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good evening from the human rights commission meeting & my second visit to city hall today. 
a brief derailment over confusion about the origin of this document, but general agreement that the HRC supports these gun bills.
(the entire top portion is copied & pasted from the VA crime commission website, but i don’t know who compiled the list of 6 bills)
(the entire top portion is copied & pasted from the VA crime commission website, but i don’t know who compiled the list of 6 bills)
commissioner lyndele is presenting about a community app she learned about that serves communities in new zealand. it’s available on smart phones and at public kiosks & allows people to select their need & it connects them with available community services.
“that sounds super interesting, but that sounds like a lot of work,” says commissioner kathryn. (she’s right - setting up the kiosks, connecting with every local nonprofit that does direct service, getting volunteers, etc is a massive endeavor)
lyndele says she’s formed an LLC to be a legal entity to do this work with the new zealand based startup. she’s asking for the commission’s endorsement, not for any concrete work from the commission.
the non profit industrial complex is infinitely byzantine.
kathryn says she’d like to see a more significant proposal about what this work would look like here before the commission formally endorsed anything.
sometimes there’s a little bowl of candy at HRC meetings. i don’t see it tonight 🙁
60 years ago next month, 3 high school students & 9 elementary school students bravely integrated charlottesville city schools.
students working at a school based community garden at buford are working on a sculpture commemorating the charlottesville 12.
CRITICAL NEWS UPDATE: a commissioner brought me the candy bowl 🙏
HRC chair shantell (who works with the students in the community garden) said many students were traumatized when the schools were closed earlier this year due to a school schooling threat of ethnic cleansing.
board member ann says the kids were actually perfectly safe because they didn’t have to go to school those days. she thinks the constant repetition of what’s happened isn’t helpful. 😒
board member melvin says if the kids say they’re hurting, we should listen to them.
for those who missed it, charlottesville city schools CLOSED DOWN for TWO DAYS earlier this year because someone threatened on 4chan to shoot black & brown students.
a schoolyard garden monument honoring the 12 students who integrated the schools 60 years ago has everything to do with threats of racial terror in the same schools today. helping kids understand and engage with history is inextricably tied to helping them understand & heal now.
shantell and jeanette, who both work with the students in the community gardens, will abstain from the vote on whether the HRC will support the schoolyard garden tribute to the charlottesville 12.
the cost of the sundial tributes has not yet been determined. jeanette says some independent fundraising is planned but it’s not certain how much funding would be requested from the city.
commissioner sue seems unwilling to vote in favor of a symbolic letter of support for the project without a firm idea of the total cost of the installation.
“this is something that we’re gonna do regardless,” shantell says. she says she has a moral obligation to follow through on this student lead project. it’s meaningful to them & to her.
commissioner olivia says the HRC asking council to support the project is normal and right, no one is asking council to sign a blank check. commissioner andy agrees that the commission can support the request.
(editorial note: is this not something that would qualify for $$ from the equity fund?!)
oh no we’re very deeply lost in a debate about roberts rules i hate this
sue’s amendment to the motion removing the mention of their support for council contributing $$ to the project fails. rob introduces the idea of just making up a dollar figure. (seems like a bad idea)
jeanette says the most important thing is supporting youth & community lead initiatives & hopes to see the human rights commission support the project.
(remember that this motion isn’t even itself an actual request for funding! it’s just the HRC deciding whether or not to write a letter to council saying they as a body support the project and hope council will help fund it. it is not the HRC’s project)
ok, with jeanette and shantell abstaining, the HRC votes unanimously to write a letter of support for the schoolyard garden tribute to the charlottesville 12.
an ad hoc committee is being formed to work on a community survey about issues related to the work of the human rights commission. (the phrase ad hoc committee makes me queasy)
charlene green says unity days is coming to an end, with the last event later this month. there will have been over 80 unity days events this summer.
charlene says she and todd have been invited to the richmond human rights commission’s retreat next month. they are interested in finding out more about how charlottesville’s HRC operates.
the disproportionate minority contact report comes out next month! september 19th.
charlene says the report focuses mostly on african americans in the criminal justice system, as the local asian population is low & the state does not collect data on hispanic ethnicity in a way that is useful in this context.
“the first consultant we hired did a very bad job, they got fired, and we hired a new consultant,” charlene says about the group commissioned to do the study.
i went to one of the community listening sessions the group preparing the report put on a few months ago
just noticed this on the filing cabinet behind me and now all i can think about is pushing the button
i missed the meeting where the worked through this issue, but they’ve decided to suggest council change the definitions to allow people outside the city with “demonstrable ties” to the city serve on the commission
the longer this meeting goes, the more tootsie rolls i’m gonna eat & i already have a stomach ache 😭
commissioner rob woodside (who i learned today is also on the towing commission) was on this panel recently. he says dr ibram kendi “wasn’t a very good moderator” and dismissively says tanesha hudson & reverend gathers talked 90% of the time 😒
commissioner ann says “we need to be more respectful of others’ opinions” and admonishes people for interrupting sue (i don’t recall that but i guess it’s possible. although i do recall sue being nauseatingly condescending to several people to the point that i nearly interrupted)
shantell, the chair, says she’ll try harder to manage all the voices in the room. ann, dripping with condescension, says “oh you’ll learn in time.” god bless shantell for her saintly patience because i, over here in the corner, let out a loud angry laugh.
commissioner jeanette brought me these beautiful flowers from her garden & i could just cry! that is so sweet! ❤️💐
ok i’m going home to read nazi lawsuits in bed until i fall asleep
