From left: Bill Blum, founder and owner of Pride Toolbox; antique store owner Lionel Loveless; Cross Roads House executive director Will Arvelo; Portsmouth Assistant Mayor and Cup of Joe Cafe and Bar owner Joanna Kelley; and Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth president Ben VanCamp. (Photo by Ian Lenahan/Portsmouth Herald)

Local and state business leaders gathered Feb. 2 to support Mamadou Dembele, the local bank executive who was the victim of an alleged racist attack in November.

The “New Hampshire Businesses Say No to Hatred” event was held Thursday at the Portsmouth Public Library, organized by the Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth. It kicked off Black History Month and drew almost 100 attendees, including Dembele. Reported acts of hate rose from 40 complaints in 2018 to 186 in 2022, according to the New Hampshire attorney general’s Civil Rights Unit.

Portsmouth is not immune from such displays.

In January of last year, the founder and a now-deceased member of the neo-Nazi group Nationalist Social Club were charged with violating the NH Civil Rights Act after hanging a racist banner from the Stark Street overpass in July 2022.

Then, last February, a slew of downtown businesses, including Assistant Mayor Joanna Kelley’s Cup of Joe Cafe and Bar, Temple Israel and other buildings were hit with graffiti, including hateful symbols and messages, such as swastikas. A city teenager was charged by Attorney General John Formella two months later with 22 counts of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act.

Will Arvelo, director of Cross Roads House and chairperson of the Business Alliance for People of Color, said, “According to Attorney General John Formella, when a hate crime occurs, it sends a message to that person and to their community that they should feel unsafe and unwelcome. Hate crimes encourage people to withdraw from the community out of fear. New Hampshire is better than this, and if we are the ‘Live Free or Die’ state, then we ought to live up to our motto.”

Dembele, a vice president with Bangor Savings Bank, went public with his allegations on Dec. 1, sharing in a prepared statement to Seacoastonline he was attacked and assaulted on Nov. 22. His attorney, Robin Melone, noted the alleged assailant was white.

The case is open and is being investigated by local prosecutors and New Hampshire State Police, while the New Hampshire attorney general’s office is keeping tabs on it. A former Portsmouth Police Department employee might have been involved, according to Chief Mark Newport, so city police handed over the case to state police.

“The words used by my attacker leave no doubt that this was a racist act,” read Dembele’s Dec. 1 statement.

“The fear and fury of being attacked in my home community because I was seen as ‘other’ will never go away. … I look forward to seeing my attacker held accountable in a court of law.”

City police previously noted the incident occurred on Fleet Street near Gilley’s Diner on Nov. 22 around 10:30 p.m.

“And yet, in the third month (since) the attack on him happened, we are all disappointed that justice has not been rendered,” Arvelo said. “Meanwhile, there is no closure for Mamadou as he continues to heal from his physical scars and tries to heal from the psychological trauma. We all wonder when justice for Mamadou will be delivered.

“We are all concerned for Mamadou because we all are Mamadou,” he added. “What happened to him can happen to any of the people of color for no other reason than the pigment of their skin, or because we speak with an accent, or because we practice the Islamic or Jewish faith and traditions, or because we identify and love differently.”

Michael Garrity, spokesperson for the NH attorney general, revealed this week that the Strafford County attorney’s office is now leading the investigation alongside New Hampshire State Police.

The chamber event on Thursday featured three panelists: Kelley, Pride Toolbox founder and owner Bill Blum, and antique store owner Lionel Loveless, who also owns Officially Knotted Bowties.

Each panelist recalled facing racism and discrimination head-on, detailing the need for business leaders and community members to push back on racist and ignorant language and ideas. They encouraged other business owners to refer their customers to Black and Indigenous people of color-owned businesses, sponsor events and programs put on by those business owners, to train their staff to be welcoming and address inherent biases.

This article is being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.