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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-26 Ad Hoc Commemoration Establishment CommitteeTown of Reading K t u t I V t U W Meeting Minutes TO_ WN CLER1, F'S1CC'N( ?,1A.r1 Board - Committee - commission - Council: 0025 JUL -2 AM 7: 43 Ad Hoc Commemoration Establishment Committee Date: 03/26/2025 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Meeting Room Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session Purpose: Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Taylor Gregory, Chair, Board of Library Trustees Appointee Ryan Johnstone, Vice Chair, School Committee Appointee Eddie Dee, Select Board Appointee Colm Eliet, CATO Appointee David Monahan, Select Board Designee Monique Pillow Gnanaratnam, Select Board Appointee Greg Selvitelli, Associate Select Board Appointee (non -voting) Pat Silva, Reading Police Department Appointee London Stith -Nichols School Committee Student Appointee Aujanetta Stith, Office of Equity & Social Justice Appointee Members - Not Present: Others Present: Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Ryan Johnstone Topics of Discussion: Meeting called to Order by Chair, Taylor Gregory Liaison Reports Taylor Gregory read aloud a draft joint liaison report to be used by Committee members to inform their respective boards/committees. 3 meetings to date - January 2025 - reviewed the Committee's charge, elected Chair and Vice Chair, basic overview of Bill Russell's (BR) life (both basketball and beyond), including recurring themes of racism and contributions to revolutionize basketball by, in part, defying the status quo, a chrematistic that continued with his social justice work - February 2025 - joint in-depth presentation by Eddie Dee and community member Reggie Nichols on BR's life, highlighting struggles and successes. Discussed draft burn -down plan identifying the individual deliverables due under the charge and milestones for meeting them - March 2025 (this meeting) - discussing draft joint liaison report, further defining event ideas and town individuals to work with for execution, discussed examples of "acknowledgment" and "accountability" as required in the charge, discuss and choose "easy options" to execute now and/or throughout the year. Page I I Discussion on how to use this document: send a finalized version to our represented organizations in town, then each provide additional input or context as deemed appropriate Some suggestions made to finalize the version of the document, which were incorporated into the draft doc. Discuss and continue planning events London spoke with Albert Pless (Director, Office of Equity and Social Justice) about ACE participating during the Juneteenth celebration; Albert thought it sounded like a great idea. Plans are still being finalized, but the idea of a basketball tournament or event has been discussed; following logistics discussed by Committee: - Funding - no existent to minimal, just get a permit from Reading Rec Dept. - Public Safety - Pat Silva expressed no concerns, manageable event - Points of Contact for assistance - Carl McFadden is a local resident who has hosted many similar events in town Discussed what ACE's role at Juneteenth would be: Do we want the deliverable statement from the charge to occur at Juneteenth or a later date? If not the deliverable statement, then what would the Juneteenth statement be? The Committee discussed whether it was appropriate at this time to make a statement of acknowledgment and accountability without BR's family having been engaged. On one hand, the Committee would like to get BR's family involved sooner rather than later to capture maximum participation and engagement in this process to give them an opportunity to be a meaningful partner; on the other hand, the Committee understands that if the family is engaged too soon in the process, it runs the risk that the family will reject the request for engagement. Further complicating the issue, the fracture between BR's surviving biological children (particularly daughter, Karen) and BR's surviving spouse/representative of his estate, (Jeannine) make it logistically difficult to determine the best point of contacts, when, and in what order given the sensitivities in play. The difference between a statement of 'Intent" vice "accountability" was discussed and the Committee concluded that given the above difficulties and the relatively early stages of this Committee, it would be best to make a statement of intent at the Juneteenth celebration and wait to contact any member or representative of BR's bio family or estate until after that event. The statement to cover the charge to the Committee is, what was done as of that event, and the next steps for the Committee. The Committee discussed some of the historical events from BR's time in Reading, including prior community celebration of BR in/around 1962. Discussion concluded with the Committee desiring a better timeline of events and historical research into what the Town vice community did or didn't to historically. Eddie Dee committed to researching and crafting a timeline. Discuss examples of Acknowledgement and Accountability Ryan read aloud the first two paragraphs of the American Psychological Association's "Apology to People of Color for APA's Role in Promoting, Perpetuating, and Failing to Challenge Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Human Hierarchy in the U.S" dated October 2021 and expressed his opinion that this statement as a whole strikes the tone that he would like to see the Committee capture in its deliverable statement when the time comes No discussion held in the Interest of time and the article will be submitted with the Committee's other documents for the Committee's use and review. Discuss and Choose Easy Options for Commemorating Bit Aujanetta shared information collected by herself and other community members prior to this Committee's creation for preservation and use. Some of that information included Page 1 2 compiling a list of "easy lifts" for celebrating and commemorating BR. In the Interest of time, Committee members committed to reviewing the material in preparation for April's meeting rather than attempting to identify and agree on options at this meeting in an ad hoc fashion. Approve Meeting Minutes February's meeting minutes were reviewed with minimal comment or edit (only grammatical in nature). Motion by London to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by David, pass 9-0 Future agenda items identified for April meeting. Motion to adjourn by Greg, seconded by London, pass 9-0. Action Items (1) Taylor to contact Laura Gemme and/or other town personnel about how the committee's funding capabilities; (2) Ryan to contact the Reading Lions Club regarding a booth at the Reading Friends and Family event (3) Ryan, Aujanetta, and David to construct initial draft statement of Intent (4) All Committee members to review pre -ACE information provided by Aujanetta in preparation of April's meeting (5) Eddie to work on timeline of events from 1950s/60s including incidents (e.g. break- in), town/community event with BR circa 1962, and/or official public comments/statements by the Town regarding BR. Page 1 3