##VIDEO ID:9i2QRlZppOA## the time is now 6:02 and we are calling to order the January 14 2025 greenfi human Human Rights Commission meeting um I was wondering if anybody is able to take notes tonight because as you know we do not have [Music] a is anybody available to take minutes tonight I can take notes thanks thank you Nate thank you no Nate um and we need to do a roll call Empress I don't know for sure I don't think because I'm the city rep I need to be included on the roll call or do I no it would just be for the Commissioners but great question thank you Aaron um so P we're gonna do a roll call vote so py here Nate here Kathleen yep you're on mute Kathleen Kathleen you're you're on you're on mute okay so okay I got it I unmuted sorry I don't know why I wasn't able to okay got okay thank you and Empress is present so right now even though we do have four bodies on the commission we are we have Quorum congratulations guys how long has that happened huh that's a great way to start the new year all right so we're just going to move right onto the agenda um once again thank you so much Nate for taking notes uh let's see all right so this meeting is being recorded by the Greenfield Human Rights Commission if anyone in the audience is recording the meeting at this time please let the chairperson know is anybody recording uh the city of Greenfield is recording the meeting uh to posted on our website and YouTube page okay thank you so much Aaron um the approval of the October 15 2024 notes I believe that we still had those minutes that was sent out by Matt back in October um basically we were discussing just to revent what we were talking about um we were talking a lot about um getting everything together for the Human Rights Commission and the swearing and of Nate as um Vice chair um but we did not have quum to really do anything so basically if any if anybody doesn't have any objections I would like to put that through um a roll call vote on those minutes do I have to go ahead from the Commissioners yes thank you like I said we're gonna do a roll call vote so Kathleen yes Empress yes py py she's muted yes yes yes thank you and Nate yes thank you we don't have any notifications of any guests or visitors present so we'll just move on and Aaron is here Aaron are there any updates from the mayor's office well I see just now that there is no updates to report so thank you all right so we'll move on to our new business and that would be number seven um it's a vote for Nate Woodard you know that um we're going to need a roll call vote needed he um has shown interest in being the co-chair of the Greenfield Human Rights Commission um I am honored to have as a co-chair as far as the work that he already does in the community and to be such a young man with such vibrant energy is definitely somebody you know who I could learn from and who's willing to learn so um Nate I would give you the floor now because I believe you had something written up that you want to present I do I have a little something I wrote myself uh as says first off thank you to Quinn mass for being our first youth to allow youth to be on a board thank you to my family for being supportive and never giving up on me as I stand here tonight I I have feel I feel honored to serve on a wonderful commission and to be your co-chair when I was growing up I had a lot of responsibilities like being a big brother being a son and being a gr a grandchild when I was a little my family didn't have lots of money but we went through it together when I was 8 years old my dad had a stroke we lost our home and ended up living in the shelter for 2 years it was a hard time for our family after he got home from the hospital I take care of him as any other son would do as your co-chair I will be there for your community our community and be a member for this commission thank you for the votes and thank you for allowing me to serve in this wonderful committee the wonderful Community thank you Nate that was wonderful and just for new Commissioners who don't know um as co-chair what that means is at the end of my term or if I decide to step down before then because I'm just you know yeah I'm just ready to pass torch Nate would be in the position he would be next chair so that's what co-chair is so there is nobody better who I'll be more T child to when my time is done so um anybody have any comments or anything to say before we take a vote on Nate I would like to comment as well sorry Pocky go ahead I just want to say thank you Nate for for taking on this responsibility everything I'm hearing about you is glowing and uh and I'm very happy that you're taking this responsibility and I'm here to support both you and Empress as we move forward so congratulations thank you so um I might cry Nate and I'm sorry if I do because I think the world of you which I think you know but um I actually knew Nate before I even started working at City Hall because um my son Henry is in band and Nate is uh like the king of band I think that's probably the best way to put it because he wears so many hats um he basically taught the band at the high school last year um uh the teacher um was unavailable for his own reasons and Nate stepped up to the plate and took care of it Nate so my my sons also both my sons are on the Spectrum Nate has been patient and kind and um respectful of who they are as people he is enthusiastic across the board he is a good person and it is rare to see a kid and yes I'm calling you a kid but it's rare to see a kid this age who is so incredibly responsible and still enjoys being who he is and so comfortable in his skin and I so appreciate who he is it is hard to be a young black man in a community that's mostly White um which I'm saying um not of my own experience obviously because I fell off a turnup truck somewhere in Ireland but I have enough black friends who have told me it's hard to be a black person in a majority White Community but he handles all of it with such beauty and Grace and I'm so proud to know him and I would endorse Nate for anything he ever wanted to do under any circumstances he is a wonderful human and I'm so thank F he's part of this committee and we couldn't ask for more and I would just like to say my biggest congratulations to Nate I've watched you from the side side lines and always thought you were um admirable and I wish we had more NES in this world and didto to everything that was just said because it was said very well by both and you really have a lot to be proud of Nate thank you thank you so much okay well with that being said um I'm gonna open a FL for a roll board Kathleen oh um am I I'm sorry I'm having techn no problem it it's a roll call vote for oh yes yes yes okay thank thank you py yes Nate yes and Empress is a yes congratulations to our new co-chair of the Greenfield Human Rights Commission Nate we finally did it guys we got you in there Nate this is a great way to open up the New Year this is wonderful so um I just wanted to move some things around um um right now for as far as like open positions that we needed to be filled um as you guys know we don't have the numbers to fill some of those committees we don't need to spill it out it's definitely right there and black and white um I'm just going to keep these here so in case we do get new membership that it will be in our um you know in front of our you know as far as our front memories that we know that this needs to happen but we do have the Outreach and educational support um committee um and that is actually I believe that's two vacancies because you're around that correct Nate yes and I've been working around with the student council for the hate the stop the hate Coalition and uh I've been working closely with Angela Masta student council advisor um with scheduling a time and we have a time in February 11 at 2:30 at the high school for all the students that were participated we will be meeting with them and discussing the further steps of how the Coalition is going to look um what they going to do more um and all most likely I think it looks like all 20 students hopefully will be attending um so we would be um so that meeting I will uh make notes I will have somebody make notes and at the commission meeting uh the month after I'll present the notes because it's the day after our next meeting so the next meeting I'll present the notes and make sure that everybody's on the loop with everything and I'll make sure I send out the document too as well thanks okay and just to follow up with that um I did go speak um with the student council um with the invitation thank you Nate for that and and Angela mass as far as speaking with the student body um as far as to stop the hate Coalition the Youth Forum that um I was talking about last year um we had great feedback a lot of young people are definitely involved um I'm going to throw my support and whatever other um things that um I um to actually make that happen um we're gonna we're looking to kick that off in the spring of 2025 because I know like right now there's a lot of different programs that greo high school is working with and it's going to take a lot of planning to to to to get this program going um but it's something that I definitely wanted to um put you know out to the Commissioners just know that this is something that the um Outreach and educational committee um is working on right now I'm just supporting Nate he's definitely taking the front and running with this I'm just there to support the young people um there are two more vacancies like I said I just try to fill up a a a body but until we have more people who's interested in joining please feel free you can reach out to me or Nate if you're interested in serving on that educational committee and working with the young people at Greenfield on on on on promoting this new Coalition yes Nate as well as um after we meet and we disc discuss tonight the date that hopefully will happen in the spring um I will also be uh sharing it with the superintendent and making sure that it's been attached to the newsletter of the school committee um and so that the city is um around it and and understanding what our work and that we're going to be doing um a lot of the students are super excited about it um mostly uh the Juniors and the sophomores um because this is something that they've been hoping for and so uh like I said we'll be in contact about what more with the uh school committee and the superintendent thank you Nate so much and as we progress in this New Movement we will keep the the commission body up to date as far as where we're at and um the supports that's needed if any going forward so once again thank you for that um Community event subcommittee Kathleen that's you do you have um yes um and once again I'm just an extra body on the side you know until we get somebody else on there to support Kathleen you know by know Kathleen you know about a lot of community events or places where the Human Rights Commission even though we're not small we're Mighty so it's not a numbers game we're very Mighty and it doesn't matter how big you are okay so do you know any upcoming events I know it's winter time it's cold right now but as far as anything on your schedule as far as events where the Human Rights Commission could be involved I don't know of any um right this moment moment I am having a meeting on Friday um for Blooming Greenfield and um we're going to have a few things coming up but that's not until March um I was looking for something for MLK day but have not heard of anything yet but I can certainly if um I see something between now and March bring it up bring it to you and um get some information yes Nate uh I well this I'm on a panel there for the high school at least not for the commission I know Empress is probably on a panel for the commission but we can use probably you and paggy to be there for support at the MLK celebration at GCC 10 from 10 to one on January 20th um to one okay I have to double check my schedule is it a kid-friendly event yes um yeah yes there is they're going to have kids reading like there's going to be people volunteering to read books to the kids while the while the adults and everybody are around okay because I might have some of my grandchildren um in tow because it is a day off of school I have the baby and his um little brother who's nine yes that would be good because twice as smart with Gloria metlock the kids will also be performing and it's an annual yeah can you is there some information or is it on the GCC website or I can send I can I could send the link in the document I have it on me oh okay that be groovy thanks Nate I'd love to be able to so hopefully I can the baby's a baby baby so um you know how that can be Monday's my um nanny day with him he's five months old wow great he's adorable okay okay well thank you yes Erin you had and then p and then py yes so the winter carnival is coming up and um so excuse me I am so sorry I have had pneumonia and I am trying to recover I might cough as I keep walking anyway walking Jesus Mary and Joseph because it's walking pneumonia holy go talking is what I meant anyway um so Winter Carnival is coming up and um so for the last couple events at beaconfield we have hosted a sensory tent for neurod Divergent people who might need a place to decompress calm down fill their sensory needs right so um we are hoping to host something similar at the Winter Carnival it's also complicated and and um I was also working from home at the time when this happened previously I will absolutely keep the commission posted on what's happening with that I don't know for sure because the goal is for Greenfield to become an autistic slash neurodivergent friendly Community because we want to make sure that people who are not neurotypical feel comfortable safe and healthy in Greenfield and um part of that is making sure that they can go to things like the winter carnival and the fireworks and blah blah blah but um I'm sorry I'm like I said I'm getting over being sick anyway so we are hoping to have a tent up at Beacon field again it's not too Frozen at this point to put a 10 up but we'll see anyway um I just did want to let people know I will send everybody a link um or not a link a a agenda as to when the things that bean field are happening to see if people are able to just sit there um we want to make sure that our neurod Divergent friends and neighbors are comfortable in Greenfield it's one of the most underserved populations there is so we want to make sure they are comfortable thank you Aaron paky yeah um there is something happening on Saturday the 18th it's um it's people from all over in fact uh the twice as smart young people are singing um it's a program as we look at what some of the problems coming up for various sectors of our community from the uh uh immigrant Community to um uh Reproductive Rights um all the things that that the the original 2025 said they wanted to do away with that are are some of us think are human rights so there's this gathering at the second Congregational Church and I'm happy to send this to all of you um so you can see it and and invite your friends it's a it's a large community Gathering the uh Franklin Interfaith group is uh uh is going to be represented as well as uh other peace and Justice groups so um if you've got something some more printouts from the Human Rights Commission I would be glad to put them to pass them out you know to have them at the table um 12:15 to three okay yes as a matter of fact we do have the new brochures that um we did come together and we did create before Jason had to step down because of personal reasons so what I could do is I could send that file over to you that would so at least you could have it and you could just do whatever you need to do so what if you're stationed at an event and as a matter of fact I can send that out to everybody the up the file for the updated new bro so if you guys are stationed somewhere at the table that we can start getting out this new brochure for um 2025 um um I did just want to piggyback a little bit on what Nate said about GCC um it is highly encouraged that if you or or you're bringing anybody with you to the event um we're looking for numbers this year I I've been sitting on this committee for Planet MLK for the past few years for GCC and they're really looking at numbers and the number one reason for that is because to know how much food is to be ordered um the event is next Monday is next Monday so if you could get the information I as far as sign up for registration by Wednesday it would be greatly appreciated so that those numbers are yes Nate I'm actually sending the link right now so it's going to be in the email so after if you guys are deciding to go you guys can do that after the meeting thank you thank you so much and one more thing under Comm community events I had it down later but I might as well talk about it now um Black History Month is coming um in February yay and um uh on on on on a personal note I don't feel that as a commission in the past that we have done enough to support or promote Black History Month um there is an opportunity though because Isaac we all know Isaac mass for Greenfield Garden Cinema so um he reached out to me and I'm going to actually read what he sent me so that we could have a better idea exactly what he would like the commission body to do so um basically what he's saying is that he received Grant from the crossroad cultural committee um and he will be running a black history month program featuring black artists and Cinema every day of February wow he said that he's tried really hard he's had a really hard time getting an audience to films with people of color as featured performers people say they want it but they do not want to support it that said he want he wants this to be successful and and he's hoping that the Human Rights Commission can help um he's especially looking for our help with one particular film on Monday February 10th at 6:30 he will be doing a showing of a great film Ro called Rosewood from 1997 hold on I don't know what's going on with my computer is that my computer is okay um a a great film called Rosewood from 1997 starring bing bing RS um Don Shido and eser R has anybody ever heard of that movie before yes yes okay um now he said if you haven't seen the film it is a drama um dramatization of a true story of a 1923 Lynch Mob directed by John Singleton um Isaac said that he would send me the link and the information if anybody wanted to see the mo okay thank I will Nate um ahead of time um he said he will love it if the Greenfield him Rights Commission would adopt this showing for a community discussion about the history of racial violence and do an intro before the film and a short discussion question and answer after basically um so he's basically leaving up to us how we want to do so now we're just going to go back in time a little bit I don't know if you guys are familiar with how we used to do the past commissions how we used to [Music] do did somebody say something hello hi hi hi hi I'm I'm on a zoom call right now and I had not turned my sound off okay so um so I don't know if anybody know about how the Human Rights Commission used to do our question answers um sessions um when there was certain movies related around race relations um we actually did one when there was a viewing of the imit till movie um at Greenville Garden Cinemas we had a question answer um discussion where the individuals who attended the show was able to just have a community discussion and discuss how people felt about it and get a lot of feelings out in the air um the date like I said that he's looking for distinctly is February 10th um to see if after we all see the viewing for those of us who haven't if we could put some questions together um and an agenda of how we would approach and how we would like to deal with this and then from there Isaac would promote this we could have the um greeni recorder um if they get you know the information correct you know to put some of this information out to the community for those who would like to attend I think this is a great way for us to get foot in in the community especially related to Black History Month like I said this is the first time as far as a community involved project this has happened and um it's never too late so I'm 100% behind this uh yes Nate I am also 100% behind this as well um I do want to want to make sure that we know that the 10th is our next meeting right so so um and of course I mean we can have the meeting I don't not saying we we should have the meeting but if our meeting could be live at Greenfield Garden Cinema or something like that that we were challenge about we our meeting can basically be the question error question and answer um thing to the community at the Greenville Garden Cinema that can be so that when it gets publicized that the Human Rights Commission is doing something for a movie or doing something for Black History Month um so maybe that could be an idea or we can just push it back and meet as a group again but I think we could do that and then maybe a month later or a week or two later meet as a group and discuss of how we thought it went I like that but I don't but I would have to say we would have to have another meeting in February because we really cannot afford to miss any more meetings we missed November and December so what we could do we could change the date of our meeting for February and have that as the actual Q&A for the Black History Month viewing but no we would not we can't miss another meeting we've missed too many and and we have so much work we still have to somehow plan for the Human Rights Commission award ceremony That was supposed to happen in December and was promoted in the newspaper that people was looking for so right now that's not a good look for us so that is like something that that we have decide today what we're going to do and to get a date up and going if it's going to be this month or if it's going to be next month we really have to get on the ball and get that going but no but um like I said I definitely like the idea but we really can't miss any but I'm open to the idea of moving our meeting the week after or something like that I could discuss with Erin as far as what dates are open and we could do that but definitely yes having um having that as a community day like Isaac was saying as far as our Q&A related to the movie and the community anybody else Arin has her hand up I know I'm not technically a member and I keep commenting and I'm sorry but I do want to speak out on behalf of the afro-indigenous community in Rosewood which was either a third to a half of the community seminal people in Florida especially were largely African indigenous and unfortunately afro-indigenous people have been erased from both Black History Month and and Native American ancestry month which is in November and I think that it would be great and I am happy to take the lead on this as who I am as an indigenous woman who again looks like she fell off a turnup truck but okay but uh I'm happy to take the lead to see if I can find an afro indigenous person who would be able to either offer a written comment or attend or something like that because the reality is half of the people were it was not just a a massacre of black Americans it was also afro-indigenous people and those people were far too often targeted first because they were double minorities frankly so um I I would would I would like to make sure that the history is inclusive of Afro indigenous people okay um I definitely like I mean I'm open to that um idea as well um but black history month isn't so much as far as the suffer sufferation but as more as highlighting the accomplishments of what um as far as in the Black Culture what happened and and how we succeeded and made these great things and contributed to society um I believe as far as the afro um ingenious people that you said they have also they are also part of us as well so yes well I would say yes I mean I can't speak for everybody but I'm definitely open to the idea but it's not so much about the struggle but as far as highlighting the accomplishments and how we contributed to society yes Nate um I don't know if I don't know if I will agree um I think that um I mean I think as a student I think having Black History Month to as least as a black person to ourselves is it's great right we we it took a long time for us to even walk down the street as a next to a white person so I I think that not saying that we shouldn't celebrate that month or you know not saying that we should do that but how many people of that culture is really in Greenfield like if do we really have all those cultures in Greenfield we only I mean I see more Haiti and black Americans in Greenfield now that than in 2025 than when I moved here in 2018 so it's like and then for some of them it would be great at least I think if like I W I watched the movie um I watched the movie I forgot the movie name but there's movie that um Africans like on you know on a ship being enslaved and all that and so like if the month of Black History Month should be about just black history and black history that people can relate to that people can learn because schools don't teach them anymore and you know so I mean not saying that we shouldn't teach the the world and you know tell them that we can't have that culture but I don't see that culture in Greenfield I've never heard anybody identify themselves as that and so I want to be mindful that people can feel comfortable when they're walking into that movie theater and be like I've learned something about a black history I've learned that something about you know Martin Luther King or I've learned something about Malcolm X that I did not know about so I would be mindful about that but I'm not I'm not opposing on it I just give I'm just giving my opinion about it and thank you Nate and Erin I have a question for you so the individuals who you were speaking about if they would be do do I mean do they consider yourself black because I know you said they're afro engenious so do they consider yourself more African-American or ingenious so how do I think I think most of the people who I know who are afro indigenous consider themselves black and the reason I say that is because I am white indigenous but nobody in their right mind is going to look at me and see an indigenous woman right let's be real like I an enrolled tribal citizen I am learning to speak my language I am taking classes about my culture with my people who never left Mississippi but come on I look like I again I look like I fell off a turnup truck somewhere in Ireland so let's be real the reality is in this country the that people are judged by their Phoenix type not by the content of their character which was a dream uh not reality but okay so the majority of Afro indigenous people I know identify as black um the way that I identify most of the time as white because that's how the world sees me and that's how I am judged if I looked like an indigenous woman I would be judged differently I understand that um I obviously don't understand it the same way that an indigenous Chala C thank you sorry my children were being loud anyway um so you know I'm not going to ever be judged as an indigenous woman obviously I understand that I identify as a white woman I experience all that privilege so yeah the the afro indigenous people I know identif as black to most people once they know somebody better they'll identify as afro indous thank you for that clarification that that's I just want you to clarify that yes Nate and then py um I think that when you said population of the country we're worried about the population of Greenfield that's what we stand for that's our name right and so if if those people identify as black people hey that's good um but you know I you know I if if I don't know I just I've never really did a lot of history on Native Americans like i' like you know the pilgrims and all that coming from you know the Mayflower and stuff of course you've heard of that but like with those type of cultures I mean I would have to sit there and meet them and get to know them as a person to realize that are they that culture or they're just saying it um you know and I'm not disagreeing at all like I said I'm not disagreeing whatsoever it's just it's Black History Month like it's a a month where emit till got brly killed it's a month where we should we should really focus on those people and remember their legacy I mean let's be honest the Emil lynching was passed by Congress in 2022 20212 22 3 to 4 years ago 3 to 2 years ago and we are in 2025 and it's sad in 1955 he was dead and nobody was convicted I did not hear of anybody in that culture that was convicted or somebody was lynched in or in that it was a black 14-year-old who was their there and it was multiple activists who got killed and so I think that we need to be more important with that and I stand for what I stand for and um I'm super excited to attend this event at the Garden and see what people have learned and give them more tips and more value to our our community okay py yeah I just have a couple of things um one is is you said that every um Isaac's going to do something every day do we have to do it the 10th if that's the day we have our meeting or is that already in stone yeah that's the date that um as far as dispe that he wanted us to focus on this particular movie for Community discussion because of the relevance of the movie and it has a lot to do with certain race relations yeah yeah I've seen it and uh I mean I think it's good I I think that one of the things that we don't do is really um make this meeting important I mean look how long it's been since we've had it and you know we we couldn't even have it yesterday which we should have but anyway um the other thing I just want to say to you Nate is on Sunday afternoon at one o'clock local native people are doing a presentation at the U at the Discovery Center in Turners AKA uh Great Falls and and I'd encourage you if you can to get over there to see it uh to hear them to to just learn something about the indigenous people who are from here um you know as far as doing something for Black History Month um I'm I'm happy to do anything and um and to be a part of that that's all thank you paky so much Kathleen you're you're on mute Kathleen can you hear me yeah okay so I'm really sorry I don't know why I'm having technical difficulties and can't seem to get past it but um my apologize my apologies so I think there's a couple of things I absolutely am all in for black history month but I think um you know there's two different things going on here so just to look at it from um an objective point of view I'm all in it's very unfortunate that it's the date of our meeting because as empress has said and py has said and we all know we haven't had meetings in months so I do feel like we're kind of at an urgency where we haven't had the um you know person picked and the um event for um the human rights person of the year I feel like that is Weighing on us and we really need to get to that so I don't know like is it a thing where Isaac could do that on Tuesday instead of Monday CU we do you know what I mean like is it totally in stone that it has to be the 10th um that day is totally in stone however we can always have our meeting on the 11th or maybe even the Friday I know but I feel like we're always pushing our meetings to different days and that's part of the reason why we're not having them because like this meeting we couldn't do a hybrid because of the meeting law because it wasn't on the meeting day and I feel like okay I guess for this time but I feel like it's really become kind of a thing like I have in my calendar that it's the second Monday of every month and I don't even know the last time we did that and I'm not trying to be a Pia or any of that but I feel like we have't you know obviously we haven't had a meeting so that's been problematic that's a and then B now we don't we haven't ironed out what we're going to do with the um person of the year we don't have that and I would want to celebrate Martin Luther King Day obviously and the black history day but I feel like we're really like lagging behind in what we were as a commission doing so I don't really know how we're moving ahead and how we're going to catch up okay so I can fill on that part the major reason um why we have not or was or why the last two meetings was cancelled we lost three to four Commissioners because of health reasons and everything else we did not even have a quorum and there was a lot of issues going on that was not related to the commission that I was working with the city with so therefore amongst all that stress and the holiday season and people being out of town and on vacation I can't just think for myself I have to think about everybody so therefore with that being said that's why the reason why we did not have a meeting and and it's not the first time we've ever had a holiday break if we go back to years usually we don't ever have a meeting in December because of the holiday we just don't do that because people are gone and it's Christmas or Hanukkah or Quanza and there's celebrations going on people's not going to be around so that's nothing new but however in November when we was in the midst of planning for the HRC meeting we lost three how it was three Commissioners right Aon we lost three Commissioners within like two three days so everything was like stopped so everything that we were doing had to be looked at again and create something again because we lost so many bodies we had people sitting on subcommittees we had people planning to be involved in this set event we had people um that was already making um some you know working on other committees to get certain projects done and all that stuff so therefore at the end of the day all that pressure kind of falls on one person to try to like you know make everything run smoothly again and that doesn't happen overnight so therefore that's a lot of pressure on the chair especially without a co-chair because if I had somebody as a co-chair share they could have helped balance some of what was going on I'm one person who was balancing that so therefore with that being said it wasn't like a slack of judgment or a slack of leadership it was because of a situation that was out of our control but like I said for December we hardly ever meet for the holidays that's nothing new that's nothing that just started from me we just don't do that because a lot of people are gone with the families so we won't even really count December moving on could if you don't count December we only Miss November we we didn't have Quorum if you remember before then we didn't have Quorum in October because we were um because that's when Nate was supposed to be voted on in October and we and we couldn't meet because we only had two people that was willing to show up for that meeting so that meeting once again was not a leadership or a meeting issue we didn't have the bodies to show up to do the work that needed to be done then it was that information was tabled until November and that's when we lost three Commissioners there was a personal situations you know work requirements scheduling and this and that I and I understand so that's two shots in the face at one time for two months that is totally out of my control December I needed a break by that time it's holiday time I needed a stress removement we're in January some things are just out of your control and this is where we're hard we really can't look on what happened or why it happened we have to look at where we're at and where we're going so therefore what I can do as far as going forward um with the February 10 situation like I said that is definitely something that is definitely set in SC I'm I'm I'm doing something okay I'm doing something give me a minute and I'll give you the candy hold on okay so what happens I'm sorry I'm I'm I'm candy Nanny right I got kids coming over from a the courts ask for candy I can't I'm doing something all right so um so from Aaron with her kids and I'm here like no give me a minute so um so what happens now in February I mean I could definitely open it up to Isaac and see what he says trying to see if he can maybe be flexible I don't know like I said this he invited us in to um do this event and that's the date that he had picked so I don't want to overstep my bounds at the same time because it's not my event it's Garden Cinema that invited the HRC to be involved in their event so I don't want to go in there stepping on or you know musling my way into something that we was invited to have a community discussion and bring everybody together so I'll reach out to Isaac tomorrow and try to see what other options there are and try to see if we could work around that but I also mentioned that whether we did the community discussion on the 10th or not we would still have a second meeting so we're not losing anything because I spe because because I stated that clearly we cannot afford to miss any more maintenance and how important it is to have I believe that's the first thing I said um when Nate was saying that we could have that Mee and then and I said we need to have a separate Mee and we cannot afford so I did make that clear and I'm standing by that we cannot and I said that we cannot afford to miss not one meeting at all so whether the we come up with the date and everything for the Human Rights Commission award ceremony in January are start a discussion and come up with the and finalize that for February I don't know how we're going to do that that's the next thing on the agenda it was already said we're not missing no more meetings um yes our meeting are is scheduled for the second Monday of the month that hasn't changed the reason it didn't happen yesterday I was out of town for the weekend with my family and I already said that's the reason why why the why the meet was changed to Tuesday because I was not going to be in town on Monday and here we are on Tuesday I always try to make sure that that meeting is scheduled for the second Monday sometimes there is the schedulings you know sometimes there's something else going on at City Hall and we can't get that time and now before where Matt was able to come to a lot of that meetings Matt is no longer full-time I believe he's still part-time right now right so that's a big issue too because we have to have representation from the city we just can't have a meeting for for the Human Rights Commission and don't have a representative from the mayor's office that can't happen so I have to make sure that our schedules um work and make sure that we have somebody to represent the mayor's office and if that doesn't happen then our meeting will be pushing until the two schedules can work together Matt was more open because his schedule work for that eron's the chief of staff she has a lot more on her plate so like I said there's a lot of factors behind the scenes that people don't see that I'm juggling that I'm trying to make this happen because there's been a lot of changes that we had in 2024 and we have less of that in 2025 but I'm still trying to make it work for 2025 I'm asking for patience and understanding nothing has changed there's no big blow up it just is what it is we move forward and everything is set the way we need to set but thank you Aaron for being able to pick up this new responsibility I know this just put in your seat you know and and and you're learning and you're coming on so I really appreciate your presence here but that's what's been going on caffine behind the scenes just putting everything together there's been a lot of different changes and you know and and we have to be flexible you know you know it just every if it's set for the second month we would love for it to always be set for the second Monday but we have to be flexible and if things come up we have to be willing to adjust our schedules excuse me Kathleen Kathleen I'm gonna go ahead and speak for now um just I'm I'm so sorry but I am going to speak for a second um so Empress I'm going to make sure that I make sure you have my um booking schedule so you can look at my calendar it has my personal and work calendar on it so you will be able to plan better around where I am because I willingly and happily volunteered to be part of to be the city representative here because it's something that is really near and dear to my heart empress and I have had many conversations about it um frankly we are friends outside of City stuff and um I'm very thankful for that um I'm also going to and and apologize for a for interrupting but um I do have two kids on the Spectrum who are about to lose their Schmid so um I also wanted to say thank you Nate for pushing back I understand again my privilege is a white person who is also trying to advocate for afro-indigenous people who identify both as black and and Indigenous um and I really appreciate you pushing back on that because it is important me to listen learn and I really appreciate that that is um incredible that you did that thank you so much I have listened I I appreciate that so much thank you Kathleen Aaron you're on mute but I think it was Kathleen was next or Nate I'm sorry I ER s talking so I forgot was it Kathleen was you next I wasn't trying to be adversary or call on it Empress I appreciate everything you do you know that I've offered to help text it I think people misunderstood me what I was only saying was that I think it's important that we have a meeting in February I wasn't questioning why we didn't have meetings I know why we didn't have them you and I spoke you know I admire you I didn't mean to put anybody I feel like people F you know that wasn't my intention my intention was saying we need a February meeting you know we need to honor Black History Month which I'm thrilled to be able to do I just didn't want to see us not have a meeting that was what I was trying to convey I agree and yes Kathleen me and Kathleen is definitely in constant conversation all the time I felt terrible even if it's not about a meeting she's always calling to check in on me um emor oh my God if you need anything I'm here so you know but yeah but at least now we all know what's going on behind the scenes right I knew that yeah I wasn't questioning that I was just saying we really need to have a meeting in February if we're not going to have it on that Monday that's yeah sorry and I didn't hear what Erin said I I just don't know what she was saying I apologize we lost her I don't know what happened oh okay it's not me Nate go ahead yeah um I agree with everybody's comments and concerns about us having a meeting in February um you know um I think it's what how I say it is new year new us right we have new stuff coming in we're excited to work on so many things that we have that are coming up and so um I'm excited to hear what we got for the HRC Awards awesome so if if if I make a mistake can somebody please step in to correct me I was trying to remember I believe there's two motions on the table that needs to be voted in is that correct yes okay so the first motion would be that we move ahead and that is with the understanding that I speak with Isaac tomorrow to try to see if we could be flexible around the date and and to see if there's another date available because the February 10th was a date that we already scheduled for our HRC so that's the first motion and the second motion was was as far as the suggestion of Aon trying to find individuals from the afro engine Community to come and speak with the HRC board um at the Greenfield Garden Cals so I will put the first motion as far as moving forward to have a conversation with Isaac Mass about changing the date or flexibility on another date um we'll take a roll call vote Nate yes okay py yes Kathleen yes Empress yes okay so we'll move ahead with that and I will work on that tomorrow thank you so much and the second one is as far as the suggestion from Aaron Chief of Staff of having um representation from the afro genus Community speaking at the um or assisting the HRC at the event at G Cinema for black history mod Nate uh yes py sure yeah Kathleen yes Empress that's a yes okay Aaron can you hear us okay so when she comes back we'll just tell her that that was moved and thank you so now we'll move on to the last thing on the agenda so oh Aon back okay so yes I heard you thank you sorry I have a I have a head in sorry all right yes so that's great news so whoever you want to speak to it's been approved by the commission so you can move forward with that thank you um and let's talk about the Human Rights Commission Awards about human commission what about the Human Rights Commission Awards as you know it was um advertised in the Greenfield Recorder we had some um reportings on it you know Wonderful readings and great um but it didn't happen transition time you know vacation time holiday time all that great stuff but here we are um this is something that I brought back that was basically dismantled for like almost what was it 7 to 10 years and this is one of the things that I want to take over as chair was to bring back this annual Ceremony this would have been the second one in 2024 that um we participated in as this body of the Human Rights Commission um I don't believe it's too late to still recognize individuals um Erin this is where I would need your help um if you could communicate with Matt to see if you could send out those names because we don't have any access to the individuals who was nominated so we don't even know who was nominated and we need that in order to make a vote or to pick somebody um with that being said I was looking at another date that we could discuss maybe another date um January February well January would definitely be out because it's the 14th today um but there is Black History Month that we could look at something I mean count that we have something for Greenfield Garden Cinemas I mean if you want to be creative I'm just putting this out there if we want to maybe do this presentation the night that we're having the community discussion and maybe have the human rights award presentation that night with the individual and kind of like tie the two together to make it more spectacular or we could have the ceremony Standalone as its own thing um if so um we could look at something in February but if we do the um Community discussion and the meeting we kind of like already have a lot on our plate for February so we can look at March so any Su yes Nate any suggestions uh my suggest my suggestion is to do it on the 10th where we are at the cinema um it will give the community um like you know a more understanding of when we send these out for next year um and also gives the person a higher recognition um in community people um and so I would agree with the 10th if we uh decide to motion with that or whatever date if if empress and uh Isaac come up with a different date so that our our second Monday is is our meeting that whatever day that they decide on to to go with that and besides didn't didn't my Isaac say there was something every day in February yes there is something every day but this is a special viewing that he us I've never seen a movie so he hasn't seen me a movie because he was I like I never seen it so maybe after I see the movie maybe then I'll understand why this movie he's put so much emphasis for us to be involved in it um but he really stressed the importance of this one but yes there is something every day and you know if February 10th isn't something that we could you know come to some kind of agreement on Isaac being Isaac I'm sure we could always work something else out on one of the other days and maybe use that as our Human Rights Commission day um award ceremony since there's already something going on to card Cinemas um what I can do because um that motion was already moved um what I could do is I could definitely um send out an email because it's not a meeting it's something we already discussed um I could send out that update tomorrow after they speak with Isaac as far as dat and what he says and we could just just make an um idea from there anybody else oh that sounds good I I have a house of five year olds okay let let me just say one thing quickly and I understand that once upon a time I did too fortunately I don't anymore but it was fun with it Ed um there there are two things how about how we communicate I mean I realize as you all are talking you all have histories together you all know each other I don't know any of you and uh um I'm I'm happy to be on this committee uh but I one of the things that that's disconcerting is there was this big Quanza gathering on Sunday evening and uh the uh there was nothing that said the human Rights Commission is supporting this or even I didn't was anybody else from the Human Rights Commission even there you know it was uh it's the second year that they've done this shabaz comes up from ammer and he does a story it's a great African-American story a good African story and fortunately all the the kids from twice as smart were there um but you know to to get these these things out and to let people know that that uh that these are happening and uh so I think that it's really important I don't know how we we communicate with each other when we don't have meetings do we uh just send out an email to everybody or what would happen because you know um this is the new year so we're putting together the community events committee so committee. Cathleen so graciously volunteered to go on so she would definitely have um open usually what happens is because commissioners are very much well not involved but because we have a eye on the community um in times past we kind of already knew this you know like things like I knew about the twice as smart I I don't celebrate Quanza simple so no I didn't go and um that's just what it is but it's part of our community I understand that but I don't celebrate Quanza so I'm not going to celebrate something that I don't celebrate it has nothing to do with anything I just don't don't celebrate Quanza so um and that's definitely everybody's individual choice just because I mean that's just like saying that every event whether you agree with it or not you're to show up and be a part of especially if you don't understand it and that's not your upbringing or your understanding of it I have my beliefs and I stand strong for my beliefs and I don't celebrate Panza and I'm not going to compromise my beliefs for nothing or nobody those are my beliefs I don't celebrate Quanza so right so I think another side of that it's great Pocky I love your energy and I know we haven't met and I'd love to meet up but I think another side of it is as some I I don't have a lot of experience on the Human Rights Commission but I've lived in Greenfield as a single mom for 35 years and you know go in and out of community events is it's going to be impossible for the Human Rights Commission I think we could all agree on this to be at every event whether it's K Quanza whether it's the manora whether it's the Christmas tree lighting like we do want to represent ourselves but there's a lot of community um you know events and would we love to be at all of them oh that'd be groovy right if someone could go but probably um realistically it's not something we're going to be able to go to every event and and and I don't want to put that pressure on nobody to say oh because you're a human rights commissioner that you should attend this event we that's not that's not what we do we're not here to put pressure on anybody any commissioner and say just because you sit on the Human Rights Commission you should go to Quanza no that it comes down to the individual person if that's what because at the same time that individual person that's their right if they want to go to or not there's no pressure that's not what we do we're not going to pressure you and say yes there should be a presence we should be there no because that's that person's right and their choice to do that and I don't want to be in that position pack yeah I definitely understand where you're coming from I I I understand but that's not our job to tell anybody that because you're a commissioner you're obligated to go to this set event it still comes down to the individual what they feel comfortable with and that's what they want to do no I wasn't trying to put pressure please understand me um I as I'm I'm not quite sure what the the role is um and someday I'll get to see you all face to face and that'll be nice too but um no this was you know I think we celebrate all the diversity and and uh and celebrate that and I mean I I don't celebrate Quanza in fact Quanza was over it was just Shabah sharing stories of Africa to and particularly the young people I think really got into it and did a lot of drumming and it was it was really sweet and they also had good food but I'll stop there as because of I'm not P making who doesn't love good food py right who doesn't great that you went and wanted us to go I'm just saying realistically that's great that you went and I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and I would have loved to have gone if I you know would have been able to get out of my own way but between one thing and another um and I have biracial grandchildren maybe that would have been a fun event but apparently I didn't know it was happening so there's that you know because you know at the same time Nate you're next because at the same time honestly there's been a lot of times uh Kathleen has went to events even though she wears her Human Rights Commission hat she goes to events that the rest of us don't go to but she represents the HRC still there's events I go to that other Commissioners won't go to but I wear the HRC hat when I go so it's still a representation so like what works for me may not work for Nate or you or Kathleen or what works for Kathleen may not work with the rest of us but we're always wearing our human rights hat so you know whether one of us show up or all of us show up you can never take off that human rights that's just who we are we're we're Human Rights Commission in please make sure please make sure that if this is not something that's on the City calendar you email me and I will make sure it gets on there I actually didn't even know about the Quanza event it would have been wonderful to have it on the City calendar I had no idea it was happening next year I want to absolutely know we just didn't know um unfortunately there is you know there are not a lot of black people in Greenfield let's be frank about it there are not a lot of black people who celebrate K Quanza and it did not make it onto our City radar you heard about it we didn't we need to know so that we can celebrate as a city too because that is part of who we want to be as a city thanks abely thank you so much py that that was that was wonderful thank next year Nate hi um I usually do this for ban and I've always done this since eth grade um where I make an annual calendar of what what events we have and I have the template and it gives us like if like a star would be if we need to be there or Star would be only one commissioner needs to be there it keeps us organized as a commission to know when events are and know how to organize the event cuz I don't celebrate K Quanza or you know any of that but I have friends who would and I would like to know what they why they celebrate and go to an event like that um so if there was an event for something like that I would put on the calendar and I would send it and this will be sent out to everybody and I would make sure I email everybody and be like hey the calendar has been updated so that you guys can be like oh there's a opportunity for us to go or maybe one commissioner can go and give their support for that um it's not hard at all I still have the template I still use um so if you guys are open to do that I'm willing to do that like I said it would have like the date the time where it is and what the event is and then the star would be maybe more than two or the star would be whatever so or the star can be you don't have to be there but at least one maybe one person could be there so if that's up for discussion that's totally fine um but yeah I I think sorry sorry py go ahead I think that's a great idea because we want people to also know that there is a Human Rights Commission and that we show up for these different things and it doesn't have to be everybody you know so yeah good idea make that Calendar please yes I I was going to say too py kind of like took the words out my mouth Yes Nate I definitely like it and even more so if um Kathleen that that would be great for you for the community events so committee would make a little easier for you yeah I would with you um Nate maybe we could make a time where we could work together because they think that's awesome great right could text me and maybe um you know we could meet for coffee or something coffee it is okay my friend can't wait thank you okay awesome this this is great we have 17 minutes yet I'm not really trying to go to Whole 17 minutes if we don't have to even though I love this meeting but what I will say so do you guys suggest and this is just open for discussion do you guys suggest that right now everything is kind of like hanging on to the discussion until I speak with Isaac tomorrow and then as a group we could like move together as a group we don't have to have it's not violating any open city law nothing like meeting laws nothing like that aon's here she can back me up because we kind of like already decided it it's just to like tie up the ends so what I could do like I said I could reach out to Isaac tomorrow try to see the flexibility try to see what we can do moving the date from the 10th trying to see if we could try to work the Human Rights Commission on another date and if so as a group we kind of like pick that date so that we can book it with Isaac does that sound good to everybody it sounds great and and I think we we I trust you all you and Aaron to go ahead and you know try to do it on the 10th if if you know whatever you can work out with Isaac and and the city because the room's always booked um you know to uh to do it I I trust you and I think we'll wait to hear from you what the decisions are and then we'll put it in our calendars okay thank you so much and just one more thing for night Nate jumps on pachy you never sent me your shirt size I would love for a Sol be on HRC shirts okay for the event I just need your shirt size so I can order it Kathleen I know you got yours I have mine Nate did you ever send your size I have I have to look it up so I I send my size but I can send it again for you yeah if we can send that together so at least I can put the order is it is $20 um a shirt but um we um um when I started using doing the shirts um I use Silver Screen Printing because even though we don't do a lot with purchases I definitely feel like using our local small businesses for business for certain things like that I'm all about if you know me I'm all about supporting small business so that's who does our HRC shirt so if you get the sizes I send them over they already have the template and we just go from there or I could order it for you and you could go there in individually and pick up to your shirt and pay for it however you want to do it yes pack do they run do they run large or small small medium large extra large whatever you need do the shirts run oh true the size true the size okay yeah so so like if you wear a medium it a medium will fit you because I wear like an extra large because I like the room and it's been washed multiple times and it has never shrunk and it's true size put for a large for a large okay I write I'll write that down you don't even need to email put it right here large Packy Nate large yes large thank you large yes okay all right so I got two larges for Nate and Packy I will send this over to Silver Screen um usually what I do I try to pay for it first and then you guys to reimburse or I could order it and you guys could go pick it up however you want to do it doesn't matter but I'll put the orders in tomorrow okay Nate you was next I cut you off I'm sorry um just wanted to I know last time we had people coming in before the election um to discuss some stuff like community events or like um I don't know um it seems like we didn't have public comment today um hopefully uh next meeting I would like to see we could fit public comment in our agenda um just cuz we didn't have any public comment so there was no point of putting it in the agenda um so um we could hopefully do public comment even if there's no public comment um I know there's a bunch of students um at least at the high school who would like to speak at the humans Rights Commission um and hopefully when we discuss the time and date that we be meeting that I will hopefully let them know so that they can come in person on Zoom to um do public comment um so yeah okay I'm open to that because that's just another like another line on the on the original agenda so that's a motion so let's just put this through for a quick vote so there's a motion on the table to have a p a permanent standing for public comment on the Human Rights Commission agenda going forward roll call vote Nate yes py py yes okay Kathleen yes yes and Empress yes so that has been moved so from now on when we have an agenda public there will be a permanent public comment section under Greenville Human Rights Commission wonderful work guys Happy New Year huh we did a lot today this this was great you know um a lot so the time anybody else have anything to add before we close out this meeting no let's close it out I'm thankful for this commission I really am it's it's one of the highlights of my month when I'm able to come and I appreciate all of you so sweet we appreciate you coming and I just want to say that I want to wish everybody a happy and healthy new year and think we have a great year ahead with empress and Nate and all our wonderful Commissioners py and thank you Aaron for making this part of your world and you too Kathleen thank you yes and you too Kathleen all right so if that's to be said the time is now 7:18 and I'm going to make a motion to bring the Greenfield Human Rights Commission meeting to a close roll call vote please Nate yes pachy yes Kathleen yes and it's a yes from Empress that's it Erin thank you so much welcome to the family good night everyone bye bye [Music]