Acton School Committee Member Feels 'Supported' After Harassment

ACTON, MA — Kyra Wilson Cook has a deep love for Acton, but she knows the town is not untouched by racism. In the last few weeks, that racism left its mark on her.

Wilson Cook is one of two Black members of the School Committee who, along with Evelyn Abayaah-Issah, were targeted by racist hate speech during public meetings over the last month. The incidents prompted a police investigation along with condemnations from Acton officials.

"I think that systemic racism touches every aspect of American life and Acton is no exception to that," Wilson Cook told Patch on Wednesday, "This was the time when it has touched me — I don't know why this has happened to me, I just know that it has."

Wilson Cook chose to live in Acton because she wanted to raise her children in a diverse community with a strong public school system that reflected the town's dynamic nature.

Wilson Cook moved to Acton seven years ago after graduating from Harvard. With two school-age children, she found it important to be part of the conversations that were shaping their education and community. She started out with classroom mom positions in her sons' elementary school and served on the 2018 superintendent search committee — 2020 was the first year she served on the Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee.

Now, seven months into her first term on the committee, she is navigating a level of "overt racism" she has never experienced before.

"I'm feeling supported and that's the best term I could use," Wilson Cook said, "I don't want to tell you that I'm okay, and I don't want to tell you that I'm not okay, but I am feeling grateful, and I'm feeling supported and that is good enough for now."

Teachers throughout the district have reached out to show support, Wilson Cook said. The district tried before the incidents to empower teachers to include anti-racist and anti-bias in their practices. Wilson Cook is confident the conversations will continue with more urgency.

Wilson Cook said speaking to her own children about the harassment was the hardest thing she's had to do as a mother.

"It was an important and profound conversation and one that still touches me deeply," Wilson Cook said.

She defines Acton as "incredibly dynamic," saying there is much more to the town than meets the eye. Look no further than the school system. Wilson Cook explains that Acton's history of diversity, woven into its historical lineage in the American Revolution has made it an ever-changing town and a prime destination for families.

"Acton is a diverse town, it always has been," Wilson Cook said. "It is unfortunate that there is a perception that Acton is a white town that just happens to have brown people living in it, because fundamentally it's just not true."

While 68.9 percent of Acton residents are white, 26 percent are Asian, 3.5 percent are Latino and 2.9 percent are Black, according to U.S. Census data.

Wilson Cook said the misconception about Acton's racial and ethnic makeup causes strain.

"It leads to tension as to who belongs and who does not and whose voice gets elevated and whose does not," Wilson Cook said, "It hides the great narrative of what Acton is, which is, we are a dynamic community."

With a seat on the School Committee, Wilson Cook now has a better view of how the students are shaping the narrative of the town, and she's impressed.

"When they speak we listen, because they speak with such confidence, such poise and with such power," Wilson Cook said.

A group of Acton-Boxborough High School students created and presented a petition to the School Committee to retire the district's 'Colonial' mascot in the fall. The students said the mascot was divisive and explained how colonialism was tied to and often rooted in racism and oppression. The School Committee voted in October to retire the mascot.

The Acton police investigation is far from closed. Even when it ends, debates about diversity and inclusion in will continue.

"Acton has fully come to the table," Wilson Cook said. "It is not going to be quick, and it is not going to be easy — I hope that my neighbors will be willing to sustain the conversation."