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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRC Packet 4 26 22Human Rights Commission April 26, 2022 Formal Meeting – 5:30 PM Emma J. Harvat Hall, City Hall Agenda: 1. Call the meeting to order and roll call 2. Reading of Land Acknowledgement 3. Approval of the March 29, 2022, meeting minutes 4. Public comment of items not on the agenda. (Commentators shall address the Commission for no more than 5 minutes. Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with the public concerning said items) 5. Introduction and Q&A with recently hired Joshua Dabusu, Refugee & Immigrant Resource Officer for the Iowa City Police Department 6. Updates on Race Based Calls Campaign 7. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month a. Proclamation b. Program c. Program: Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Day Against Bullying and Hate (May 18, 2022) 8. Jewish American Heritage Month a. Program b. Proclamation 9. Funding Request: South District Neighborhood Association 10. Funding Request: Center for Family Services Global Network 11. Youth Awards Updates and Roles (May 11, 2022, New Location Hilton Garden Inn 6PM) 12. Public Works Open House (May 21, 2022, 8am-5pm) 13. Social Justice & Racial Equity Grant Reports for FY21 & Updates FY22 14. Correspondence: a. Report to the Iowa City Human Rights Commission, Night of 1000 Dinners b. United Action for Youth, MLK Youth Summit 15. Strategic Planning Updates a. In-person meeting dates i. May 12, 5:30-8:30PM Environmental Education Center ii. May 17, 5-8PM Environmental Education Center 16. Staff/Commission Announcements (Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with one another concerning said announcements) 17. Adjournment If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate in this meeting please contact Human Rights Coordinator, Stefanie Bowers, at 319-356-5022 or at stefanie-bowers@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION APRIL 26, 2022, MEETING PACKET CONTENTS AGENDA ITEM #2 • LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AGENDA ITEM #3 • DRAFT MINUTES FROM MARCH 29, 2022 AGENDA ITEM #9 • FUNDING REQUEST: SOUTH DISTRICT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION AGENDA ITEM #10 • FUNDING REQUEST: CENTER FOR FAMILY SERVICES GLOBAL NETWORK AGENDA ITEM #13 • SOCIAL JUSTICE & RACIAL EQUITY GRANT REPORT FY21 FROM UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOOD PANTRY • SOCIAL JUSTICE & RACIAL EQUITY GRANT REPORT FY21 FROM BIKE LIBRARY • SOCIAL JUSTICE & RACIAL EQUITY GRANT REPORT FY21 FROM JOHNSON COUNTY AFFORDABLE HOUSING COALITION • SOCIAL JUSTICE & RACIAL EQUITY GRANT REPORT FY21 FROM UNIVERSITY OF IOWA’S LABOR CENTER AGENDA ITEM #14 • CORRESPONDENCE: JOHNSON COUNTY UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION • CORRESPONDENCE: UNITED ACTION FOR YOUTH Draft Minutes Human Rights Commission March 29, 2022 Emma J. Harvat Hall Commissioners present: Mark Pries, Tony Sivanthaphanith, Jason Glass, Roger Lusala, Ashley Lindley, Bijou Maliabo, Ali Ahmed, Sylvia Jons, Siri Bruhn. Others present: Alma Avila, Alex Herges, Cade Burma, Isaiah McNamee, Chief Liston, Lee Hermiston, Redmond Jones II, and Melanie Long Staff present: Stefanie Bowers, Daisy Torres. Recommendation to City Council: No. Meeting called to order: 5:31 PM. Land Acknowledgement: Bruhn read the Land Acknowledgement. Approval of the minutes from the February 22, 2022, meeting: Pries moved, the motion was seconded by Lusala. Motion passed 8-0. (Maliabo not present). Public comment of items not on the agenda: Redmond Jones II, Deputy City Manager, was introduced to the Commission and vice versa. Discussion on Race Based Calls Campaign: Hermiston outlined the campaign and noted that he thought it was similar to the Human Rights Commission’s summer implicit bias series from 2021. The plan is to make a video featuring the Chair of the Commission, the Mayor, and the Police Chief. This will be in addition to social media posts on discouraging race-based calls. This is an opportunity to get compliance through education. It was suggested that there be a marketing campaign that targets youth too. Review of Current Commission Subcommittees & Strategic Plan: The Commission will work on strategic planning throughout the months of April and May. Bluebird Sky Solutions will serve as the facilitators. Strategic Planning workshops have been scheduled for May 12th and May 17th. Youth Awards: The Youth Awards Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, May 11th. Mayor Teague has agreed to provide remarks at the event. The event will start at 6PM with a reception and the ceremony will start at 7PM sharp. Nominations to date are not as numerous as in the past and so moving forward, the Commission and staff will need to evaluate whether this program should continue in the future. Proclamation for National Fair Housing Month: Glass will accept the proclamation on behalf of the Commission at the April 5th City Council meeting. Social Justice and Racial Equity Grants: A City Council agenda item is being prepared based on the recommendation for FY22 by the Commission at its February meeting date. The Commission decided to discuss changes to the SJRE grant for FY23 as a part of its strategic plan. Introduction and Q&A with recently hired Iowa City Police Officers: Officers Alma Avila, Alex Herges, Cade Burma, Isaiah McNamee, and Melanie Long were introduced by Community Outreach Assistant Daisy Torres. Public Works Open House (May 21, 2022, 8am-5pm): The Commission will host a table at this event. Staff will send out a sign-up survey for time slots. Funding Requests: The Commission approved funding for the United Action for Youth “Dr. Martin Luther King Summit” in the amount of $375.00. Moved by Pries, seconded by Maliabo. Motion passed 9-0. The Commission approved funding for Coralville Pride 2022 in the amount of $500.00. The funding will support the awareness campaign for University of Iowa Health Care’s LGBTQ+ Clinic. Moved by Pries, seconded by Bruhn. Motion passed 9-0. Correspondence on Uyghur Human Rights: Commissioners directed staff to let the group know of the funding opportunities the Commission currently offers. Although not voted on, Commissioners felt the petition should signed by individual commissioners and not by the Commission as a whole. Reports of Commissioners: Lindley noted that the theme for this year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is recognized each April, is on empowering victims. Pries joined the Social Justice Committee at Gloria Dei. He also recently read “The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart” by Alicia Garza. Maliabo provided an update on the March 12, Parade for International Women’s Day. She hopes to continue the parade in future years. Glass is wearing his 20-year service ring in recognition of the anniversary for Vietnam Veterans. Jons reported on a recently launched scholarship fund for Ukrainian students. It is almost up to a million dollars. Amel spoke on the start of Ramadan on April 1. Staff Reports: Torres reported that Kites for Kids will be held on April 23 and also updated Commissioners on the fact that the City lost the peanut butter and jelly donation drive, getting beat by Johnson County. However, a little less than a ton of food was donated as a part of the challenge. Adjourned: 6:38 PM. Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2022 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 1/25 2/22 3/29 4/26 5/24 6/28 7/26 8/23 9/27 10/25 11/22 12/27 Jason Glass 2022 P P P Ashley Lindley 2022 P P P Mark Pries 2022 P P P Roger Lusala 2023 P P P Bijou Maliabo 2023 P P P Tony Sivanthaphanith 2023 A P P Siri Bruhn 2024 P A P Sylvia Jons 2024 P A P Ali Ahmed 2024 P P P KEY: P = Present A = Absent To Whom It May Concern, May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. As you are planning activities around this month, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you to issue a declaration, proclamation, or statement in honor of the fourth annual “Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Day Against Bullying and Hate” on May 18, 2022. May 18 is the birthday of Vincent Chin, who was beaten to death in a hate crime in 1982, an act that fueled a national Asian American activist movement. The need to continue this movement is still urgent. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been over 10,370 reported cases of COVID-19 related discrimination against the AAPI community. Our youth continue to face unprecedented amounts of bullying online and offline. Our anti-bullying non-profit, Act To Change has a simple mission: we envision a world where all youth, including within the AAPI community, have the opportunity to grow up feeling proud and supported in the development of their identities and sharing of their stories. Every day, kids of all ages suffer from being bullied across the country. In the AAPI community, this problem is often compounded by cultural, religious, and linguistic barriers. Last year we marked the third annual AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate, with proclamations and statements from over 40 cities and states, and 250 partner organizations. Our online event United We Stand featured over 35 community leaders, elected officials and influencers, including Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Sen. Mazie Hirono, and actor Simu Liu. Your statement denouncing bullying and hate against the AAPI community would be powerful in demonstrating your commitment to this important issue. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@acttochange.org. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Maulik Pancholy Actor, Author, and Chair and Co-Founder of Act To Change Sample Language for Proclamation/Citation/Public Statement: ● Whereas May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. ● Whereas May 18 is the birthday of Vincent Chin, who was brutally murdered in a hate crime in 1982. His murder fueled a national Asian American activist movement that continues to this day. ● Whereas we have seen a staggering rise in bullying, discrimination, and hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community during the COVID-19 pandemic. ○ 1 in 5 Asian Americans (AAs; 21.2%) and Pacific Islanders (PIs; 20.0%) have experienced a hate incident in 2021. ○ 8 out of 10 AAPI youth (77%) express anger over the current anti–Asian hate in this nation. ● Whereas every day, kids of all ages suffer from being bullied in schools and online across the country. ● In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Vincent Chin, May 18 shall be an AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate. ● In the AAPI community, this problem is often compounded by cultural, religious, and linguistic barriers that can keep these youth from seeking and receiving help. And certain AAPI groups – including South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Micronesian, LGBT, immigrant, and limited English proficient youth – are more likely to be the targets of bullying. ● Act To Change is a national nonprofit dedicated to fighting bullying in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. To find resources, visit ActToChange.org. ● We join Act To Change in sharing one vision - a world where all youth, including within the AAPI community, have the opportunity to grow up feeling proud and supported in the development of their identities and sharing of their stories. ● [OFFICIAL/MUNICIPALITY/ORGANIZATION] is committed to this important issue and encourages the public to foster dialogue, share resources, and learn more about what they can do to fight bullying. Email copy of document to: info@acttochange.org Physical copy can be sent to: Act To Change P.O. Box 23112 Washington, DC 20026 Human Rights Funding Request Cover Letter (required reading) Thank you for your interest in seeking sponsorship from the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. The Commission provides funding to organizaons to offset the costs of organizing, planning, and facilitang educaonal public forums or programs and acvies that are designed to eliminate racial, religious, cultural, and other intergroup tensions. Please note that this sponsorship is for reimbursement of expenses. If an organizaon is awarded funding they must: 1. Submit invoices and/or statements of items/services paid prior to receiving reimbursement. 2. Send their W9 to staff prior to receiving reimbursement. 3. Submit a full (one page) summary of funding impact, including but not limited to, number of persons involved in your project, anecdotal stories to share about the event, frequency of the event, and other essenal informaon. If you have any quesons about the applicaon process, please do not hesitate to contact Equity Director Stefanie Bowers at 319-356-5022 or Stefanie-bowers@iowa-city.org. Sponsorship requests are due by 5PM on the third Monday of each month. The Iowa City Human Rights Commission will review the request at their monthly meeng and staff will contact you to let you know whether the request has been approved. Please sign here to verify you have read the cover letter to this form.* Application Date* Group/Organizaton Name* Contact person* Phone number* Email * Date of activity/event/program * If your event occurs on multiple dates, list here Event location and address* Is the event wheelchair accessible?* Is the event accessible to individuals with visual impairments?* Describe the activity/event/program and how it contributes to Human Rights.* Amount of funds requested. Attach an itemized budget (field below).* Attach itemized budget.* 3/24/2022 South District Neighborhood Association Angie Jordan 319-471-0181 southdistrictneighborhood@gmail.com 5/28/2022 5/28, 6/4, 6/11, 6/18, 6/25, 7/2, 7/9, 7/16, 7/23, 7/30 Pepperwood Plaza parking lot in Iowa City (in front of JD Beauty Supply-1067 HWY 6 East Yes No Yes No These funds will be used to again support free face painting at the 2nd Annual Diversity Market season that has since expanded from 5 weeks to 10 and moved location to increase the number of vendors. The market goals are to: elevate and promote underestimated entrepreneurs--women, BIPOC, immigrants and refugees, Returning Citizens, LGBTQ+-- from the area, provide the South District Neighborhood a consistent opportunity to shop local and have fun, while rewriting negative narrative of South side 1,080.00$ Diversity Market_Itemized Budget - Sheet1.pdf 60.67KB List other funders below: Has this organization applied for any other City of Iowa City funding for this activity/event/program? If yes, what department were the funds requested through? How much funding was requested? Was this request granted? Has the organization received any funding from the City of Iowa City in the last year?* If yes, what department were the funds requested through? How much funding was requested? How will this activity/event/program be marketed? Will sponsors be mentioned and/or logos be used in the marketing of the activity/event/program? Is the activity/event/program a fundraiser?* 1. City of Iowa City Program to Improve Neighborhood (PIN) grant--$420 (face painting) 2. JD Beauty Supply: In-kind donation of time and resources as an event organizer and entrepreneur mentor and connector 3. Banjo Knits Empowerment: In-kind donation of time and resources as an event organizer and entrepreneur mentor and connector 4. Marlen Mendoza Consulting: In-kind donation of time and resources as an event organizer and entrepreneur mentor and connector 5. Iowa City Community Theater: In-kind donation of a stage for entertainment Yes No Neighborhood Services Department Mentioned above (it was reallocated funds from a prior PIN grant to cover costs of childcare at Neighborhood Meetings; however, those meetings have since been via Zoom so that funding was reallocated to support face painting at the market 420.00$ Yes No Yes No Neighborhood Services Department (for SDNA annual neighborhood events and initiatives--Team Up to Clean Up and National Night Out 4,000.00$ City's Community Update, fliers hung in the City buses, emailed and hard copy fliers have been to SDNA residents, allies, partners & DM vendors, Nextdoor.com, SD resident doorhangers, social media campaign prior to and during market season, press release and other news media outlets. Yes No Yes No Item Amount Cost 1 year 5 years (length of the SSMID)Notes Professional Services Market Managers 3 $6,000 $18,000 $90,000 Entertainment Coordinator 1 $4,000 $4,000 $20,000 Entertainment Acts 20 $200 $4,000 $20,000 Catering Services (Vendor Celebration)1 $3,000 $3,000 $15,000 Photographer/Vidographer (Vendor Headshots, Vendor Products, Day-of Market, Orientation, and Vendor Celebration)1 $3,000 $3,000 $15,000 Face Painter (free to the public)1 $1,500 $1,500 $7,500 Bouncy House (free to the public)1 $1,200 $1,200 $6,000 Equipment Generators 3 $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 one-time purchase Extension Cords 10 $500 $500 $500 one-time purchase Extension Cord Covers 10 $600 $600 $600 one-time purchase Vendor Tents 25 $200 $5,000 $5,000 one-time purchase Vendor Tables 25 $40 $1,000 $1,000 one-time purchase Promotion Event Banners $250 250 one-time purchase Event Laminated Posters $200 $1,000 Event Yard Signs $400 $2,000 Flyers (printing costs)$200 1000 Virtual Ads and Boosts $200 $1,000 Staff and Volunteer t-shirts 10 $15 $150 $750 Vendor Business Cards 30 vendors $20 $600 $3,000 Vendor Table Banners 30 vendors $50 $1,500 $7,500 Materials/Supplies Vendor Awards 60 $10 $600 3,000 Orientation Materials -folders, maps, handbook printouts, etc.60 $5 $300 $1,500 Other/Misc. Event Insurance 1 $1,000 $1,000 $5,000 Johnson County Event Registration 1 $75 $75 $375 Johnson County Food Vendor Licenses 10 $200 $2,000 $10,000 TOTAL $52,275 $261,375 Human Rights Funding Request Cover Letter (required reading) Thank you for your interest in seeking sponsorship from the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. The Commission provides funding to organizaons to offset the costs of organizing, planning, and facilitang educaonal public forums or programs and acvies that are designed to eliminate racial, religious, cultural, and other intergroup tensions. Please note that this sponsorship is for reimbursement of expenses. If an organizaon is awarded funding they must: 1. Submit invoices and/or statements of items/services paid prior to receiving reimbursement. 2. Send their W9 to staff prior to receiving reimbursement. 3. Submit a full (one page) summary of funding impact, including but not limited to, number of persons involved in your project, anecdotal stories to share about the event, frequency of the event, and other essenal informaon. If you have any quesons about the applicaon process, please do not hesitate to contact Equity Director Stefanie Bowers at 319-356-5022 or Stefanie-bowers@iowa-city.org. Sponsorship requests are due by 5PM on the third Monday of each month. The Iowa City Human Rights Commission will review the request at their monthly meeng and staff will contact you to let you know whether the request has been approved. Please sign here to verify you have read the cover letter to this form.* Application Date* Group/Organizaton Name* Contact person* Phone number* Email * Date of activity/event/program * If your event occurs on multiple dates, list here Event location and address* Is the event wheelchair accessible?* Is the event accessible to individuals with visual impairments?* Describe the activity/event/program and how it contributes to Human Rights.* Amount of funds requested. Attach an itemized budget (field below).* Attach itemized budget.* List other funders below: Has this organization applied for any other City of Iowa City funding for this activity/event/program? If yes, what department were the funds requested through? How much funding was requested? 4/17/2022 Center for family services global network Joseph Mungai 13193253225 newinsights3@gmail.com 11/20/2021 churches and social gatherings Yes No Yes No Share books and discuss with individuals/groups the material and facilitate discussions for the goal of educating/learning together ways to eliminate racial tensions in the community. 700.00$ Center for family services global network.docx 11.95KB Yes No $ Was this request granted? Has the organization received any funding from the City of Iowa City in the last year?* If yes, what department were the funds requested through? How much funding was requested? How will this activity/event/program be marketed? Will sponsors be mentioned and/or logos be used in the marketing of the activity/event/program? Is the activity/event/program a fundraiser?* Yes No Yes No $ through social media and church/clubs gatherings Yes No Yes No Center for family services global network Books Printing & distribution cost of material to share them to members $ 700 p.o box 5402 Coralville IA 52241 Ph: 319-325-3225 To whom it may concern: Hello! I am the Associate Director of the University of Iowa’s Food Pantry and I am sending you the records of what we have done with the SJRE Grant. It has helped so, so many people and our pantry immensely, as you will read in our write up I have attached. Just FYI, sorry that there are so many files attached. These are all the records of what we have spent the money on and for some reason outlook would not let me put them all into a file and send them. The write up is the last file attached that is labelled “Write Up For Grant”. Thank you again! Also – when can we reapply for the grant. It has helped so much to expand our international section, it would be awesome to try to get it again! Cheers, Faith Surface Associate Director of Food Pantry at Iowa University of Iowa, Class of 2024 E: faithcsurface@gmail.com P: 317-766-1215 Iowa City Bike Library Social Justice Racial Equity Grant Second Progress Report for the Raise It Up Ride Project April 1st, 2022 Because of its tie to fair weather biking and the unit location being exposed to the elements outdoors, the Raise It Up Ride (RIUR) project has been in storage for the winter. We have done some reflection however on what worked and what could have been done better since our last progress report we submitted November 1st. We have also created a home for the audio component of the ride on our website. Although we cannot recreate the same RIUR again in 2022 we do intent to reuse various components of the project to invite conversation and refection through other manners. Stated goals in Application: 1. Goal: Bring riders to sites that are historically significant to the Black community, and thus, to this whole community, as well as sites that are significant to groundbreaking work that is being done now—something that we refer to as making history now. Progress: Folks would their bikes to the following locations where apparatuses with audio boxes explaining the historical significance of the location and how it relates to our community today. - Tate Arms House & 1101 Kirkwood: https://www.icbikelibrary.org/tatearms.html - The South District “Our Children Spoke” mural: ***********.icbikelibrary.org/mural.html - The Sycamore Greenway mosaic: https://www.icbikelibrary.org/mosaic.html - The Kingdom Center & Dream City: https://www.icbikelibrary.org/dreamcity.html 2. Goal: Guide riders to each site with an audio-guided tour and to educate riders on the history of systematic oppression in their own backyards, as well as the current inequities that continue to oppress. There will be four routes in the series, each with three to five sites woven into an approximately 10-mile bike ride. Progress: We created the audio-guided tour for one ride as listed above. However, we only were able to organize one of four routes. The complexity of the audio and tech component to the ride posed to be a challenge. In addition to the overly complex build of the audio component, we overestimated the amount of time would need to be spent on this project. By the time finished the first ride it was getting cold. One way we could have prevented overcomplicating things would have been to give less creative freedom to leads on the project. However, we believe that although the final project wasn’t perfect, and we didn’t accomplish our goal of executing all four rides, we did accomplish our goals of getting folks outside while reflecting on how history has shaped current inequities, media/audio/apparatuses had sophisticated look and feel, and organizing group rides lead by volunteers who help to facilitate conversation. 3. Goal: Reach 200 people per ride. Have four rides in the series over the course of the next year. The start of the ride is at the Bike Library and we will use a ledger to document participation. Progress: We estimate that 150 riders rode the whole route from start to finish for the first ride. We came to this estimate by referencing the number of maps taken at the start, the number of people who “logged-in”, and the number of people who came on volunteer lead rides. Tracking participation was a weak spot for us. By the time the we were ready to launch our main lead had quite the organization and tracking participation fell off the radar. Our goal was to reach at least 200 people through our digital resources per ride as well. Our team of artists, business owners, narrators, organizational partners, and digital techs in addition to the riders who participated were in the habit of sharing digital resources. However, we have no way of estimating how many folks listened to the audio though we did send regular emails containing links and shared it on our social media platforms. 4. Goal: Host an annual Raise It Up Ride series where we raise up voices from different communities. Progress: The chances of the Bike Library being able to host and annual series that looks and feels like the RIUR of 2021 is low, however, there are many ways in which we can lift up voices that need to be heard and we intend to continue to find creative and positive ways to do that. The part-time staff that took on this project put almost all of their time for nearly six months into planning and building and organizing a team around this project. In the end they decided to quit from the organization, and this, coupled with the fact that this level of a project took staff time away from day-to-day duties, is one reason why we won’t be able to execute the RIUR in the future. The scale of the project was too ambitious for our capacity. This project has had positive impacts on our organization in ways that we hadn’t foreseen. Additionally, we look back on this project as being a highlight for our organization in 2021. We have a volunteer list of nearly one-hundred people; forty of which are active at any given time, and about ten partner organizations we work in collaboration with through the year. We strive to serve a diverse group of people in our community, and also aim to have that reflected in our leadership. We put effort into equity trainings and strategic conversations, and are constantly evolving in our approaches to navigating the way in which we interact with each other—patrons, volunteers, partner organizations, etc. To: Human Rights Commission 410 E. Washington Street Iowa City, Iowa 52240 319-356-5022 From: Kylie Buddin United Action for Youth. On February 26, 2022 we held our annual Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Youth Summit. We were particularly excited this year because it would be our first in person since the beginning of the pandemic. The event had originally been scheduled for January 15, but do due to COVID 19 numbers it seemed better to postpone rather than go online. On the day of we had 13 youth total in attendance. Ages ranged from 11-15 years old. The bulk of the audience were Junior High Students. However, during our last three events we have opened the event to include 6th Grade Students. Every year since then we have been increasingly impressed with the thoughts and participation of the younger students. It feels as though they are very hungry for an outlet and come ready to participate. We had three presenters during the Summit. A staff from the ACLU Zoomed in to present on Students Legal Rights as activists. They presented a very informative and thorough breakdown of the history of student’s rights in Iowa. As well as a good list of what is covered under the law as protected speech. The next speaker was Terrance Murphy from Journey Above Poverty. Terrance spoke of his life story, and how his journey as both a parent as well as a person of faith lead him to his community activism. He spoke on the connection that your personal joy and beliefs can have on your decisions to be a leader. We processed the many ways youth can use their personal interests be they art, music, etc. to affect change in the community. The final speaker for the day was Monique Cottman, to speak on the role of educators and students in activism at the schools. Monique specifically talked about barriers in the Educational System to teaching about the history of racism in schools. She also talked to students about ways that they can direct conversation in class to include topics otherwise forbidden to teachers to present. Our final activity of the day was led by Tony Branch. We presented the youth in attendance with a Youth Summit Post Card. We asked them to write a short note to themselves about what they learned and what they want to challenge themselves to accomplish with this knowledge. Students were given the option of either taking their card home or we will mail them back in a month. All of the students chose to take them home. Additionally, Laurie Nash was available during the Youth Summit and distributed free books on Anti-Racism and Activism. Both Monique and Terrance stayed through the entire event and were so helpful throughout the day. We had 29 youth register but only 13 showed the day of the event. When we processed this a group during closing discussion our Monique really addressed this well. She said that although it would be amazing if the room had been filled, “everyone who needed to be here today, was here.” It was such an amazing note to end the day on. We have decided to permanently move the Youth Summit to February and have rebranded it as the “Good Trouble Youth Summit on Activism”. Everyone involved is excited and energized to host this event next year.