[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, hello, this is the February 2024 meeting for the Commissioners of Human Rights. Utilizing the agenda from January when the meeting was canceled due to lack of forum and with some added items. All right, I'm Frances Wange, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with the City of Medford. Going over to you, Maureen.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I'm Maureen Curley, I've been on the commission for since I guess September and I live in on Tyler Avenue in Medford. Steph, you want to take it?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: Sure. Thanks, Maureen. Hi, everyone. My name is Steph. I have been on the commission for about similar timeframe as Maureen. I am a one-year resident of Medford and happy to be here. Diane,
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Great, thank you, Steph. My name's Diane McDonald. I'm a West Medford resident. I've been on the commission since November 2022, and I'm happy to be here. I'll pass it off to you, Rob.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Thanks very much, Rob Klein, South Medford resident. I think about three and a half years now on the commission, and also very happy to be here. Chief,
[Frances Nwajei]: Hi Rob, Chief hasn't joined us yet, but Immacula is here with us. Sorry about that. No worries, no worries. Immacula, do you want to introduce yourself?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_06]: Yes, this is Immacula. I'm so glad that today I am with us to the meeting.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much. Immaculate. We're definitely glad that you are back. We missed you and we're happy that you're back safe.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_06]: So I was me too. I was a miss everybody too.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next on the agenda, we have the touchstone. So one of the human, um, one of the commissioners care to read our meeting touchstones.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I'd be happy to read them if everyone's okay with that. Okay, so be present presume welcome and extend welcome order of meeting as the commission meets to discuss the agenda first at conclusion of meeting agenda members of the public are invited to share comments. Raise your hand before speaking and avoid interrupting others. Speak for yourself and speak your truth in ways that respect others' truths. Acknowledge others' lived experience to promote human dignity. Listen deeply. Believe that it's possible to emerge refreshed, surprised, and less burdened. Expect and accept a lack of closure. When things get difficult, turn to wonder.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you very much for that, Diane, and for setting the tone for us. I know the Chief mentioned that he was going to be a few minutes late, so with any of the Commissioners' mind, if we hold off on the approval of the meeting minutes, just in case he has any comments, and we move to the Lunar New Year recap and a big, big, big, huge shout out to Diane, Steph and Maureen for all the work and support that was done to really pull that event together. I'll hand it over to you.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I'm happy to jump in. I'm just astounded at the showing we received, and I'm so grateful to you and Steph for all of your help. I don't know if you can hear my dog barking in the background, I apologize. But it was just tremendous, and I felt that it was a real community gathering, and it was multi-generational with the help of the students, Then Justin Singh, the Human Rights Commission, the library, the Office of Prevention and Safety, and you, Frances, it was really just a coming together. I'm just so happy with how it all went. What are your thoughts, Maureen and Steph?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: I couldn't get back up. to see everything because I was stuck on the stairwell with everybody trying to get back into the gathering space to participate in the event. I think just echoing the work that you did and to see all the community partners that came together. The students of Medford High, I think it really highlighted and showed what could be possible for events. I have never made a paper lantern before, so I was thrilled to learn how to do that and carry that. It's still in our kitchen. It was a lot of fun to be a part of. Although I couldn't see everything when you all went back into the space because I didn't want to jump the line or anything, but hopefully you all had a nice time and it was nice to see.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Yeah, I just want to say that I think that people learned a great deal about what Lunar New Year was, which I think is one of the main reasons why we wanted to do it, was to really highlight other cultures. The people that came were delighted. There was a lot of fun. The kids had such a good time at the craft table. But I think, too, that really the fact that we learned so much about what this is, what the history of it is. And so I was delighted to be part of it, and I'd love to see it again next year.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yes, me too. And I just, again, I'm just astounded that we had 575 people show up. It was incredible. So thank you, Frances.
[Frances Nwajei]: So yeah, those were incredible numbers. I knew that it was packed. I mean, one minute there were Bobo teas on the table and the next minute they were gone. I said, Maureen, Maureen, where's the extra Bobo teas? Yeah, my big takeaway for me was when we were outside and I looked over into the crowd, you know, as a person who's been doing humanitarian work for so long, I didn't see just people of Asian descent. I saw a sea of faces of many, many different ethnicities. And that is what I call a job well done, right? We brought people together that were already familiar with the history and tradition of Lunar New Year. And we lifted them up by celebrating them within the community. But we also, brought people out who were experiencing this event for the first time. And the smiles just didn't stop. I'll be honest, I probably on my way trying to get around may have bumped into a couple of little people because it was that crowded and I needed to get onto the other side. But it is a memory that I will never forget the sheer joy and delight on everyone's faces. I mean, even babies were there. So congratulations, Human Rights Commission. You represented your community and that's really what it's about. And not only did you do that, you weaved together a multitude of different departments. You made the students at the Asian Social Club at the high school feel seen. You partnered with DEI and you allowed the Office of Prevention and Outreach to also share in this moment. And that's really what belonging is. There's no other way to put it. So thank you. Takeaways are yes, it will happen again next year. I have heard that from many, many different people that can happen again next year. So I'm just making a brief parking lots note just for self. Do I take it that this is, you know, I'm going to pose this question to you. Do I take it that this is something that you would like to do again next year for the community?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Oh, yes, certainly seems like a good thing.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: Okay. based on our kind of experience, maybe sourcing or understanding different spaces where maybe it can be held just so that everyone can participate. And I don't know how many people showed up and were not able to get into the community room, but certainly maybe one thing to look ahead at is additional spaces that can accommodate different number or volumes of people.
[Frances Nwajei]: I'm so glad that you brought that up, Steph, because that was actually discussed in the moment of the event itself. And that was going to be the next thing. If I remember, and if I've forgotten something, please correct me. I heard the Andrews, I heard the McGlynn, and I heard the high school. If I'm not mistaken, those were three locations that were suggested. Did I miss any? Okay. Because what I would like to do is I would actually like to look at the calendar because some of the spaces fill up ahead of time. I also heard City Hall, but I canceled that because we would find ourselves in the same situation. The chamber can only hold so many people. So we want a space where, you know, everybody who comes has an opportunity to see what's going on. Andrews, McGlynn, and high school.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: And I know that it's a winter break for the public schools next week, but I told the officers of the Asian Club that I'll head back over there. They meet on Thursday, every Thursday, but after holiday break, just to do a debrief with them. So if anyone would like to join, once we figure out the date and the time, would any of you like to join the debrief?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: sure let me know let us know when it is diane so any of us could go yeah awesome we'll do i can too immaculate you said you can as well yes that'd be great thank you you're welcome
[Frances Nwajei]: So definitely, you know, a different location for next year. That's on my list. The sooner that we can get into school's calendars, even just to hold the date as tentative, the better. And, you know, we all, we enjoyed the lion dance. And I think that, you know, because Walu was referred by the Asian Social Club, I think that I would like to keep them for next year as well. Okay.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Definitely.
[Frances Nwajei]: King Bobo obviously did a fantastic job because it was all gone in the blink of an eye. But I think that we can discuss quantities or whatever at a much later date. Are there any other details that you think that I should start thinking about from my end? Because we did have, we were able to pull this off with a generous support for a grant and the grant is not the grant does not belong to us. The grant was basically somewhat reworded to bring in this event for the HRC. So there's no guarantee that that. grant will be around again. However, I'm open to any logistical things that you want me to stop, you know, putting in the back of my mind or start advocating for.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: So why don't we wait for the debrief with the students, because they were such an important piece of it, and maybe bring this up at another time. It's a little fresh in our minds still.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right, fantastic. So I will leave it up to you to circle back to me to say, Frances, we need Right, sounds good.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Probably ping pong tables because I know that was something we talked about with Justin and the students. It's a big, so if we're using a school, but we'll circle back.
[Frances Nwajei]: Here we go. Is there any way that I can like retrace my footsteps and go back on what I said? Commissioners, if you don't mind, I think that one of our guests actually attended the event and has made a couple of comments in the chat. If anybody, if you can all just have a look at that, also agrees that hoping next year. So it looks like we're going to be having this again. fun event next year. Definitely a larger venue. Agreed.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Thanks for your comment, Steve. That's well taken. Yeah, thank you, Steve. Great.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_06]: Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, HRC mission and our charge. who's leading the conversation. I think that's a carryover from last year.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So I suggested this just as a way for us to just start off our new year because we ended up missing the January meeting. And I just think maybe it's just a nice way for us to just Think about our charge in our mission and all I did was simply call up just the about page of the HRC on the city website. So perhaps I could just read it out loud just to. You know, as we continue to think about our work in the year ahead. and also recruit for our remaining three seats. It's good to just remind ourselves of our mission. The mission of the Human Rights Commission is to protect the civil rights of Medford residents, reinforce a positive community atmosphere, work with community groups and agencies to educate, promote understanding, to eliminate prejudice and intolerance, and to mediate within the community whenever needed.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: So, so along those lines, I would love to you know I've spent a bit of time looking at the ordinance and I would love to. propose that we take a look at the ordinance, because it seems as though some of the things restrict really what we're able to do and how we run. And I would love to take a look at it. It's been a while. And for example, the quorum idea, the five, rather than having a percentage of the number of positions that are filled, which are very common in commissions and boards, I'd like to propose that we, We take a look. I don't know whether a small group could do an initial look at it and bring forward some ideas to the overall commission and then go from there, I'm assuming, to either city council. I think city council is the one that passed it originally. So I propose that as a way of looking at it a little deeper than we have in the past.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I'm receptive to that and I see Rob has his camera on now and I wonder if Rob, you can share with everyone that research work that you did last year. That could be a good starting point and maybe we have that as a priority on our agenda for the next meeting after Rob shares his research work and then we all come prepared to just talk about what we need to.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah, absolutely. I do actually, so I can certainly send it to the group, but it sounds like even already from from what you've brought up more and it sounds like some of the same topics for. brought to the surface in the review, just basically that the language seems a little bit complicating at times. There's kind of references to whole numbers that don't really comport directly with the typical attendance or the number of folks or passages that are worded a bit clumsily and basically serve to lock us out from being able to do things at times when we know we would like to be more active. So I can certainly share that. I think, Frances, the appropriate thing to do would be send it to you and then you'll pass it along to the group.
[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah. Once I receive it from you, I'll send it to the group and then you'll receive it as well as a CC just so that you know. Okay.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Can you tell us a little bit about why was the research done and what was done as a result of it? I didn't know that that existed when I brought that up.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah, yeah, of course. Can I just pause for a minute?
[Frances Nwajei]: I think, you know, I, again, just going through, you know, the directions and directives that I've been receiving as far as how public meetings and open meeting laws go. I think that if we're going to talk about specific things, it's my understanding that it should have been posted so that those who are in attendance and who want to chime in actually have the actual Document so, since we're talking about specifically why this document was created, I do feel that it is best to. Get it out to the commissioners, the commissioners have it and it's a standalone item on the agenda. I just want to add that all I was asking... It's not a broad-based conversation anymore. If we're starting to focus on the document, it no longer becomes a broad-based conversation. And I'm required to make sure that folks have it.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I understand, but I'm not asking about the document. I was asking about how the research you know, how it began or why was it done, not the document itself. I was just asking him about, I didn't know that there had been a research project and I was just curious how that came about.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah, really, it was just to try and understand how we could position ourselves better to have a clear and specific mandate. Because there was a period of time where we felt as though we didn't really have the most specific aim, and it hampered the group's ability to be efficacious in the community. So in an attempt to get an understanding of what we were empowered, what powers we were emboldened with from the original charter, that I think is the most concise way to look at the impetus for the research.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: And then what happened to it, it just, you did the research, was it ever discussed?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: We ran through the document that I'll send, and it was used as basically a point of information. And we updated some of our practices with respect to making sure we had quorum and how we carried on the meetings. But past that, there wasn't any further action taken.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: OK. Thank you. That's helpful.
[Frances Nwajei]: Diane, do you care to continue?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Sure. So yes, that's what I was looking to do is to just reset and refocus us on our mission, on our charge for the year ahead. So and then another topic I had asked Francis to put on the agenda was that first to talk about meeting facilitation. I think typically if had a chair, we would that, you know, the chair would facilitate the meeting or the vice chair would in the absence of a chair. But because we're an incomplete commission, I just, I think it could be a good idea rather than always having to have Francis facilitate our meetings, perhaps we could take turns each meeting serving as the facilitator.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I think that's a great idea. Also, I didn't see anything in the ordinance that said that if we didn't have a full membership that we couldn't have a chair. It talks about offices. But I didn't see anything that said, and that was something I wanted to ask the lawyer, which I thought was gonna be at this meeting, who was supposed to be at the last one about, I thought that it just mentions that officers should be elected, but it didn't say anything about how you had to have a complete group in order to have officers. So I agree, I think it seems more, more appropriate to have members of the commission as the chair through the selection of officers. So I would support what you're saying, Diane.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So are we comfortable and are you comfortable, Francis, having us take turns? facilitating meetings?
[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, that would be, I mean, definitely not an issue with that. I would request that you all review the information that has been sent numerous times, the open meeting laws, the presentation that attorney Austin did, because it is important when you don't know, you don't know, but when you do know now you're being held to the standards of already having that knowledge. I'd much rather err on the side of caution. But certainly, if anybody needs that information again, let me know. Yeah.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I think it'd be a great idea. It's at the top of our inboxes. If you didn't mind just sending us that Zoom recording for us all to watch.
[Frances Nwajei]: Sure, the zoom recording from the. Commission for persons with disabilities meeting where you will get to hear the questions that those members asked and how to answer them, but I'll also send along the formal slides deck. Yeah, that was created for us. Right, you shared that with it. Yeah. And I think there are also some additional links because they do a lot of this work for municipalities. And I think that the links are on the MMA website, the Massachusetts Municipal Association website. But I will give me some time and I will look them up so that I can just like have everything in one email for you instead of you getting multiple emails.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: You know, like anything, I think we'll all learn about, you know, we all, I think, have a basic understanding of it, but certainly, you know, I think we can follow the open meeting rules without any major problems. And if we don't, we'll learn from each other so that we'll learn how to do it.
[Frances Nwajei]: Beautiful things. okay so um chief is not here yet and i'm not sure how long the raise the age campaign um email that i received that i shared with you is going to take do you want to go into that or would you like to do the approval of the meeting minutes now you might as well go into the uh
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: to the raise the age, especially since you're saying maybe there might be some additions or something that the chief wants.
[Frances Nwajei]: I don't know. I just, you know, I just because he didn't say he wasn't going to attend. He said it was going to run late. So does everybody have it handy or would you like me to share what I can on the screen? Yes.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: You mean what we were sent by you?
[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, I forwarded what was sent to me.
[SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I have mine. Yeah, we have it. I read it. We have.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. So Rob, I believe you wanted to have more discussion about it. I have not just a full disclosure. I have not responded when something like that comes in. I typically don't respond until I hear from the commissioners, whether it's this commission or the other one, what the commission would like to do. So.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah, sorry about that. Just looking for the mute button. Really wanted to bring it to the group's attention. Obviously, we all were able to see the information that was shared, but I think this is certainly a cause that speaks directly to, you know, human rights in general. and is worthy of our attention, if there's any way that we can provide support, I'm certainly in favor of that. At a bare minimum, I know they're looking for basically endorsements. I would certainly be in favor of advocating for this commission to sign on as an endorsing agency. And even fair, in my opinion, to go so far as to encourage other city organizations or the city government to do the same.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Yeah, I really impressed with them. And I knew a little bit about this group from my previous work. And they certainly are a very impressive group that have been doing a lot of advocacy around juvenile justice. I think even more, you know, I'm like you, Rob, I tend to think that this sounds like a very reasonable and good thing. I reached out to my state rep to see what his feeling was about the legislation. I haven't heard yet back from him, but I think it seems like a good policy that when people approach us to, at the very least, interact with them and learn more about it, whether it's this issue or any other issue. If we are truly supposedly representing the community, it seems to make sense to both for our own learning to meet with people such as this. I think it would be great to, what I'm less clear on is whether or not we have to do that in the open meeting way. Can we only meet with them at a meeting such as this, or could we actually meet with them in addition, invite other people to come if they want, and then bring it back to the entire group? I mean, I don't know what.
[Frances Nwajei]: So that's why I wanted to get your input because the subject line came as requests to meet So, you know, it looks like you know, they were requesting to meet to discuss this further I did not know again if you wanted to have them come as an invited guest to an upcoming meeting or um I don't I don't think I don't know if this is a time sensitive issue, because if it's a time sensitive issue, then we won't be able to do what I'm thinking of, which was, did you want to create a platform where we invited different people? Right? And then they, they shared. you know, their thoughts. I'm just not sure how that's going to work in terms of timing. But if you wanted to, I could certainly invite them to, you know, where we were in March. So I could certainly invite them to the March meeting. Right. And, you know, if you had questions, if they wanted to do a presentation, let's remember these meetings are recorded so people can at any time go back and have a look.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Could we meet with them in the before that, though? I mean, how about if we The thing that concerns me about that is it becomes that these meetings then become, which are fairly short, become kind of very full. Is there another opportunity for us to meet with them, ask some questions, and then bring it for a larger discussion here?
[Frances Nwajei]: You wouldn't be able to meet with them separately because you'd be violating the open meeting law if you have a quorum. If you meet and there are five or more of you, that is a quorum that has to be posted.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: No, but I'm saying, how about if three of us wanted to, how about if everybody couldn't, or two of us wanted to, and would bring back and discuss with the large group? I'm just thinking of other ways to make this notion of meeting with outside groups, you know, more workable. If everybody has to come to these meetings, first of all, we have to wait an entire month, and second of all, then it becomes, our agenda becomes full, which we want to do. We want to interact with a lot of people. I'm trying to figure out if we can do that outside as well. Just as Diane might've met with school about planning an activity, I was gonna propose that perhaps some of us met with this group, talked to them, and then brought it to this group. I'm just asking if that's an alternative to coming just to a regular meeting.
[Frances Nwajei]: Sorry, I'm just getting a message from the chief that he will be attended. He's hoping to attend soon. I mean, that's something that you could propose. I mean, remember, you do have 1 party of your commission that is not here. If you're asking for my suggestion, I still stand by the fact that I think that they asked to me. So, I think that they should be invited to the meeting. They should be able to do a presentation or share information. The meeting would be open. There would be members of the public who would know that might want to ask questions. You might have other groups as a result. I think that sometimes people meet in smaller groups, but you don't necessarily grasp the information that all of your team members need. We're all different, so we technically and scientifically, we take pieces of information that are important to ourselves. Yeah, and that is what that's what we lose when we do the small group, but after they come and do their presentation. If there is further work, and there is a group that wants to go do more. I don't even know if they have a name. I can't think off the top of my head. Then you can form a subcommittee, but still you would need to. Post your meetings the same way that the charter committee does.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I guess. Diane, I would just like to add I think that because this is legislative work for our state and we already have legislators trying to move it forward that that this particular type of presentation absolutely warrants. a meeting with the entire commission and on video at one of our meetings versus me just checking in with the students at the high school. I think that it's a little different. Like Rob said, which probably we're getting ahead of ourselves, but I think this is very important work. And I, you know, personally just speaking on behalf of myself, even though I'm here as a member of the commission, I think it's important and I would be fully open to endorsing it. And a lot of the reason why is, you know, working in higher ed, we do a lot of, sorry about that. I've seen a lot of presentations by psychologists and neuroscientists about how important the ages between 18 and 22 are in terms of just really cementing who you are, your values, your world outlook, you know, everything. And so the more we can support our young people to just, you know, embrace them and help them with reform and rehab is it's just so incredibly important and not having them, you know, with all of these adults, you know, I think they're all of their research is very sound.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I guess part of my suggestion of that is that I'm a little frustrated in that we could set this up and then the same thing that would happen in January, we wouldn't have a quorum and then it's off the table. I'm a little concerned about how slowly we're able to, I mean, we were supposed to hear from the lawyer. We still don't know what's up with that. I sort of feel like we're in a catch-22 with some of the ways- Hold on a second, please.
[Frances Nwajei]: Hold on a second, please, Maureen. If you refer back, I have always said if the lawyer is available, we don't have a lawyer on retainer that works specifically for the commission. So I'm not always check in. I'm not done yet. I always check in. And if something else trumps that, like it did this morning, then I get an email that says I am not going to be available. So I don't want it to appear as if were being blown off. Unfortunately, I can't call all of you and say, hey, we're gonna shift the meeting to the daytime. I've got to be respectful of the established timeframe that I met. However, for something like this, especially with the legislative impact, I think that it is important for the meeting to take place as a group, because what if you come up with an idea and you decide you want something to go to city council? I have to work within that to get that for you on the council agenda so that you can appear before council.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Yeah, my only point was that we are so restrained by these regulations around the ordinance is that it doesn't seem to flow. And I understand that sometimes people can't make meetings, so we don't have a quorum. or somebody can't come because of the lawyer that is very busy. But I'm just saying my overall feeling is that I was just looking for another way that perhaps we could meet with people and have conversations that might not require just this one meeting. That was my proposal. But I understand that people wanted to be at a meeting, so I'm fine with that.
[Frances Nwajei]: And this isn't the, it's not the ordinance. This is public meeting laws, so it's legislative. So it is different. It's not the ordinance that says we have to do it. The ordinance is following the already established laws. All right, so it sounds to me like it is a yes, invite them. All right, I will get that email out. All right, so I will extend an invite to them for the March 13th meeting. I will do that today. March 13th? March 13th, that's the next meeting we have. What is my birthday? Well, that will be your birthday party.
[SPEAKER_06]: I have a birthday party.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. And should I ask for a presentation? Sure.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Yes. Yeah.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. All right. All right. Does somebody want to make a motion about the meeting minutes?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, motion to approve the meeting minutes from December. Second. All in favor? Aye.
[Frances Nwajei]: It looks like you have approved your December 2023 meeting minutes. All right, so now we are on to calendar and upcoming events. I know, Diane, you've been building the calendar. Do you have that document handy?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I unfortunately didn't update it. We're just going to go off of the agenda. I'll have it next meeting. I apologize.
[Frances Nwajei]: No worries. All right. So as everyone knows, this is February and here we celebrate Black History Month. So, there is an event that is taking place on Monday, February 19th, right here at city hall at the chambers. So it should be another fun time. We have a guest speaker, Senator Scott. who is a relative of Coretta Scott King. We have music, we have poetry, lots of good food. Think about that kitchen table vibe where we were just eating and chatting. And the most important thing, a little CTM, and that's conversations that matter. So that's taking place here Monday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. So do feel free to stop by. I believe I shared the invitation with all of you, shared the flyer with all of you.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Do you need setup help from us for that or breakdown help?
[Frances Nwajei]: I think breakdown help would always be helpful because you just never know how many folks, I've left it open to all, so you just don't know. Breakdown help is always helpful. I think setup help, I think we have enough hands. The setup is a little bit confusing because I think DPW is setting up The date differently than the original request today. So, I don't want to say, oh, come in and then you get here and it's like, not the right day. So. Okay, I'm going to pass it over to you because March is actually peaking around the corner.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So we had to do a pivot, everyone, for our Belinda Sutton Royal House and Slave Quarters event that we were originally aiming to do this coming Saturday. But everything just really started to feel bunched up with Lunar New Year. And I know Royal House and Slave Quarters also had an event taking place just the other day. I touched base with Kiara, and we're going to have the Belinda Sutton event, the reading of her petition on March 30th in honor of Women's History Month. So that's a Saturday. Does that work for everybody? Yes.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Great. Yep. I won't be able to attend, unfortunately, but certainly don't move things around in my account.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Okay, I'm not sure totally Diane. I think it might work. I'm not sure for me.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, what time please stay in. Um, I think it will be the same time as as the when we hosted it before. So I'll tighten up the time. So if I could just have until about Friday, and I can just send you that information, Francis, that'll be great. I think last year we did
[Frances Nwajei]: We did one to three, and then we did three to 330 folks had the option of taking a tour if they wanted to. The tour, yeah.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So the plan is to really reflect the model last year. So it's just a template. It's easy to manage and run. And it's pretty substantive.
[Frances Nwajei]: I'm going to just get back to you. Let's try to touch base next week, Tuesday, because I think this is running into Arab American Heritage Month, but I could be wrong. I just need to check to find out when the activity is, because if it's back to back, I'm not so sure how much of a lift DEI will be able to provide. I think I remember last year. I just can't remember when we did the event, if we did it in March or if it was in April.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay.
[Frances Nwajei]: But give me two days to double check and I'll find out.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, sounds good. All right, thank you. And that's it on scheduled events for the city. And then I was thinking we could, talk about what our work priorities are for the next couple of months, starting with just trying to get these seats filled, the three open seats. And I know from Maureen that some of the Asian club students, at least one in particular, expressed an interest. So curious to know, is there a rule that you have to be 18 plus or There's no rule. There's no rule, yeah.
[Frances Nwajei]: My co-chair was 15. Yeah, so there's no rule.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: I believe, and Steve may be able to speak to this, but I believe at points in the past, there have actually been a seat specifically for students in the community. I may be misunderstanding what was communicated, but I thought that the high school in particular, the student body there had been quite involved in the past. So I think it's a great idea. I think looping in folks, especially younger folks, they're some of the most invested in the community and oftentimes some of the Most overlooked so anyway, we can bring them into the conversation is great. My opinion. That's great.
[Frances Nwajei]: I think that's a great idea. And also remember to that the city council is creating a. Youth commission. Oh, it's either a youth commission or a youth council commission. I can't I can't remember. So I think that that would be, you know, that would be fantastic. Any, you know, if the students, you know, are interested, you know, the same thing with everybody else, right? We invite them to. a couple of meetings to make sure that it can work with their schedule. Unfortunately, with these being online, you take away the whole transportation nightmare. Just let me know, keep me posted. Okay.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Sounds great. Does anyone else have suggestions on what we want to work on as a commission for the next few months?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_06]: I lost two meetings. For now, I just understand what happened. Maybe next time I can talk. For now, I just lost a little bit.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay. Thank you, Immacula.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Well, if we're looking at the ordinance, you know, that's another thing as well as, as you said, I think recruiting, but it's kind of a chicken and egg thing. If we can sort of get clear on the ordinance, it might be easier to recruit people too. Um, I don't know. It seems to me, I've talked to a couple of people about it at the MLK day, for example, and they were not enthusiastic because they felt that it was, it was kind of, we were kind of restricted a little bit about what we could do or it wasn't clear. So somehow we have to change that. sort of perception out there about what we're doing. And so one way would be looking at the audience as the same time as talking to groups like the student groups and others about how we might be able to recruit some people, some new people, because it would be great to have a full board, a full commission. And really, it would mean a lot, I think, to be able to have that. We'd be able to get more done for sure. Great.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: And then it looks like the last item on our agenda is discussion of statements, but the lawyer's not here. And I know that the Massachusetts Human Rights Coalition recently hosted a session on statements and they built a toolkit. Did any of you have a chance to attend that? Because I had to work
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: evening event, so I was... No, but they sent out the toolkit though. They sent out all the information, so I took a look at it. Okay. So that's another interesting thing to take a look at. I don't know if everybody's aware, the city council passed a statement about Gaza this week, or last week I guess it was. as well as another one and some of the council people shared that with me. I know that they have different rules than we do, but still it seemed as though that was a really good step forward and one that many people in the community had petitioned them about having, making the statement. So it sort of behooves us to look into how can we listen to people in the community about the things that are really important to them and somehow similar to what we're doing with the raise your age. I mean, I think that's a great, great step in opening up and trying to learn more of what's on people's minds really, rather than just directed by us. How can we get this kind of input from people?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Right. And so I have all kinds of Google alerts set up so I can just try to stay up to date on the pulse of the city. So I just put a link in the chat that the Tufts Daily did an article on the city councils. call for ceasefire last week. And I thought they did a great job on the article. And I appreciated seeing that there was a lot of community involvement. There were well over 40 people who went and spoke about it. So it felt right that it was handled that way to me, to just give everyone in the community just a platform to speak their truth.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: And somehow I totally missed it. Somebody reached out to me, Manura reached out to me about it just before it, and I wasn't aware that it was on the agenda before that. So somehow we've got to get connected in as members of this commission on issues like that, which are clearly in our purview, it seems to me. It would have been great to, and unfortunately I heard about the last minute and I had another meeting, so I couldn't go.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Right. And I think when I heard about it, I thought it, I guess it had already happened when I read about it. But it, but Kit Collins, you know, the vice president of the city council, she did a lot of work. And she had a great statement.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I don't know if you saw her statement, but it was fantastic.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah. So I think they did. Yeah. Yeah, I think they were a great model for what's possible. So maybe we can pay attention to what they're doing as well and just be more in lockstep with city council and the mayor in our work. Yeah. Just be more cohesive. Yeah.
[Frances Nwajei]: Diane, did you want to say, did you say you attended the Melrose Human Rights or you met with the Melrose Human Rights Commission. Do you want to share some takeaways for you? Sure.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So I recently met with a member of the Melrose Human Rights Commission. I had gone online after Adam LaFrance's presentation to us to just see You know, to see who was on the commission and see if anyone could answer any questions because I wanted to get the pulse of their approach to statements. And so I met with. a current commissioner who was a former chair. Her name is Linda Apple. She's actually a colleague of mine at Harvard too. If you go online, you can see the statement that they made soon after October 7th about Israel and Gaza. She had shared with me And we know how difficult it's been for certain communities to make statements because sometimes if a statement is not made in the right way, it just can completely backfire on all kinds of sides. And so she shared that they wanted to come across as neutral as possible and they grounded themselves as being a resource to their community in Melrose. And so what they did was they made a video statement and they acknowledged the challenge and the hard time for everyone in what was happening. And then they used it as an opportunity to say, you know, like, these are the resources that we have in our city for you. If you are a victim of, you know, They were offering anti-hate training if anyone felt that they were a victim of antisemitism or Islamophobia or anything. These are the channels that you can take to record it. These are the resources where you can get particular help and support in different areas. What they did was they just lifted up all of the resources that they have to just help everyone try to navigate this all together as a community. But before they even made that video statement, because their Human Rights Commission is appointed by the mayor, they reached out to the mayor to get the mayor's approval. So they have this, You know, this protocol in place that before they make any major public statement to the community as a courtesy, they make sure that the mayor is on board and that there's also kind of sunlight on everything and so that if there's. a dimension that they're missing, say the city council is already working on something, then they'll find out and then they might revise, improve it and make it a little better. They have a very transparent protocol before they make any statement in terms of getting an approval from the mayor's office. I think she said city council, but don't quote me on that. I found that very interesting.
[Frances Nwajei]: Diane, quick question. They're appointed, right? They're not an independent human rights organization. I believe they're not a nonprofit. OK, yeah, I thought they were pointed. OK, great.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I think there's a lot we can learn from groups like that, as well as the state association. which again, with their toolkit, all of this is really interesting information. This, I think, can be something that we can do pretty easily. As long as we, as you say, think about it wisely, I think it's something that shouldn't take a huge amount of time and that we should be able to get in the habit of doing once we've got a format for doing it.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Right. And I think just the key is just being very transparent. Yeah. Sure.
[Frances Nwajei]: I'd like to say that the talk is in agreement. Yeah.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So it looks like we're done with our agenda, right? Unless anyone has anything else to add, and then we open it up for public comment.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Yes, looks that way to me.
[Frances Nwajei]: It looks like we're done with our agenda. I mean, we didn't really have much conversation on other avenues and areas to recruit for beyond, you know, really trying to reach out to the youth and bringing some youth on board. So, yeah, it looks like the agenda's done.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Great. So we're opening up the meeting to public comments. If anyone would like to share, Eileen? Or agenda items.
[Frances Nwajei]: for items discussed on the agenda.
[Ilene Lerner]: Eileen, you're on mute. I have to tell you that my heart is pounding. I'm just so distressed by hearing what you had to say, Diane, so distressed. This is the Human Rights Commission. This is about human rights. We are being forced to watch people being bombed, people being mangled to death, people starving, people being deprived of water. But, oh, we have to be neutral, a neutral Human Rights Commission. Well, if that's your goal, I'm speechless, absolutely speechless that you call yourselves the Human Rights Commission, but you are prepared to watch people being deprived of the right to life. the right to health, the right to a roof over their head, to food, to water. We are being forced to watch genocide and the Human Rights Commission must be neutral. I can't even talk anymore. I'm so angry. Goodbye.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: You're more than entitled to your opinion, but I would offer that you levy your accusations at the group as a whole and not any individual, because we take these decisions as a group and that's how we act. It's inappropriate to single out any individual member.
[Ilene Lerner]: Everybody, this group has refused to do anything. That's why we went to the city council, because you didn't do anything and you don't wanna do anything. And I think it's awful. And it's not to one person, it's to everybody on the Human Rights Commission.
[Frances Nwajei]: I mean, I think you may have misunderstood. Diane was giving feedback on her meeting. What the Melrose Human Rights Commission.
[Ilene Lerner]: That's really good. We ought to do the same thing. Right. We ought to do the same thing. Nothing.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. Any other comments? Go ahead, Steve.
[Steve Schnapp]: Well, I'm wondering why the Human Rights Commission doesn't at this time take its remaining time to fashion a statement. A statement that doesn't take sides except for humanity and human rights. That's the side that the commission should take. There's no neutrality here, either you're for human rights or you're not. And this is a time to raise your voice like millions, hundreds of millions of people around the world are doing. So I would urge you strongly to craft a statement. It could be a very simple statement. I'm hoping that the statement would call for a ceasefire and it would be sent to our elected officials. who are receiving similar comments from all sorts of individuals, groups, human rights commissions all around the state. And I don't see why Medford doesn't join them. It could be a very simple statement. We're against violence, against noncombatants, and we call for a ceasefire now. Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Steve. Muneer? You should be able to unmute yourself.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Yes, first I apologize for arriving here late. I was at another meeting. And I believe I sent to every member of the Human Rights Commission the statement, the resolution that was passed by our city council. And it was not a neutral statement. It was a factual statement. And as I mentioned, I echo Steve's suggestion, even though we're not members of the Human Rights Commission. For those of you who don't know me, I served on the Human Rights Commission for several years, and I was chair of the commission for a few years. And as I suggested in one of my emails, being neutral in this case is being complicit in what's happening. It is our tax dollars that are paying for the destruction of human life in Gaza, destruction of cities, buildings, infrastructure, preventing water, or food from coming in. So again, being silent is being complicit. Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much for your thoughts, Muneer. I don't believe that we have any more members of the public on, so. I think Rob wanted to say something, Frances, no? Yeah, I said I don't believe we have any more members of the public on. I see Eileen's hand up, but I think, Eileen, is your hand still up from the last time, or is it? Judy's hand is up.
[Ilene Lerner]: I know, I didn't put it down.
[Frances Nwajei]: Go ahead, Judy, please.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Where did Judy go?
[SPEAKER_03]: Me? Yeah. I just want to support what others have said. I think it's important to make a statement on this issue and as the opportunity comes up, or the unfortunate opportunity comes back up again on another issue to, to make statements. And if you want, you can focus on antisemitism and Islamophobia as it, you know, as it is a problem as they are a problem in our community, as in other communities around the country. And, um, you know, some really tragic events that have occurred, including the point blank shooting of three young Palestinian men in Burlington, Vermont, of all places. And, um, and I, again, it's an issue for all of us because our tax dollars are paying for what's going on in what Israel is doing. And, um, So I just want to support the statements others have made and also identify myself. I'm a very long time, former commission, wait a minute, a former long time commission member, um, going way back. So, uh, you know, I urge you, I urge you to take a stand. We, it's a, Things that are being done essentially in our name, even though that's not the way it's being presented. But it is in our, you know, it's on our dime. And we are witnesses, and I think some of us at least feel a sense of urgency. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Judy. Steve, is your hand still up from the last time or is it a new raised hand?
[Steve Schnapp]: It is. I wanted to add a comment. Thank you. I wanted to say how proud I am of the Human Rights Commission and the Office of DEI for pioneering and establishing an annual Pride event. I attended those events and I think that was a wonderful an important event. I'm an old guy, and I remember when the gay rights movement had as its slogan, silence is death. That was the slogan of the gay rights movement. And that is similar to what Muneer is saying about being complicit when you're silent. Silence is death. Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much for your public comments. All right, commissioners, anything else? It is 6.42. Rob, you were about to say something when I just wanted to check and make sure we didn't have any more public commentators. So please go ahead, I'm sorry.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So it was, I came across a resolution in support of the ceasefire that was passed by the Medford city council. And I know that there were procedural barriers in the past that prohibited us from. building something from scratch and advocating that. I'm curious to know, Francis, if this is something you're aware of, or perhaps there's additional research that needs to be done. Are we empowered as a group here now to endorse an existing declaration having been made by the Medford City Council? And if so, I would like to make a motion to do so, to endorse that declaration made. by the Medford City Council, titled Resolution in Support of a Ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.
[Frances Nwajei]: I would second that. Rob, you can't make the motion yet. Rob, what you can do is can you email me? Let me see if I can get it out to Attorney Austin, see if we can work it out differently.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Why can't he make a motion during a meeting?
[Frances Nwajei]: We're all here. Because he's asking me a question. I can't give him the answer to that question. I don't know the legal parameters. Listen, I'm just simply, The liaison. I can't even share with you what my feelings are one way or another. So I'm not saying that, oh, you know, it's not that you guys don't support it, but I want to just make sure that what he's saying is coming from him. I send it. They say, yes, that's the way it should be worded. Go for it.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I vote that we do it. And if there for some reason we get called on the carpet for it, we deal with it then. I mean, this is not this isn't science.
[Frances Nwajei]: You are the commissioners. I am simply the messenger.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I think I would second what Rob said. And I don't believe that we don't have the right to do that, to endorse what somebody else in the city has already done. Oh, come on. We've got to be able to do that.
[Frances Nwajei]: As I said, you are the commissioners. I am simply the messenger.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: I think I heard in there, Maureen, a motion to endorse, I would second your motion to endorse.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I also motion to endorse.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I motion to endorse.
[Frances Nwajei]: Somebody will have to say, you would have to make the statement. So somebody will have to actually say what the motion is, sort of like how you said it, and then somebody would have to second it. So I,
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I propose I don't know if I'm going to use the right word. I propose that we endorse the statement regarding the motion that we make a motion. I make a motion that we endorse the City Council's of you had it, what was it? Ceasefire. Ceasefire, Gaza ceasefire that was passed last week at the city council in Medford, Massachusetts. And that we as the commission for human human rights commission of Medford endorses that proposal or that resolution. Resolution. Thank you. I can say it again because I know that was pretty bad.
[Frances Nwajei]: And Maureen, Rob wrote it in the chat for you.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Okay. Resolution in support of ceasefire. Okay, I move that we endorse the resolution in support of the ceasefire in Israel and Gaza, which was passed by the Medford City Council last week.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Seconded.
[Frances Nwajei]: Somebody has to second. Rob seconded it. And then now you actually have to take each person's vote on it.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Aye. Aye, Maureen. Aye. Aye. That's Maureen. Diane, Maureen, Steph. Aye. Diane.
[Frances Nwajei]: Aye, Steph. Oh, Steph, okay. Maureen, Steph, Diane. Rob? I, Diane.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Okay, I've got you, Diane. Okay. And Rob did it already. Rob seconded it. Seconded it.
[SPEAKER_03]: And myself. And the chief.
[Ilene Lerner]: Chief. Thank you, thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: Wait a second. We didn't hear from Immaculata. Sorry, Eileen. Did I, was Immacula one of the ayes when, Immacula, did you say you seconded it? Yes, yes. Okay. That's okay. So, everybody voted for it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, so 6 yeses to. I don't know, we'll have to rewatch to figure out how to rewrite that. I think that what you bet to say was you. propose to support the resolution in support.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I said endorse. The Human Rights Commission endorses the resolution in support of a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza that was passed by the City Council of Medford last week.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. Well then, I guess when, Diane, when we re-watch the video, if you'll be able to pull it out for the minute. Yeah. But I've got all the yeses. That's an endorsement. I'm sorry, yeah, to endorse the City Council meeting, yes. A resolution.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Now what happens to that? Does that go to the City Council? What happens to what we just did? Where does it go from there?
[Frances Nwajei]: It goes in your meeting minutes. If you want to write a letter to the city council, the same manner that you use to write your human rights declaration statement, you can do that as well, you know, and send that to the city council. Remember, you can also reach out to the city council directly. Their email addresses are all listed. Um, so if you, I mean, if you really want to make it official, like you did the human rights declaration, right? You just write the simple statement that I would say, you know, on whatever the date is on February 14, 2024, the human rights commission voted unanimously to, um, endorse. the resolution in support of a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza that was passed by the Medford City Council on, who remembers the date? Was it last week, Tuesday? It was last week.
[Munir Jirmanus]: It was Tuesday, February 6th.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Tuesday, February 6th.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Munir.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I would volunteer to do that tomorrow on behalf of the commission. Do I have people's permission to do that? commissioners?
[Frances Nwajei]: Yes, yes. And then, you know, we just put it on the letterhead. And then once I get it, Maureen, I will, I'll send it out. And if it's like before, if you guys want to take to the floor, I've got to make sure that I work in sync with city clerk for the council.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: So we can't just send it out by an email tomorrow, that you can
[Frances Nwajei]: You can do that as well. I mean, you can do it individually, but you can do it multiple ways.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Okay. I'll do it tomorrow by email to the City Council and then we can formally put it on the letterhead at a, you know, whenever we can.
[Frances Nwajei]: You really should put it on the letterhead if you're sending it to City Council so that it stands out as it's coming from the whole Human Rights Commission. I think you should have it.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Maureen, I'll be your editor if you need an editor. And I have the letterhead. And I'm up late working anyways. Oh, and you have the letterhead? Oh, great. I do have the Human Rights Commission letterhead. So I'll take your copy and do it tonight.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: OK, I will do that. I'm going to do it a little bit because I have a date for Valentine's Day waiting for me. Oh, nice. I think our reservation has gone by. That's right. Excellent guys. We did it.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right, so maureen and diane will connect you guys will get it out Um, make sure you let me know when you get it out so that I can make sure on here if you need anything from me If if you want to speak on it Let me know ahead of time so I can work with adam and we can sync it and make sure that we're on their calendars even if it's the standard and say you're in support of the
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I mean, the important thing is they'll see it, and then that means something, at least somebody sees it. If it just sits and I'm minutes, I was thinking, then really, what have we done? Thank you.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Two comments, if I might, very briefly. First, thank you, commissioners, for taking this action, for taking a stand. And also, you have the option, if you so choose, to also send it to the mayor.
[SPEAKER_06]: Oh, sure. How do people feel about that? Send it to the mayor too? Sure.
[Frances Nwajei]: You should just send it to the mayor as well. You can do a CC to the mayor as well. And if you wanted it to go broader, I can't remember how much leadway we needed, but remember how we put the other one in the senior center's newsletter? If you wanted more visibility per se, yeah, you could do that as well. So I can check in with Pam to see when the next issue is being done.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Great. And maybe the newsletter that goes out by the city as well?
[Frances Nwajei]: That wouldn't be my call, that would be the mayor's call. Okay, that's why I said I think it's good. I think it's good if you CC it to the mayor, right? Then I can approach and I can say, hey, commission would like to put this in the newsletter.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Oh, great, great. Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right, anything else? You've got seven minutes back of time. Not sure what time means these days, but you get seven minutes back. Right. Well, thank you all so very much for um Attending today. Um, somebody just run through my task list with me um Sending an email out to the raise the age people seeing if they can definitely attend our meeting on march 13th, right? Then i'm gonna make sure that I resend all the open meeting law information back to you guys in one email so that you have it. That's what I've got on my list. And starting to look at dates for next year at the three schools. All right.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Good night, everyone.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you.
[SPEAKER_06]: Thank you. Good night. Bye.