The Greater Boston area is home to many exceptional nonprofits, but the ones that serve moms are especially close to our hearts. Boston Moms is excited to spotlight and support the local nonprofit organizations that make our area so great.

This month we are showcasing Culture x Community!

We had the pleasure of chatting with Stacey Grant-Lewis, the founder of the organization and a fierce advocate of diminishing racism through education. Help us celebrate her mission by taking a moment to get to know her!

Tell us about your name: Our formal name is Culture x Community Inc., but we also do business as Culture x Co. The name refers to the integral way our culture informs the community and vice versa.

Where are you located? Ashland, MA

What is your mission? In terms of creating an anti-racist world, we believe in being the change we want to see. For us, that means creating space for open and respectful discourse and providing definitive educational and social solutions to combat racism. We aim to actively combat racially biased misinformation by honoring the contributions of all cultures, with a heavy emphasis on marginalized cultures and races in the community.

How was Culture x Co born? I am a Jamaican immigrant who is married to a white, Jewish man who was already a father when we met. Being in a multicultural family has been both a beautiful and eye-opening experience. However, in 2020 it became glaringly obvious how little we had all learned in school about race and culture.

My kids had so many questions about BIPOC culture that even I, as a Black person, did not have answers to. So I went on a fact-finding mission, and the website was born so I could share what I learned as I went along.

Our goal is to combat racism by shifting the narrative to an inclusive message that honors the past and looks to the future. Also, ultimately, I want my white stepchildren and kids of all colors to appreciate that we built this world together and to empower them to break the cycle of repeating the racism of the past.

Can you tell us about Culture School? Right now Culture School is an excerpt and self-paced quiz on the website, but the plan is to build it out into a real educational offering in the near future. In the meantime, moms can find a wealth of information on culturally diverse book recommendations, podcasts, and blog posts.

We understand you’re working hard to add to Culture School and are currently writing a 4-6 week course. What will that look like? Yes! As mentioned above, we are so excited to invite people to connect and educate each other on their heritage. It will be a real participatory experience for sure, and we hope by offering it this way it will build relationships and empathy. Division breeds contempt and misunderstanding, so we want to encourage and foster a healthy respect and curiosity for multiculturalism in people 8 and up. You can donate to make this happen HERE.

As moms, we’re always looking for awesome resources to help us teach our kids. When a mom first visits your website, where is the first place she should go? The first thing a mom visiting the site should do is have a good look around! There is a LOT to see. Then she should click on Culture School and select her path as an adult who is either BIPOC or non-BIPOC, and go from there. We’ve done our best to speak to the experience of those two populations.

Talk to us about your podcast! I like to say that Culture x Co started over 20 years ago when I had my first racist interaction, but it kicked off fully when I realized how little had changed in 2020. Like many people, I was astounded, infuriated, and embarrassed that we were once again witnessing senseless murders like Ahmaud Arberey and George Floyd and so many others. I just had to do something — anything — instead of sitting back, wringing my hands, and complaining. So I went on a fact-finding mission and collected what I learned on culturexco.org. Talking about it with others felt like the natural complement to what was on the site, and so the Culture Power Podcast was born. You can find it anywhere you find podcasts like Apple, iHeart Radio, and Pandora.

If you had to tell the world one thing about Culture X Co, what would it be? That change begins with all of us individually, and we have the power to create a less hateful world. 
 
How do we donate? You can donate HERE!
 
What are your social media handles? You can find us on our website, Instagram, and Facebook. Don’t forget to listen to our podcast!

You can find more about Boston Area nonprofits HERE

Are you interested in being highlighted in a Boston-Area nonprofit spotlight, or do you know an organization that deserves this recognition? Let us know! Please email Chelsey Weaver at [email protected] to discuss a feature.

Chelsey Weaver
Chelsey is a "central Mass" girl who married her 7th-grade sweetheart. She attended both undergraduate and graduate school in Boston, then taught high school on the North Shore for seven years. After living in Winchester and Melrose for several years (and moving too many times), she and her husband finally settled in Groveland in 2015. She loves the North Shore and everything it has to offer, and she enjoys raising her daughter there. Chelsey is the community engagement coordinator for Boston Moms and is mostly a stay-at-home mom. She spends lots of time advocating for children with disabilities, arguing with insurance companies, and looking for disabled influencers, inclusive companies, and materials that celebrate neurodiversity. She avidly listens to audiobooks, hates everything about coffee, and, most importantly, loves being a mom.