Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1313443
68 DECEMBER 2020 I N - D E P T H process of reflection and evolution, Bennett says. When he first arrived in the United States, he believed racism was all but extinct, and that Black people only needed to make the right choices to succeed. Over time, however, Bennett had more experiences that made him question this conviction. There was the time a Black member of his church was jailed for a weekend on a baseless shoplifting charge. And the time a neighbor he thought was friendly called the police on him in his own apartment complex and he ended up thrown to the ground while his son watched, terrified. Bennett started to understand what being Black in America really meant, he says. Even in Massachusetts, a state that prides itself on its progressive attitudes, racism and discrimination are very real, he says. "You're looked at differently, you're treated differently, you're trailed at the malls," he says. "People clutch their purses when you enter a room." He became involved with the Essex County Community Bennett at the Zion Baptist Church in Lynn where he is a youth pastor. SHOES • JEWELRY • HANDBAGS • CLOTHING • GIFTS WINCHESTER 17 Thompson Street 781.721.5300 ANDOVER 10 Main Street 978.409.1541 I N S TO R E & O N L I N E www.soleamour.com