SOCIAL & RACIAL JUSTICE HOME Adult Pages Youth Pages
BLOG Culture CornerRESOURCESAcceptance LIBRARYReading Challenge
YWCA Hanover is on a mission to Stand Against Racism! We take a Stand Against Racism every day by raising awareness about the impact of institutional and structural racism and by building community among those who work for racial justice.
In the pursuit of eliminating racism, YWCA Hanover has formed a Social/Racial Justice Action Coalition led by Deb Smith, Social / Racial Justice Coordinator of YWCA Hanover. The focus of the coalition is to develop initiatives directed towards improving the Hanover community.
Questions? Contact Rosemary Cintron: rcintron@ywcahanover.org
Meeting Minutes
YWCA Hanover
Social/Racial Justice Action Coalition
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Meeting Notes:
Thank you for another great meeting!
*Update on YWCA initiatives (many generated by this group):
Youth Book Club has started (Dear Martin).
Adult Book Club will begin in July (Little Fires Everywhere)-please register.
Social Justice Library is still accepting donations.
Workshop for white parents with multi-racial children will be held at the end of July.
Still waiting for prices for Stand Against Racism signs, yard signs, window clings.
Looking into hosting a series of art shows featuring minority artists (lead by Heather Lunn).
Stand Against Racism t shirts are available for purchase.
The idea of a mixer for the community, especially new community members, will be looked at for spring 2021 (due to covid concerns).
There will be a committee sign up shared.
*Questions about the adult book club. There will be two zoom meetings and one in person meeting. We will read a book every other month. We will have a list of books to present and vote on for the next book. Rotate the person directing the book club.
*Youth Book Club will be held in the fall (Lacey A. will take charge of this).
*There is an Islamic Society of Hanover. Do we know anything about this? Deb Smith will look into it.
*Does the YWCA have any connections to black led groups? The YWCA connects with YWCA organizations across the country thru the social/racial justice message board.
*Questions about the art show were answered by Heather Lunn, who has a degree in art history. Looking at 2021.
*Sue Whitman suggested Enlightened Conversations series, based on the on line conversations with Emmanuel Acho.
*Human Library was brought up as a possibility. Nathan Mart explained the Human Library. https://humanlibrary.org/
*The importance of voter registration was discussed.
*How do we address mental health concerns.
*Nathan Mart reinforced that education is important, but we need to look into how to change systemic racism…TOUGH JOB and no easy answers.
*Connect with the business community. Start with downtown Hanover and eventually grow from there. Ask the Chamber of Commerce to ask business leaders if they have achieved success with creating a diverse environment and employment. Learn from their successes.
Again…THANK YOU!! I love the conversations and ideas, let’s keep it going.
YWCA Hanover
Social/Racial Justice Action Coalition
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Meeting Notes:
This was an awesome first meeting with great ideas and great energy. We have lots of ideas. We will begin to implement some and keep working on adding more. Change and patience go hand in hand.
Ideas:
*Positive feedback on a Stand Against Racism banner in Hanover.
*Positive feedback on Stand Against Racism signs for Hanover businesses.
*Positive feedback on Stand Against Racism yard signs.
*Window clings for cars (Stand Against Racism).
*Outreach program from police to youth in the community.
*Book club for adults.
*Reach out to politicians.
*We need a list of minority owned businesses so they can be supported.
*Use resource list to put on facebook posts.
*Scholarship/grant opportunities.
*Workshops/speakers.
*Book suggestions: I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,
*Need for mental health resources, especially for police dealing with people with mental health issues.
*Specific workshops for white parents of biracial children and ally workshops.
*Diversity in literature: Instagram/bookstagram @openbooks.openminds
*Contact Shannon Resh for help with diversity literature for children.
*Liason between police and the community to discuss issues. Continuing dialogue.
*Thank you, Melissa Foreman: contacts in Baltimore for speakers.
*Media post: “I can never understand what it is like to be black in America; but I can stand with you in support.”
*Taking the test Harvard Implicit Bias Test on Race
*Community bonding to make families feel supported and welcomed.
*Hotline to report racial/social injustice or a place to talk. Many are having difficulty dealing with friends and family.
*Coordinate with other organizations: Hanover Area Diversity Alliance, Hanover for Progress.
*Discussion of the peaceful protest being held on Saturday, June 6.
YWCA Response:
*Stand Against Racism t-shirts are available to purchase from the YWCA Hanover. We are working on signs, banner, window clings, etc.
*We will be starting an adult book club using Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng ($10.20 on Amazon). There will be a registration on the YWCA web site. Thank you to Myneca for the suggestion.
*There is a Social/Racial Justice link on the YWCA web site (under the tab, What We’re Doing).
There is also Youth Book Club, Blog, Upstanders Youth Leadership Council.
*The YWCA has received a Wal Mart scholarship.
*We are planning workshops for parents of biracial children, education workshops for children’s, and speakers.
*The protest on Saturday, June 6 was well attended and peaceful.
*Shannon Resh has been contacted and is on board with helping out.
*If you have an incidents of racial/social justice issues or you just want to talk, please contact Deb Smith at dsmith@ywcahanover.org.
*If you need Diversity and Inclusion Workshops for your business, groups, etc., please contact Deb Smith at dsmith@ywcahanover.org
*There have been social/racial justice story times. The next one will be Facebook live on Thursday, June 11 at 10 am (for Pre-k and K).