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Home My WebLink AboutHRC Agenda March 2023 Human Rights Commission March 28, 2023 Formal Meeting – 5:30 PM Emma J. Harvat Hall, City Hall Agenda: 1. Call the meeting to order and roll call 2. Reading of Native American Land Acknowledgment 3. Approval of February 28, 2023, meeting minutes 4. Public comment on 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 or one another concerning said items) 5. Racial Equity & Social Justice Grant a. Second Quarter Reports for 2022 b. Resolution for Council’s Approval (April 4, 2023) 6. Outreach and Engagement Police Department 7. Commission Committee Overview, Assignments, Updates, Proclamations a. Building Bridges b. Reciprocal Relationships c. Breaking Bread d. Proclamations 8. Staff Announcements 9. Commissioner Announcements (Commissioners shall not engage in discussion with one another concerning said announcements) 10. Adjournment MEETING PACKET CONTENTS: 1. AGENDA: TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2023 2. NATIVE AMERICAN LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT 4. DRAFT MINUTES: FEBRUARY 28, 2023 5. COMMUNITY READING OPPORTUNITY 5. RACIAL EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORT FROM IOWA CITY AREA CHINESE ASSOCIATION 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. Draft Minutes Human Rights Commission February 28, 2023 Helling Conference Room Commissioners present: Bijou Maliabo, Jahnavi Pandya, Roger Lusala, Ahmed Ismail, Doug Kollasch, Kelsey Paul Shantz, Suyun Channon. Commissioners absent: Sylvia Jons, Badri Kuku. Staff present: Stefanie Bowers, Kevin Bailey. Recommendation to City Council: Yes. Meeting called to order: 5:33 PM. Native American Land Acknowledgement: Kollasch read the Land Acknowledgement. Public comment of items not on the agenda: None. Approval of meeting minutes of January 24, 2023: Kollasch moved, and Maliabo seconded. Motion passed 7-0. Racial Equity and Social Justice Grant: The subcommittee met on Thursday, February 23 to look over grant submissions. Based on that review and having no changes or additions Paul Shantz moved and Kollash seconded to recommend to City Council the following recipients for the grant for 2023. Motion passed 5-0. (Maliabo and Ismail did not vote – recused due to conflict). Introduction of the new Iowa City Police Outreach and Engagement Supervisor: Commissioners were introduced to Sergeant Kevin Bailey. Bailey will plan on attending future commission meetings and provide updates to the commission on community outreach and engagement. He has been with the Department for over 20 years. Committee Updates: Commissioners went over each committee to assign new members. Per that conversation, the following appointments were made. Great Plains Action Society $6,000.00 6000 Wright House of Fashion $25,000.00 25000 Natural Talent Music $23,725.00 14500 Al-Iman Center of Iowa $15,000.00 7500 Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa $13,528.80 7000 Houses Into Homes $15,000.00 10000 Community Crisis Services $24,000.00 14500 Neighborhood Center of Johnson County $15,500.00 15500 Breaking Bread –Kollasch, Kuku, Ismail. Reciprocal Relationships – Lusala, Channon, Jons Building Bridges – Maliabo, Paul Shantz, Pandya. Each committee will plan to meet once between now and the March meeting date. Committees should be working on new goals for the year along with implementation. Staff will send out a list of cultural recognition, heritage months, and topics for each month Announcements of commissioners: Lusala gave an update on the Black History Month Proclamation from February 7. Paul Shantz will be out of town for the March meeting date and will, if possible, participate via Zoom. Kollash will also plan on participating virtually in March too as he also has a work conflict. Maliabo reminded Commissioners to attend the upcoming Night of 1000 Dinners being held on March 8 at 6 PM at Mercer Aquatic Center. Announcements of staff: None. Adjourned: 6:10 PM. The meeting can be viewed at https://citychannel4.com/video.html?series=Local%20Government. Human Rights Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2023 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 1/24 2/28 3/28 4/25 5/23 6/27 7/25 8/22 9/26 10/24 11/28 Roger Lusala 2023 P P Bijou Maliabo 2023 P P Kelsey Paul Shantz 2023 P P Jahnavi Pandya 2024 P P Sylvia Jons 2024 P A Doug Kollasch 2024 P P Suyun Channon 2025 P P Ahmed Ismail 2025 P P Badri Kuku 2025 P A KEY: P = Present A = Absent R = Resigned Iowa City Area Chinese Association’s Lunar New Year Gala Kicks off the Lunar New Year Iowa City Area Chinese Association held this year’s Lunar New Year Gala on January 22 in celebration of the Lunar New Year at the Englert theater, the performing arts pearl in downtown Iowa City. This year’s gala was mainly sponsored by the Human Rights Commission of Iowa City, and supported by the University of Iowa School of Music and the University of Iowa Chinese Program. Iowa state senator Janice Weiner attended together with Bruce Teague Iowa City Mayor, Meghann Foster Coralville Mayor, Laura Bergus and Andrew Dunn Iowa City Councilors, Hai Huynh, Mitch Gross Coralville Councilors (also West High School Principle), Roger Lusala and Sylvia Jons the Human Rights Commissioners of Iowa City, Ruthina Malone, Jayne Finch, Lisa Williams Iowa City Community School District Board members, Kimberly Fitten Northwest Junior High Principle, Russell Ganim dean of UI International Programs, and Marlen Joanne, CEO of Mendoza Consulting. This year’s Gala also celebrated the first recognition of Lunar New Year as a holiday that is now observed by the Iowa City Community School District. The Iowa City Community School District had a day off on Monday, January 23 for it (the second day of New Year on the lunar calendar). In 2024, the Lunar New Year holiday will fall on Friday, February 9 (Lunar New Year ’s Eve). In addition to celebrating the recognition of Lunar New Year, this year ’s gala also aimed to showcase arts beyond borders, and to facilitate intercultural communications in the Iowa City area. It also strived to challenge stereotypes around Asians and to enrich the overall perception of Chinese communities. At 4pm, the sound of Chinese Drum announced that the show started. The two drum pieces named Duck Quarrel , the Dragon Slithers and The Tiger Leaps are performed by the UI School of Music which was an uplifting start of the show. Next, the Spring Festival Overture was articulated by Kaydenn String Quartet presented by Junhong Zhou, Dominique Archambeau, Adrian Gomez Hernandez, and Meijing Tian, Ph.D. students from UI School of Music. The beautiful music invited the audience to indulge in a taste of the traditional New Year’s spirit. Coming up next are three junior high school girls—Emma, Etta and Lovella. They sang the ending song of the movie Mulan "Loyalty and Truth" and the popular pop song “ Girl on Fire". Their delightful voices brought the audience into a dreamlike scene. The fourth program is the ethnic group Dai dance "South of the Colorful Clouds" brought by the Chinese Dance Club at the University of Iowa. The graceful dancing postures of the twelve ladies on the stage brought the audience away from the ice and snow of North America to the tropical Yunnan, where they could enjoy the view of peacocks dancing in the warm spring. Mezzo-soprano singer Yaxin Sun and pianist Ming Hu, Ph. D students from the University of Iowa School of Music brought two classic romantic pieces to the audience - "The Phoenix seeks a mate” and "Chanson Triste". The solo singer’s voice perfectly integrated ancient Chinese music and western singing art. The lingering echoes of the wonderful show left a strong impression on many audiences. The next program was the poem recitation "New Year's Firecrackers" accompanied by Guzheng music of "Fighting the Typhoon". The clear and simple sound of Guzheng immersed the audience in the ups and downs of the ancient music. The Guzheng performance in combination with poetry was creative and refreshing. The two performers recited with emotion, conveying the deep nostalgic feeling. The pure and cheerful sounds of "congratulations, congratulations" from the children immersed the audience in warmth and happiness. The free-spirited performance style fully demonstrated children's playful nature. The young lady in red Tang suit in the middle leads a group of little angels in green dresses. The color palette was just like the coming spring, with green trees covering the flowers and blossoms. Standing behind the children are two black and red lions. Lion represents blessing in Chinese tradition. On the stage, the two "lions" with majestic appearance and vigorous action carefully protected the innocent children, giving the audience an indescribable sense of peace. It also heralds that everything will be safe and happy in the coming year. Talented lady singers in the Chinese community in Edmonton wore red velvet dresses, and sang the classic song "Dreaming of Home" affectionately. Next, two college students, Miranda Feng and Divinity Myers, performed a youthful Korean dance. The traditional program of "Dragon Dance” concluded the night. Accompanied by soft music, diverse high school students who love Chinese culture manipulated the dragon to rise and fall with the rhythm. The joyful moments not only reflected the joy, happiness, playfulness, and stillness of the dragon, but also showcased the smooth collaboration between the actors. As the music faded away, the audience burst into applause! Notably, the high school student performers in the Dragon Dance are not from Chinese backgrounds. Their wonderful performance demonstrated an embrace of cultural diversity and the unity of different communities. Finally, under the leadership of the host, the casts threw the mascot of the Year of the Rabbit to the auditorium, and the atmosphere of the party was pushed to a climax. Amidst the blessings of "Happy Year of the Rabbit" from the audience, the joyful 2023 ICACA Lunar New Year Gala ended successfully. The ICACA Lunar New Year Gala attracted great interests and attentions from multiple local communities. The ICACA Dragon & Lion Dance team performed for parents and children at the Iowa City Public Library the day following the New Year Gala. The ICACA performance team have also received invitation from the Chicago Chinese Embassy to lead performances at Muscatine High on Wednesday, February 1. The ICACA performance team will join Iowa City Public Library members to a visit at Moline Public Library, and perform Dragon & Lion Dance in celebration of the Chinese Lantern Festival on Monday, February 6. Art knows no borders. The LNY Gala has aroused strong social repercussions. More than 5 reports came from the local mainstream media, newspapers, TV, and radio. Yahoo website also reprinted the news. Compared with previous years, this year's ICACA Lunar New Year Gala has a larger scale, more audiences, and more diverse programs. More gratifyingly, a lot of people from non- Chinese communities participated in Lunar New Year activities, which fully demonstrated the harmonious integration of Chinese and local communities. The Iowa City Area Chinese Association has been working hard for many years, serving the community, and doing our part to construct local multiculturalism, so that those of us living overseas can integrate more and more harmoniously into our new homeland. All actors, instructors, organizers, and volunteers devoted a lot of time and thoughts to this performance, and their efforts made this a successful evening. They worked together to dance the “giant Chinese dragon” in Iowa City! Thanks to all the cast and instructors! Thank you to all guests and audience! Thanks to photographer and designer Zhao Qi, writer Li Wei, makeup artist Wu Ping, and historian Chen Shuang for their professional support! Thanks to volunteers Wu Peipei, Dai Donghai, Sun Yanwen, Yang Jianqi, Wang Fang, and APAMSA volunteers: Jimmy Zhang, Ashrita Raghuram, Cameron Keomanivong, Leon Sun, Shalini Birari, and Sophia Xiao. Thank you to the University of Iowa Medical School Asian American Student Association! Thank you to the entire Englert Theater crew! Special thanks to the sponsors of ICACA Lunar New Year Gala: Human Rights Commission of Iowa City Causey & Ye’s Law Firm Caring Hands & More Prestige Properties, LLC Jeff Edberg Lepic— Kroeger The Jill Armstrong Team-Skogman Realtor First Interstate Bank Friendship Center of Sino-US Goodfellow Printing Nolte Academy List of event organizers: Na Li (producer and director), Suyun Ma, Zehua Feng, Jinghui Li, Yan Huang, Wendy Shen, Yaling Yi ICACA Lunar New Year Gala Program: Main media coverage: Daily Iowan https://dailyiowan.com/2023/01/24/iowa-city-area-chinese-association-celebrates-lunar-new-year-at-the- englert/ Press Citizen https://www.press-citizen.com/story/entertainment/go-iowa-city/2023/01/18/iowa-city-things-to-do-lunar- new-year-gala-brings-folk-dance-music-to-englert-theatre/69800505007/ Yahoo News https://www.yahoo.com/now/ring-lunar-iowa-city-area-205307275.html KCRG news https://www.kcrg.com/2023/01/23/gala-iowa-city-helps-inform-people-kick-off-lunar-new-year/ Iowa’s News https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/iowa-city-area-chinese-association-2023-lunar-new-year-gala-kicks-off Iowa Public Radio https://www.iowapublicradio.org/podcast/talk-of-iowa