The City of Boston has hired three companies to create a tourism campaign aiming to welcome a more diverse range of people into the city by highlighting businesses and organizations run by racial minorities.
Black-owned Colette Phillips Communications Inc. and Proverb partnered with the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau on the project, according to a City press release.
The campaign will feature minority-owned businesses and organizations, as well as advertise Boston’s arts and entertainment sectors to help the local economy recover from the pandemic.
City officials wrote in an email the campaign will launch in the coming weeks, and will be mindful of COVID-19 restrictions.
The campaign seeks to alleviate the notion that Boston is “unwelcoming” to people of color by showcasing the city’s cultural richness and diversity, and to encourage visitors to explore diverse neighborhoods, City officials wrote.
“I think that it’s great. I think it’s long overdue,” said Imani McFarlane, co-owner and artistic director of Tafari Wraps, a Rastafari-inspired headwear store in Seaport featured in the campaign.
McFarlane said Colette Phillips has a record of promoting people of color in the corporate world.
“It’s a great thing because very often I look around and I don’t see women, other artists that really look like me doing open studio,” McFarlane said. “I know so many African American artists with so much talent that need more exposure.”
Based in a traditionally white neighborhood, McFarlane said her business has hit a financial wall. She has also been harassed and called a racial slur during business hours, she added
McFarlane’s daughter Delmeshia Haynes, operations manager at Tafari Wraps, said she is unsure if the campaign can be effective, given Boston’s history of unkept promises to Black and brown communities and the availability of financial resources. However, she said she is excited to see its impact.
“I always felt like it was segregated,” Haynes said. “There’s always been this chameleonic aspect to my livelihood, where there is this struggle to navigate both worlds: white suburbia and then Dorchester Black, Latino, Caribbean community.”
She said the City must engage with the community through funding and conversation for the campaign to be a success.
Marquis Victor, executive director of social justice organization Elevated Thought, said similar campaigns have contributed to gentrification.
“[The campaign is] great on paper, but what about the process?” Victor said. “Who’s involved with the process to ensure that whatever noble efforts are put down on paper becomes a reality?”
Speaking from his own experiences in Lawrence, Victor said transparency and open communication are essential when working with marginalized communities. He said having Black-owned businesses lead these efforts can be promising, but “performative” if they are not involved throughout the project.
“For me, it’s as simple as ensuring that the voices of the people are there and are at the table, at the small decisions that were made until we reach the finish line with whatever project it is,” Victor said. “That’s the simple difference.”
