Human Relations Committee

Program Planning Subcommittee Minutes January 30th, 2020 Laconia City Hall – Rm. 200B Next meeting February 27th at City Hall Room 200 B at 3 pm Present: Margaret Donnelly, Carol Pierce, Rev. Judith Wright, Matt Soza, David Osman, David Stamps. The meeting came to order at 3pm. The Program Planning Subcommittee was created to define and produce additional programming beyond the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration (MLK) and the Laconia Multicultural Festival (LMF) to support our vision & mission. Some of the ideas discussed were:  Rev. Judith talked about her conversation with Dr. Benaquist, Ira Keltz and Rabbi Dan Danson regarding the field “Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War.” Dr. Benaquist and others from Keene State were involved in the research into the film.  Rev. Judith also talked about her recent experience with finding shelter for a homeless person and her frustration with limited housing options and limited 24/7 response in Laconia.  Matt mentioned this was a huge, complex topic but very important.  Margaret talked about the increasing volume of hate speech and how a community can change the conversation. She asked, “what can we do to promote kindness instead.”  David O. said that whatever we do, we include the young people. He also said we should be addressing bullying.  Carol mentioned our work this Fall with the Social Justice class.  David S. suggested we should be talking with the Superintendent’s Office and also explore working with Lakes Region Public Access (LRPA).  Matt suggested we should considering finding ways to involve all the different neighborhoods of the City.  Margaret suggested no more than one event per quarter with MLK being the Q1 event.  Carol suggested a theme for the year of “Refreshing Democracy.”  David S. suggested identifying stakeholders early in the process.  Someone suggested that Margaret Chase Smith’s speech “Declaration of Conscience” on June 1st, 1950 was an inspiration. The committee agreed that Judith & David S. should continue working with Ira, Rabbi Dan & Larry on the “Defying” film even as we continue focusing further out on a vision for the series and other topics. Submitted by David Stamps