Inclusive Community Events
Our Inclusive Community Events program seeks to educate, celebrate, and bring awareness to diverse cultures, holidays and life experiences through community-based events.
We believe in the power of bringing people together to spark conversation, create connection, learn from each other, and foster a stronger, more inclusive community. These events are held locally, open to all, and planned authentically.
Our flagship event is our Juneteenth event, led by our Executive Director Shantae Holmes and held each year on Walpole’s Town Common. It’s a fun, family-friendly, educational event with a different theme each year. In 2022, our multi-town celebration attracted more than 200 celebrants! Other events have included a Diwali Craft Night, which brought the community together to create beautiful rangoli designs while celebrating India’s biggest holiday of the year.
“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.”
- Verna Myers
Would you like to see your cultural holiday or event recognized in the community? Let us know at info@beinclusivema.org!
“Be Inclusive has opened Walpole, especially the next generation of Walpole, to diverse (and fun) books, experiences, and activities. It makes me proud to be part of a community that has made a conscious decision to celebrate diversity, inclusion and education.”
— Silpa Pande
The Multicultural Books Initiative (MBI)
The MBI aims to increase the amount and visibility of books that lift the voices of underrepresented and marginalized communities within the Walpole Public Schools.
During the school year, the MBI donates at least five books per month to each of Walpole’s four public elementary schools and the Daniel Feeney Preschool. These monthly book donations focus on content that is diverse, affirming, and tells stories that are underrepresented in the libraries of our schools. It can make an enormous impact for kids of color and other marginalized groups to see themselves reflected in books by and about people who look and feel like them. Diverse literature can shape a child's self-perception, and it can also increase awareness of races and cultures that are different from their own.
The MBI fosters a close working relationship with school staff to ensure children have access to our book donations, and we provide staff with safe and secure online read-alouds and supporting material to encourage further conversation. As the program grows, our targeted population includes all schools in the Walpole Public School District and surrounding communities.
“Working with the Multicultural Books Initiative has been a wonderful experience. Thanks to the MBI’s monthly book donations, students and staff have been given the gift of access to diverse books, authors and illustrators. Partnering with the MBI has helped create opportunities for students to see themselves in the pages of books.”
Be a part of elevating our community.
“Young people who are growing up [without] first hand experience with diversity can begin to acquire awareness of others through literature. This is a critical part in helping to support their racial awareness and cultural assumptions.”
— DeLap, A & Simeon, L. (2017 April) White Kids Need Diverse Books