The following are comments shared by Mary Vieira, Principal of the Paul W Crowley East Bay MET School, at our 2025 Mingle & Jingle Holiday Gathering at Rough Point Museum. Our guests were mesmerized by Mary’s words. We hope you find them inspiring as well.
When Bari asked me to share my perspective tonight as a community partner of Bike Newport, she posed a deceptively simple question: If you were asked—why is Bike Newport important—what would your answer be?
The first word that came to mind was freedom.
As we’ve heard tonight, Bike Newport’s work is dynamic and far-reaching—advocacy, equity and access, infrastructure, education. But as an educator and community partner, I’ve come to understand that all of this work serves something deeper: expanding who has the rights and the resources to move freely through the world.
I see the impact of Bike Newport in the lives of the young people and families I serve in so many ways. I see it when students arrive safely to our campus on the north end of Newport by bike, using infrastructure intentionally built in a part of the city that has been historically under-resourced. I see it when students in a biking workshop climb onto a bike for the first time at the Traffic Garden—learning not just balance, but the capabilities of their bodies. I see it when students intern at Bike Newport–aspiring bike mechanics and engineers–are trusted with real tools, and real responsibility, and see they are capable of more than they knew.
But, perhaps most powerfully, I’ve watched students find at Bike Newport what educational scholar and cultural critic bell hooks calls a home place—a place where they are not asked to leave parts of themselves at the door. At Bike Newport, queer youth trust that they are safe. Multilingual learners and BIPOC students know they will be seen, embraced and valued in their full identities. Young women aspiring to lead know that they will see examples of women thriving in leadership.
Bike Newport doesn’t just teach skills—it builds communities of authentic belonging, and communities like that change the trajectory of lives.
One of my former students, Angel Nunez, interned at Bike Newport. His words capture the heart of this work far better than I can express:
“For three years, I interned at Bike Newport. At first, it was just a place where I helped organize parts and watched experienced mechanics do their thing. But over time, I became one of those mechanics. I learned how to fix gears, repair flats, rebuild brakes—things I never imagined myself doing. More importantly, I became part of a mission: getting more people, especially in underserved communities, on bikes. That shop became a second home. It taught me practical skills, but more importantly patience, teamwork, and the importance of showing up for others.”
Angel entered high school without a clear sense of purpose or possibility. His experience at Bike Newport lifted the ceiling on what was possible for him.
And our students at the MET are not the only ones who benefit. Across Aquidneck Island, Bike Newport’s reach is wide and intentional—from preschoolers on push bikes at the MLK, to Thompson Middle School students still learning how to navigate the world, to spanish-speakers and newcomers in the Ciclista program at Rogers High School–Bike Newport meets people where they are—and invites them forward.
And that brings me back to the freedom that Bike Newport empowers in our community.
Freedom to move.
Freedom to use our bodies in strong, capable ways.
Freedom to know how to fix things.
Freedom to access safe pathways—to school, to work, to opportunity, to beauty.
Freedom to exist fully and authentically in community.
The rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle is credited for saying , “If you look at the people in your circle and you don’t get inspired, then you don’t have a circle. You have a cage.”
Every time I’m at a Bike Newport event—whether it’s a full moon ride, a pride parade, a holiday bike give away, or at the Mingle & Jingle — I look around and I am deeply, immeasurably inspired…and I am reminded, that Bike Newport is not just a bike organization. It is a freedom-building institution.
So please raise your glasses and join me in a toast to us, for being part of this liberated, inspiring circle.
❤️ 🚲 ❤️
Thanks to Mary for her inspiring partnership, and for so eloquently and powerfully sharing with us the deep impact of community collaboration.
The 2025 Mingle & Jingle at beautiful Rough Point Museum was a delightful gathering of friends and supporters. We’re grateful to The Roberts Mouligné Group at Morgan Stanley and White Dog Distilling for sponsoring the evening; and to Newport Craft Brewing, Mosaïc Wine Distributors, and the Newport Festivals Jazz Lab for their generous contributions.
Bike Newport