It’s sometimes hard for us, residents of the Hub of the Universe, to imagine but our fair city doesn’t necessarily have the best reputation in other parts of the country.  

Call it a hangover from the bussing crisis of 50 years ago, compounded by a pop culture image dominated by Dunkin’ iced regulars, vanishing Rs and the 1980s Irish mafia, but more than a few Americans have no idea we are a region of incredible cultural, national and racial diversity. Nowhere in the United States have communities fully moved beyond the country’s racist past, but not many realize we’re one of the places working hardest to acknowledge our history and chart a new course that keeps that history firmly behind us. 

In a country – and a world – where the future is more and more multicultural and multiracial and where our economy depends on talent from around the world actively choosing Boston, this is a vulnerability Massachusetts’ business community shouldn’t want hanging around. 

But we all have a huge opportunity to help change that narrative when the NAACP’s annual national convention comes to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center July 26-Aug. 1. 

Some of the groundwork has already been laid to show literally thousands of America’s top Black changemakers, business leaders and celebrities that Boston belongs on their agendas and in their future plans. 

WS Development and Black Owned Bos., for example, have worked consciously to make sure the Seaport’s storefronts have started to reflect the region’s diversity, with the latter’s pop-up market on the Seaport Common and the former bringing in restaurants like Grace by Nia and the soon-to-open ZaZiBar. As convention attendees explore the neighborhood around the BCEC, they’ll see that a neighborhood once dubbed “whiter than the old Boston” is anything but that today. 

And Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration is throwing its weight behind efforts to show Boston’s present and future really is diverse, welcoming and thriving. Wu and local NAACP branch President Tanisha Sullivan unveiled a suite of city-run events last week that will connect both high-flying NAACP leaders and more ordinary attendees with Bostonians from many walks of life. These personal interactions can help show the patina of diversity that Black-owned and Black-oriented retailers and events provide runs quite a bit deeper in our city. 

But these existing efforts can only do so much without the active participation of Boston’s business community. At its simplest, there are still sponsorship opportunities, where businesses can use their money and their logos to show our collective true colors. Businesses should stretch themselves beyond writing checks, though. When executives and employees hit the street in person, it’s a powerful signal. The mayor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion has offered to help businesses find ways to volunteer at events surrounding the convention. And the NAACP convention itself has plenty of opportunities for the general public to attend, network and learn.  

Let’s get out there and make a full court press to boost Boston’s future – and stay engaged in the months and years to come. 

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