In an ongoing effort to foster dialogue and educate our community on racial justice issues, Falmouth Community Television (FCTV) presents the twelfth episode in a series of programs entitled
THE Conversation. Co-hosted and co-produced by Onjalé Scott Price and The Rev. Will Mebane, the series offers a timely dialogue on race with a local focus. The topic of this episode of THE Conversation is “Racism in the Tourist Industry.”

Ms. Scott Price is the COO of Mizar Imaging in Woods Hole. Rev. Mebane is the rector of Falmouth’s
St. Barnabas’s Episcopal Church.

Joining the co-hosts for the twelfth episode of THE Conversation are guest panelists India Rose and Michael Kasparian. Erik Albert, Jerry Lassos, and Olivia Masih White also appear on the program. The discussion in this edition of THE Conversation focuses on the questions: “Where do you find racism in the tourist industry?” and “How can we address racism in the tourist industry?”

India Rose is a highly sought-after motivational speaker for athletes, athletic coaches, and parents of student-athletes. India is an entrepreneur, writer, philanthropist, parent, and social justice activist who was raised and resides on Martha’s Vineyard. Her company, Sideline Sports, LLC, sells branded apparel and accessories from its flagship store on Main Street in Vineyard Haven and online at sidelinebrand.com. She is also the founder and board president of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Thriving, Inc., whose mission is to “strengthen and support small business’s growth for the purpose of thriving main streets; and to assist in positioning student-athletes with access to opportunities to achieve their academic and athletic goals.” In 2019, India created Experience MVY, or EMVY, Martha’s Vineyard’s black-owned business directory. The directory has since grown beyond its digital platform at experiencemvy.com and now has a published booklet to match.

Michael Kasparian moved to Falmouth in 2005 from his native Providence, where he held leadership positions in the banking industry. In 2008, he joined the Cape Cod Healthcare Foundation as a Manager of Donor Relations at Falmouth Hospital. Michael also contributed part-time at the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce until 2014, when he left Cape Cod Healthcare to assume his current position as president and CEO of the Chamber. Michael holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Bryant University and is a graduate of Rhode Island College and Rhode Island School of Design. He earned a Certificate in Nonprofit Organization Management from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management in 2015 at Villanova University, where he served as co-president of his class. In 2016 he was awarded the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation by the American Society of Association Executives. Michael is also a certified antique appraiser specializing in American furniture.

Joining the co-hosts for the eleventh episode of THE Conversation are guest panelists Morgan James Peters and Robin Joyce Miller. Vasco Pires and Zyg Peters also appear on the program. The discussion in this edition of THE Conversation focuses on the questions: “Where do we find racism in the arts?” and “How can we address racism through art?”

Morgan James Peters, also known as Mwalim, is a multi-award-winning interdisciplinary artist whose works span the mediums of music, theater, literature, and film. Playing Carnegie Hall as a violist before turning 14, he became one of the youngest session players in EMI Records history at age 16. A graduate of Music and Art High School in New York, he earned his BA in Music and MS in Film from Boston University and his MFA in writing from Goddard College. His plays and performance pieces have been presented throughout the USA, Canada, the UK, and the Caribbean. In 1994, he co-founded Oversoul Theatre Collective, Cape Cod's first professional Black and Native Arts organization. His first novel,
Land of the Black Squirrels, was published in 2020. He is a founding member and keyboardist for the multi-Grammy-nominated soul-funk ensemble, The GroovaLottos, and a multi-award-winning solo recording artist of soul, jazz, and dance music. He is the owner of Polyphonic Studios, a recording studio in Bourne, and a tenured English and Black Studies professor at UMass Dartmouth.

Robin Joyce Miller is a retired educator, artist, poet, and public speaker, who taught for 30 years in the
New York City school system. She spent the first half of her career teaching learning-disabled students and the next half as an art teacher. Miller was also a Blueprint for the Arts Facilitator, leading workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum. After retirement, she and her husband have maintained two residences in New York and Cape Cod. Robin co-authored The Faithful Journey – From Slavery to Presidency with her husband, James W. Miller.
She also wrote and illustrated Who Do You Say That I Am – A Man Called Jesus with paintings inspired by Ethiopian Christian art. Miller specializes in African American Heritage art and poetry. Paintings from her book, A Humble Village, have been exhibited in the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and the African American Museum of Hempstead, NY. After George Floyd’s murder, Robin and her husband began presenting a Black Lives Matter series with the Cotuit Center for the Arts. These programs are available to the public on YouTube.

Joining the co-hosts for the tenth episode of THE Conversation are guest panelists Miranda Alves and Robert Cutts. Rev. Nell Fields, Brenda Nolan, and Robert Mascali also appear on the program. The discussion in this edition of THE Conversation focuses on the questions: “What are the root causes of racism in the justice system?” and “How do we eradicate racism in the justice system?”

Miranda Alves is a co-founder of Cape Cod Voices, a community organization created by women of color who have grown up on Cape Cod. Cape Cod Voices focuses on bringing black and brown voices into the center of the conversation on race, combating and educating about systemic and institutional racism issues on Cape Cod, and advocating for students of color in local schools. Miranda grew up in Bourne and currently lives in Falmouth.

Robert Cutts was raised in Harwich by his grandmother and his aunt, Cape Cod civil rights activist Eugenia Fortes. He is a 1977 graduate of Harwich High School. Robert spent six years in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany as an officer in the Military Police. In 1985, Robert began a 30-year career working for the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office in Fairfax, Virginia. In 2014, he retired and returned to Cape Cod, where he resides in Bourne. He is currently writing a book about his experiences entitled The Darkness Of Being Black In Law Enforcement. Robert is also a six-time world champion powerlifter. He enjoys working to educate youth and help them understand how members of law enforcement think.