HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-11-18 Human Relations Advisory Committee Minutes Town of Reading
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Board - Committee - Commission - Council:
Human Relations Advisory Committee
Date: 2020-11-18 Time: 7pm
Building: Town Hall Location: Town Zoom Call
Address: Remote Session:
Purpose: Monthly Meeting Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Kern Perry, Josh Goldlust, David Clark, Kyung Yu
Members - Not Present: Jordan Serpone,
Others Present: Amy Lannon
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Josh Goldlust
Josh calls meeting to order at 7:04 pm
1. Sharing Experiences
a. Election is over.
2. Additional Item-Library Update from Amy Lannon who shared Reading Public
Library's Equity Initiatives Update for November 2020. Anyone who wants to get
involved, they can reach out to Amy Lannon via the library.
a. Pulse of Reading Conversation 'Let's Talk About Race' in Jan 2020 facilitated
by Deborah Gilburg, Monique Gnanaratnam, Amy Lannon
b. Lives Lived Unfree: Authors of articles from The Reading Times Chronicle
c. Grounded Knowledge Panel: The Black Experience in Reading
d. Several other programs in planning process
e. RPS partnership with Grant Hightower and Chris Kelly
i. Work with 'We The Youth' to develop Story Corps
ii. Diverse American Voices program. (12) hours of content taught over
(6) sessions
iii. 'Day in a Life of a Metco Student' story/ video
f. Other partnerships with Coalition of Us (CATO)
3. Police Readout:
a. There was a report about jogger who was called racial slurs out a car window
while driving. Car registered in Tewksbury. Local police went and no one
answered. No response to Reading Police follow up calls. Confirmed it was
younger kids and car registered to parents. Issue was filed in database.
b. Swamped with other domestic issues in the town
c. Lots of hands on training being canceled due to Covid-19. Example is de-
escalation training.
d. Education about'mask up Reading' -> assist with education
i. Following CDC guidelines
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ii. Pre-Governor order and if outside & more than 6 ft from an individual-
masks were not mandated. Yes, if an officer is in a house or closer
than 6 ft.
ill. Post Governor order, wear them all the time- mandated.
e. 'We the Youth' march back in Oct- kept people on sidewalks and crossing
areas. Great discussions ahead of time with Police and group-> great
discussion around logistics. About 25-30 people attended. No incidents.
1. Polls went smoothly. Had extra staff on hand. Yes, a complaint filed
about police posing with people holding election signs. Being reviewed.
4. Sen/ Rep Listening Event
a. Josh- Good dialogs and strategies shared by the participants. Not very heavily
attended due to other town meeting conflicts.
b. Kerri- yes good comments about all the panel participants knowing each
other. How to understand people from different points of view. Importance of
dialog.
c. Lesson learned- Josh commented that we need a better strategy for
awareness. Which groups and different medias to reach people. Need
ownership by HRAC members to then execute those communication plans
with the various groups in the town. Something we can plan for as it will be
needed for future events.
5. MLK Jr Event- how approach a remote agenda and content
a. Theme discussion
i. Kern- Coming together or community. Provides some sample quotes
ii. Amy Lannon volunteered some suggestions as well that help bring in
other BPOC points of view that honor MLK's memory &thoughts
ill. Kyung- timing for the event? About 45 min vs an hour? Is there a
central think we want to highlight? Or maybe smaller sections.
Instagram experiences? Yes Church is going to do remote joint choir
b. Josh update
i. Reached out to Grant Hightower- METCO
ii. Reached out to Anna Wentlent- HS Singer's do have a recording of a
performance we can use
ill. How about Coalition of Us (Philmore Philip)- who can reach out ?
iv. Jamie Michaels- combining church choirs? / Clergy assoc?- Kyung
confirmed they are planning to record a performance. Kyung will take
lead on this
v. Who can reach out to Latoya Kibusi -> We the Youth- Kyung?
c. Josh asked if we can use Library's webinar account for the event- Amy -yes,
and we can record it too.
6. Kern- FB page updates. Kerri also added links to other sites for those events we
were highlighting. For second half of November and before our next meeting,
a. Nov 20th Transgender Day
It. Nov 27th- Native American Heritage Day
c. Dec 3rd- American Disabled Person's day
d. Dec 10th- Int'I Human Rights Day
7. Minutes approval from last meeting
a. Kerri makes motion to approve minutes, Chief Clark 2nds. Approved 3-0
[Kyung wasn't there]
8. Establish date for next meeting
a. Monday 7th at 7 PM
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9. Motion to adjourn:
a. Chief Clark makes motion to adjourn. Josh 2nds. Motion passes 3-0. [Kyung
had to leave at 8 PM] Meeting adjourns at 8:05 PM
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