2016-02-04 Human Relations Advisory Committee Minutes

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gyN OFR� Town of Reading y Meeting Minutes O moo° RECEIVED iOWN CLERK Board - Committee - Commission - Council: READING, MASS. RUMNQ RfLrtnoNS NbVISO(u c11"T'�F- 10116 MAR 21 A 1� 321 Date: 2016 -02 -04 Time: 7 pm Building: Reading Police Station Location: Community Room Address: 15 Union Street Purpose: Meeting Session: Attendees: Members - Present: Lori Hodin,David Clark, Linda Snow Dockser, Lynn Dornink, Kyung Yu, Seema Lynch Members - Not Present: Heather Mclain, Monique Grananman Others Present: Ruthie Wilson, Catherine Grayson, Jess Squires, Jason Cross Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Lynn Dornink Topics of Discussion: Meeting called to order by Linda. METCO director, Jason Cross, reported on METCO Lobby Day, which will be held March 15, at the State House. METCO funding is always in danger of being cut, so the more supporters who turn out to lobby the better. Jason pointed out that Lobby Day helps put "a face to the METCO program." We discussed how we can support these efforts. Linda plans to drive a van in and is able to take high school students as well as others. Ruthle and Katherine will discuss with AWOD about attending and /or writing letters of support. HRAC members can also attend /write letters and encourage other Reading residents to do likewise. Letter writing should be added to March meeting agenda. Linda reported that Debbie Irving, author of Waking ip White, will be speaking at the Reading Unitarian Church on March 29. The event was organized by the Library, with the help of donations from the Reading Clergy Association. There will also be a discussion of the book on March 12, from 2 -3 at the Library. Linda will be sending an email to members asking if they can volunteer at the event. We also discussed ways to appeal to young people and a more diverse audience when publicizing the event. Suggestions Included publicizing the talk under a different name, emphasizing the multi -media aspect of the presentation, and using social media to comment on the event as it happens. Catherine and Ruthie reported that there will be a Youth Congress for AWOD that some of their members will be attending. Lori led a Vision activity on the issue of micro aggressions. She referenced the #BlackatBLS social media campaign started by two students at Boston Latin who have experienced harassment and insensitivity at the school. Linda asked if there were any members Interested in joining Heather and her in doing organization research. Linda led the debriefing of the MLK celebration. Turnout was similar to last year. Overall, feedback was quite positive. Highlights for Lori were the METCO School Choir and RMHS members' performance of 'Dreaming with Eyes Open." Linda appreciated visuals put together by Kyung Yu for their honesty. Some points for next year: order one less coffee (leftovers), add an HRAC table to hallway exhibitors, provide a map of the tables in the program to increase audience awareness and provide guidance for table volunteers, make assignments to volunteers ahead of time, work to shorten program to an hour, assure that Page I 1