Mayor & City Council

Thursday, November 5, 2020 Continuing the Conversation Forum #3: Topic: Racial Equity in College Park 7:00 p.m. Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, this was a virtual meeting. Present: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Dennis (Moderator), Mitchell, Mackie, Day, Rigg. Guests Panelists: Del. Joseline Pena-Melnyk; Dr. Stephen B. Thomas; Dr. Oscar Barbarin. GARE Team (Government Alliance on Race and Equity): Bill Gardiner; Tracey Clayton; Frank Pacifico; Teresa Way-Pezzuti. Staff: Kiaisha Barber, Bob Ryan, Janeen Miller. (Up to 24 people were on the call at any one time.) Councilmember Dennis posed these questions to the panel: • What are the greatest challenges for people of color in College Park? • What are some misconceptions about supporting the Black Lives Matter movement? • How has this 2020 Presidential election impacted race relations? • What are some ways systemic racism can be addressed (relative to College Park) and how important is it for a community to address racism throughout its history? Ideas: • College Park Cookbook • College Park Choir • Police Athletic League • Publicly acknowledge/tell the story of our history • Reparations/Restorative Justice – o Scholarships – named for the Lomax family o Mentorships o Help to grow small businesses o University of Maryland community investment GARE Team presentation: • National organization - racialequityalliance.org - in partnership with MWCOG • Definition of racial equity and the role of local government in addressing racial disparities • Definition/examples of Institutional Racism • Definition/examples of Structural Racism • Racial Equity Tools – the GARE process  • Review of GARE Team projects • Normalizing conversations about race • What happened to the Lakeland community • Lead-in to the next forum – a Lakeland Community-focused discussion Record prepared by Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk.