 Recording and have you let any folks in Jennifer? If there's anyone there's no one in the attendees. I don't I don't see anyone No, you guys should be all set now All right. Thank you Jennifer. Thank you guys. Have a good meeting. Okay. Thanks. Bye. Bye. Oh, do you have any questions? before I get up Questions about what Juneteenth before I get up. Um, yes, should I call the meeting to order real quick and then ask you? Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Okay. So calling the June 15 meeting of the African Heritage Reparation Assembly to order at 233 p.m. Pursuant to chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 this meeting will be conducted via remote means members of the public who wish to access the meeting may do so via zoom or by telephone No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technological means. Okay. And one of the items on our agenda today is to Just finalize any questions about Juneteenth and since Jennifer's here with us just for a few more minutes Does anyone have any questions about the upcoming Juneteenth events that Jennifer can answer? And Jennifer, do you want to Just say because I saw that Sunday's flyer came out. Is there anything that you want to share? No, I just I hope that you guys come out and mingle in the crowd and start talking to folks about, you know, ahra in a nicely community way, right? so Um, yeah, and michelle, did you still want to have a table or are you guys just going to mingle or what? Um, maybe we'll talk about that for a few minutes today and make a decision on that and I I really don't have a sense of who is coming um on sunday yet and so Uh, who would be able to be at the table and so I'll get back to you on that one. I guess Yeah, my only request like having the table means you have to have something on it too. So Right Might just be easier if people are mingling in the crowd if they attend Yeah, no, I I agree without having like a banner or something that we can clearly Identify the table, you know With I'm not sure But it really is a great opportunity on the other hand. So maybe we'll discuss something and then let you know right away Sounds good. I have a good meeting everyone. Thank you all right I'm curious if anything anybody knows if anything is organized for monday the actual federal holiday That's a really great question other than everything being closed. I didn't see anything dr. Shabazz um, I know there's a film Screening miss juneteenth. I think at amour cinema, but I Did you see that? I don't know if that's Uh, let me just quickly look is that saturday or Here it is. Okay. I might be able to share screen here Um, that is sunday at 4 30 There's a community screening. It's free admission. Um, it's called miss juneteenth and Jennifer sent something around about that So i'll send if you all haven't received that i'll send that but I don't see anything on on the schedule from monday Okay, thank you. Sure. I'm just gonna fill up my water. I was running in from another meeting. So just excuse me Please for one second Hello one thing we if we do up for a table we could run off some of the Basic I can make some copies of some of the basic information about the black assembly of amour's Massachusetts kind of um, you know, how it's dedicated to Raising the conversation within the african heritage community and we can have you know and asking people to sign up for for additional information to be part of the notifications of Of the monthly meetings or other meetings Relevant meetings. So that is one thing that comes to mind if you if you think that's that's appropriate or you and urge I think that's appropriate I love that idea sounds good to me No, I don't want to question you as soon as going to put the bell on this cat well Yeah, I've had one room toward juneteenth throughout my life And that is it is a day it is a day of fun not a day of work So I'll have to know the only thing I could say about sitting at a table is it it's got to be fun So it can't be it can't be work for me I don't mind sitting at a table. I don't mind talking about things. But uh, I definitely don't want to feel like it's work Yeah, and that really is a great idea. I think that's Awesome, and I love the fun aspect Is it um, who is everyone going saturday? Who's going on saturday for some or all of the event? Okay, great, and then what about on sunday? Okay, cool. So we'll be there throughout In terms of saturday just an update So we um Well, actually an update and to say that we never finalized an amount That we wanted to give as an unrestricted donation For our sponsorship And we don't have to do that today. I've given paul the heads up That we are going to be doing that, you know, either today or friday if we want to wait until we have more members Um, but either way we're moving forward with some great food with junior. I heard back dr. Shabazz from junior today and also I'm really excited about There is a business Opening hopefully opening up in the mill district That is you may have heard it's a bakery. Um, and I believe that it's a black owned business um, she specializes in cakes and cupcakes And I anika had sent me a picture of a cake. She made for a different event And I was like, oh my goodness It would be so wonderful to have a cake beautiful cake at the heritage walk when we're at the history museum And so she's designing Something for that as well. So Um, but that's more just I don't think that's that's kind of just coming from me personally It's not like part of the, you know, but I just wanted to share because I'm excited about it And other than that, I think anika has said that ahra will be added on all of the promotional materials that they're Going to be putting out in the couple days ahead. Um, so We'll also be acknowledged at one or more points during the day. So Um, it will be good for some of us to be there. Definitely So do we have any other comments or questions about juneteenth before we get into The earmarking conversation Nothing, okay So I thought about maybe postponing this meeting today because the finance committee Couldn't get a meeting together for this week as they had hoped to Um, so the meeting has been now set for tuesday of next week at three o'clock um, and so the plan is um, and dr. Shabazz you weren't here at the end of the last meeting the assembly voted to Direct me to begin working on a draft policy in collaboration with the town council president as needed um to bring to you all for approval for review and approval So hope is if we can decide on a time to meet on friday And I got your message that you're good dr. Shabazz at two o'clock so that to accommodate erv and Hala, are you just two o'clock work for you on friday? Yes, and um, I have to double check because i'm pretty sure I texted you and if I didn't something's wrong with my phone because You may have Okay, I know I It was the individual one. I texted you back. Perfect. Okay. Yeah, that was you and also lexus did individually I think so So two o'clock it is then we'll we'll go with two o'clock evan unfortunately couldn't do noon or two o'clock um So I told her that I can I believe without violating open meeting law send her something Directly that's going to be in the packet that she can respond directly to me with feedback about Without violating anything so hopefully we'll get some feedback from her as well And then my recommendation is that we meet one more time an hour before the finance committee at two o'clock in case we have some so I'm going to have something for you friday to look at you're going to give me feedback Hopefully I'll work on it with Lynn over the weekend Then we can meet again We're not going to meet on monday because it's the holiday and we can't So then we'll meet on tuesday at two o'clock to make sure that we're all we're on the same page before we bring it To the finance committee at three o'clock And we are posting for that meeting too. Um, so for whoever can be there fantastic Um, and we'll be able to call a meeting to order if we reach a quorum. So that uh, jennifer's taking care of all of that already Um, so there's really not you know, unless there were particular um Outside of what I just said if there were particular thoughts that came up since the last meeting That we want to address now. Um, I'd be happy to use the time to go ahead and get back to work on it Um, I did also want to just keep our eye on the fact that the mass humanities application is going to be Right around the corner and I'm wondering howla if you wanted to continue Maybe in collaboration with one or more community members who have shown interest in that If you would be willing to continue to take the lead on that if I okay awesome Um, so yeah, any other comments or questions? Um anything that has come up from the last time we met. I know we touched on um Kind of some circumstances in the last finance committee committee meeting that we may or may not want to discuss Or if there's just anything else Um that anybody would like to touch on in relationship to this request Oh, and by the way, boston city council tonight They're going for it. They're asking for the committee and so I just want to send them really Strong thoughts and prayers that they get that past tonight Yes, indeed and I would also note, um, kansas um In uh, kansas city. I recently received a call they're pushing for the town the city to create a municipal Body similar to ours. They called to ask thoughts particularly one thought they wanted to know if we were a members of the committee had Received a stipend of any form to help cover You know our work or in respect of you know, um Uh The time and and things we may need to do in order to make meetings like this And uh, and it did bring that that question to bear in terms of just checking in is um, You know community safety working group was one such group Town body that uh did provide a stipend to members members could of course donate it back to the to the town or Or would have you but uh, it was a policy across the board was Did any of you? I'm just wondering if people would have had any thoughts in relation to that type of Thing for this for this group as to uh, to whether they did my Seen seem worthwhile. I know we never moved to you know, uh recruit a seventh member, but Um What did uh, was there any feelings in respect to the kinds of costs for To us individually to make a meeting like this Sometimes weekly basis or or more in relation to uh a stipend the way community safety working group received Thank you for asking that question dr. Shabazz and um, it's not on our agenda to speak about this So i'm going to be really careful, but to say that I will add it to An agenda in the very near future Because I think it's actually perfect timing as we're looking at Our funding stream and talking about These components that we would talk about this and raise this up again And see where we're at with it and i'm curious what other people think But I will just note that i'll add it to a future agenda so that we can have a full discussion about it Um, I'll also note that we have an application in to fill the vacancy Um, and that town manager bobleman is in the process of reviewing that application. So um, that Is going through the process that I guess you all went through I went through I think I didn't actually i'm not sure exactly how it works for Well, that was a screening committee, wasn't there? Yes, there was a screening committee But i'm not sure in terms of the like when there's one vacancy, but town manager bobleman is taking care of that um And so we'll have more information about that coming soon And so let me add that to the agenda and make sure that we Get that discussion, but I think if anybody has any immediate remarks In really in response dr. Shabana, that's that that's fine. I know it wasn't an agenda item. I Uh, can it it rippled off my mind just in thinking about other Municipalities that are trying to move in the direction. We're moving and a question that they raised about about our our committee But the other thing being in relation to The the the questions that have come up on finance committee about budget and about plan and about this type of thing I think important uh beyond this work of um the uh The financial streams and identifying the financial streams is of course This is summer. This is a good time to kind of get back into The mode of getting getting at the black community The uh The materials we received from the donahue institute trying to look at how to put Get use out of that in terms of an outreach plan to the uh african heritage residents of of amherst Again, if that's something that we might want to also have as a as an item on our next meetings It seems as though It's something that might go uh be important beyond this question of parameters and setting limits and what not might be also important to Um to kind of get back get back into our mode on so that um, yeah that that our our liaisons To to the to the council and community in general can know that you know, there is there is a consultative process There is a plan to uh to to begin to reach out across the town and especially Across the town's african heritage residents to to really get uh get ideas on what what uh Kind of preparative justice plan we we want to see Yes, i'm so glad you brought that up because this is what I was going to propose with respect to that I think you are absolutely 100 right dr. Shabazz um And what I was going to propose is When we once we get through this finance committee meeting then it goes to the fate of the council on june 27th We should by the end of the night on june 27th know what our funding stream is And that sort of checks off number one in our charge that was that was a that was a big piece of our charge And so we'll be able to check that one off And then I absolutely agree that moving toward Engaging members of the black community is what should be the real push and real focus going forward And so I wanted to ask you all how often do you want to have a little break? For a couple weeks after we get through the financing piece Um just to sort of take a breath because that was a big push and then come back and start really working on that The black census and engagement with the black community or Do you want to just keep like how do you guys want to schedule the rest of the summer was my question? like do we want to take a few weeks off perhaps um in Like the first couple weeks of july for example and then come back at it or do we want to just Keep going at this pace that we're going at meeting I hope only once a week after the financial decision is made I'll speak for myself and holla by the way. Yeah, folks should know is our Convener on the uh black Assembly of amherst massachusetts uh for the next six months and uh, yay holla for uh stepping up to that role giving uh dr. Barbara love a bit of a respite But I think what is um, I would have no problems with um looking at uh slowing down the number of meetings of of this body uh, particularly if we can accelerate some of the work of um the black assembly uh of amherst uh massachusetts in terms of its getting out there and um beginning to reach out by uh in person reach out by um zoom as it has done in the past Reach out by email reach out by snail mail. Um if if some of that work can begin To uh to proceed Then yes that will that will be fine to kind of uh create look at at something of a break on the ah R. A. But um, you know, there there would be a couple of questions if in a future meeting if we could have time Just so that as that work kind of proceeds we we uh, you know, we've we've cleared the way for some things from ah r. A Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah um I'm looking at the calendar now and so june So we'll have a meeting tuesday the 21st The town council will be the 27th. As I said, we should know the fate of our funding stream at that point um, and then we could maybe have Maybe we could have a meeting that week to unpack what occurred um and set a foundational plan To support the black assembly of amherst massachusetts For the next few, you know weeks until we then meet again Or if any member of the assembly says we need a meeting because something has arisen That we need to act on we need money. We need whatever then we'll just set up a meeting if we need to do that um, and that gives us some flexibility. I mean this group honestly is There are a lot of committees out there and I will say I am very amazed at how wonderfully this committee works together and Really blessed and grateful for that Is this meeting on the 21st? What time does it start? Okay, great question. So the 21st There's a 2 p.m. Meeting of the ahra Um, and then the finance committee meeting begins at three Are you available on the and that was out of my control really or if it was um, polled You know by the chair of the finance committee and that was the one that most people could attend So this is on after tuesday june 21st at two o'clock Two o'clock with just us Three o'clock a joint meeting with the finance committee where the policy will be proposed and Discussed and a recommendation will be made and uh, and that um That three o'clock is it going to be a separate uh link sent for that? Yes And it may already be in your email box And then the 27th is a regular meeting of the town council And I I don't know what the timing of our spot will be Or when the vote will happen, but once I do know that I'll Send it out to the group and I also see um, holla your hand is raised Yes, um, I'm having connectivity issues, which is why I muted my camera to hope to hear you all better But my question is regarding the mass humanities grant and if this body would like to review that before We might want to make sure we have a meeting um scheduled with that deadline in alignment Yes, and I was just looking up. You don't happen to have a deadline off the top of your head. Do you um Do you holla? I do not okay. No. No, I wouldn't expect you to I I'm just going to pull it up real quick for us Applications are due by july 11th at 11 59 p.m. So My thinking on that is there are at least two people that I know from the community that have offered to work on this in collaboration with you holla One of them being cindy harberst harberst in I think is is her name Her last name i'm not pronouncing it right. Um, she's a live former librarian. Do you do you know her holla? Okay, maybe the connectivity issue is is causing a problem But I think dr. Shabazz, you know cindy. Um, she worked in the special collections and she is also um on the amherst cultural council and has written a ton of grants and has offered to help with this And then there's another community member who also Has a lot of experience in grant writing that I was going to reach out to and so that you and those two holla would be able to work together um july 11th is coming up really fast and so I think that if we're going to oh all right Now we don't have a quorum Hopefully holla wool. I I think the spirit of her thing was um Having the opportunity to just check in before that july one application is due I think you're right To incorporate it in a either in the meeting on the 21st Well, maybe not that meeting because that's kind of constrained But if we would have something around the 27th or after the 27th Um, right after the 27th that that might accomplish That opportunity if there were any Questions she would they would have their draft out there People could get it in the packet and be able to say yay. Nay. Whatever address any questions I think you're right. I think that's exactly what she was getting at and it's july 11th. So if we Meet the deadlines the 11th or the 11th. Yeah the 11th. Yeah a little more time That's okay. Um, so I think that we should plan to meet What are people's schedules look like tuesday the 28th before you go there? Yeah, my calendar on Tuesday 21st looks like spaghetti So I need some clarity. So uh the first meeting for ahra is like two o'clock on the 21st. Is that correct? That's correct. And then there's an ahra 20 meeting with the finance committee At three o'clock. Is that correct? That's correct. All right. So I'm all right on there then Okay, wonderful. That's awesome. I really was hoping that you'd be able to make it to finance. Um, so I'm so glad you can um, and What was that the proposal then was the 28th tuesday the 28th? Yes tuesday the 28th um, and we could include um, and I see howla's back We could include the mass humanities an unpacking of what happened at the vote on the 27th and laying a foundation for bam's work For the black census and our community engagement work that we're going to begin to focus on so What timing on that day is looking good for people? um that day is out for me because of uh Back-to-back meetings. Um, there's a uh regional school committee meeting and then there's a Amherst school committee meeting. Oh, wow And if I did If I did another one before that that would just be and I have some preparation that day is is No, I can't do that. That's too much. I agree with you. Yeah um How about is thursday the 30th an option? Uh, what time? Or even friday I could send a poll out, but um, I do thursday or friday, I think thursday or thursday or friday is the first yeah How how about you dr. Shabazz house thursday? What? Did you say something? I could try to make the 30th or or the first work. Yeah, okay, and does that's same for you dr. Shabazz? or dr. Yeah, it yeah, it works for me. Okay, as long as I can get it on the calendar Okay, how about for you, holla? Do you have a better day between the 30th and the first? And holla the idea we talked about if you can hear us is that this would be an opportunity for those For the work on the grant to be discussed if there are any questions that come up And then giving you time to finalize it to then go out for july 11th. We understand is the deadline Don't know if you can hear us, but that's that's what our deliberation was All right, awesome, okay, so if I'm going to call for public comment because we do have a member in the audience and so if The our attendee would like to make public comment. Please raise your hand And I will bring you into the room and we've read the instructions many times. I'm not going to read them But it's public comment period All right, hang on one second we have mara here And there we go I wish you luck next week Thank you Thank you so much. Is that your public comment? Yes, oh well, thank you. That's a great that's great All right, wonderful Okay, so if there aren't any other questions or comments or future agenda items I don't have anything that hasn't been anticipated Um, I'll just give a quick peek one more time To make sure we haven't missed anything Um, oh, I will say there's a big push for hr 40 right now. So if you're paying attention Um, you will see that leading up into juneteenth Some of you may have seen that biden's press secretary a couple weeks ago when asked about Biden's thoughts on the california reparations report If he was still in support of setting up a Committee, um, she said that he was And I think that was really important information. Um, and so there is a big push Um human rights watch many other organizations working together um to To continue that fight. So, um, I think there's a day Dr. Shabazz, I think we both had it on our Facebook somewhere the day Um, the hr 40 day. I'm just pulling it up See if I can So it's the day of action. Thank you Well the day of action has happened Oh the day of action happened already. Okay. Look at me. I'm losing try. I was yesterday Oh my gosh, I'm losing track of all of these. You're right. It's still a continued push and the the new england region of the National coalition of blacks for reparation in america will be in hartford on the uh, 24th 25th Uh, cathleen anderson and I are carpooling are looking to go down. So, um, so yeah, it's the push is still on For the federal legislation awesome All right. Thank you for that update. Okay. If there aren't any other more. I see your hand is still up. Um Did you have another comment to make? Or is that leftover? It's leftover. Okay All right. Um, so we'll see you all at two o'clock on friday. Um, and Okay, great. I'm adjourning the meeting at we did we settle all you need it with, um, michelle with regards to the I know we don't have court meeting way if we did but as far as for the the food support We already approved that didn't we? Yeah, I think we approved an unrestricted amount which i've given paul a heads up on I told him it was going to be the range that we discussed But I think we need to on friday formalize that so that I can Say So that I can Requisition out how to work that out. Yeah, exactly But if we'll be taking care of in terms of like from my perspective, I will be Working with junior to make sure that everything's taking care of. Um, so thank you for for That was a great meeting last week that was very impromptu over there And I think it was helpful for all of us to be able to talk about it and See visualize. Yeah, exactly. So also if uh, and if you were getting water But the rest of us have talked and I'll just try to see if I can figure out some things for a table But I can also bring a table if it if it's um, you know, so it's an I have to put jennifer Into another task in relation to uh to the sunday I can bring a table as well and and if I have materials from able to get materials I'll I'll get materials for the table Yeah, if you'd be up for that and if you have some materials that you need just to have printed off I'm happy to take that administrative piece. Um, if you just send them to me And if I can I know there are certain places locally as well as online where I can get a banner made if I can get something I get you know, maybe something that says hra and um Bam and have like the town. I don't know. I'll figure it out. I'll work with you on that. Okay, perfect All right. Bye everyone. Thank you so much 308 p.m. Okay. Bye. Bye