Two years ago, Dale Bryan, the assistant director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program and a Medford resident since 1993, noticed that Somerville had something that Medford lacked: adequate communication between community members. Organizers in Somerville had been gathering for years to discuss issues relating to diversity and inclusivity in the city, according to Bryan.
These meetings in Somerville inspired him to help start Medford Conversations, a project that aims to improve issues relating to sustainability, justice and quality of life in Medford through a series of conversations between different communities and stakeholders in the city.
The chair of the Medford Human Rights Commission (HRC), Bryan suggested his idea for the Medford Conversations project to other members of the Medford HRC in 2014 as a way to encourage residents to communicate with one another and collectively find solutions to issues that affect different people in Medford.
"Every community has a variety and diversity of opinions," Bryan said. "So it's a given that there are multiple points of view. So how do you promote dialogue across those multiple points of view?"
Bryan detailed the most important issues facing the city in "Medford Conversations: Anticipating Change, Fostering Solidarity, Enhancing Resiliency, Transforming Justice," a pamphlet he wrote in 2015 to garner support for the project. According to the pamphlet, these issues include gentrification influenced by development projects such as the MBTA's Green Line Extension Project, the city's changing ethnic demographics and the decreasing population of historically black communities, notably in West Medford.
This pamphlet was then distributed to organizations throughout the city, and those who expressed interest in getting involved with Medford Conversations eventually formed part of the steering committee that heads the project's affairs today, according to Bryan.
Alicia Hunt, the director of Medford's energy and environment office and an environmental agent for the city, is a member of Medford Conversations' steering committee. Hunt is particularly interested in the many environmental issues happening in Medford, of which she said the current "hot issue" is the rising water level of the Mystic River. Rising water levels, along with a high tide from the Boston Harbor, could pose flooding risks for a huge portion of Medford, according to Hunt.
She said that if a natural disaster were to occur, she is unsure if residents would know their neighbors well enough to reach out to or help one another. In her opinion, this lack of communication is not unexpected or unusual.
"Medford has not had a really strong history of people talking to each other," Hunt said. "New England is known for having a 'stiff upper lip,' and traditionally in New England, people take care of their own but they don't necessarily meet others."
Hunt said that in order to talk about difficult topics, people must attempt to know their fellow citizens -- regardless of race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, political leanings or existing community ties.
Various organizations, including the Medford Community Coalition and the Medford Arts Council, have held events such as Envision Medford in February and the Medford Arts and Culture Summit in November 2015 on behalf of Medford Conversations.
As of now, however, Medford Conversations has primarily been attended by members of the steering committee rather than by members of the general Medford community, according to Bryan.
One of the organizations that has helped the project gain footing is the Grace Episcopal Church in Medford, which has sponsored many meetings for Medford Conversations' staff and steering committee.
Reverend Noah Evans of the Grace Episcopal Church, who is part of the steering committee, said that sponsoring some of Medford Conversations' meetings has helped his church become the hotbed of diversity he wants it to be. It has also allowed his church community to better reflect the diversity of Medford.
"Connections between people across religious, ethnic and socioeconomic differences are weak [in Medford]," Evans told the Daily in an email. "The extraordinary diversity of Medford is a real gift and asset, and we have an extraordinary opportunity right now for a rich social fabric as we find ways to connect across our differences."
Bryan said that the plan is for Medford Conversations to hold its own public event for the first time in late January or early February.
Through his involvement in both Tufts and the city of Medford, Bryan said he aims to facilitate collaboration between residents of Medford and the Tufts community in order to address issues in which Tufts is implicated.
He added that he hopes to see Tufts students get involved in the project. At this time, several Tufts departments and offices already serve on this steering committee, such as the Office for Community Relations, the Environmental Studies Program and the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, according to the project's website.
"I wanted to see the city and the campus collaborate on discussions about changes underway in Medford," Bryan said.
According to Bryan, after the project's first public event, there will be a call for members of the public to gather and discuss an issue of their choice or an issue that the committee deems appropriate in groups of 10 to 12 people. Ideally, Bryan said, there will be five to seven groups each discussing a different topic.
These smaller discussions will continue for the following six weeks, during which groups will meet once every other week. After that, there will be another public event that will serve as a way for each of the small groups to share what they discussed, Bryan said.
Finally, the steering committee will attempt to connect these groups to resources that will help them accomplish the goals they outlined, while also allowing the groups to seek out their own ideas for accomplishing these goals, Bryan explained.
Additionally, Bryan hopes that this process will become an annual affair.
Having worked in Medford for a long time, Evans can see how the city is changing and recognizes the need for collaboration, as well as improved equity, among residents.
"I see Medford Conversations as a way to connect and learn from one another and strengthen the civic and cultural life of our city," Evans said.
Medford Conversations connects communities across Medford
