 I'm at this point with just Donna Ray being the host, maybe Donna Ray can, I have to leave. And then Donna Ray can make Ben the co host, but either way you guys should be okay to have your meeting and then I'll be back. Deb new, but Deb is not there so Donna Ray will take notes, and then I'll also rewatch the video to take some notes at the same time. Thanks, Jennifer. Yep. So how's everyone doing tonight. We're all good. Very good. How are you? Doing well. Thanks. Alive, which is a solid first step toward. Yes. You're setting a low bar today. We're alive. It's easy to have small victories that way right. Yes, yes. All right, so we will call this meeting of the Human Rights Commission of Amherst to order at what time is it here. 635. 635 on December 17. All right. So, doesn't look like we have any attendees right so no public comment. Right. So are there any Human Rights Commission member reports to give. I don't have anything awesome to report. Anything mediocre. Well, you know, I think a good report is that, you know, both myself and chair and Matthew, we were part of the committee to select the folks to be on the, on the safety committee and yesterday. We interviewed someone I'm not sure if that decision has been made or not so I'm not going to say who that person was but I think that based on that, if that person gets approved and they accept then it would be a great addition to that committee which I from what has gone very well so really glad to see that, you know, that committee is working and it's working diligently to come up with some solutions and hopefully at some point once they make some decisions and we might be able to get the chairs out here to just talk to us about, you know, some of how the work is and what are the recommendations they made on the first phase because I believe they have to correct me from if I'm mistaken Matthew to reports to do to to the town council. And I didn't see if there's any way that we as the Human Rights Commission can help them, you know, in any of the facets of achieving those goals that were set forth. Yeah. I was going to say I'll add to Sid's very good analysis there that you know, they're working with the town manager. So they are supposed to work with him and then the town manager will present something to the town council that first report will be due in January and the second one will be due in June. And so the fact that the work is well underway, and that the communication seems to be going well. We've only heard that from the town manager. I don't know if anyone has heard from members of the community safety working group but but the fact that the town manager has come back and said that this is really starting on the right foot is is very good for for our town. So, see there were awesome announcements here. So see the action and discussion items. Oh, were there were there any more member reports to give anyone. We have Petra here now did. Did she have anything. Yeah, I'm here but I don't have anything. Sorry. So let's see town response to inequities. So, I can't share can I share. I'm going to try to share the town council's resolution here. I think it says all panelists can share so hopefully you're a panelist and hopefully you can. I think I can. If I have the right thing up. Is that visible to everyone here. Yes. Yeah, I'm not sure when this was voted on this. Does anyone else have like a date as to when they voted on this. It says December 7th on the bottom. Okay. I think it's a really nice statement. I think if someone could, that would be very nice. I was going to say I got it today. So I read through it because I believe. Jennifer sent it to everyone. Correct. So, but if people want to, yeah, it's a really good statement. So people want to read out loud. Absolutely. All right. Do we have any volunteers to start off with their said, what do you think? Oh boy, look at that. Put me in the spot. There we go. Okay. I'm going to read from, from the. From here, what you guys, what do you have here on racism and. Archival racial equality for black residents, various of the town of Amherst and bracelets, racial diversity and seeks to continue to implement policies. Wait, what happened, man? That's messing with you right now. The town of Amherst and bracelets, racial diversity and seeks to continue to implement policies and procedures that address racial equality and social justice consistent with the town council resolution resolution in the aftermath of the murder of George. Mr. George Floyd adopted on June 1st, 2020. And whereas the town of Amherst recognizes that the reason for escalation of hatred, bigotry and overt racism in our country. And whereas while this resolution addresses anti black racism, in particular, the town of Amherst acknowledges that much more work is needed to address the impact of racism on other groups. And whereas for the town of Amherst to fully. Wait, wait, wait. Did you guys hear that? Whereas the town of Amherst to fully embrace the changes necessary to move our community forward. It is necessary to acknowledge and apologize for its own history of discrimination and racial injustice. And whereas since the inception, the town of Amherst has enacted supported and permitted official and unofficial policies and practices that have been implemented. Whereas the town of Amherst has enacted supported and permitted official and unofficial policies and practices that have perpetrated perpetrated the fallacy of white supremacy that have caused serious harm to the members of the black community and have fostered a persistent racial equity gap in town. And whereas Massachusetts was the first colony to legalize slavery in 1641 and whereas there is a clear evidence that several prominent Amherst families and spiritual leaders, some of whom are memorized in the names of streets and buildings on African slaves or supported the slave trade. And whereas despite the long history of civic, cultural and economic engagement and participation of black residents in the town of Amherst, there are almost no town of Amherst streets, parks or buildings. Okay, you lost me over there. Where am I? You're right here. Blacks are down here. There are towns, streets, parks or buildings named after blacks residents, whereas on the New Year's Day of 1762, the town select and ordered the first three blacks to record over record to leave town, considering them likely poppers if they were allowed to stay in Amherst as residents and a statewide law passed in 1788 requiring all non-resident blacks and Indians to leave the state of Massachusetts and for non-resident free blacks forbade non-resident free blacks from entering the state and whereas as of late, 1948, the first African-American faculty member hired at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was unable to find housing for himself and his wife in Amherst because of their race and whereas as late as 1950s, 1950 racial covenants existed in Amherst's prohibited property, for example, land on Blue Hill roads from being sold or rented to any person or persons of color and yep, go all the way up. You can go all the way up. Okay. I'll finish page one and somebody can pick up page two. Whereas in a 1964 University of Massachusetts at Amherst freshman class of nearly 2,500, only 12 students were of color and of those 12, eight would go on to graduate and two years later the entire black student population University of Massachusetts would run 50 people or about 0.37% of the student body. Do you want me to take a picture? Yeah, go ahead. Whereas in 1994 public meeting held in Amherst, the NAACP decried Amherst schools as lacking in teachers who reflect the students racial and ethnic makeup and insensitivity to those students concerns and whereas in 2001, a crowd of over 250 people, including town officials, the chief of police, local business owners, and members of the school and religious communities showed up on the Amherst town common for a rally for unity following the vandalization of a black owned store. Only five years after a similarly egregious event occurred at the same store. And whereas in 2015, more than 100 people gathered on the town common in support of a black Amherst regional high school teacher recognized by the district as a dedicated and professional teacher of mathematics who provided exemplary instruction to our students after according to the district, she was subjected to harassing and hurtful events and notes during the course of her employment. And whereas in 2018, University of Amherst, wait a minute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst announced acts of hate and intimidation and launched an investigation after fliers and stickers from a white nationalist hate group were found posted on campus the same day the author and historian Abram A. Kendi, a leading scholar of race and discriminatory policy visited campus and delivered a lecture at the UMass Fine Arts Center on how to be an anti-racist. And whereas in 2019 in Amherst, the median family income for white families was 2.4 times greater than the median family income for black families. 51% of the black population in Amherst was reported as being below the poverty line compared with 30% for the white population and white residents in Amherst were four times more likely to own a home than black residents. And whereas the percentage of black high school seniors that dropped out of school was nearly three times that of white seniors. And while 40% of high school seniors went on to attend private four-year colleges or universities, none of them were black. And whereas in 2020 following the national outcry in response to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, dozens of Amherst residents spoke at a town council meeting and shared deeply painful personal stories about racial discrimination in policing and strongly urged the town to hear their concerns and bring about change. And whereas the Amherst town council acknowledges the trauma inflicted on blacks by persistent white supremacist ideology resulting in psychological harm affecting education, economic health and social outcomes and conjures painful memories of our towns past, not only for those who lived through these experiences but also for the generations that have followed. And whereas the town of Amherst acknowledges this is a partial list which represents only a small sampling of Amherst's history of anti-black racism. Now therefore be it resolved that in accordance with the fundamental principle set forth in the Declaration of Independence which asserts that all people are created equal and are endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Amherst town council acknowledges the town's history of racially motivated policies and practices and apologizes for the damage this history has caused to the town particularly its black residents. Be it further resolved that the Amherst town council hereby rejects prejudice and bigotry including the idea that white people are inherently better or more worthy than any other group of people and declares that it stands against white supremacy. That was very powerful. Ben, you're muted. That's why nobody got my cute little comment then. I was saying that that was awesome. Not the content but the fact that we read it was awesome. I didn't realize how hard it is to read in front of people like that and thank you. I'm so sorry I put you on the spot to do that. That's why I was like, oh, I gotta take over. That must have been a lot of problem. Thank you. It's awkward trying to coordinate like the scroll to the read. Yes. It's very funny when you mess it up. I would have been, you know, it would have been hard if you did that to me. Luckily I figured it out. I'm new to the group so you got to be a little nice to me, right? For now. Okay. Okay. I'll take it. I think we haze you later. I have to check with. I'll be ready. So the next agenda item was the. Oh, did we want to have a discussion about the resolution at all? Can I just want to say that a lot of that stuff I didn't, I didn't know about. So just for me personally, it's, it's. It was a lot to take in when I read it this afternoon when I got a copy of it. You know, it's, it has a long history. And, you know, in a powerful history, including an awful lot, some people here know this, that some of the Massachusetts, the 54th, you know, soldiers are buried in Emerson. We used to have some residents from the 54th here. So, you know, I think the more, you know, we can educate our townspeople about the history of Emerson. Because a lot of times we talk about just, you know, the good stuff, right. But let's really educate our town about some of the ugliness that also happened in our town. I was privileged to be friends with someone who was one of the old families of Amherst, you know, I know. And she knows them Carol, Carol Davis, which she has since passing Carol Cox, and said, and she was one of those family members old black families in town. And, you know, there's lots of stories that she used to tell about, you know, her growing up in Amherst and also her family, because I believe her family were here from like the early 1800s. And I think it's a great history. And, and I think it's something that needs to be taught in our schools to tell you, you know, because it's, it is part of the American history and our existence. So, I think that it should be a course just in Amherst history for, it's not elementary schools at least in middle school. Yeah, I think there's a great deal of black history here in Amherst that we don't talk about very often. Like I was actually just recently reading about James Baldwin's time in Amherst. I don't hear a lot of people talk about him having spent so much time here and having like a class with him. Yeah. Yeah, that's my claim to fame is that I took a class with James Baldwin. Did you really? I did. That's how well did you do. This is the, I got a minus in class, you know, and, and, you know, this is the story that I tell people that James Baldwin was so revered that his, so the class was in a, it's about 120 people in class right and that class then breaks down into discussion sections. And the discussion leaders for James Baldwin were the full professors in the Afro American Studies department, the esoteric, the Michael Thelwells, the Chester Davis, you know, the Muhammad needs, I mean, those were his discussion leaders. So, you know, I don't say this in any demeaning way, it wasn't the graduate students. These were the professors, the professors, full professors that were his discussion leaders. So now it was just amazing. I'm so, so glad that I got to take that course with him. And that's, you know, there's a beauty also of being in Amherst, right. You get exposed to a lot of these things, you know, that a lot of the people are not privileged to have been exposed to. Absolutely. I'm glad again. That is awesome. Did anyone else have anything to add regarding the proclamation or just black? That's kind of. There's a lot of history in Amherst. Goodwin Memorial Amy Zion Church was part of the Underground Railroad. There's a lot of things that people don't know about the rich history of black Americans in Amherst and it would be something that would be interesting for us actually to get behind and discuss in one of our meetings. And then people understand who we are, where we came from, why we're here, why we stayed, you know, said it well knows me from back at UMass and when I got here in 77. I wanted to go home every day. There wasn't a lot of people that look like me on that campus but there was some of us that for whatever reason found the history found the beauty of Amherst and decided to stay here and raise our children, even though some of the things that Donna and some other people had mentioned they didn't know, we knew some of that. And we decided to stay regardless. So I think it's important that the town take a look at the rich history of the folks that look like us that are here that contribute. You know, the Greens in their typewriting business was a main staple in our town. And Mr. Arthea is no longer with us. But her husband and I got to remember his name. He's still around and we need to honor him. We look at people like the Cox's and we look at people. Oh my God, I'm blanking on his name. Ray, who passed away, I think last year. He passed away last year. And you know, we should be talking more about those folks that whose shoulders we stand on as members of black members of this community, and to understand what they taught us. Like before, people like on the woman Jean Moss and Ingrid ask you and I could, I could go on and name a few people that I still look up to that taught me so so much. Not only about being an African American but about being a woman about being a mother. And they're here in this town. And we really should take a look at some of those maybe have during Black History Month, we salute black history members of the nation but what about the ones that are right here in our town. We should be doing something about that. And that's actually on our agenda item in a little bit. I mean, it does remind us of that the past. You know, this, this history. What is the phrase that the past isn't history, it's not even the past right we're still living with so many of the issues today and we're responding to some of those issues when we're looking at that at some of those issues in education we're looking at some issues in housing. We're seeing that it wasn't that long ago that it was made very clear to people that they weren't welcome in the town of Amherst and it makes it very hard to adjust things because you have to not only adjust the opportunities for people but you have to adjust the tone that has been set up for decades and centuries that that specifically excluded people and asked people not to come and not to be part of our community. And even as the resolution is being thought about talked about and passed in this town we had an incident last Friday right at the high school with a swastika or in the n word, and that's not in the past that's today. We have some young people and Petua can talk more about this if she chooses but we have some young people from the members of Poku that have written a response to that and will be sharing that in writing with the school committee and help me Petua school committee and oh they wanted to put it in the PGO newsletter and they'll be meeting with principal Sadiq tomorrow at noon to talk a little bit more about that with him. So, just for y'all to know, you know we're not talking about issues of the past, and not even issues of the summer. We're talking about issues of today. Yeah, and like one of the, like a big Jewish Instagram page like they have like a big following we got mentioned like our high school got mentioned like the antisemitic things that have happened like in the past during Hanukkah because it's Hanukkah season right now. So like, but like also the race races and antisemitic stuff that's happening a lot of us. And the school are really, I think what's really great about this and it really describes everything very clearly not everything like a lot but a lot that so people can understand that this isn't just something that's happening today will happen last Friday, but something that happened throughout history and it's not something that's new. And I wish it was translated more to younger people. But I think that's something that we can say to the school committee and PGO people to help push for that too. So, yeah. Was it the anti defamation league that had mentioned Amherst. I think I don't know exactly which one I just saw a lot of people post from my school, but it might have been bad. Yeah. So, the next item is an update on the community safety working group. We're somewhat up to speed at this point was there anything else to add to that or we're solid on that. Yeah, we don't. Yeah, we don't have any insights on what's going on in there. And you know, I know my sister isn't it but I got on the shoot I haven't asked anything because I want to be stay out of it, and let them do their work and I want to be surprised when, when things comes up. And, like God I'm sure that I haven't asked one question. Aren't they meeting right now and that's why Jennifer is not here. Oh yeah, she'll be back at 730 if we're still meeting at that time. Right. Did you say bad in the beginning you're going to ask them to come and speak to this group at some point I just want to. Should I put that in the minutes or sit actually. Oh, sit okay. Yeah, I had said that maybe after they do the first report we could invite them to come and just, you know, and let us know what what it came up with and see if there's any way we can help in that process, you know, because I think there's definitely ways we can help community outreach outreach survey. We actually have to wait for them to come back for that right. I don't have a lot of background as to where we are right now so. So the next section of the agenda is dealing with upcoming events. So, we have Kwanzaa coming up. Who do we normally team up with for that. So Kwanzaa is well Kwanzaa is being held this week we had a meeting this morning Jen. Jennifer had a meeting with some of our again young students from Poku were volunteering to open up Kwanzaa on the 26. I believe Monica cage, Joel blend in and Phoenix for error for it will be opening up, helping open up, talking about the meaning of Kwanzaa, the principles of Kwanzaa and setting the first candle, which will be a mojo for unity, along with Miss Ingrid ask you, and Dr. Ruth bass green, I think those are the folks that are on the agenda for day one anyway. And that's the only thing we talked about that I know of because it involves my young people of Poku. And I know that she has other people that are helping this week, and we'll be reaching out to some members of this Human Rights Commission for their input for the week. So she can report more on it, but that's what we discussed today. Again, mainly the first day because that's what our young leaders are a part of. This is all being done virtually right. Absolutely. Is it like what for us to share like that we could kind of send out. I think that you should reach out to Jennifer again like I said she's going to be reaching out to people it's going to be every day she's going to try to get Amherst media to record it. I know they can do it live but can put it together for viewing for later on. But she's going to need some assistance for every day of quons that there needs to be a different candle lit and a different day. So she's going to need somebody to talk about those each day and like the unity like the candle for each day. So again, she might be reaching out to some people in this committee for that. So after that we have a Martin Luther King Junior's birthday. So what, um, what exactly is it that that we're doing instead of the, the breakfast it's another virtual event right. I'm not quite sure Jennifer reached out to miss custody and I and we directed her to Richmond and Pia Bonnie, who is usually the chair of the Martin Luther King breakfast. I know Jennifer reached out to us because again members of Poku volunteer their services at the breakfast each year and so I'm not sure where we are with that. I also want to acknowledge we acknowledge Hanukkah and on January 6 we also have three Kings Day coming up and yeah. On Kings Day like celebrated at all up here besides like Holyoke, like has there ever been like an Amherst or is it or is it that it's to, I just realized that it's like religiously rooted right so. I know some families who celebrated you know, even though it weakens days more in the United States is more, you know, Latinx tradition. There's some caveman is actually that celebrated to so. And I know of families it's not like a huge celebration but they are some families that that's celebrated in the caveman community in Amherst too. It was like a huge holiday like I went to Hartford public for high school that was like, I think it was huge for me because it was right after winter break. And then we had another day off. The schools actually have it off this year. Yeah. And this will be the first year that we actually have it off to celebrate. So if that matters and maybe we can do something for that day. Ben, if you really want to I think if you got a hold of Dr. great Rada, Marta. She might be able to get you a little bit more I'm not familiar. But she might be able to give you a little bit of more history and understanding of what happens in the Latinx community here. So, if we don't, you know, it's really late in the game to really do something strong, but maybe we can, as a new member of the community, keep this in mind that we need to really adhere to something for them in the future for us because they're all it's all us in the future. Right. And then let's see Chinese New Year. Are there any major celebrations I know like within the schools that there were like Wildwood had a huge parade that they would do inside but I'm not sure what's being done like virtually this year is that anyone else have any insight on that. I think Jennifer is working mentioned something to me, but I don't know the details of it so I can't speak to it very intelligently. But I think she's mentioned something to me so when she gets back maybe she'll have something to tell you that she's working on for that. Oh, and then the entire black history month. So, with our previous conversation. I kind of had an idea and I think, I mean, I think we have like a little more than a month to prepare I think it's possible for us to do to kind of sort of do like, I don't know if we would do daily profiles but what do folks think about doing profiles of like localized black history. So, just so you know that this is a stolen idea sort of from a sibling. So like my sister just did this this art heels tour where they went through. They went all the way down to Savannah Georgia and back. And you know, they kind of like interact with with all of these local communities and the thing that she brought back with her was that almost everywhere that they went. People had like robust knowledge about their localized black history, and not just things that would have like kind of like fed into the, you know, the national story right like our. We get this this little boxed in version of civil rights that we learned school is kind of more in depth and I was thinking about like, there is a very rich and interesting history in Amherst here like, just was there someone from the, or a couple people from the 54th here right. The movie glory, the character snowball was actually based on multiple people from here, like little things like that but I was just wondering if folks had ideas about things to do to kind of celebrate localized. So I did have a couple ideas I know do we still meet together on the town common to raise the, raise the flag for black history month, because at that celebration. We could maybe honor one of our elders, maybe Mr Brooks, Carly Tartikov, when I want me Jean Moss, and one of our young people. And there's two that I have in mind, one is on this call patchwork. One is our young lady who actually lives in South Hadley, but go attend school in at Fort River, and she has a reading. Oh, her name is Aliyah Paul, and she has been reading she has her dream land with Aliyah. She started when the pandemic hit her and her sister, sisters productions. She started reading books every day she read a book every day from I think helped me said March 30 to September 30. And now she reads on weekends because she has her school work to do. So I think that if we could highlight an elder and a young person or two. And during that flag raising that would be a great opportunity to bring some richness to our community and to allow people to know that there were some great things going on, and great people that are here that are culturally black. I like that because you have like two different aspects of multi generational youth and celebrating at least one of our elders. So it's hard to pick like we, how do we do that would we would we vote on who it is. I don't know, I just. I don't know what is it I mean what does everybody else think I mean that's just an idea that I had that I would put out there is we're doing this flag raising anyway. I don't have to say socially distanced. I don't even know if the folks can actually be there, but at whatever we do for black history month to begin black history month and raise that flag. I would love to be able to highlight some of the people that that are right here in this town. I think that's a great idea but you know for the elders we have to be definitely constant that covert, you know is real deal and some of them may not want to come out and be exposed so we would have to ask them for you know for them to feel comfortable coming out and if they don't maybe we could even have a haven't do a video right they could do a video and then we can we can project it if that's someone that we feel that issue of them should be commemorated on that day. I just highlighted that they could do a video. But I just don't want to put them in a position where they feel that have to show up, because I know some people are doing the real quarantine, especially after certain age, you know, I don't, I don't blame them for doing that. Absolutely. So but I think that's a great idea Liz support definitely supported. Yeah, there are two other opportunities though I just would point out last year we had on Martin Luther King's birthday itself we had a reading of a proclamation at town hall, and, and then we went over to the library and we watched a video and had a discussion. And, and so, if we wanted to do something surrounding that around Martin Luther King, Junior's birthday. Again, online. I think that that's another way to do it and would particularly for we're honoring people in our community who shouldn't be exposed shouldn't be coming together in person at this point that would be another opportunity. Also in June, if we do decide to do something again, like our human rights heroes award which historically we have honored our, our young people at that but we did in 2016 I think it was on our Greg Baskin, as well. We did come off of the commission at that point. So that's another time where there's not another opportunity for us to, to try to look at people in our community, if we want to take more time to think through how we want to do that. So we don't have to make a decision this moment if we're uncomfortable doing that. I kind of like the team of bridging the generations like that. I'm sorry to go ahead. I agree I think that would be a good to do like present day or like this time people who are still alive, who are here today that are to be honored that'd be good and then I also found this site over the summer. I like the black history in the town of Amherst and it was put together by Dr. Amacar Chabaz and the Afro studies department and they have like a lot of information there so if we were to do like historical profiles of Amherst black Amherst residents like I feel like there's a lot of information on that site and I can share it with everyone. But that would be a great opportunity to like show the history because most of the information from the resolution that I that we just read. I knew because of that site that I went to over the summer and I thought it was very impactful so yeah. Yeah, actually, you know, a part took is better work. Yeah, I think so. English is my second language so I'm going to use that as an excuse. I think a couple of years ago, three years ago, where I'm Elke Chabaz, Dr. Chabaz and the group did, did kind of a recap of Amherst history, very short so we didn't compass everything for Juneteenth, and they did an amazing, amazing job and I learned a lot from that, even though I have been in here for over 30 years. There's lots of pieces I didn't know so I agree with you Katya with that but that's a great resource and utilizing Dr. Chabaz and his because I know he's done a lot of work in that area. I know at UMassie teaches a seminar or colloquium on the history of Springfield. Maybe there's a place where he could do a history of Amherst, you know, for, for people who want to learn about a history of Amherst because he does that at UMass for the history of Springfield and the black population of Springfield. One other thing we can do for Black History Month is at the high school in the past years and it didn't happen last year and I'm not sure why. But usually on the last day of Black History Month we have a reading of those notables who have gone on. And just the kids come on the loudspeaker and they read names. And Petra, I don't know if we've done it since you've been in, we haven't done this in a couple years I don't think, but we used to go on and just read the notable, not even the notable black black leaders in all categories that have passed on. And maybe we can do that for members of the town of Amherst who have gone on. And it's not that they have to be there but just acknowledged that here's some people who have left us in the past year. So those are some of my thoughts. I'd be glad to try to put something together with the help of Jennifer and anybody else who wants to join me and presented at our January meeting. I agree with Sid that some people may not want to be out because we still have COVID, but I am not the technical person. I don't ask me to record, I always need help. They had the teachers do a recording of themselves for Open House. Oh my God, I was traumatized. But I would gladly try to, maybe if they don't want to be there we can have a recording of them and it can be played over the loudspeaker or whatever we have. I had had a couple of Fridays ago for the town declaration. Yeah, so I can put some more thought together about that I wouldn't want to know who people thought as an elder, but you know we have somebody in middle school maybe we can do somebody in elementary school somebody in the regional school middle school, high school, somebody younger and then one of my elders and just highlight them and try to do that each year. So yeah, those are just some thoughts. I wanted to let you guys know that I texted Jen to ask when she's coming back because I know there's some things that she could speak to a lot better than I can and she can be here at 730. So, 10 more minutes and Jen will be here. We can stall it out for that. If you can please. Then what else. Oh, a retreat for this year. Yeah, so so folks have any thoughts like, I guess the first thing we would have to kind of narrow down is the wind right that's that was the hardest part I think. Last year. I like it anyway. And then we also have to figure out how everyone gets sandwiches and I like to sandwich it. We didn't we do that in the, was it springtime springtime really some correct correct me from romantic. We did it. We did that November of 2019. Okay, when we did the retreat. Yeah. I think it was in the South Amherst in the library was November. Yeah. I felt like it was nice and warm. I don't know why. It wasn't that cold yet and it was, it was the, I think it was the first, the first meeting in Petua came to so. They remember. Yeah. Well, Yeah, well, because I was anyone here a weird buzzing. Okay. I don't have any feedback from somewhere. Actually, no, I don't. Now I don't. It just stopped. Right. But yeah, I figure. But how long did it take to kind of coordinate that last year. Like a matter of a couple of meetings that we figured it did not take long to coordinate. You know, I guess, for a couple of you who are here. We're new members at the time. And so we just tried to figure out when everyone would be on so that we could have a kind of review of what we do as a commission and what our goals would be long term. And, and so if you wanted to schedule something in the spring, I think we could probably just have to plan it far enough out. Far enough out, which could be, you know, a month or two for us to take the time. If you want it right now my guess is we'd be doing it online though right or how do you proceed doing that. Yeah, I can't think of any way to do it in person safely and responsibly but yeah. I was thinking that like a few hours online like on a Saturday or something like that. I don't know what, what do folks think like March maybe early March is that insane or do we want to do it sooner or anytime at all. I'm not part of the group but I'm ready when do you want to do it I'm in. I was going to say if we're going to do it sooner for me would have to be before February 4 because we. That's when school starts at UMass so probably would have to be the latest the third week of January for me, because then things just ramp up really quickly. So, and I know some other folks here teach to so. Yeah, I will say that January, I think I'm at a conference the first week in January and doing a child drop off the second week of January. And the third week trying to figure out if we're going to have PSATs and you know like once I can get a kid to there if they're having it, then, then I'm good for the rest of that weekend. But, but yeah this teaching starts up for me on the 19th of January so so it's going to get kind of busy at that point. It's chaos from then on. So does everybody else think third week in January or later. So the only hesitation in my calendar is I work for UMass athletics I do their school board. And we are day to day when it comes to games because they get cancellations and, for instance, last week the game was canceled but then the next while we're at the women's game. Another team decided they will come and play so then the game again a game was on for the time that they told us we were canceled. So it was really weird. And that's what's going to be going on, depending on this pandemic and So that's the only hesitation that I have is, I could say yes to this date and then they'll call me and say, Oh, this team canceled or this team is coming and we need you at this game. So when, when is the season over for you, please. The seasons over the first weekend in March. We didn't look for look for the spring to doesn't have to be done right away. And that way he would also give us a chance, hopefully by then we'll have as it guy who just, you know, resigned we might get somebody else in there so might be another new person and so. Yeah. Spring Break with the Human Rights Commission. Spring Break with the Human Rights Commission. Commissioner's gone mild. I'm writing that down for the minute spring break with the Human Rights Commission. I've got it. Hopefully, hopefully I'll be in St. Barton and I can just, you know, just zoom in. See what I'm saying. There we go. Spring Break is in. I work on the background. Alright, delegation of calendar events. Oh, hmm. So are we going to delegate each of these things to individuals or groups like are we going to have. Do we need like a subgroup like a planning committee for our retreat or anything like that? Is that insane? Or should we just have it like as a running agenda item until I say, um, let's have it as running agenda thing and wait until it warms up. And we kind of know what people's schedules are. Yeah. And then see what COVID is in like two or three months. It's going to be gone soon. It's just going to, from what I understand, I read that on the Facebook. That that's a good resource, but that's a good resource. That's a good resource. January, January 21st will be gone. Yes. Yes. The plague leaves. Yes. Some people say it was never here. You know that you don't, you read a lot of stuff. Well, I never saw it. All right. So we have to stall out for, for Jen to circle back to a couple of topics, right? I think she's going to be here in like three minutes. And if you didn't need to know more about her, you know, I know she's doing some work on Kwanzaa and Martin Luther King day and black history month. I mean, she's been putting some of her heart into preparing things. So I'd love for her to be able to tell you about them. But on the other hand, she probably speaks with all of you and other ways too. So we don't necessarily have to wait. It's up to you. And one thing I kind of wanted to hear back on was where we're at with the survey. Did she send a sample to everyone here. Like what she was hoping to take to use. Think a while back. Am I remembering that right. I do remember like reviewing questions at one point. Did you guys get back to her with what, you know, differences and changes and maybe additions? I think it was going to be reframed as a questionnaire because for various reasons, we couldn't call it a survey because it wasn't going out to every household, whatever the mechanisms are to take a survey, we weren't following those procedures. And so it was being reframed as a questionnaire. We were also trying to figure out what we were doing with it, right. So when we when it originally came out as an idea, it was following up on a meeting in July. And, and it was going to go to the people who had attended the meeting on anti racism. Then it was going to go to out more broadly, because another thing we've been talking about was sharing, trying to get from the population of Amherst what we as a town want to talk about what we want to talk about. Experts on what we want to communicate around. And so I think one of the issues that came with the, the questions was, well, what are we, what are we doing with this are we going to are we promising that if people say they want to talk about these issues that the town of Amherst is actually going to be responsive and actually be able to bring speakers in or be able to have a community conversation because a lot of people were frustrated that we had a webinar in July on anti racism, and they weren't able to speak, we didn't have breakout groups we didn't have the ability for people to communicate with each other. And so whatever framework we were going to have that didn't seem to be the one that worked. So there were just a lot of issues that that came up surrounding what the next steps are. Right, because I feel like I hear you and without knowing the history but why would we ever ask a question that we couldn't do something about if we if the answer. You know what I mean, there has to be some some kind of meaning, or at least it's got to be worth something for people to take the time to answer the questions. But I have no I mean maybe that maybe Jennifer has already gone back to the town manager and maybe that is asked and answers I don't know. I met with Jennifer I don't know. Yeah, like me and Miss Hagrid met with Jennifer a couple weeks ago and we were talking about like a, like a group that kind of kind of kind of is like the school equity task force the school committee would be like our our school equity task force or what they would be as a group of people that would like be able to like fulfill the things that are asked in like a questionnaire, and there would be people that represent the community so we were talking about like people who have like connections in the Asian community and the Latinx community and stuff like that so she was talking about that I don't know if that's what we're talking about but that's what we talked about. I definitely know she was thinking about like an ambassador like not the word ambassador necessarily but an ambassador like program where exactly like you said, finding someone from a particular community that could be a leader in that and trying to help facilitate conversations. Yeah, so I know that's a hope of hers I think she thinks that would be a really good way to get the questions or the survey out there. Yeah, we were talking about like providing like resource like child childcare and like maybe a stipend for people so they don't have to like sacrifice that in order to come to this group, and they can focus their energies on what we have to do. Like project based instead of like, like a committee would just be project based so that way people can like really focus on what they need to get done in that year or whatever. So yeah, that's what we talked about to supplement the survey or the questionnaire. Yeah. Yes. Oh, look it. There's Jennifer. Jennifer, we all missed you very much. So, thank you. I'm still in two meetings. Oh, no. So, I can send the information that I needed to send out to everyone in an email. And so I apologize. I really just have updates about the different. Oh sorry that's horrible I have like five chins doing that. I have information to about events that are going to happen. So, I can easily send that to you guys in an email and I so apologize that I'm double booked and hopefully this won't happen again. Or I'll see if we can change because Paul has made it very clear that he wants me to attend the community safety working group meetings at this time. Next time we're going to clone you and then you can be in both places at the same time. How about that. You don't have to clone me have to clone my zoom account. Because I shut down their meetings. I'll let I'll, I'll let you know the things that came up Jennifer okay. All right, great. Thank you guys. Bye. Thank you. Thanks. Now I can't get out. Welcome to the hotel California. Oh boy. Perfect. I believe unless there are any items are. Just closed out the agenda so I'm trying to freestyle this. Any any topics that weren't reasonably anticipated 48 hours prior to this. Any viewer. Well, I just have a question about when we are next meeting, you know, sometimes December, January is a tough period. So I know in some of the past years we've done things like, when we knew we were all going to be at the NLK breakfast, let's have our meeting around that because we're all going to be there. And, and if there's a conflict with, for example, because I would are when would our January meeting be with would be the 21st, I believe 21st. Okay. You know, are we are we good for the 21st. Is that when we're we're going to next meet. I am. Yeah, unless I get a game. All right, so it's tent, we're tentatively, or we're securely meeting on the 21st. We're solid on that. In the minutes now, Ben, we're securely meeting on the 21st. We are committed to it. All right, I love that. All right, would anybody like to make any sort of emotion. Before we move to adjourn really quickly. When we find out about whatever's happening in January, whatever dates we hear from Jennifer, I'm guessing that that might be before our next meeting. If there's something for for MLK day. And so it's it will ask all of us to probably just be there and be supportive of it. So, but I'm guessing that there's nothing else we have to decide as far as doing something for MLK day, or inviting anyone to be there from the Human Rights Commission. So as long as we don't have anything else we need to do, then I think we're, we're, we're good until our next meeting. Yeah. Good point. So hopefully we just have to show up. And if not, I bet Jen will reach out to you guys as a group and ask you. Or, you know, if there's anything that didn't come up. Yeah. Thank you for your patience with me tonight. Thank you for helping us tonight. Thanks for filling in. All right. So I will move it. There's nothing else to adjourn. Second. Quick. All right. We'll take a vote. My husband knocked on the door and said, aren't you having dinner? I was like, No, I didn't. Let's not take a vote yet before we go. Thank you. So I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful fact that Petua has gotten some into some amazing institutions of high learning. So I want to congratulate her for her amazing scholarship. That has gotten her into some amazing institution and truly truly appreciate you being part of this group. Yeah. Yeah. Here she comes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I did it through like Westbridge. So it got me through. Yeah. So like, I got a full tuition scholarship. Yes, you did. So that's, yeah, it's really great. So I'll be studying engineering civil engineering at the school, school of science and apply no engineering and applied science or something like that. Yes. Amazing. Yeah. Women in engineering. Yes. Yeah, I'm very excited. As soon as I found out my, I told my dad. And my dad is so excited for you. He's like, so you have like these random cheerleaders all over town for you. Yeah. When my mom goes to town to get food, she's like, everyone knows and they're always congratulating her wherever she goes. And she's like, I didn't know people knew this, but like, absolutely. That's because I got a big mouth and I put it out there. When we're proud of one of our young people, it has to be known. Absolutely. Yes. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Congratulations, man. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your record. I'm personally biased as to your, your chosen major. Yeah. Awesome. Oh, and the other thing is if anybody can, for those folks out there that are listening. And anybody who. Contributed to. The parent center. We have a lot of students and our families who are struggling. Around the holidays with gift cards and toys and books and. Clothes for our young people around this holiday. So for everybody who contributed for everybody who. Wanted to contribute and didn't couldn't contribute. We thank you. It's still not too late to contribute, even though we're pretty good right now. Things always come up. And so for our families, we have a number of homeless families and homeless students. And so whenever we can lend a helping hand, it's all always good. And so I know that because I was there at Santa's workshop, if you want to call it that in the parent center on yesterday, and they were hard at work. Getting these gift cards and things out. And so we had a lot of family members. We had a family member and raised a lot of money. And they wanted to do, they was doing it for the survival center, but the survival center is not accepting donations right now because of the pandemic. And they donated everything right to the. The family center for the members of our community that are struggling. So thank you for everybody. So if we bought gift cards and we have not yet. And would we be able to drive some place and hand them to someone? And bring them right to the family center. They may not open the door for you if they don't know you, but they will open the door for me. I will be at the high school tomorrow. So if you want to come and drop them off at the high school. I was, I, they let me in all the time because I volunteer some of my work there, my hours there. I'm the one who does all the backpacks and all that stuff. So I was able to take some gift cards to them on Wednesday and we'll gladly do it again tomorrow. So tomorrow will be the last day because of course we close after tomorrow. So yeah. And they're working over, over time. Getting these things to our families. Great. We have to take the motion again. How does that work? You can say that there's a motion on the floor. Yeah. There was a second. There was a discussion. Now take a vote. An eclectic discussion like that. We're all in favor. We're all. All right. All righty. So good night everybody. I've been 42. I got it in the minutes. Thank you. Bye everybody. Happy holidays to everybody. Stay safe out there. Happy holidays. Thank you.