Metropolitan Beaches Commission Hearing on Linguistic Barriers Summary

Summary

93 individuals attended the MBC Hearing that took place on February 9th 2022 to discuss linguistic barriers to the region’s public beaches. The hearing featured various presentations and public testimony. Presentations were made by Save the Harbor/Save the Bay on best practices for multilingual signage and Daniel Cohen of Soofa on multilingual communication in digital signage. Public testimony was heard from individuals representing various neighborhoods within the Boston Metropolitan region and various cultural communities.

Important Themes

  • Shortage of multilingual signage: of 250 signs surveyed on the Region’s public beaches, just 4 were in a language other than English

  • Exclusion on the beaches: there are individuals who have been historically excluded from experiencing beaches and other outdoor resources that we have the opportunity to welcome 

  • Desire for community partnerships: there are many different opportunities where multilingual access can be improved by working with community organizations 

Public Testimony: Important Quotes

Julia Mejia, Councilor-at-large, City of Boston

“At some points in my life, I was just less than a couple of miles away from our city beaches. But I have a few, if any memories of ever going to any of the Boston beaches to be completely transparent. But what I do remember, is seeing a photo of black protesters being chased on horseback for trying to desegregate Carlson beach. So from an early age, I had learned that our public beaches weren't for people like me, either because of the color of our skin, or because of the language that we spoke”

“In terms of solutions, I think we need to be listening to people who are living the realities, what is keeping them from utilizing our waterfront? Do they even knowBoston has public beaches? We need to create clear pathways towards introducing waterfront to communities of people who do not think that this is a safe space for them.”

Nina Liang, Councilor-at-large, City of Quincy

“There are these amazing efforts to do these things and to offer these services. But not to sound crass, it's kind of pointless, right, if such a large part of the population can't understand it to then take advantage of those things.”

Maya Smith, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

“When there's diversity in the programming that is huge, when there are music options that are indifferent languages that represent the community, when there's food options that represent the community. Those events seem to be so well attended and so well enjoyed.”

Jacqueline Chaves, Revere Resident

“So my first question to the commission is, in addition to adding translated signage on beaches, and increasing translated digital outreach, in English predominant media forums, how can we partner with bipoc and linguistically diverse mainstream forums that are using other cultures and in different languages so that they can better outreach and communicate about events and information regarding our beaches to their court base”

Mercy Robinson, South Boston En Accion

“I wanted to say thank you for the usage of QR codes, I feel like it is something that is opening a lot of doors for a lot of people to be provided with so much information and having to be able to carry it around with them is essential.”

Alex DeFronzo, Piers Park Sailing

“I feel like the times when the beaches feel the most welcoming and inclusive is when there's Better Beaches Programming going on. And, you know, signage is super important.”

All Speakers

  • Chris Mancini, Executive Director of Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay

  • María Rodriguez, Environmental Policy Assistant of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

  • Brendan Crighton, State Senator for 3rd Essex District

  • Adrian Madaro, State Representative for 1st Suffolk District

  • Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy & Communications of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

  • Caroline Adamson, Policy & Communications Intern of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

  • Daniel West Cohen, City Growth Manager of Soofa Digital

  • Stephanie Cooper, Acting Commissioner of the Department of Conservation and Recreation

  • Jason McCann, Commission for Nantasket Beach, Hull Town Representative

  • Donald Bossi, Lieutenant, Massachusetts State Police

  • Barbara Bishop, …

  • Jessica Giannino, State Representative for 16th Suffolk District

  • Nina Liang, City Councilor at Large, City of Quincy

  • Maya Smith, Director of Partnerships and Program Development of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

  • Jacqueline Chavez, Revere Resident

  • Ghizlane Benzerjeb, Revere Resident

  • Mercy Boston, Executive Director of South Boston en Accion

  • Alex DeFronzo, Executive Director od Piers Park Sailing

  • Nicole McClain, …

  • Julia Mejia, City Councilor at Large, City of Boston

Written Testimony Takeaways

  • Asks the Commission to recommend meaningful, and compensated partnerships with local organizations that work with Latino and non-English speaking communities, to promote equity and culturally appropriate interactions.

All Written Testimony

  • Latino Outdoors, Massachusetts