identity-based mistreatment or discrimination, educate the public, promote equitable policies and practices, and more. Sadly, identity-based mistreatment and discrimination still occur everywhere in the US – one need only open the newspaper on most days to discover some new incident. No town, no matter how filled with kind and well-meaning citizens it may be, can assume it is excepted from this. We can all strive to do better.

In Massachusetts, there are nearly 50 municipal-level committees doing this work across a range of commission and committee models. These communities include Amherst, Arlington, Attleboro, Barnstable County, Belmont, Beverly, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Canton, Chelsea, Danvers, Dedham, Duxbury, Easton, Fairhaven, Framingham, Greenfield, Hingham, Hull, Lawrence, Lexington, Lynn, Malden, Mashpee, Maynard, Medford, Melrose, Needham, New Bedford, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Plymouth, Reading, Scituate, Somerville, Stoneham, Wakefield, Wayland, Wenham, Westborough, Westwood, Winthrop, Woburn and Worcester.

We stand with all citizens of Pembroke who feel unseen and unheard as a result of the decision to dissolve your town’s DEI committee. We hope that you will reconsider the value of making a municipal-level commitment to ensuring that all members of your community feel they are supported and valued.

Respectfully,

Arlington Human Rights Commission
Barnstable No Place for Hate
Project Connect, Barnstable
Bourne – Wareham Race Amity
Cape Cod Pride
Cape & Island Trans Resource Fund
Cape Cod & South Shore Diversity Coalition
Cohasset Diversity Committee
Dedham Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion
Duxbury for All Steering Committee
Hanover Pride
Hanover Unity Council Steering Committee
Hingham Pride Project
Hingham Unity Council Board
Massachusetts Human Rights Coalition
New Bedford Human Relations Commission
PFLAG Cape Cod
Plymouth No Place for Hate Committee
Plymouth Pride
Sandwich for All Coordinating Committee
Scituate Together for Representation, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (STRIDE) Steering
Committee
Scituate PFLAG
South Shore Unity Council
Weymouth for Inclusion Solidarity and Equity

The above signers are committees, community organizations and/or non-profits that promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in their communities.