Tag Archives: racism

Animal Issues

UBUNTU: “I am because we are ”

By Parlee Jones

Peace and Blessings Worcester People. Summer has quickly left us and autumn
is here with a chill. I have mentioned Ubuntu before. It is an African philosophy that means “I am because we are.”

For me it means we are better together.
We are all here on this planet and we all deserve knowledge, wisdom, understanding,freedom, justice and equality, food, clothing and shelter, love, peace and happiness.

Also known as the 12 jewels.

Thre are enough resources on our Mother Earth that no one should be without the necessities of life. Not to mention clean water!

I have been thinking about Ubuntu through all of the things that have been happening. I know the hows and the whys of racism and class. I know, but my Pisces heart won’t let me accept it.

From police shootings of people of color in the streets, to the Dakota pipeline that is still not mentioned on the national news. From refugees dying in the ocean trying to reach safety,
to pictures of shell shocked Syrian babies popping up on our computer screens.

Watching the presidential debate was painful. Either way, in my opinion, the have nots are in trouble. I am a have
not. I am blessed to have a roof over my head, food in my fridge and a means of income to help stem the tide every two weeks, but I struggle also. My heart struggles daily with others tales of woe.

Fires in California. Water and floods in Iowa. New Orleans never recovered and
hit again. The continued battle in Dakota by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all their BEAUTIFUL ALLIES including BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Our planet is crying. People are in pain. As Bob Marley said … So Much Trouble in the World!!! There was an anthropologist who had been studying the culture and habits of a tribes somewhere in Africa. He had been working in that village for sometime and the last day of his stay, he proposed a game to the children of the village.

He prepared a big basket of fruitand treats from the region and placed it under a tree. He marked a line on the earth a few meters away and instructed the children to run at the count of three, and whoever reached the basket first, would be entitled to enjoy it on his or her own.

So the kids did as instructed, but the result came as a surprise to the anthropologist: all the kids ran together, holding hands, towards the basket, and when they reached it, they shared all that was in it.

He asked the children why they had done such a thing when one of them could
have gotten the whole basket for him or herself,and a little girl answered: “How can one of us be happy if all the other ones aren’t?”

• CARING, which is the awareness that what affects one may affect many anlnd the recognition that we are all bound together, that there is a oneness to humanity.

• Having EMPATHY for the members of our communities, and the ability to
understand the feelings or the situation of others from their perspective.
So ubuntu means love, truth, peace and goodness. Nelson Mandela was a big ad-
vocate of ubuntu and its concepts of connection, community and mutual care – not just about the interaction between human beings, but also between people and nature.

Ubuntu is very important in Africa and should also be so worldwide, as the world needs a common guiding principle of human values.

http://analyze.life/ubuntu

InCity Yum Yums

First ever Black Lives Matter agenda …

… released today!

A coalition affiliated with BLM issued the following:

CLICK HERE to read entire document!

“We demand an end to the war against Black people. Since this country’s inception there have been named and unnamed wars on our communities. We demand an end to the criminalization, incarceration, and killing of our people. This includes:

“An immediate end to the criminalization and dehumanization of Black youth across all areas of society including, but not limited to; our nation’s justice and education systems, social service agencies, and media and pop culture. This includes an end to zero-tolerance school policies and arrests of students, the removal of police from schools, and the reallocation of funds from police and punitive school discipline practices to restorative services.

“An end to capital punishment.
An end to money bail, mandatory fines, fees, court surcharges and “defendant funded” court proceedings.

“An end to the use of past criminal history to determine eligibility for housing, education, licenses, voting, loans, employment, and other services and needs.

“An end to the war on Black immigrants including the repeal of the 1996 crime and immigration bills, an end to all deportations, immigrant detention, and Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) raids, and mandated legal representation in immigration court.

“An end to the war on Black trans, queer and gender nonconforming people including their addition to anti-discrimination civil rights protections to ensure they have full access to employment, health, housing and education. …  .”

CLICK HERE to read entire document!

InCity Voices

Governor Charlie Baker’s proposal will do harm to the poor and communities of color

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Keep it real – and fair

By Gordon Davis

Disparate Impact is when a so called neutral policy has a more severe negative impact on one protected class than on other protected classes.

A local columnist wrote about Charlie Baker’s support for a change in the law that would change the penalties for assault and battery on a police officer to mandatory jail time.

This policy disparately impacts poor communities and communities of people with dark skin.

Poor people have more interactions with the police because we walk, take the bus and drive early model cars. Each interaction such as fitting the description, broken tail lights, and stop and frisk increases the likelihood of a bad outcome.

I have personal experience with these pretexts. In the 1970s I was walking home on Austin Street and a police officer, James Reardon, arrested me for walking without an ID. He charged me with being disorderly and rudeness.

The judge dismissed the case.

Another time at a demonstration a person pushed a woman protester and I got between them. The person then attacked me. I was struck in the back of the head by a police officer whom I never saw. He then charged me with assault and battery on a police officer. The police officer chose to protect the bully and cover up his battery on me with a pretext.

Again, when I told my story in court the judge dismissed the case.

The worst experience of pretext was when I was arrested at another demonstration. The police officer was out of shape. I heard the order from the sergeant to arrest “anyone.” The big cop arrested me for no apparent reason other than I was nearby. When in the police station the cops threw me on the floor and used a choke stick until I nearly blacked out. I was relieved when someone yelled out: “Stop it! He had enough!”

This case was also dismissed.

The city government of Worcester has used pretext to enforce a racist disparately negative policy. For years, and even today, the gang unit has a policy of stop and frisk without probable cause or even reasonable suspicion. Sometimes “fitting the description” is the pretext. Most of the time no explanation is given.

An example of this was when the Worcester Youth Center was located in Federal Square.

The alcove in front of the store-front was private property. The Youth Center kids would gather in the alcove and smoke and talk. The police did not have authority over smoking on private property. Authority or not, the police continually ordered the kids to go inside. When the Youth Center director complained, the police arrested him for assault and battery on a police officer. This case was like the other pretexts.

Governor Charlie Baker’s proposal will do harm to the poor and people of color communities.

It will contribute to racist mass incarceration.

The drug abuse laws have been written with a disparately negative impact on the poor and communities of color.

These laws creating mandatory prison sentences for assault and battery on police officers will be unfairly enforced and have an unfair impact.

Worcester Police Chief Sargent has stated that his policy for policing is the “Broken Windows.” This policy needs to be explained to our communities. Will it increase the negative interactions between the residents of Worcester and the police?

There is need in Worcester for a real discussion about race and police policy. City Council, city manager and our WPD should be transparent with the residents of Worcester.

InCity Voices

In Worcester government, Discrimination = Disparate Impact

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Dr. Carter – Worcester’s Chief Diversity Officer

By Gordon Davis

Disparate Impact discrimination is the legal term that describes discrimination without animus.

It usually is found as a policy that results in an adversely negative impact on a protected class based on a so called neutral or nondiscriminatory policy.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has ruled that criminal records disclosures can be considered disparate impacts.

It and other organization have created new policies to ensure that people who have been formerly incarcerated or arrested will get at least a chance for an interview when applying for work.

Another example of disparate impact is the so called School to Jail Pipeline which many people consider racist because it affects a disproportional number of Black Latino and poor students. The institutional mechanism and policies of the School to Jail Pipeline negatively affects all students.

The School to Jail Pipeline’s policies are racist, not because it is based on any negative animus but because it has a disproportional negative impact on Black, Latino and other students.

The solution to the disproportionally negative impact is a rewrite of policies. For Massachusetts the change has seemingly come in M.G.L. Chapter 222.

The opponents of the efforts to reform the policies leading to disparately negative impacts sometimes use the pretext of colorblindness.

We have seen this use by a local columnist to defend a lack of effective programs, the Worcester Police Department and people working in the Worcester Public Schools. In her recent column she said that white teachers are the victims.

A good teacher is a good teacher regardless of protected class or race. We should instead look at the policies that have the negative impact on our children.

It has been pointed out to me that the recent promotions of City of Worcester and Worcester Public School officials could be an example of Disparate Impact:

The present Commissioner of the Worcester Department of Public Works, Mr. Moosey, was, before he was appointed, the next in line to replace then DPW and P Commissioner Mr. Moylan.

Ms. Ledoux, the present Worcester City Clerk, was next in line when she was promoted and replaced her boss, David Rushford who recently retired.

The new City of Worcester Chief of Police, Mr. Sargent, was next in line when he was promoted to replace the retired Chief Gary Gemme.

All the people mentioned above are white and they were all well qualified for their experience and promoted to the top positions with in their respective departments.

There was one exception to this apparent policy of promoting the employee next in line: The Assistant Superintendent of our Worcester Public Schools was passed over in favor of a less qualified candidate. In this particular case the Assistant Superintendent is Latino and the less qualified candidate – now School Superintendent – is white.

In terms of unlawfulness this might not be disparate impact. The hiring process of department heads was not the same or similarly done, as was the hiring of the Worcester School Superintendent. The Worcester School Committee made the decision regarding the Superintendent. The aforementioned city department heads were appointed by either Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus or elected by the Worcester City Council.

Our School Suprintendent is hired by the Worcester School Committee.

However, the hiring of Maureen Benienda as School Superintendent certainly was not in compliance with Affirmative Action policies of the City of Worcester or their intent.

The policies were written to ensure that when a person in a protected class has the same or better qualifications as a candidate not in the protected class, the person in the protected class would be hired.

This Affirmative Action policy has worked very well for the Worcester Police Department for the protected class of armed forces veterans. One hundred percent of police cadets are veterans.

Is there animus in Worcester’s hiring practices?

Maybe there is.

Is there an adversely negative impact in Worcester’s hiring policies?

Yes, there is, as seen in the statistics.

All of the promotions to department heads have been white. The better qualified Latino candidate for School Superintendent is Latino and he was passed over.

Dr. Carter, the recent hire for the newly created Worcester Chief Diversity Officer position, does not seem to have any power to do anything significant.

I believe she is a good person in a position requiring moral courage.

Unfortunately, this was predicted during last summer Department of Justice “dialogues on race.”bThis writer said those “dialogues“ are a joke and that the position of Chief Diversity Officer would be just a token or crumb for “minorities” to fight over.

InCity Voices

Muhammad Ali: he did it his way

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Ali in America – defiant, in a White man’s world …

By Gordon Davis

What a Black man needed to do in Racist America. This is a question that we all face in one way or another. What does a woman need to do in a man’s world? What does an immigrant need to do in the land of majority natives?

Muhammad Ali is being buried today, June 10, 2016.

The death of Muhammad Ali compelled me to think of his experiences and the experiences of other Black men. Ali is a hard person to write about, as he was to say the least multi-faceted. It is a condition that our alienation from the society in which we live forces onto us.

I liked Sonny Liston in 1964. He was a Philly fighter, and I thought he would beat the crap out of the loud-mouthed self-promoter known as Cassius Clay. Clay, to a certain extent, reminded me of the buffoons that Black men had played in the movies in order to survive in a racist society.

It was quite a shock when Clay beat Liston.

Buffoons were not supposed to beat Philly fighters.

When Clay changed his name to Ali, he seemed to have intentionally alienated himself forever from what is now called mainstream society.

Ali joined a group that was calling for separate societies for Black and White folks. Almost everyone else, in the mainstream, called for an integrated society. He had this continuous contradiction in his life, as he had White friends and worked with White people in the boxing industry. He was able to maintain this contradiction better than other Black men, especially with his talent for boxing.

It was this ability that made him important to Black people: How to be defiant in a racist America without being beaten down to levels of great indignity.

We Black people admired him for this reason. In the bosses’ America all working people – who are the majority of Black people – live under the fear and threat of impoverishment for speaking out of turn or speaking truth to power. We only have to look at the fate of Worcester’s MOSAIC to see this. Every Black person in the City of Worcester knows this and has to some extent made compromises or sacrificed his/her dignity. Some of us have gone silent. Some of us pretend to love the boss. Others continue to fight against racism and economic injustice.

When Ali lost his ability to speak as a result of his illness, he could no longer defy the system of racial and economic injustices that all working class people face. It was during his last years of relative silence that bosses in American began to express their love for Ali.

I know that Ali was a charitable man and did good for humankind. Most of all, he gave us hope and was an example of defiance – without being beaten into shame and poverty.

He did it his way.

Animal Issues

Gordy parked in A.I. … Charter Schools in Worcester – the real dialogue on race

By Gordon Davis

There was an organizational first meeting for the Worcester Chapter of Save Our Public Schools (SOS) June 1. There was a coalition of people who came together because of their concerns for the Worcester Public Schools.

Although not immediately obvious, the SOS organization was set up to defeat the Ballot Initiative of raising the cap on Charter Schools in the State of Massachusetts. There will be door to door canvassing this Saturday, June 4.

The organization Jobs with Justice and the Education Association of Worcester are also supporting the defeat of the raising of the charter school cap. Members of the Msss. Human Rights, Progressive Labor Party, and Socialist Alternative also attended the meeting.

One of the officials from the EAW pointed out that this meeting of the SOS was a one-issue meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to defeat the increase in Charter Schools. She did not feel that the discussion of race or the racist school to jail pipeline was appropriate. Her comments were in response to the back and forth between several Black and Hispanic people and some people who called themselves teachers. Michael Jerry a local activist who hosts the Voice of the Voiceless radio show felt that the Public Schools were failing Black, Hispanic and poor students. Others in the audience mentioned the so called school to jail pipeline.

Ruth Rodriguez pointed out what she considered the racist draining of money from the public schools which caused the State to put into receivership three mostly Hispanic school districts: Lawrence, Holyoke and Southbridge.

Michael Lyons who said he was a teacher for 12 years in Worcester denied that there was a racism problem. He said all the students were treated the same. Many in the audience disagreed and a shouting match ensued.

Another person who claimed to be a teacher said the real issue was that the disciplinary measures taken against students were not harsh enough. He blamed parents. Again, like with Mr. Lyons, this man was shouted down.

It became clear the organizers and sponsor did not want to lose the teachers who seemed to be, at least in the eyes of the Black and Latino people in the room, anti-students and racist.

Councillor Khrystian King supports the cap on charter schools.

Brian Allen, Chief Financial Officer of the Worcester Public Schools, gave an all too short but very informative talk. He described the ballot initiative and the funding of Public Schools in Bill 2220. He said Worcester Public Schools will be underfunded by $60 million, compared to the recommendations determined by the Foundation Budget Review Commission. About $30 million of the shortfall is for special needs students.

A parent from the audience pointed out that when she wanted her special needs daughter to go a charter school, the charter refused to accept her. The parent said that the treatment of her daughter was discrimination.

A gentleman pointed out that Charter Schools in Massachusetts have their origins in the 1974 desegregation of Boston Schools. Because of desegregation, many White parents in Boston set up private schools. Kevin Bulger, brother of Whitey Bulger, pulled some legislative trickery to allow charter schools in Boston and Worcester. This was done in the middle of the night and no one from Worcester knew about the maneuver.

I am in favor of the cap on charter schools because those schools are separate and unequal.

Charter Schools have not shown that academically they are better than Worcester Public Schools. The charter schools have certainly drained significant resources from the Worcester Public Schools District at a time Worcester’s so called minority population of students is increasing.

Animal Issues

Gordy parked in A.I.

Root out racism at City Hall 5-17-16
Rallying for justice before the Worcester City Council Tuesday night! Photo by Bill Coleman
 
Not listening at Worcester City Hall

By Gordon Davis
 
On May 17, 2016, a coalition of individuals and groups held a protest rally outside of Worcester City Hall. The coalition was protesting a racist incident involving a City of Worcester employee – Michael Traynor, Chief Development Officer for the City of Worcester.

On April 1, 2016, Mr. Traynor got out of his car at Worcester City Hall and berated a Black man who was letting his family off on Front Street. Mr. Traynor admits saying to the Black man “Fucking Asshole.” Mr. Traynor denies he called him a “Fucking Asshole Nigger.” The Black man says he did.

There was an investigation by the Chief Diversity Officer of the City of Worcester, Dr. Malika Carter. It was reported that Mr. Traynor admitted to road rage in which he called a Black man a “fucking asshole.”

The City of Worcester has refused to release the investigatory report to the public and has turned away all questions by the media.  

The pretext given by the City is that it cannot release personnel data. This is nonsensical, as an investigatory report is not a personnel record and the City of Worcester has already released personnel data of Black people working for Mosaic.

The racist double standard is that Black workers who never worked for the City have their personnel records made public, while the Traynor investigatory report is kept secret. 

The coalition rallied outside in front of City Hall for 45 minutes and then spoke at the Worcester City Council meeting about the petition it had submitted. The petition was to make it City policy to release to the public all investigatory reports regarding City of Worcester employees accused of racist activities.

The petition was “filed” by City Councilor Michael Gaffney – the equivalent of being thrown into a bureaucratic waste bin. The City has refused to release other public records, such as records of complaints about racist incidents allegedly committed by the Worcester police.

One of the speakers for the coalition Tuesday night – me! – was surprised when Mayor Joe Petty gaveled me when I quoted the words admittedly used by Mr. Traynor: “fucking asshole.” This was surprising, as the Mayor cautioned me, and I was merely quoting Mr. Traynor! The Mayor never criticized Mr. Traynor for using those words when speaking to a City of Worcester resident.

Many people consider City Councilor Gaffney to be a racist for his insistence that a Black social service agency be audited while doing nothing when charges of illicit financial activity in the Police Summer Project are brought to his attention.

I believe Mr. Traynor used a racial slur in a road rage incident while working for the City of Worcester. Even if he did not utter the racial slur and only called the Black man a “fucking asshole” that is unprofessional behavior which could warrant a termination. City Manager Ed Augustus chooses to protect Traynor.

I will not be surprised when people start to say they are afraid to walk into Worcester City Hall because of possible unprofessional behavior of City employees. Instead of heading off this toxic behavior, City Manager Augustus – by his action and inactions – is fueling it.

InCity Voices

City Manager Augustus, Double Standards Mean Racism! Rally TOMORROW before City Council meeting! Be there!

By Gordon Davis

On April 1, 2016, City of Worcester Chief Development Officer Michael Traynor got out of his car at Worcester City Hall and berated a Black man who was letting his family off on Front Street.

Mr. Traynor admits saying to the Black man “Fucking Asshole.” Mr. Traynor denies he called him a “Fucking Asshole Nigger.”

Of course, the Black motorist complained to the Worcester City Manager’s Office and to Dr. Carter, the recently hired City of Worcester Chief Diversity Officer. 

There was an investigation conducted.

We soon found out that Dr. Carter has no authority or power on racist incidents of which City of Worcester employees are accused.

We also found out that the City of Worcester Human Rights Commission also has no authority to investigate complaints against the City of Worcester.

It is not clear who conducted the investigation into the alleged racist and vulgar slurs said by Mr. Traynor.

During the investigation Mr. Traynor admitted saying “fucking asshole,” but he denied saying “nigger.”

The City of Worcester has not made a copy of the investigation public. It only released a sort of summary to the victim-motorist.

This whole process is a racist double standard.

Most double standards are indications of some sort of discrimination.

In this case, it indicates the racism still rampant in Worcester City Hall. Please recall the malicious prosecution by Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus of the BlackLives Matter protestors, when the WPD police at the scene said there was no criminal activity. The judge in the case also dismissed all criminal complaints and made the matter a civil case.

Also consider that the City of Worcester released to the public private personnel information about the Black workers at Mosaic. The investigative report is not a part of a personnel file and, even if it was, the City of Worcester has released the personnel data of non-City Black workers at Mosaic.

The investigative report on Traynor is a public document, given the public records laws of Massachusetts, and should be made public.

Mr. Traynor has admitted his unprofessional actions by confessing to a road rage incident that included vulgarity.

This unprofessional behavior in itself is sufficient for termination. 

Although he has denied the racial slurs, there is a perception that he is a racist and should no longer be in what should be a public space free from racism – Worcester City Hall.

TOMORROW, TUESDAY, May 17, 2016, a coalition of activists and concerned people, including Mass. Human Rights Committee and the Progressive Labor Party, will hold a protest rally in front of Worcester City Hall, Main Street, at 6 PM.

At 7 PM the group will take their demands to the Worcester City Council.

The demands include releasing the Traynor investigative report, appropriate discipline for Mr. Traynor, and the Worcester City Council adopting a policy of releasing investigative reports to the public for cases involving alleged racism by City of Worcester employees. 

InCity Yum Yums

Gordon is parked in yum yums … Worcester discussions on race still a joke  

By Gordon Davis

Bait and switch came to mind as I sat listening last night to the speakers at the City of Worcester’s race dialogue sponsored by the City Manager’s Committee against Bias and Hate. Although billed as a discussion of race and a summary of the notes collected during Worcester’s summertime hearings on race, which were conducted by the Department of Justice, it was only a rah-rah session for Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus. He spoke for a long time about the things he has done. Neither the City Manager nor any of the scheduled speakers said a single word about or used the phrase “BlackLives Matter.”

Many in the City are either afraid of or disagree with BlackLives Matters. This is sad, as even the Presidential candidates have spoken to the issues.

City Manager Augustus spoke of the Chief Diversity Officer he has hired, Dr. Malika Carter. She was in the audience and, curiously, not at the speakers’ table.

This is not a good sign, as many Black women in City government have been marginalized and forced out. I wish her good fortune and success.

The City Manager then spoke of the sensitivity training that Worcester police officers have undergone. He did not say anything about transparency of Worcester police policies and misconduct. These remain secret and unavailable for public scrutiny.

The other speakers were from private agencies and non-profit organizations. They all said the right things, and I have to also say that they do good work, given their limited resources and mission statements.

The most interesting and, I think, useful of the non-profits is Community Legal Aid (CLA). It helps people with their civil cases such as housing, unemployment and discrimination. Valerie Zolezzi-Wynham, managing attorney, spoke how CLA diversified its staff and hired an outreach attorney specifically for the Asian community which has not much used CLA’s services. It also hired an Educational Attorney to help students with their cases and “level the playing field.”

Mabel Milner is the chair of the City Manager’s Committee against Bias and Hate. This Committee organized the meeting. Ms. Milner facilitated the meeting.  According to the City Manager, her Committee has been enlarged to be more inclusive.

Ms. Milner indicated that Reverend Tally, the minister at the AME ZION Church, heads a subcommittee that reviewed the notes from last summer DOJ hearings.

Rev. Tally apologized for the lateness of the summary and said that the review of the notes was not complete. He pointed out that the raw information could be found on the City of Worcester’s website.

The speaker for the NAACP, Pat Yancy, indicated that it had held a demonstration when a hangman’s noose was seen at the Post Office in the Denholm Building and that it held a support service for the Black church goers killed in South Carolina.

Members of the Progressive Labor Party had passed out flyers with five demands to fight racism in Worcester:

Transparency of Worcester Police policies and misconduct

Stop arresting students at schools

Fully funded Public Schools

Jobs for Worcester residents

End City of Worcester use of police force against BlackLives Matter and the poor

Reverend Tally promised the audience that there will be more discussions like the one last night.

I hope he is wrong.

The meeting was a joke on the people of Worcester. 

Like the DOJ hearings during the summer, people who should have attended the meeting boycotted it.

The words that needed to be said were not said.

Leadership is needed in this city. Many people in leadership positions are just misguided or pretending.

InCity Yum Yums

Have some yummy Worcester birthday cake tomorrow!

By Ron O’Clair

Tomorrow, Monday, February 29, Worcester will celebrate the 168th anniversary of its becoming a city. This event will be held at noon at City Hall.
  
There was originally going to be ice-skating on the Oval behind City Hall as part of the festivities, but the weather is too mild for that this year.
  
There will be refreshments served, and I am under the impression there will be birthday cake!
  
Worcester history is replete with examples of people who strived to ensure equality and justice for all equally under the law. We had even chiseled the words “Obedience to Law is Liberty” on the lintel of our historic monument to justice that was built to ensure that it was dispensed fairly and impartially at the Court House at Lincoln Square.

Many a patriot sacrificed all that they possessed – including their lives – to see that this would be their legacy to the world, a free and democratic society where a person could avail themselves of the freedom to better themselves regardless of the color of their skin, their background, nationality or heritage.
  
We held that promise for generations, since the time of the early settlers who fought to establish the colony of Quinsigamond during the King Phillips War that eventually ended up being first the Town of Worcester and then the City of Worcester 168 years ago this month.
  
I hope that you will join in the celebration and come to City Hall to celebrate the 168th Birthday of our city!

*****

Later on the same day, there will be a Coalition against Bias and Hate meeting that stems from the Department of Justice Race Relations talks this summer.

It will be held at the Belmont AME Zion Church on Illinois Street from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. That should be interesting and refreshments will also will be served.
  
I see this as an opportunity for the City of Worcester to show the rest of the country how to maintain civility during what can oftentimes be heated discussions about racial tensions. Many allege that there are cases of outright discrimination and bias based upon a person’s skin color, and for no other reason that prevents them from benefiting equally under the law.

This can be a golden opportunity to be heard. I urge those folks who have issues to bring them to the table. I suspect that this is actually going to be more of a presentation put on by the City of Worcester to inform the attendees of what the City of Worcester has done since the talks this summer in the way of addressing issues brought up from the talks. It will also be an opportunity for city leaders to showcase the City of Worcester’s plans to ensure equal treatment under the law for all citizens regardless of race, gender or sexual identity.
  
At any rate, it should be worth taking the time to attend.

Comments?/Questions? ronaldoclair@hotmail.com