Diversity & Equity Committee Mission
The mission of the Diversity & Equity Committee for Gloucester’s 400+ Anniversary is to promote a truthful and inclusive history of Gloucester. The committee exists to help anyone interested in marking Gloucester’s 400+ Anniversary do so with intention and equity. The committee is working to bring attention and respect to the people of Gloucester whose stories are historically erased, misrepresented, or only partially told. We exist to encourage all those who engage in this anniversary to have conversations that are deep, thoughtful, and challenging about both the joyful and painful parts of the city’s history. The committee aims to do this in ways that bring more people into the conversation, creates shared accountability, and promotes responsible action in the City of Gloucester and beyond. We recognize that the act of telling history is a political one. The committee acknowledges colonization as a violent and oppressive force through which many Native people were murdered or displaced. We also acknowledge that slavery is a part of American history and that New England played an equal role to the south in creating the system, economy, and ethos that helped keep this institution running for over 200 years.
Gloucester 400+ Anniversary Land Acknowledgement
The City of Gloucester is located on the traditional and ancestral homeland of the Pawtucket people and their neighbors the Massachusett, Nipmuc, Penacook, and Wampanoag tribes. We recognize and honor the Native and Indigenous peoples who have lived in this territory for more than 10,000 years, are here now, and will be here for generations to come. We acknowledge our responsibility to include Native people and perspectives across our efforts to share Gloucester’s history, including the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory. During Gloucester’s 400+ Anniversary and looking towards the future, we seek to expand the visibility of and celebrate the histories, cultures, and stories of the Native and Indigenous peoples of this place. We would like to thank members of the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness for reviewing this acknowledgement.