hello good to see you hi everybody okay uh greetings yes I'm I think I finally logged in I'm not sure what happened I had to log out and back in welcome everyone so are we recording yes we are I heard the end of
it okay great so it's 6:01 pm and the Human Rights Commission meeting is officially open um 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 so with that welcome
everyone um uh I guess I should do the roll call before I move to the next items um Liz haard is not here Joy eiel
here is Joy there yes I see you yes I'm here uh Silas it's not here Ronnie I'm here Jay present and
Jinta is not here do we have a quorum as far as decisions are concerned Deb's here Deb did I miss you somehow oh apologies it's because I've got you on my mind as the first thing to say
welcome everyone and I'm just so very happy to announce that we have officially have a new co-chair who has been cleared by the state of Massachusetts etc etc so there is a new co-chair
today um and they have agreed to take on this responsibility which is pretty substantial um so welcome Deb in your new capacity so I'm hoping to be doing less
work hence forth um okay so um are there any announcements before we review the agenda and welcome syus okay so the agenda for today is public comment as usual and reports
and then we're going to approve the minutes of last month and um updates on the resident oversight board Dei and also immigration uh issues and then we'll have public
comment again and close if nothing more comes through so that seems like a very clear and concise agenda to me and welcome also to our visitors pamila and Camille it's good to have more boxes on
the screen Deb and Ronnie we also have the video um H which is the first piece of work for the um or not the video but the review of the video script yes we do have that it's not I don't see it on my print out of the agenda I'm not sure why
I print probably printed the wrong thing but in any in any in any case we should do that definitely and I hope everyone has looked at it so let's start with the public comment members of the public do you have anything to
say oh oh excuse me before you do that during the public comment period the chair will recognize members of the public when called on please identify Yourself by stating your full name preferred pronouns and residential address residents are welcome to express
their views for up to three minutes at the discretion of the chair based upon the number of people who wish to speak no speaker can see their time to another speaker the HRC will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a m matter raised during public
comment do we have any members of the public there is one I only see nine faces but I see 10 on my list of participants so yeah there's somebody there but do they want to make a
comment I'm not seeing a hand all right then um let's move on to uh member reports any reports today I'm wondering if we could just do the video um conversation during the reports
since it's not on the agenda does that make sense um I think we can make it put l I would like to put it in discussion we can move next right into it after approving the minutes because I think it's quite substantial and I would consider it like the core of our
meeting that's the only reason any reports announcements okay um I need a mo to approve the minutes from last month I make a motion to approve
second second all who agree say yes raise your hand let's do it that way all in agreement okay good so we're done with that um yeah before we go to the
resident oversight board and the other uh other bullets on the agenda I think it's helpful to talk about the video so ruana and Deb do you want to introduce the material you've submitted for discussion U why don't I uh open it up
and risana and pamel since you both contributed feel free to add anything to what I in however I introduced um you may remember that we decided on a three-year plan to educate uh the community of ammer about what the Human
Rights Commission does and how they can access us through the complaint process and how they can build a community um how our residents can build a community that lives up to the ideals that the Human Rights Commission um is founded on
and the first year part of the project is to write a script for a video and produce the video so ruana God bless her raised her hand to participate in scripting and scripted the portion on complaints
because she's the one who manages that for us um so what you see is a combination of text from the three of us risana I think absolutely brilliantly had this uh model of kind of creating scenes uh so that there was an
interactive uh aspect to the to the video um and there are a couple of places where you will see that I asked questions like is this something we do is there such a thing as a town loan because those are places where ruana um
had had put in this text and I just wasn't sure if that was something that we do or not so um yeah overall that's it it's going to be it's pretty short I think it'll be a 10 to 15 minute video and the goal is to distribute a link to
all of the uh Municipal workers and all of the folks who um you know work at the schools and all of the business owners frankly it could be up on the Dei website you know everybody in town can see this but basically the folks who
have um Enterprises or agencies that interface with the public we most want to get to um learn about what what it is we do so that's the audience and that's the frame so risana and Pamela thank you
very much for your contributions is there anything you want to add to the introduction ruana did you have something to add yeah basically um I just am not sure about the timeline so whenever we start working on it I'll just um go ahead and
um contribute more okay um so I'm the floor is open to comments questions yeah so the the materials were sent it's it's only at two page script or three page only two pages do you all
have has everyone seen it raise your hand if you have not seen it when did that get sent I don't I don't I was looking at my emails I don't see just two pages I think it's really worth philli if you can put it on the screen it's en large print it's easy to look at
yep just give me a second it was set out yesterday it sorry I said just give me a second it was sent out yesterday to answer Joy's question I will pull it up on the screen though right now yeah just to look at it and then we can decide do we want to
come back to this next month or can we have our discussion now thanks Phillip maybe Deb or pamelo or ruana someone could just walk us through what's in these sections like in summary well I'm having to do that but
if folks haven't read it I mean really what what I had imagined we might do is folks give editing comments but okay there's it starts with an overview this is um this is the mission of the Human Rights Commission um and then there's a little
bit of so that's fine I don't want to push it in a Direction you don't want it to go yet so let people look at it and send their edits then I think that if that's what you all would like uh if that would help you the most that's fine
um I have a general comment about it that and I'll invite I guess if people haven't looked at it do you want me to make it now or wait I think it's helpful just I'll just say it uh and my general comment is that
I would I would really like to see something about what is a human right what do we mean when we say a human right like it's in our bylaws but people should know that a human applies to everybody uh regardless of blah blah
blah it should I I don't know and I think I wanted to see more about like what are the rights that guide us and maybe even emphasize where you know where our laws our constitution
whatever I don't know I thought I felt like I needed to know more about what is a human right it's often used very Loosely and that it's grounded in law so people have confidence that this is important to me and the other thing
that I you go on Ronnie just to check there's an entire page on the document that says that describes all the different kinds of rights that are human rights did that not speak your
question um so in these things I was going to that is that page two yeah yeah in these things they seem to they seem to uh ask for video about
how we engage in these violations and we don't really I mean I'm not really sure a lot of this look like stuff we don't do um so I wanted I guess I wanted it to be more
clear I see the example is good but then the the solutions offered for each example I don't know how our role comes into those so those are just general thoughts and I'm happy to talk to you all in more detail about
it now this is the time to talk about it this is the time I'm just confused pages one and two describe what the Human Rights Commission is and what human rights are so what I'd like to do is actually walk through it Page by Page
page so I can clearly understand what you think is missing from those two first introductory Pages because that's before the scenarios come up and then on page three is the is the complaint process so it's how do you interface I
only got two pages uh just so you know but the first part where it says the Human Rights Commission exists to uphold ammer commitment to Justice and fairness then it says we ensure these things it doesn't say what is a human right like in our bylaws
it's very clear what is a human right and there has to be some you know I don't I'm not like a video expert but I think it needs to be very explicit what is a human right and what are your human rights in this
country in am in the town of amorist I don't know what help me is if you sent the text you want to be in there because when I look the entire I'm happy as I said you know I'll give more I thought we were having a bigger discussion here but since we're
not I'll just record that I will work I will give my comments in more detail before the next meeting so you all have it okay but I don't want to imply in any way that this is not great I really like
the fact that um I really lik the issues ident potential issues identified on page two that would impact on your human rights and I'll tell you what more I would say about that but I like that approach
Pamela and I'll stop there all right so I um will say that there were a couple of things that were in the text that I responded to in the email that went out to the commission um that um are not
part of the charge and are not part of the bylaws and so so as people are reviewing the text or the script they should also take a look at the charge which I sent to you in um in the email
and um did everyone get this email because I'm not connecting to could just be that I missed it okay great you have this guidance that Pamela is talking about Pamela before you continue I would really be helpful if instead of sending
uh Source text or proof text for why you made a decision or why you're saying something doesn't belong I think what would be helpful if people just made edits on the actual document just fix what's wrong rather
than inviting people to assess whether your view is accurate because if you're just saying here we need to add this part of the bylaw here we need to you know correct this CU it's not in our bylaw just make the edit we don't need to like then discuss
whether it's correct CU you'll be correct so I I will just say that I'm happy to do that but philli and I are like swamped with responsibilities between uh tonight and April 5th so if
you're willing to wait until after the global village Festival then you know I can make edits but I we I just we don't have the capacity to to do that so I also find that if I'm going to make
the edit P well I'll do my best to give you something as substantial as I can but I would agree with Pamela that when the commission members look at this document that you keep the bylaws in front of you as
well it'll be easier if it's already within our bylaws so has did anyone have the opportunity to review this to the extent that they have like on page two I think we need to add this page three we need to delete that I just want to check if
anybody's read it with that IE and we can you know I can Harvest that right now if nobody has that's great and you can just send me an email um either with your exact edits or you know page number and saying this doesn't sound right what
ever I'm happy to do the meta editing it's just I will say as somebody who has collated input from 10 different sources before it's just so much more helpful when people actually edit something into the document so who else is on the
subcommittee apart from you and ruana was weren't there three people or was it just the two of you it's just the two of us do you need help should we ask for a third member no I just okay give input
and I'll take it any way you give it at this point yeah I'm just wondering if rzan or somebody else can help with making things more specific or pull out comments that you have trouble working with or I don't know what but it won't
help that won't help okay I we just it doesn't matter who does it Whoever has the concern just needs to be specific enough so whoever's then dealing with it correctly makes the edit okay that's all I'm asking for so
whether it's I don't it's not a matter of bringing more bodies in okay uh Jay you have your hand up yes uh you know I don't think that joy and I you know actually received this you know
this two-page thing because I looks through my emails and then everybody's talking about the two-page thing I was going back and forth I said where is this where's the to Bas Jay did you get the um agenda packet I sent the email
out yesterday at 12 pm so if you got the I got the agenda with the review of last month's and then the agenda for this month but that's all I got there's so if you scroll down just just past the second page there that's what that document should be I know it looks there
is a big gap I will say in between the second page and the third page so maybe that's it but it it is is attached there right this it then under the packet so if you just keep scrolling down so all the attachments and you may
not know this Jay are combined into one document which is the attachment for the meeting I I have something that says an attachment with press release final Dei flyer Li uh liberatory visioning that's the only attachment
so yeah it's something different I can definitely forward it to you but um it's going to come the same way in which um the minutes for last months is the first two pages okay down never mind yeah it's it's a
big gap yeah you gota yeah J yeah j keep scrolling there it is okay all right well we'll come back to this let's make this item one of our discussion for next month and um Rana asked about the timeline I
mean this task is not that big a task once we have the script we need to work with amoris media or another production company you know to put something together and then the commission will have no more responsibility until you know it needs to review it to vet it and be like a focus group and maybe we'll
have another focus group but it's not going to be a heavy lift for the commission this is just like part one then we go into production and then and uh focus group time to see if the video makes sense
Rana yeah actually I'm sorry my camera is not working I'll fix it later you cannot see me so any uh I was actually uh I'm I might even be willing to go and check with uh the media you know the
people over there over the couple of weeks that we have before the next meeting and so then it will be more concrete and U uh we will be able to uh make some kind of a concept line uh so for you guys also so and it might that
the fact that you have brought in the questions also we might just focus on those Target questions and create the scenarios related to those questions so it's not that difficult if you have any questions that you think need to be clarified we can create a scenarios for
that it's just the fact now we have to bring it to another uh next level and that has to be the media we just doing the blueprint we just writing the scenario so that is what um we need to understand that sounds good to me I
think it's you know the two of you work out how you divy up the labor and what you do I do feel this is a believe this is really import an important piece of our work because this is what's telling in the greater public about who we are
and what we do and so I want to be sure I agree with you Deb that once it goes out you know it's all pretty straightforward but let's make sure we're we all understand what we're saying when it goes out before it goes out yeah I would be reluctant to go to
Amis media before we have our ducks in a row to be quite honest I I want us to know what the script is before we talk to them okay you know let's do it like collaboration and if you any one of you on the panels if you have any questions
you know for instance you think there's something wrong or something challenging not clear just write it down and just turn it in that's it and uh we will create the scenario accordingly and we'll enter those things and if you have any kind of a input that
you want to give or your experiences you have with something we will include them also without your name anonymously in a way you know nice way thank you okay any other comments on this before we move
on okay so the um next item is the resident oversight board update and um um I've been representing us on that board and Deb is the um co- facilitator
leader of that um initiative so Deb do you want to say how report what you want to report and I'll add to it sure um excuse me there's a stakeholder group
that's made up of uh Chief Ting and three representatives of police labor unions um Camille is representing Crest and then we have four Community Representatives Ronnie is one of them and uh Philip is representing the Dei
off office the first couple of sessions were excuse me training that was provided mostly by Brian core my partner in the Consulting work um describing how police oversight boards work around the country and all the different variables
that go into um the possible permutations of oversight boards and then the last um two or three sessions I think three sessions we really started getting into
conversations about what the members stakeholder members would like to see in uh in amorist and I would say things took a leap uh at the last meeting which was last week where um a draft by a set
of bylaws to send to the council the Town Council was presented to the stakeholder group and they dug in they started discussing do we want this paragraph do we want that paragraph do we want to change this do we want to change that and so they're uh the board
is the stakeholder group is now making its way through uh a draft set of bylaws to send to the Town Council and um there are things that have been agreed upon and there are things that are definitely going to be um have different points of
view expressed in the room and there's some things that I think are uh in the Middle where it's not obvious agreement yet but I think we'll make our way there um without too much uh without too much conflict or
debate um yeah so so maybe Phillip are you comfort are you okay discussing some of the specifics discussed adding to that since you were there as well and I wasn't there at the last meeting because I was
out of town so Phillip I think you could give a better recap than I could yeah I think that um to Dub's point they're um we're moving forward with kind of the draft of the bylaws if you will so you know
getting down to what seems agreeable what maybe not what the group can come to consensus on what the group you know where there might be some disagreements um between various stakeholders of the group
um and I I don't have much to give us other than that maybe um oh it's it's just some specifics if you want on specifics on what issues are where yeah I think the commission would like to know what that group is talking about yeah my
suggestion would be Phillip if you could do this as a separate mailing to the commission to send the doc some of the core documents and background pieces well actually I feel like they need to yeah the DI
office has a web page or a oh we put it on theb on the web page so you all can access it through that um I I can certainly send you some document if you would like but I I would recommend that
way that would probably be easier maybe just the link to the do direct link to the documents as a reminder so people look at it I think that um you know this is sort of an important thing also and I I would like feedback from the
commission um at some point when we have more specific things to say because I think things are being discussed and a lot of what's being discussed are specifics that I think will get worked out like what should the authority of this board be you know how deeply should
they get into the police's processes and um you know should I don't know I mean I didn't go to the very last one so I don't feel but I will promise to come back with the specific issues isues that are being discussed because I think you will all
have and should have a voice in it through me because I'm representing you I'm happy to give a rundown of what all the topics are I don't think now is the moment to get into the that's fine but the bylaws are structured just like the
bylaws of every other board or commission or committee there's a purpose section we've got a lot of agreement on that um there's some conversation going on about whether the town manager or the Town Council should should be the d uh The Entity that the board directly reports to and there's a
conversation maybe splitting up like the board reports to the counil for some things and to the town manager for other things um the next section is the powers and responsibilities of um of the board
and that's the one where I think there'll be a lot of agreement on like uh giving input and connecting with the community and getting involved with training and then there'll be some really tough conversations around as Ronnie said the exact roles and
responsibilities the scope of the power of of the board and then there are a lot of sections which are pretty form formulaic um like uh hold on I'm scrolling down because there's a lot in the power procedures you know how often
do you meet and how many people are on the board and you know do you have ch co-chairs and um um and then the some language about independence and limitations which uh may or may not have some uh debate
around it and then implementation and review it's like this you're going to work for a while after three years you'll assess yourself and um you'll get training and so there's six sections I would say of the six sections three are probably administrative and not going to
be very debate Laden um and then but the powers and resp and then one might be a little bit have a little bit of debate and powers and responsibilities is where the real core is and I think until the stakeholder group really works through the powers
and responsibility section and so it's clear where there's stuff that might be um it might be helpful you know for you to give input it's a little premature I I don't know if that's helpful or not but Pamela you have your hand up yeah I
also um just want to say that the way in which the stakeholder group is designed there's not going to be um a lot of room to have debate among either the HRC or the cssj c um for there to be back and
forth because we're limited um with our timeline for um you know for Debra Rabbi Deb and Brian to complete their work so um I just want to be clear about that because I don't want folks to have an expectation that you're going to be able
to bring back information to them for them to be able to then give feedback and for you to bring that back it's not that's not what is the that's not the process that that we're going through so um my suggestion would be that if folks
feel very strongly um after they've looked at the documents on the website then they contact you directly as a representative for this group with whatever comments they have because there there there won't be um an
opportunity to have a lot of back and forth and that's exactly what I would want and it's possible that I misled the group by saying I'm representing you there won't be a back and forth um unfortunately I'm the one who will be there and at the moment I'll say what I
think uh as well others uh it's as Deb pointed out it's a really interesting group of with mixed perspectives and so I feel confident that the outcome will be good but I also feel a certain responsibility to keep
you informed so I would encourage you to look at the documents um and that that's the reason that I want to do these updates every month to let you know the reason I'm on there is because I'm part of the HRC that's why I feel like I need to inform
you okay good good um any questions comments about that agenda item all right oh Rana yeah I somehow U I guess I I didn't uh really understand what you just said
that we are responsible for something more you just uh if I somehow I missed the point yeah there no we we are we the commission are not responsible for anything there's a group that's helping think this
through with Deb's leadership and because I'm part of that group and I asked they asked for a representative from the HRC and I'm the one who ended up being the representative I'm feeling an
obligation to bring back to you information about what is going on in that group but and if you have thoughts about it as Pamela has noted you can talk to me and I can take that oh I see
as I see appropriate but no there's no particular responsibility of the commission okay okay so you're giving us an opening a platform we can talk toiv update maybe it should be in the report section okay that would be great discussion item I think that would be
more appropriate okay I thank you that's excellent that sounds great and Ronnie if it would be helpful um like after the next meeting we could sit down and go through whatever um agreements arose in
the stakeholder group and you know I could help I could help you write a report if that would be helpful so let me know um I'm when I say report I'm just saying in the report section of the
agenda oh I got no report you know rather than being in the action and discussion items which is more substantial if we put it in the reports and comments and have member reports I can just report and it'll be smaller it
won't have to be so big got it okay okay um anything else on this item no all right uh were you going to say something philli no no okay so then let's move on
to the uh Dei updates all right doing a lot of work here at the Tei office we're uh have filled up our calendars pretty much as Pamela alluded until about April 5th and then I'm sure we'll be busy after that
point and we just don't know it so we have uh liberatory visioning which is a framework in which um Dr Barbara love um does um so we got a contract with her
signed um to continue the work from the cswg in which it's kind of um bringing together the community to Envision a ammer that is for everyone and so we really encourage um you all to share um
the flyer that was sent out and the News Press release that was also sent out and getting people in person as well as zoom and it's really an effort to try and hear as many community members as we can the first date for that is on the 27th
of this month and it is at the banks Community Center for inperson and online there is a zoom link that is shared in that press release as well as on the flyer and then there's two more other sections um that will happen on the 5th of March and the 12th of March and times
and locations are on the flyer I I can't remember which one is which but one is at Town Hall and one is at um the middle school and I don't want to say what date because I will probably get it wrong uh we are working on the r um as you just heard the resident oversight board uh
meeting so we're doing a lot of that we're meeting uh what every other week so I think that speaks to kind of the context of you know not being able to get that realtime feedback but also if you have any concerns definitely uh send it over to Ronnie and the website page
um is up to date and should have all the current documents for your feedback Pamela and I next week are doing a um series talk with the league of woman voters of their on their Judy Brooks
series it is the 26 and the timing for that Pamela do you remember the time for that I believe it's 5:30 um I'll let you know if it's it's not um but it's going to be a topic on Dei deconstructed and it's really just kind of laying out the
framework in which Dei is in all spaces and in every type of component in life and it's you know gotten a bad wrap I think in the past few years and so we're hoping to really um you know just get down to the nitty-gritty of um it's it's
in all of our Lives whether we recognize it or not and uh getting rid of it doesn't really make that much sense and with that we are doing Department trainings and these Department trainings are individualized Department um training so we're meeting with representatives from um departments and
kind of getting a framework in which um it would help their Department best move forward with Dei kind of being the framework in which trainings are being done so we've done the Jones Library um we have a training tomorrow to finish that up and next week all in the morning
we'll be doing fire and um earlier today we met with APD to kind of set up that framework for their training so we're moving um that forward that kind of took a um leap um of absence when pamelo was being
both the um Dei and Crest director so we're happy to get that back on our books and get those trainings going last uh not lastly we have Youth Empowerment we told you I was we were busy over here we have Youth Empowerment coming up for every Saturday for um the month of March
and that um programming is entrepreneurship there is a component in it which youth will be making a product and really developing that skill set as well as you know marketing pricing all these things to then sell at the global
village festival and so we're happy to get that started off it's our first um programming with youth um anybody listening you're encouraged to sign up please um do so if you know any youth um from 6th to 12th grade we would love to
have them participate in this program my son will be participating the way that I sold him was telling him that he'd be making money and that seem to get them at least a little bit excited so if you need a selling point maybe that's it um we also um leading into the global
village Festival planning is underway for that we have a meeting next month or next week not next month next week um on the 24th which Silas is um attending and helping out with with our various partners and so that's um really going
great I was just working on the performance list we're almost to the cap of performers so that's great to hear great to see at this time our vendor um list could use some help there so if you know any vendors that would like to sell
any type of product um at the global market please send them our way um as well as if you know any organizations nonprofits anybody um we're having a resource component to the market so anybody that would like to highlight their work um if you all would also like
a table we should definitely discuss that in terms of who and timing who's going to go to that table if it makes sense for the HRC to have a table or if you all being helping out and being the presenting partners with um this maybe it doesn't make sense but definitely
something for you all to think about and then lastly what I have is um as you know the HRC receives complaints they go to um human rights director which at this time is a de director which is
Pamela we have had since November five complaints come in I think that's correct right Pamela 5 and so four of them um have been closed up and one of them I believe is still um underway and being investigated
into um in that matter as um the Human Rights Commission the practice has been to update the co-chairs of complaints so for confidentiality and you you know not to get out any of that business we have um been in talks with at the time the
two co-chairs Liz and Ronnie and now if a new one comes in Deb you will be on our list of the email people to to send it to uh Pamela have I missed anything or the only thing I can think about is the programming that Molina is doing for
transv visibility day so we um are going to have a docum shown and um it's designed to be intergenerational with snacks and so I'm I'm not sure of the date but that's the only it's uh the
31st of this month and it'll be I believe at 6 o'clock or 7 o'clock one of the two and it's um highlighting the will Pharaoh film in which um the SNL writer that um transition into um yeah
highlighting that movie I forget what the name of that movie is called I was trying to remember the name yes pH I think you said the 31st of this month it's sorry of March sorry March March yes there is no 31st of February I just thought I was losing
it um are there any questions of Dei from anyone comments just brao uh Silas yeah this was really good thank you so much there's so much going on
especially nowadays when we need these moral building um you know exercises and it's excellent Philip you've done really well and and ma' you also and we I will definitely be there if you need any help
just U email me or anything and I'll you know keep um um to date with whatever is going on thank you so much silus yeah seconding what Rana said and Phil
especially about facilitating the global Villages meeting that was really um excellent one quick question that I have about the liberatory um the the session that's going on with with different oh can you all hear
me yes oh sry I think my internet connection is is not good um I'm curious if there's still a need for facilitators
Pamela so I would say that we welcome um facilitators uh the facilitator training is tomorrow uh evening between like it's so many dates um it's 5 o' 5 to 6:30
yeah and um it's both uh in person and on Zoom so we can send you the zoom link um we haven't um we have the three firm dates of the 27th of February March 5th and uh March 12th but we don't have a
good sense of how many facilitators that we need so more is always better because if there's um if we have a a large response which is of course what we would like we'll need to divide up um the groups both on person and on Zoom so if you're able to to join us tomorrow
evening that would be fantastic great okay definitely be there yeah okay so I would like to add that having participated this last year in these sessions that are coming up or
similar sessions they're very very powerful and they're we're very lucky to have you know the DI team and the opportunity to sit among Str ERS and talk about very important things
uh in confidence I found them they're so powerful there's no way and I think that's rana's where rana's energy is coming from too because she's been to that to these conversations and it just feels like given the way things are
going communities and community building is so important and this way of doing it to me uh seems we I feel privileged to be part of that and I would encourage you all if you can
go to go to them so I wanted to mention that and I also wanted to ask with regard to the um training of departments in town if there's some way to incorporate some component about what
it's like to be an immigrant in the case examples that you do or I don't know how these workshops happen but in the interactive sessions so that our town staff understand how does it feel to be one of
those people who doesn't have a secure job in the town but is I don't know is feeling alien and so on I don't really know how to put it but I just want to offer the idea of because
I know if you introduced it I mean you're such great facilitators I know would find a way in the curriculum to make it effective and I know there's resistance so it would be really good to have that so I would ask for that yeah
and then the last thing I wanted to say this is sort of small but in the two uh descriptions I've seen of the global village I've not seen reference to the Human Rights Commission and I guess I want us to be named because this is our
big thing we gave up all those events that were important to us to do this one thing and I know that we're not doing the work I mean silus is but basically you guys are doing everything so I feel a little guilty about asking but I would like to see our name on there
because as a co-sponsor or something um because it's really important to us where I saw it twice in the last two newsletters okay you look at the box that tells the thing I'm not sure what the right says but I will definitely
double check I know Molina is doing it and I should probably just call them but I haven't done that we can make sure we're working on our newsletter um for this month so we could definitely make sure on on the wording there if it's not there I know that we just um came up with the flyer and I know that the Human
Rights Commission was on that flyer so yeah and because it's only once a year it would be nice if we could all Enga be more engaged with it as well and I tell myself that too but I will look at it now that I'm back and figure out how I can be involved I mean we're only being
asked to do this once now whereas before we were being asked 13 times over the course of the year so let's be present so that's yes so anything else about
Dei yeah so along those lines I was just wondering if um we could have a table at the event so that we're not just there to slep chairs in the beginning and help break down but we have a table and we could maybe even think about
um handouts that we could have brochures or or cards or something definitely like the red cards for you know immigrant rights know your rights um I don't know but just have some planning so that uh
we have a presence that's meaningful Jay yes under this you know topic of I guess Dei uh this is is the uh only day that we meet this month and we are uh in I
guess Black History Month you know what are we saying about Black History Month uh in terms of you know human rights uh you know this month uh so I think you know Pamela or you maybe philli should I think fill us in about
that uh you know in terms of the Town yeah so I did not mention that so thank you for bringing that up but um the DI Department put up um Black History Month panels at the Town Hall it was also in our newsletter there there's kind of like a search and find and it's
within local history highlighting um our black um population and community that you know um really have done tremendous work in town so with that we've done we also highlighted a conference that has happening at UMass um it's happening I
believe this weekend um in which they're doing a Black History Month conference there so I think that um in terms of acknowledging and um having Black History Month on Dei and that is what we have done anything
else on Dei okay um the next has to do with uh the work we've done on immigrants and support for immigrants and I think think Jinta was going to report but Deb and I can do that too um do you want to start
Deb I can start I was sorry I having sorry I was just having trouble with the mic I actually imagined that when we talked about this uh we could just maybe share on the screen the website and then show and show because that's mostly what we've done is we've
put together a lot of of resources um but then you can go ahead so that was my only thought yeah no that's it I think you need to look at the resources know they're there so you can share them with people who want them and the subcommittee is really uh sort of at a
point where we're trying to decide whether to continue meeting and what our agenda would be or whether it's time to shut down the subcommittee that we've done our work the piece the reason we are not closing is because there's a piece that's quite important important that we haven't
touched okay um and that is the lack of Legal Services which is what people are detain need I just wanted to highlight really quick the page here in which you can find the resident oversight boards um link there as well as the liberatory
visioning project we are trying to keep those up to date for the Dei office but just wanted to plug that immigration resources is not one of those on the left column right because it's on your all pages right here oh it's an HRC page I see
that's the page okay I just pulled up the link and I'm going to put it in the chat we do we have a chat we don't have a chat right we don't have a chat for this um meeting never mind you could send it to me an email it if you want I
will but you'll see here the headings it's sort of like things you can do now to prepare especially like with your children you know what's who's going to pick up your child from school um if you're detained and who's going to care for your child and what
are the rules and taking care of all the paperwork so you can feel safe about your family when you're not with each other and then some guidance on what to do once you're detained um and the red cards by the way the League of Women Voters has ordered a
thousand in English and 500 in Spanish and they are due any day now so as soon as they're they're available we'll notice ify you so that people can go around and spread them around um and give them out to people who need
them um so you can log into these links some of them also offer training so if you want to do more training for yourself like the Mira Co Mira Coalition does all kinds of training and it's all available on zoom and it's available on
your own schedule so you know you can teach yourself as much as you want to and you can also see all the different languages that these resources are available in so you can share them with other people so um what I wanted to say was that one
thing we weren't able to find is a a good set of sources if you need legal assistance if you're detained at some point you're going to need a lawyer to go before a judge and all the immigration lawyers are already in over their heads and it
costs a lot to hire one so um we were looking for resources I understand CSS JC has been doing something with that and I've invited them to come next month to talk to us we'll see if they have time to come but
also I learned that the Mass state of Massachusetts is forming a group creating a group that includes a lot of um law firms that have offered volunteer lawyers and there are three or four law schools that have also
uh offer to join this Coalition so you can have a slew of well-trained people who are ready to help as needed but I need to get more information about that and I'll update you when I have that but we're hesitant to shut down the subcommittee until we have something we
can offer as far as how do you get legal assistance and we haven't figured that out yet do you want to add to it yeah the only thing I want to add is that the Valley Worker Center really there's a lot of resources here but um for me they
are the key resource in our area they're an organization that's um run by and for undocumented workers um most of them Farm Workers in the area and um they're incredibly smart about how to do their
work and they do trainings uh for volunteers they have a a lot of different volunteer categories so if it's something you want to personally get involved with that's where I would go to the Pioneer Valley workers Center um and they're actually going to have a training next
Tuesday on how to support how to understand what's going on um in hearings people so I want to add to that that I also think the world of the Pioneer Valley but there the people at
risk are not just the undocumented people there are a lot of people who are legally here uh through temporary status or they've filed papers and they're waiting for our government to respond and a lot of them are now
vulnerable and uh so the there are several go-to places but another one that is broader in its reach is the Mira Coalition Mira it's there and there are others there there's so many good really
really good organizations you just pick the one you want to work with um so that's our report if you think we should there's something else we should be doing we really need to hear from you you'll remember we were just the
subcommittee to work on this I will say uh just to add in that the subcommittee's work is uh just tremendous in a talent resource I think that Pamela and I have kind of made people aware um with Our Town departments you know that page exists
it's very thorough it's very um comprehens and has a lot of knowledge to it um as well as um the health department and Crest kind of printed out a um red card um like poster in which it's in multiple languages and they also
have red cards available there as well so I I I really think that um the work is just great and you all have done just a lot of work and you you should definitely be proud of it I think Paul also has seen it and just has been
like oh okay like yeah we should just do that like the work is already done and we should just use this resource well the red cards aren't everywhere and we want to see them all over the place yeah so what we the subcommittee have talked about is actually going around and putting them
on Library bulletin boards and having multiple cards so anyone can just take one if they want so as soon as the league gets their cards because I was pushing them to order more and they finally got through their paperwork and they've done the order um well send a
note around and if you want to volunteer to go around and place them in public places uh so anyone can take them then I think that would be great and Camille not to put you on the spot but are you you all um having
people come in and request anything or providing that to people oh you're cam you're um muted I hate when that happens I'm muted um no we haven't really had anybody come in and request any of the cards or
anything like that um but we do have the poster that um oh my goodness the health department um I can't remember remember her name created but we have a bunch of cards
there and also um we too have been looking to see if there's any sources for um lawyers around I think we need to sort of collaborate on this because these many groups have different kinds of resources
and expertise and knowledge and if we could all come together we've got to find a way to solve the lawyer issue um but I'll call back the office of refugees the state office o and see uh if there's an update on the report
they did a briefing where they talked about organizing this and finding a lot of volunteers so I think it's time probably now to go back to them and say so where does this stand and how can we tap into
that well I for one thing just an idea but Western New England University is you know in Springfield and they have uh they're a big law uh school so maybe tapping into
them we'll definitely contact yeah often a school like that is well I won't yeah we will contact them thank you any other comments on the
subcommittee Deb anyone else okay so we haven't closed yet but we'll probably meet one more time and then report back to you on the progress on that work it looked like Jay was
gonna say something Ronnie I don't know if you Jay you unmuted Jay go ahead yes just a question um you know there's a note that uh you know Pam sent to us about um I think it was a pdfl and then about the charge you
know about what HRC can do and I think one of the issues that uh is included in the scope of our our work is the act of teaching as well as you know uh Outreach
right into the communities about information so uh in terms of you know that aspect uh how do we teach how do we get that in you know that kind of information out to let's say the schools or to some other place about these kinds of resources
let's say to the children uh you know at the elementary school or wherever it is uh so what's the process uh you know what's our role in that you know how do we go about doing that kind of stuff it's a good question because our education has been approach has been
focused on this video and educating about human rights but here we have this big resource how do we get it into places like our schools for instance does anyone have any thoughts on that H well I mean one thought that did
strike me was you know you know can we function as let's say I don't know teaching ambassadors through H RC to go to the school and just give that talk you know there are so many talented people here who could do that
uh you know being invited or you know telling them about what we could do but as long as we you know know what to say that we ensure that we're not going beyond what
we can say uh you know be careful about those kinds of things I you know did look at the you know Resource page there and there were a number of uh I think guidelines uh that come from the
uh I think it was ACLU and uh you know I mean that you know basic kind of information should be you know common knowledge among the students and the teachers and everybody else in the area and that includes you
know the three schools here you know ammer college you Hampshire College as well as ums you know I mean they should know those things you know they should have that information at hand uh so I think that there's much
work to be done in that kind of I think Outreach way and perhaps we have a role there but I'm just trying to you know figure out you know what's the means about you know doing that as opposed to Simply saying well and go to this page
and then look under you know resources because that doesn't usually [Music] work I think we need volunteers to pursue this but in particular for in your case Jay it occurs to me that you have contacts already at these colleges
and so you would be a good person to talk to your contacts and say here I have this nice 90 second ACLU video I'm sure you've seen that because you referenced the ACLU can we get this out somehow uh but I don't know
Pamela so Philip is planning a know your rights um program for students um I don't remember the dates but I think that that would be a time when there could be a focused effort by this group
um to share more resources so they're they're two dates are they in April and and May April and May yep and one of them is yeah I I can't remember the date actually so I won't speak to that it's in April and May but maybe Philip and Jay could
connect to start and then we can put it on our agenda for next month as well um Rana yeah on the same um track basically I think we should uh get some teachers involved also I know Jay is here but uh it's very important that we
do not go off track and because of the sensitivities right now that um these students are also um facing and these are the challeng challenging times so we need to bring in if we can uh get some
teachers and get their real time on the ground reality as to what's going on and how we should approach this uh and it shouldn't be not a long drawn process with any committees and so on just um some teachers who would
volunteer to uh come and um join us or just share their um input that's all thanks I suggest we put this on next month's agenda and that we give some more thought to our responsibility with
regard to education in different parts of our town um and then talk about it and if you have some ideas and know people you can talk to go ahead and start having those conversations and bring your ideas to the next
meeting uh Silas just want toef Jay I think um you had mentioned something along the lines of in support around immigration for students and I had said that I would check in with the folks at Smith college
um where I work to discuss what efforts are are being made and I um in regard to just that piece on supporting um students who may be undocumented or um immigrants at the University I know that Smith college has
has circulated and um has made a conservative effort to support um these students through both uh legal and and other other means and so I'm not um sure what that may look like at UMass Amherst or Hampshire
but my feeling also is that many of the efforts around immigration specifically or supporting immigrants um will not be um broadcast and folks most likely will not want to
discuss that's just my experience yes I mean that is quite uh you know understandable um you know because one does not want to be exposed one does not want to be you know visible at the time there are times and and I've experienced that in South
Africa is that when there is something big that happens you know you actually don't want to be around when you are taking big actions and um there's a way about doing those
kinds of things and we may you know going through that phase right now you know I'm concerned about the students who who may hold that you know DACA status it's it's legal but we're not sure there there are those who have
temporary protection under one Administration you know legally they here and they have the right to be here but we're not sure and so you know that's the part
that I think is troubling for those students and for any stuff excuse me you know staff members or even you know faculty members who may hold that status
um but we still have to um you know do the work work to ensure that they know their rights and the word needs to get to them you know regardless
so um and that's a part of what our job is so let's do that part and if it reaches them then that you know then the work has been done by us that's the idea
any other thoughts I think in I think more is necessary than just putting this on the agenda next month like somebody needs to take some steps to get more information into the room so that we have a different conversation next month
like is there somebody is talking to the school board the next thing I don't know is talking to individual administrators in different schools The Next Step um but something I think excuse me needs to happen so that next time we have this
conversation it's might be possible to say oh here's our next step yeah I would agree that if you do have ideas and you do know people then you should go forward don't wait till the next meeting talk to people see what's possible
and you know come back with more specifics if you can [Music] um anything else we're nearing the end of our agenda it is already 712 um public
comment wait yeah public comment is next and there's no public or if there is there is one somewhere there's yep and they have their hand raised so I'm going to bring them into the room can you hear me okay hi Arley go ahead thank you Arley G South
ammer um I just wanted to say this is very interesting this is the first time I've come here um I found it interesting going back to the conversation you were having about the liberatory visioning um and the Dei it's very interesting
because I was reading the amorist Indie and that whatever press release was in there so I went to the link and I read about the liberatory stuff and I'm going to try to be there um so but and then I clicked on something and I was looking at these panels that you were talking
about I guess they made a video uh or a online presentation of this uh exhibit that you were talking about the black history and they were saying that um Dei might be um taken away um so they
weren't sure how long this exhibit would be up and it was I was a history major in college so I was just like I'm not sure if like Dei funds paid for it I was like this is history this isn't Dei this
is this is and then right in the thing it said black history is American history and I was like yes you know it's just history history why anyway so I wasn't clear why dei's going would have an effect on this
because this is history it's not Dei anyway or maybe I don't understand exactly what Dei is and your and your conversation about the human rights video it's interesting because I don't really know what the definition of a
human right is to be honest so if you can make that clearer that probably would be good good um so anyway I'm just very um impressed with all of you and thank you for your work thank you for your comments arle
yeah I just want to thank you as well and I we don't we don't comment on public comments sorry sorry to be so rule bound oh it's okay and I'm if you didn't hear it I should have read it maybe again it
says that um the HRC will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during public comment right I know thank you very much we really appreciate you coming and I hope you'll come again thanks
um okay um so then are there any um any other agenda items that we did not anticipate okay in that case thank you everyone it is 7:16 p.m. and the Human Rights
Commission is adjourned have a good evening thank you bye bye thanks bye bye