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Description
January 19, 2021 marked The National Day of Racial Healing. It is a day set aside to share truth, deepen relationships, and build trust in order to create a more just and equitable world.
In its first ever event (Jan 19 and 20) to mark this important day, the City hosted talking circles facilitated by the Minnesota Peacebuilding Institute, a dinner and panel discussion at Creekside Community Center and closed the celebration with an equity symposium shown in this video. Several local leaders showcased their efforts to champion equity initiatives via short, interactive presentations.
A
C
It
was
important
to
us,
as
the
organizers
of
tonight's
event,
to
open
with
atlanta
acknowledgement,
and
while
I
am
not
dakota,
if
you
will
permit
me,
I
would
like
to
lead
us
as
an
armenian
american
as
a
grandson
and
great-grandson
of
genocide
survivors
and
as
one
whose
own
ancestral
homelands
are
occupied
by
settlers.
I
would
like
to
recognize
that
minnesota
is
the
homeland
of
the
dakota
people
and
that
they,
as
well
as
the
anishinabe
people
and
indigenous
peoples
from
other
tribal
nations,
continue
to
reside
in
minnesota
and
will
continue
to
reside
here.
A
John,
thank
you
so
much
for
sharing
with
us.
I
absolutely
agree
it's
important
that
we
acknowledge
that,
and
I
am
grateful
for
having
you
to
fill
that
role
tonight
at
this
point,
we're
going
to
turn
it
over
to
mayor
bussey.
To
give
us
a
warm
welcome
so
mayor.
I
will
now
pass
along
the
virtual
night
to
you.
D
Thank
you
very
much
faith
and
thank
you,
john
for
that,
for
for
the
opening
of
this
meeting
that
it's
a
great
way
to
open
it.
Thank
you
so
very
much
good
evening.
Everyone
thanks
for
joining
us
at
this
this
important
event.
My
name
is
tim
busse.
I
have
the
honor
and
the
pleasure
of
serving
as
the
mayor
city
of
bloomington.
D
I
am
very
happy
to
welcome
you
to
this
gathering
which
recognizes
this
annual
day,
where
communities
across
the
country
are
calling
for
racial
healing,
they're,
celebrating
our
common
humanity
and
they're,
taking
collective
action
to
create
a
more
just
and
equitable
world,
so
with
with
all
of
the
the
uplifting
rhetoric
and
the
images
from
earlier
today
it.
It
does
feel
right
that
this
event
and
that
inauguration
day
are
on
the
same
day.
D
It
really
does
so
the
messages
of
hope
and
unity
from
president
biden,
the
the
overwhelming
significance
of
vice
president
harris
the
peaceful
transition
of
power.
Despite
the
threats
of
violence,
and,
let's
be
honest,
the
performances
by
jlo
and
gaga-
I
mean
it
all
feels
like
a
good
foundation
for
us
to
build
on
tonight.
Absolutely
I
saw
earlier
today
a
list
of
best
quotes
from
today's
event
also
saw
a
list
of
best
quotes
from
other
inaugurations
throughout
history,
and
one
quote
maybe
actually
stop
and
think
a
little
bit
and
the
quote
went
like
this.
D
It
said
much
has
been
given
to
us
and
much
will
rightfully
be
expected
from
us.
We
have
duties
to
others
and
duties
to
ourselves
and
we
can
shirk
neither
now,
except
for
the
word,
shirk.
That
sounds
like
a
quote
from
a
superhero
movie,
and
actually
it
sounds
very
close
to
what
peter
parker
heard
from
uncle
ben
in
spider-man
movies
right.
D
He
did
actually
it's
from
teddy
roosevelt's
second
inaugural
address
in
1905
and
clearly
teddy
got
it
with
great
power,
comes
great
responsibility
and
it's
a
message
that
we
need
to
take
to
heart,
even
today
the
racial
divide
in
our
country
that
has
been
at
the
forefront
of
our
national
discourse
over
the
past
few
months.
We
all
know
it's
been
an
issue
that
many
and
are
black
indigenous
people
of
color
and
our
immigrant
and
refugee
communities
they've
been
calling
it
out
for
centuries
and
finally
we're
seeing
motions
forward.
D
We
see
movement
more
forward
on
a
national
level
and
there's
momentum
towards
action.
It
can't
be
a
moment
or
a
movement
that
kind
of
comes
and
goes
it's
important
that
we
intentionally
and
consistently
work
toward
healing
the
wound
created
by
racial,
ethnic
and
religious
bias,
and
we
need
to
work
to
build
an
equitable
and
just
society
so
that
all
people
can
thrive.
D
The
conversations
we're
having
here
in
bloomington
the
issues
that
we're
dealing
with
they
they
are
not
unique
to
bloomington
cities
across
the
country
are
having
the
same
conversations
and
while
these
conversations
are
supremely
important,
nothing
gets
done
until
we
can
talk
about
this.
The
conversations
are
important,
but
it's
the
actions
that
follow
the
conversations
that
matter
even
more
a
few
years
back
the
bloomington
city,
council
and
staff.
We
did
a
two-day
retreat
to
develop
a
five-year
strategic
plan
for
the
city
and
that
list
of
strategic
priorities
that
we
put
together.
D
Now,
in
the
years
since
I
will
admit,
we
have
moved
in,
fits
and
starts
towards
that
goal,
we've
taken
two
steps
forward,
one
steps
back
perhaps,
but
there
was
always
a
commitment
on
behalf
of
the
city
to
do
more
than
talk
and
over
the
last
several
years.
I
do
believe
that
we've
made
progress
on
the
strategic
priority
for,
for
example,
just
this
year,
the
city
council
unanimously
adopted
a
racial
equity
business
plan.
D
The
plan
charts
a
path
for
the
city
to
intensify
its
work,
to
create
and
support
an
inclusive
culture
that
values
and
advances
racial
equity
throughout
the
city
of
bloomington.
Additionally,
we
hosted
a
series
of
racial
equity
training
sessions
for
both
staff
and
council
members.
We
updated
our
job
descriptions.
D
Now
two
things.
First
of
all,
that's
not
an
exhaustive
list
of
the
things
we've
done
and
two
without
question.
We
have
so
much
more
work
to
do.
I
have
said
in
the
past
I'll
continue
to
say
there
is
no
one
single
thing
that
can
be
done
to
resolve
centuries
of
racial
inequality,
but
we
are
committed
to
learning
from
past
mistakes
and
committed
to
being
intentional
about
moving
our
work
forward.
D
D
There
are
people
in
the
city
of
bloomington
who
don't
understand.
Why
we're
doing
this
work?
Not
only
do
they
not
understand,
they
are
appalled,
appalled
that
we're
wasting
tax
dollars
on
these
efforts,
and
I
promise
you
they
are
watching
right
now
and
they'll
be
sharing
those
opinions
and
many
other
opinions
on
social
media
later
tonight
or
tomorrow.
D
I
shared
a
story
recently
that,
last
october,
on
a
saturday
morning,
a
group
of
protesters
showed
up
in
front
of
my
house
carrying
signs
flags
and
using
a
bullhorn
many
of
them
carrying
weapons.
They
had
a
long
list
of
grievances
that
they
wanted
to
air.
I
talked
to
them
for
almost
two
hours,
but
the
one
that
stood
out
was
their
complaint
from
one
person
he
complained
that
we
on
the
city,
council
and
members
of
the
bloomington
school
board
that
we
wasted
so
much
time
talking
about
racial
equity.
D
Now,
I'm
not
often
at
a
loss
for
words,
but
I
honestly
honestly
didn't
know
how
to
respond
to
a
statement
like
that.
What
it
shows
more
than
anything,
is
that
we
have
work
to
do
and
it's
not
to
work
just
among
those
of
us
here
tonight.
We
need
to
spread
this
work
across
the
city
of
bloomington
in
ways
both
big
and
small.
D
We
need
to
grow
this
effort.
We
need
to
continue
to
align
with
our
partners
who
joined
us
this
year
in
this
celebration
last
year.
This
was
only
a
bloomington
event,
city
of
bloomington
event
this
year.
We
are
so
pleased
to
welcome
and
thank
heartily
our
friends
at
normandale
college,
northwestern
health
sciences
university
in
the
bloomington
public
schools,
as
well
as
our
folks
here
in
the
city
of
bloomington,
who
have
worked
so
hard
on
this.
D
D
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
that
mere
I
I
wish
I
had
like
a
virtual
mate
drop
that
I
could
do,
but
I'll
just
give
it
a
clap.
I
appreciate
your
replaces
and
your
comments
and
in
that
inspiring
call
to
action
for
the
community
and
the
work
that
you're
doing
to
lead
the
city
of
bloomington
in
these
efforts
at
this
time,
we're
going
to
turn
it
over
to
dr
joyce
esther,
who
is
the
president
of
normandale
community
college
and
also
a
financial
sponsor
for
this
event.
E
E
I
will
say
for
myself.
This
is
an
amazing
day
for
me.
I'm
very
excited
about
this
day.
I
think
that
a
lot
of
wonderful
things
happened.
I
for
one
feel
like
I
can
let
out
the
breath.
I've
been
holding
probably
for
many
years,
and
so
I'm
really
excited
about
an
event
like
this.
Where
we
can
talk
about
racial
healing,
I
went
and
looked
up.
E
And
I
was
recently
we've
been
reading.
A
book
called
from
equity,
walk
to
from
equity,
talk
to
equity,
walk,
and
I
think
it
goes
back
to
what
you're
saying
mayor
busi
about
not
just
talking
about
it.
But
what
are
we
going
to
do
about
it?
And
one
of
the
things
that
the
book
talks
about
is
how
do
we
move
from
an
area
where
everyone
achieves
at
the
level
of
as
our
highest
achieving
individuals
right?
E
I
was
really
excited
about
some
of
the
words
that
president
biden
said
today
and
I
quote
he
says
we
have
much
to
repair
much
to
restore
much
to
heal,
much
to
build
and
much
to
gain,
and
as
I
was
listening
to
that-
and
I
was
thinking
about
the
work
that
we
have
to
do
now.
When
we
talk
about
repair,
we
have
to
acknowledge
that
something's
broken.
When
we
talk
about
restore,
we
have
to
acknowledge
that
there's
a
separation.
E
When
we
talk
about
healing,
we
have
to
acknowledge
that
there's
pain
and
hurt,
and
also
when
we
talk
about
build,
we
have
to
acknowledge
that
there's
a
disruption,
but
he
also
ends
on
a
positive
note.
We
have
much
to
gain
when
we
do
this
work
together.
We
can
gain
wonderful
things
together
as
a
community,
and
so
I
look
forward
to
hearing
from
everyone.
I
am
not
going
to
to
stay
before
you
long.
As
I
said
I
was
so
inspired
today.
As
an
african-american
woman,
I
was
inspired
by
miss
amanda
gorman.
E
I
see
the
future
in
her.
I
I
look
at
this
young
woman
and
I'm
like
we're.
Gonna
be
okay,
try
not
to
get
emotional
and
I'm
gonna
leave
you
with
with
how
she
left
her
words.
She
goes.
There
is
always
light
if
only
we
are
brave
enough
to
see
it,
and
only
if
we
are
brave
enough
to
be
it.
Let's
be
that
light.
Bloomington
bless
you.
A
A
A
You
should
see
those
things
show
up
on
your
screen
now
and
I'll
read
them
off
before
we
jump
into
those
presentations.
So
one
thing
that
you
may
have
already
noticed
is
that
all
attendees
are
needed
upon
entry,
so
you
don't
really
have
the
ability
to
unmute
yourself
and
the
reason.
Why
is
because
we
want
to
make
sure
that
there's
space
for
all
people
to
engage
in
the
conversation
without
talking
over
each
other.
A
A
Okay,
I
got
a
thumbs
up,
that's
good
and
we
also
have
two
amazing
young
people.
Tom
lloyd
and
amal
muhammad,
who
are
going
to
share
with
us
some
of
the
things
that
they're
doing
in
the
community
right
now
to
advance
racial
equity,
and
so
we
are
going
to
start
the
conversation
today
with
amal
and
tom
and
I'll.
Just
have
you
unmet
yourselves
and
introduce
yourself
to
the
virtual
community
here
and
then
I'll
follow
up
with
a
few
questions.
B
A
A
B
Yeah,
so
I
am
a
member
of
bark
and
I'm
representing
I'm
representing
them
tonight.
Sorry,
I'm
really
nervous
and
we
are
a
coalition
of
current
and
former
bloomington
students
that
really
saw
an
opportunity.
We
realized
that
there
was
no
youth-led
organization
working
on
advancing
racial
equity.
So
we
took
that
as
an
opportunity
to
start
a
group
and
try
to
make
a
change
in
our
community
and
address
the
issues
we
experience
as
bipod
individuals
in
our
community
and
barc
we're
always
looking
for
new
members.
B
F
Okay,
great
I'm
so
sorry,
my
chromebook's,
really
slow
and
wi-fi
doesn't
work
too
well,
I'm
there
I'm
a
muhammad,
I'm
a
sophomore
at
jefferson
currently-
and
I
am
so
thrilled
to
be
here
at
an
event
like
this.
I've
never
heard
of
something
like
it,
and
so
I'm
super
excited
to
join
and
see
what's
going
to
be
happening
and
what
this
event
is
going
to
look
like.
A
Thank
you
both
for
that
and
so
I'll,
throw
out
a
couple
more
questions
and,
and
I'm
all
in
tom
feel
free
to
sort
of
ping
pong
or
bounce
back
and
forth
between
who
answers,
but
I'll
start
with.
So
what
work
have
you
been
involved
in?
You
talked
a
little
bit
about
how
you
got
started,
but
what
have
you
been
up
to
over
the
last
several
months.
F
During
the
events
of
we've,
we've
set
up
a
lot
of
protests
after
george
floyd's
death,
we've
organized
protests
also
for
essec
iden
and
the
removal
of
of
sros
from
our
school
we've
protested,
some
of
the
bps
bloomington
public
schools,
efforts
and
we've
helped
we're
planning
more
things
and
we've
also
met
with
bloomington
public
school
curriculum
and
teaching
directors
for
to
make
a
more
inclusive
curriculum.
That
includes
students
of
all
backgrounds
and,
of
course,
we're
always
working
for
more
projects
and
more
things
to
advance
racial
justice
and
tom
feel
free
to
add.
F
B
B
We
feel
like
there's
a
lot
of
talk
about
racial
equality,
but
not
enough
action,
so
that
was
what
the
protest
was
about
and
we
also
started
affinity
groups
for
bypass
students
to
have
a
comfortable
space
outside
of
the
schools,
because
sometimes
having
a
community
in
a
school
with
a
teacher
can
be
really
hard
for
bypass
students.
So
we
decided
to
do
affinity
groups.
F
So
recently
I
have
been
doing
a
little
bit
of
studying
about
malcolm
x
and
something
that
he
really
emphasizes
is
the
coming
together
of
community
to
unite
and
to
fight.
You
know,
oppression
and
discrimination,
and
that's
something
that
can
only
happen
when
you
unite
with
others.
When
people
come
together
with
a
unifying
force,
which
is
to
get
rid
of,
you
know,
racial
inequalities
that
we
all
ex
some
most
of
us
experienced
in
it.
A
A
What
advice
do
you
have
to
other
young
people
who
are
looking
to
get
engaged
in
racial
equity
work
and
for
that
matter,
just
other
people
in
general
right,
the
community
at
large,
who
are
looking
to
get
involved
in
racial
equity
initiatives?
If
you
have
some
parting
advice
for
them,
what
would
it
be.
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
sharing
that.
I
am
going
to
move
on
to
john
to
share
a
little
bit
about
some
of
the
work
that
he's
doing
at
normandale
community
college
and
then
we'll
circle
back
in
a
few
minutes
and
take
some
questions
from
the
audience
for
for
the
three
of
you
so
john.
If
you
want
to
go
ahead
and
introduce
yourself
and
and
then
I'll,
follow
up
with
some
questions
to
talk
about
the
work
that's
happening
at
normandale.
C
C
So
first
I
want
to
be
mindful
that
I
don't
use
chief
in
my
and
my
title
and
that's
very
deliberate,
as
part
of
you
know
the
the
work
that
we're
doing
with
indigenous
communities
at
normandale
and
listening
to
indigenous
communities.
That
is
a
title
of
reverence
and
honor
in
that
community
and
so
throughout
minnesota
state.
We
have
been
moving
away
from
at
their
request,
moving
away
from
using
the
word
chief
in
our
titles.
C
A
Well,
thank
you
for
sharing
that
and
thank
you
for
seeing
that
information
to
begin
into
about
the
title
and
sort
of
where
the
state
system
is
going,
that
it's
really
important
to
know.
John.
I
know
that
you
shared
a
few
images
that
we
wanted
to
pull
up
and
present
to
the
audience
today
I'll
make
those
available
on
the
screen
so
that
you
can
talk
about
them.
But
while
I
do
that,
why
don't
you
share
with
us
the
most
impactful
part
of
your
job?
Or
what
do
you
feel
like?
C
C
I
need
people
who
are
willing
to
have
a
stake
in
this
work
and
are
willing
to
lose
something
and
he's
like.
I
need
accomplices
and
that
just
really
struck
me
and
I
was
like
done
ready
like
let's
talk
right,
but
ever
since
then
I
said,
can
I
can
I
keep?
Can
I
you
know
I'll
cite
you
appropriately
and
he's
like?
C
Well,
don't
use
my
name,
but
I
like
to
share
that
story,
because
it
really,
I
think,
is
beginning
to
characterize
the
difference
between
where
we
were
in
terms
of
equity
and
inclusion
in
the
early
aughts
and
where
we're
headed
in
the
field.
I'm
talking
about
the
field,
not
in
the
long
fight
against
white
supremacy,
but
we're,
I
think,
where
we're
moving
in
the
field
is
towards
developing
accomplices
and
and
moving
away
from
allies.
C
C
She
has
set
a
mandate
that
our
students,
who
are
degree
seeking
so
they
enter
normandale
community
college
and
they
say
I
want
to
earn
an
associate's
degree
that
they
have
a
completion
rate
of
50
or
better
and
then
the
third
part
of
that
is
supporting
and
sustaining
a
pervasive
institutional
culture
that
is
culturally
competent
and
service
oriented.
But
when
we're
talking
about
equity
and
racial
equity,
what
does
that
mean?
And
so
this
is,
I
just
wanted
to
show
the
image
of
this
right.
There's
there's
no
dates
on
here.
There's
no
percentages!
C
C
Two
of
the
lines
are
basically
like
together
right
and
then
you
see
the
two
bottom
lines
are
also
kind
of
together,
but
there's
a
there's
about
a
10
to
13
point
gap
between
those
when
we're
talking
about
equity,
we're
saying
that
we
don't
want
an
individual's
race,
ethnicity,
gender
identity,
socioeconomic
status,
sexual
orientation,
faith
tradition
to
be
able
to
predict
how
they're
going
to
do
at
normandale
community
college,
and
so
what
we're
looking
for
is.
If
you
want
to
go
to
the
next
slide.
Faith.
C
C
That's
not
actually
what
we're
talking
about
we're
talking
about
equity
in
in
outcomes
right
and
when
we
look
at
normandale
by
some
measures.
We're
really
talking
about
really
zeroing
in
and
better
serving
for
sure,
700
students,
but
also
looking
at
if
we
design
and
remove
the
barriers
right
to
our
underrepresented
student
populations,
which
we
define
as
either
by
poc
students
and
for
those
by
bipoc
black
indigenous
people
of
color,
so
our
bipoc
students
or
our
first
generation
students,
or
are
students
of
lower
socioeconomic
backgrounds
right.
C
If
we
remove
the
barriers
and
really
focus
on
that
population,
it
actually
opens
up
the
institution
for
everybody
right
and-
and
so
I
think,
that's
what
we're
that's.
What
we're
looking
at
in
terms
of
reducing,
eliminating
rather
those
equity
gaps.
I'm
done
with
that
visual!
I
I
need
a
fancy
word
for
it
right
now,
I'm
using
mind
the
gap,
because
that's
what
we're
trying
to
to
do,
but
I
I'm
sure
folks
at
normandale,
who
are
far
better
wordsmiths
than
I
will
brand
it
right
appropriately.
C
C
C
C
We
can't
move
towards
resilience
or
reconciliation
before
going
through
an
initial
stage
of
acknowledgement,
which
is
memorializing,
naming
the
issues
reflecting
on
root,
causes
and
acknowledging
multiple
truths,
and
I
I
really
am
struck
by
when
my
work
with
them
the
of
truth
and
reconciliation,
how
important
the
and
is
that
conjunction
and
this
work
that
we
can't
get
to
reconciliation
unless
we
have
truth,
and
so
it's
it's
really
important
as
we're
as
we're.
Looking
at
what
we're
doing
at
normandale
right,
we
I'll
give
one
example
of
that.
C
He
named
an
issue
that
by
poc
students
how
we
were
placing
them
into
college-level
courses
was
not
working.
We
were
seeing
it
at
normandale.
We
saw
it
reflected
in
the
literature
for
many
many
years
that
this
we
we
knew
as
a
field
right
that
this
was
a.
This
was
an
issue,
and
so
we've
reflected
on
those
root
causes
of
you
know.
We
inherited
a
placement
system,
a
placement
system-
that's
used
generally
throughout
the
country,
but
we
looked
at
that.
C
C
We
are
going
to
provide
for
every
employee
on
campus
an
intercultural
competency
assessment
with
corresponding
programming
so
that
they
can
have
the
skill
sets,
because
these
skill
sets
frankly
in
the
21st
century,
they're,
not
optional,
they're,
something
that
we
all
need
right.
So
normandale
is
recognizing
that
and
is
providing
that
to
all
of
its
employees.
C
We
created
a
somali
area
studies
program
that,
as
we
understand
it,
is
the
first
of
its
kind
potentially
in
the
nation,
and
it
features
language
and
cultural
courses,
and
that
was
responding
to
our
somali
students
right
on
campus.
But
it's
also
we're
seeing
folks
those
language
courses
were.
Those
seats
were
gone
in
a
day
right
because
we
see
a
lot
of
folks
in
the
normandale
who
want
to
and
learn
the
somali
language
that
are
either
they
identify
as
somali
or
they
recognize
that
they
want
to
work
with
a
somali
community.
C
We
have
a
cohort
of
racial
healing
circle,
facilitators
who
are
going
to
be
offering
racial
healing
circles
on
a
regular
ba
basis
on
our
campus
to
create
that
space,
where
we
can
talk
about
white
supremacy
and
and
grapple
with
healing
right
that
historical
trauma.
And
then
president,
esther
and
the
college
have
established
a
black
men
in
teaching
program
that
will
specifically
recruit
black
and
african
american
and
african
men
into
this
program.
C
That
will
include
not
only
wraparound
services
but
considerable
financial
support
to
ensure
that
they
meet
their
degree
goals
and
then
can
become
a
p12
educator.
And
I
can
go
on
like
a
lot
right
and
I'm
gonna,
I'm
gonna
stop.
But
one
thing
that
I
want
to
leave
that
I've
been
saying
a
lot
at
normandale
and
I
want
to
leave
with
this
community
this
evening
is
last
march
because
of
covid
and
since
then,
we've
had
to
see
how
quickly
we
can
turn
around
and
make
changes
to
our
operations.
I
mean
at
normandale.
A
Thank
you,
john
for
that
that
was
extremely
powerful
and
I
really
appreciate
you
seeing
that
with
the
group.
I
think
there
are
a
few
people
more
than
a
few
people
who
agree
with
me.
I
we
have
about
10
or
15
minutes
left
to
take
some
questions
and
from
tom
amall
and
john,
I
don't
see
any
in
the
chat
right
now
so
feel
free
to
go
over
to
the
chat
and
ask
some
questions.
A
If
you
have
those,
but
I
I'm
gonna
have
a
follow-up
question
for
you,
john,
and
this
wasn't
a
part
of
the
script.
So
please
indulge
me
I,
if
you
don't
mind,
would
you
rather
share
with
the
group
what
that
process
feels
like?
So
what
I
heard
from
you
is
that
you
know
code
is
sort
of
a
model
of
how
we
can
do
things.
We
can
change
things
right
when
we're
sort
of
forced
to
do
that.
But
what
does
that
feel
like?
A
And
so
what
are
some
of
the
the
key
factors
in
creating
success
in
normandale?
You
talked
a
lot
about
the
great
work.
That's
happening
there
really
proud
of.
What's
happened
there,
but
what
does
it
take
to
accomplish
that
great
work?
And
so
what
advice
do
you
have
for?
Those
who
are
looking
to
do
similar
are
saying
the
same
things
in
their
organizations.
C
It's
very
it's
very
different
work,
and
so
I
think
what
I'm
going
with
that
is
to
recognize
that
it
there's
an
ambiguity
about
it
as
you're
as
you're
sitting
in
community
with
folks
and
telling
and
hearing
the
stories
and
hearing
the
multiple
truths
and
gathering
the
data
that
you
need
that
you
can
actually
act
on.
You
know
just
not
just
having
a
survey
for
survey
sake.
You
you're
gonna,
face
ambiguity,
that's
just
that's
gonna,
be
a
thing
and-
and
you
need.
C
I
guess
I'm
gonna
say
I'm
very
blessed
to
be
at
normandale
because-
and
I
and
I
I
share
this
story
a
lot
and
and
in
my
interview
with
dr
rester,
she
said
I
don't
want
this
position
to
be
doing
the
same
things
two
years
from
now
like
I
want
because
of
the
work
that
you're
doing.
I
want
this
to
be
an
entirely.
We
have
to
completely
redo
and
look
at
your
position
description,
and
I
was
obviously
I
applied
for
the
position
I
wanted
to
work
at
normandale.
C
Normandy
has
a
great
reputation,
but
after
that
statement
I
was
like
please
let
me
get
this
job
and
it's
attached
to
normandale
that
two
years
in
we
are
literally
two
years
and
three
months
in
we're
literally
redoing
and
re-looking,
at
my
position
description
because
normandale,
the
leadership
was
like.
We
want
this
position,
not
because
we
can
say
we
have
one
check
the
box,
it
was
we
and
it's
literally
on
a
daily
basis.
I
have
conversations
with
folks
that
are
deep,
intense
conversations
around.
C
Let's
navigate
the
ambiguity
and
what
that?
What
is
that
going
to
look
like,
and
it's
different
right?
Procurement
with
finance
and
operations
like
how
we
are
purchasing
right
is
a
different
conversation
than
you
know,
having
a
conversation
with
a
faculty
member
and
then
even
then,
it's
different
from
like
chemistry
to
art,
to
theater
right.
Those
conversations
are
are
different,
but
it
is.
It
is
a
credit
to
normandale
that
they
said
we're
not
just
going
to
create
this
position.
C
We
are
serious
right
about
this
position
and
I
think
we
also
saw
that
last
summer
in
the
in
the
wake
of
mr
george
floyd's
murder.
Is
that
how
the
campus
stood
up
to
that
right?
We
could
have
done.
You
know
some
listening
sessions
right
and
then
that
would
be
like
the
end
of
it,
and
it
was
very,
it
was
very
different.
We
had
meetings
where
we're
like
no
we're
not
going
to
do
business
as
usual.
We're
going
to
sit
with
this
we're
going
to
talk
about
this
right.
C
C
We
want
to
have
folks
who
can
offer
these
on
an
ongoing
basis
right
here,
and
so
there
was
always
that
wanting
to
lean
in
and
sometimes
for
me,
just
by
my
myself
as
one
you
know,
one
person
and
we're
creating
department
right
now,
because
I
was
like
there's
so
many
conversations
of
folks
wanting
to
lean
in
to
go
to
the
next
step,
and
I'm
like.
I
can't
I'm
at
capacity,
I
need
to
help
and
then
there's
a
credit
right
to
them
that
they're
like
okay.
Well,
how
do
we
get
you
help?
How
do
we?
C
You
know?
How
do
we
expand
the
capacity
right
of
this
department?
But
I
want
to
acknowledge-
and
I
heard-
and
I
can't
I
don't
know
who
I'm
gonna
quote
here,
so
I
apologize
a
few
years
ago
where
we
had
a
speaker
at
normandale
and
and
they
said,
soft
skills
are
the
hardest
skills
and
I
believe
like
if
you
want
to
take
that
next,
you
know
step
further
like
intercultural
competency.
Skills
are
like
very
hard
skills
as
well,
right
and
so
leaning
into
that
and
owning
that
and
recognizing
that
that
this
isn't
just
something.
C
You
know
that
I
can
go
in
and
you
know,
write
some
code
and
now
I've
got
a
website
right,
like
that's
technical,
that's
hard
skills,
there's
value
right
in
that
and
I
don't
want
to.
I
don't
want
to
take
away
and
stigmatize
or
denigrate
at
all
from
hard
skills,
but
being
able
to
lean
in
and
have
these
conversations
and
and
be
comfortable
in
ambiguity,
which
is
literally
not
what
our
brains
want
to
do
right.
C
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
sharing
that.
I
really
appreciate
it.
I
we
have
one
question
here
in
the
chat
and
john
is
addressed
to
you.
It
says
what
is
one
strategy
you
would
suggest
to
address
the
urge
to
hang
on
to
the
way
we
do
things
around
here
and
that's
the
sort
of
air
quotes
in
the
face
of
change
when
folks
are
asked
to
embrace
the
ideas
of
racial
inclusion
and
equity.
C
The
model
of
higher
education
we
inherited
over
hundreds
of
years
right,
like
higher
the
model
of
higher
education.
We
did
not
create
that
normal.
We
inherited
that
we
inherited
the
way
we
do
things
right
and
higher
education
was
to
be
honest
and
we're
gonna
be
frank
and
name.
The
truth
was
created
by
white
supremacists
around
folks
that
were
like
higher
education
was
for
white
families
were
higher
like
privileged
for
not
first
class
but
like
rich
wealthy
white
families
and
the
men
of
those
families
right,
and
particularly
like
second
third.
C
C
Things
are
rooted
in
that
white
supremacy,
and
so
I
think
that
that
becomes
a
really
great
interrogation
point
of
well
that's
the
way
we
do
things
around
here,
because
where
did
that
come
from
and
and
then
you
it
and
it
it
begins
to
really
you
can
really
now
it's
everything
rooted
like
in
white
supremacy,
that's
a
different
conversation,
but
if
really
interrogating,
what
does
that
mean?
Where
did
that
come
from
where?
Where
does
the?
Where
did
it
come
from
in
the
first
place?
And
is
it
actually
effective?
C
We
could
say
at
normandale
that
well,
placement
is
how
we've
always
done
it.
There's
this
thing
called
the
accuplacer,
every
institution
in
the
country
uses
it
or
some
form
of
it.
You
take
the
test.
You
get
placed
into
courses,
it
doesn't
matter.
There's
all
this
research,
that's
saying
that
it's
not
working!
This
is
the
way
we
do
it
right.
Okay,
yep
we,
but
we
say
that
we're
about
equity,
right
and
and
so
just
adding
one
thing
which
in
our
case,
was
looking
at
high
school
gpa.
C
Just
looking
at
that
one
thing
which
is
saying
that
not
everyone
tests-
great,
not
everyone
tests
great-
I
did
not
test
grade
in
math
I'll
speak
to
personal
narrative.
I
was
terrible
like
bottom
of
the
barrel.
Score
is
right
in
math,
but
I
could
get
into
a
math
class
and
do
the
work
right
and
I
think
that's
what
we
found
at
normandale
is
that
test
scores.
C
Do
not
talk
to
the
initiative
of
our
students,
an
initiative
right
that
they're
they're
going
to
be
there
they're
going
to
do
the
homework
they're
going
to
talk
with
their
with
their
students.
They're
going
to
do
the
group
projects
they're
going
to
engage
with
their
with
their
faculty,
their
instructors
and
accuplacer
score
doesn't
get
at
that
right.
So
just
adding
that
one
thing
of
high
school
gpa
has
really
changed,
how
we're
how
we're
placing
our
students
and
how
we're
addressing
right
that
equity
gap.
C
So
I
think
the
way
we
do
things
around
here
shouldn't
be
stigmatized,
but
it
should
be
named
as
well.
How
did
we
get
to
this
being
the
way
that
we're
doing
things
around
here
and
it
creates
a
really
fascinating
lucrative?
If
you
will
conversation
to
begin
to
understand
the,
why
of
that
and
then
do
we
need
to
keep
that.
A
Thank
you
so
much
tom
and
mal
and
john
for
sharing
with
us
at
this
point
we're
going
to
move
on
to
our
second
set
of
presenters,
and
so
we
have
four
people
that
we're
going
to
hear
from.
We
have
jonathan
mccullen,
who
is
a
representative
on
the
hennepin
county,
racial
equity
action
community.
We
also
have
with
us
sue
who
mckinley,
who
is
the
leader
of
volunteers,
connection
and
she's,
going
to
talk
about
some
work
that
she's
doing
with
that
group,
a
local
group
in
bloomington.
A
We
have
with
us
denise
richardson,
who
is
the
founder
of
the
beacon
at
some
group,
which
is
a
consulting
firm,
that
sort
of
helps
organizations
on
their
racial
equity
path.
She's.
Also
a
bloomington
resident
of
what
about
I
think,
20
years
or
so
maybe
a
little
bit
more
and
has
done
a
lot
of
work
with
the
city
and
engaging
community
members,
and
we
also
have
with
us
dr
jenna
mitcheller,
who
is
the
assistant
superintendent
at
the
bloomington
school
district
who's
going
to
share
with
us
about
some
of
the
work
that's
happening
there.
A
So
to
start
and
I'll
just
ask
jenna
sue,
denisha
and
jonathan.
If
you
want
to
just
give
like
a
virtual
wave
or
even
a
physical
wave,
just
so
folks
who
may
have
it
on
gallery
view
know
who
you
are:
okay,
I'm
going
to
start
with
jonathan,
so
jonathan,
if
you
want
to
just
sort
of
start
off
by
introducing
yourself
to
the
group.
I
I
mentioned
that
year
with
the
hennepin
county,
racial
equity
committee.
But
I
know
that
you
wear
many
hats
and
you
do
many
things.
G
All
right,
hello,
everybody
thank
you,
faith
for
putting
on
this
this
event.
I
would
like
to
thank
this
city
for
doing
things
around
the
area
of
racial
equity.
My
name
is
jonathan
mcclellan.
I
have
been
a
bloomington
resident
for
over
a
decade,
I'm
a
retired
minneapolis
firefighter.
I
was
injured
in
the
line
of
duty
saving
a
young
man's
life.
I
learned
several
valuable
lessons
in
the
fire
department.
The
most
important
lesson
I
learned
was
asking
for
help
when
I
needed
it
and
teamwork
makes
the
dream
work.
G
The
fire
department
taught
me
the
importance
of
good
communication
problem,
solving
trust
and
friendship.
I
graduated
from
cell
central
tech
and
business.
I
went
on
to
graduate,
with
my
bachelor's
degree,
from
metropolitan
state
university,
magna
laude,
with
a
focus
on
community
leadership,
management
and
pre-law.
I'm
currently
pursuing
my
juris
doctor
from
university
of
saint
thomas
school
of
law.
G
I
am
a
member
of
the
race
and
equity
advisory
council
for
hennepin
county.
The
mission
of
the
race
and
equity
advisory
council
is
to
strengthen
the
county's
goal
of
disparity
reduction
and
to
advise
the
county
board
and
county
administration
on
the
vision
and
strategy
focused
on
reducing
racial
disparities
and
advancing
racial
equity
throughout
hennepin
county.
G
The
council
meets
regularly
and
hennepin
county
has
dedicated
leadership
and
resources
to
drive
the
importance
of
reducing
racial
disparities.
This
work
will
be
most
successful
in
partnership
with
residents
who
are
experienced,
disparities
and
partners
who
are
assisting
individuals
and
families
who
are
helping
those
impacted
by
disparities
in
2020
hennepin
county
declared
racism
as
a
public
health
crisis.
G
These
are
the
areas
that
we
are
currently
focused
on
in
the
council.
I
am
also
a
legislative
and
congressional
advisor
in
the
areas
of
race
and
equity,
criminal
justice
reform,
police
reform
and
restorative
justice.
As
part
of
this
role,
I
work
with
legislative
leaders
in
the
house
and
senate
and
the
governor
and
his
staff
to
write
legislation
and
advance
this
agenda.
I
also
sit
on
a
congressional
think
tank
with
a
bunch
of
talented
people
to
provide
direction
on
policy.
G
I
also
I'm
also
a
member
of
a
few
local
organizations
within
the
community
that
look
to
advance
change
and
fight
for
justice.
I
have
also
been
working
to
affect
real
change
in
trying
to
steer
the
movement
and
conversation
into
policy
that
will
have
lasting
impact
on
our
cities,
our
community
and
the
lives
of
people
in
the
state
of
minnesota.
A
Pardon
me
first
hearing
that
I
I'm
gonna
follow
up
with
the
question
and
when
we
were
preparing
for
this
event
today
I
reached
out
to
the
speakers
just
to
let
them
know
like
here's,
what
we're
going
to
talk
about
and
have
a
little
bit
of
a
conversation.
It
was
supposed
to
be
like
a
15-minute
check-in
and
I
will
say,
jonathan
and
I's.
A
Check-In
went
from
15
minutes,
so
I
don't
know
was
it
over
an
hour
and
one
of
the
things
that
that
you
said
then
that
really
resonated
with
me
is
that
you
talked
about
all
the
work
that
you're
involved
in.
But
you
said
it's
important
to
you
that
in
everything
that
you
do,
you
find
a
way
to
make
sure
it
impacts
bloomington
as
a
bloomington
wedge
and
that's
because
bloomington
is
special
to
you.
A
A
G
A
G
So
all
those
areas
that
that
I
I
talked
about
in
the
in
hennepin
county
come
through
our
committee
and
we
actually
have
breakout
committees
where
we,
if
we
see
change
in
it,
that
needs
to
happen,
we
we
amend
it
and
we
get
it
going.
So
it's
a
working
product
for
a
hennepin
county.
So
when
we're
talking
about
the
workforce
or
economic
development,
housing,
health,
child
and
adult
welfare
reform,
environmental
protection,
justice
and
infrastructure,
I
know
at
our
our
meeting.
A
G
I've
been
I've,
been
doing
this,
this
work
or
similar
work
for
the
better
part
of
15
years,
and
it's
been
it's
it's
my
life
and
I
I
enjoy
it.
I
I
enjoy
seeing
the
outcomes,
the
positive
outcomes
and
when
you
hear
the
stories
of
of
people
in
the
community
about
what
they've
gone
through
or
you've
even
experienced
them
yourself
it
it
just
lights
up
an
additional
fire
that
says
that
something's
not
right
and
it
needs
to
be
fixed.
G
A
Thank
you
for
sharing
a
little
bit
about
the
work
that
you're
doing
and
what
motivates
you
with
the
audience
here
today
at
this
point
and
as
you
listen
to
the
different
presenters
feel
free
to
add
questions
to
the
chat
throughout
and
we'll
turn
to
those.
At
the
end,
I'm
going
to
turn
our
attention
to
sue.
So,
if
you
want
to
give
like
a
virtual
wave
or
physical
one,
why
don't
you
introduce
yourself
to
the
audience
and
talk
a
little
bit
about
your
organization
and
how
it
came
to
be.
H
H
But
tonight
I'm
here
to
speak
with
you
as
a
representative
for
the
organization
called
bloomington
volunteers
connection
and
we're
a
group
of
grassroots
volunteers.
We
like
action,
we
like
to
do
stuff
and
we
don't
actually
care
if
it's
our
stuff
or
somebody
else's
stuff.
If
it's
a
good
idea,
we
want
to
help.
So
we
are,
we
congregate
through
facebook
and
we
also
have
zoom
meetings
and
we
participate
on
other
initiatives.
We
organize
our
own.
H
But
one
thing
we
did
was
conduct
a
campaign
for
social
justice
books
to
increase
awareness
for
people.
So
two
of
our
members
actually
worked
with
a
human
rights
commission
for
the
city
of
bloomington
and
got
a
nice
chunk
of
money
and
bought
a
bunch
of
books
on
amazon
and
then
put
a
little
sticker
in
them.
So
people
knew
they
came
from
the
city
of
bloomington
and
distributed
them
around
the
city
of
bloomington
and
they're
great
books.
So
they
did
some
research,
so
they
could
reflect
all
different.
You
know
I
mean
there
were.
H
We've
also
conducted
a
number
of
letter
writing
campaigns
for
the
city
of
bloomington.
We've
done,
we've
reached
out
to
the
bloomington
school
board,
as
well
as
the
city
of
bloomington,
to
show
support
for
racial
equity
initiatives
and
really
brought
more
broadly
all
equity
initiatives,
because
we
know
you
guys
hear
sometimes
some
of
the
negative
and
we
want
to
make
sure
you're
hearing
the
positive
too.
H
We
helped
participate,
helped
volunteer
on
the
youth
talks,
town
hall,
that
was
led
by
faith
last
summer.
It
was
a
beautiful
event,
but
that
was
another
thing.
We'd
lend
some
energy
to
we've
conducted
some
book
club
discussions,
there's
some
internal
awareness
for
ourselves,
initiatives
and
yeah.
Those
are
probably
we've
done.
Things
like
a
cloth,
mask
donation,
drive
and
helped
with
veep
rental
assistance
drives,
and
so
on.
A
Thank
you
for
saying
those
examples,
follow-up
question
to
you,
similar
to
the
the
question
that
I
asked
jonathan.
You
have
kids
in
the
school
district,
your
consultant,
your
leading
organization,
so
you
have
a
lot
going
on.
What's
your
motivation
for
for
getting
involved
in
this
work
and
then
also
for
organizing
your
fellow
community
members
around
the
issue
of
racial
equity,.
H
It's
hard
work
and
when
you
see
it
and
when
it
and
when
it
when
it
crosses
your
heart,
you
have
to
you
have
to
jump
in
and
I
can
share
on
a
personal
level.
My
I
have
three
boys
and
my
second
son
was
born
with
low
vision,
and
that
was
the
day
I
became
an
advocate
because
that
was
the
day
I
started
seeing
prejudice.
H
I
started
seeing
people
think
they
know
something
about
him,
based
on
a
detail
about
him
and
I'm
naive
to
the
experience
of
racial
prejudice,
but
I'm
not
naive
to
prejudice
and
when
you
see
it,
when
you
start
to
see
it
for
one,
you
see
it
for
all
and
that's
when
it
you
become
an
advocate
for
for
and
injustice
everywhere,
and
it's
you
know
to
quote
martin
luther
king
because
it's
a
good
week
for
that
too
injustice
anywhere
is
injustice.
Ev
is
I'm
going
to
say
it
wrong.
Is
injustice
anywhere?
Is
a
threat
to
justice
everywhere.
A
H
I
Great
thanks
faith
and
thanks
to
the
city
of
bloomington,
for
hosting
this
event,
you
know
I'll
say
it's
been
really
great
to
hear
about
what's
happening
in
other
organizations,
and
I
just
think
this
is
a
really
great
opportunity
for
us
to
come
together
and
and
collaborate
on.
You
know
such
an
important
such
an
important
thing.
So,
yes,
I,
my
name
is
dr
jenna
mitcheller
and
I'm
in
bloomington
public
schools.
I
am
the
assistant
superintendent
in
bloomington,
public
schools
and
I've
worked
in
a
couple
of
other
districts
over
the
course
of
my
career.
I
I
I
did
my
phd
work
at
the
university
of
minnesota
in
culture
and
teaching
and
really
that
for
me,
came
about
because
of
some
work
that
I
did
overseas.
I
had
an
opportunity
to
be
a
part
of
an
organization,
a
national
organization
that
sponsors
folks
to
work
abroad
for
several
years,
and
I
did
that-
and
you
know
I
am
someone
who
is.
I
am
a
white
woman.
I've
I've
been
rising
in
a
middle
class
family.
My
dad
worked
in
a
paper
mill.
I
I
I
wasn't
privy
to
what
privilege
and
power
can
do
and
and
the
impacts
of
power
and
privilege
on
on
my
life
until
I
had
that
experience
and
started
to
think
more
deeply
about
that,
and
that's
really
when
I
you
know,
I
got
interested
in
in
what
are
schools
specifically
what
is
education
doing
when
it
comes
to
working
within
our
current
societal
structures
and
how?
What
is
the
intersection
of
power
and
privilege?
I
So
that's
that's
why
I
decided
I
wanted
to
to
continue
my
own
education,
my
own
learning
formally
and
then
also
all
the
time,
not
necessarily
through
you
know
graduate
programming,
but
I
I
feel
so
fortunate
to
be
a
part
of
a
team
of
folks
in
bloomington
that
I
am
learning
from
all
the
time
and
so
dina
wade.
Ardly
is
here
with
us
tonight.
I
I
know
she's
our
director
of
equity,
educational
equity
in
bloomington,
and
we
have
some
just
really
fantastic
folks
in
bloomington
public
schools,
equity
teams
who
are
coming
together
doing
some
really
great
work,
and
so
I
don't
want
to
get
ahead
of
myself
here
faith.
I
know
you
asked
me
to
introduce
myself,
but
I'd
be
glad
to
talk
more
about
that
too.
In
a
little
bit.
I
I
We've
brought
a
framework
and
a
set
of
tools
to
the
district.
This
year
we
started
the
work
with
the
school
board
last
spring,
and
so
everybody
is
receiving
some
training
so
that
we
have
some
foundational
vocabulary
around
equity
and
access
work,
and
I
think
what
this
offers
to
us
is
an
opportunity
for
us
to
when
we
engage
in
conversations
which
we
know
can
be
challenging,
that
we
can
start
from
a
place
where
we
all
have
a
common
set
of
vocabulary
that
we're
using
so
that
training
started
with
our
school
board.
I
It's
being
rolled
out
with
equity
teams
in
our
district
and
it'll
be
continuing
for
the
next
several
years,
we've
partnered
with
some
really
great
researchers.
We
have
a
a
woman
named
dr
aryaga
who's
working
with
our
district
on
this
as
well,
and
so
you
know
that
training
is
being
rolled
out
and
at
the
same
time
we
are
trying
to
figure
out
ways
that
we
can
continue
to
surface
things.
We
need
to
perhaps
change
and
problems
we
need
to
solve.
I
One
thing
we've
noticed
over
the
last
several
years
is
that
we
really
need
to
think
about
our
discipline
practices
in
the
district,
and
so
another
great
thing
that
we're
rolling
out
this
year
and
and
again
with
the
help
of
the
office
of
educational
equity,
is
our
restorative
practices,
work
so
bringing
restorative
circles
into
our
buildings
and
training
teams,
so
that
they're
able
to
lead
circles
with
our
students
and
families
so
that
we
can
do
that
work
differently.
As
we
move
forward.
A
Thank
you
for
saying
it,
dr
mislearned
and
one
final
question.
So
you
talk
about
being
engaged
in
this
work
and
have
some
personal
connection
to
it
and
passion
for
what
are
some
of
the
things
that
you've
already
started
to
see
in
terms
of
the
ways
that
this
work
is
having
an
impact
in
the
school
district.
Are
you
seeing
signs
of
progress,
and
what
do
you
look
forward
to.
I
Yeah,
that's
a
really
great
question
and
you
know
dina,
and
I
talk
a
lot
about
one
of
the
important
pieces
of
this
puzzle.
I
think
is
accountability,
and
so
we
talk
about
what
does
accountability
mean?
Who
who
is
held
accountable
and
by
whom?
And
so
those
are
conversations
we
keep
having.
I
think
some
of
the
the
evidence
that
I
would
look
for
personally
to
see
how
we're
doing
in
terms
of
our
work
is.
I
You
know
I
mentioned
vocabulary:
do
we
hear
people
using
vocabulary
and
common
vocabulary
and
then
surfacing
that
vocabulary
at
the
right
time?
You
know
we
have
meetings
and
conversations
and
all
the
time
where
I
think
we
could
do
better
to
be
thoughtful
about
really
bringing
in
vocabulary
around
equity
and
access
and
what
we're
doing
and
not
doing
and
trying
to
talk
through
talk
through
that
together.
So
I
would
listen
for
vocabulary.
I
I
also
you
know,
as
I
I
work
with
the
principals
quite
closely
and
so
as
I
connect
with
them
individually
throughout
you
know
the
weeks
the
months
we
talk
about,
how
are
you
bringing
the
equity
and
access
work
to
your
building,
and
then
how
are
you
empowering
your
staff
to
lead
the
work
too,
because
you
know
we're
all
stewards
of
the
work?
It's
not
just
one
person
who
can
come
in
and
lead
this
work
alone.
It's
it's
all
of
us
working
together
and
we
each
have
our
own
role
and
responsibility.
I
So
so
I
look
for
that,
you
know
I
look
for,
as
I
hear
you
know,
from
the
students
who
are
here
tonight.
I
know
that
you've
collaborated
and,
as
you
said,
with
our
learning
and
teaching
department
right,
so
look
for
voices
to
to
come
to
the
table
and
help
us
know
what
we
can
do
and
do
better
and
then
to
see
the
change
that
comes
from
that.
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
sharing
that
and
then
finally,
I
am
going
to
turn
it
over
to
denise.
Richardson,
who
I
mentioned,
is
the
founder
of
the
beacon
exxon,
consulting
group
that
helps
organizations
sort
of
analyze,
their
firms
and
their
organizations
through
a
racial
equity
lens
she's.
Also
someone
who's
been
involved
in
some
community
organizing
in
the
city
of
bloomington.
J
J
J
I
am
a
graduate
of
valley
view
elementary
oak
grove,
middle
school
and
osun
junior
high
kennedy
and
normandale
community
college,
so
I
am
a
bloomington
resident
through
and
through,
and
I
I
currently
I
work
in
international
relations,
but
I
also
founded
the
beacon
axiom
group
with
a
friend,
and
I
think
I
was
bound
to
do
this
like
when
I
was
in
elementary
middle
school
junior
high
high
school,
miss
wade,
arley.
She
started
a
leadership
group
and
it
was
called
chaser
brown,
which
was
then
transformed
into
a
oee
leadership.
J
The
office
of
education,
equity,
leadership
and
so
that
kind
of
helped
me
gain
my
voice
back
then
black
people,
black
students,
we
were
the
it
was
a
very
small
percentage
of
us.
We
didn't
have
support,
I
believe
miss
wade
was
one
of
maybe
two
or
three
black
teachers
in
all.
I
never
had
a
black
teacher,
and
so
oh
I'm
getting
a
little
emotional
trying
to
stay
strong,
so
she
kind
of
helped
us
navigate
through
that.
J
She
wasn't
able
to.
You,
know,
do
all
and
carry
on,
but
she
gave
us
the
skills,
the
tools
and
empowered
us
to
encourage
us
to
speak
up,
and
although
their
life
isn't
fair,
find
ways
to
help
improve
and
not
to
get
forget
about
your
community
at
large.
So
I've
always
kind
of
been
of
all
the
community
service
here
and
there
and
throughout,
and
then
I
traveled
I
attended
a
historically
back
college
university.
J
I
knew
military
wasn't
for
me,
so
I
decided
to
join
the
peace
corps
and
while
in
the
peace
corps
I
served
in
fiji,
flanders
still
was
murdered
and
I
think
I
remember
waking
up
that
day
and
I
was
just
like
how
can
this
be?
How
can
we
keep
doing
this
and,
like
I
was
just
so
broken
so
from
that
point
I
decided
I'm
gonna
well
in
the
words
of
john
lewis,
be
that
good
trouble.
J
So
I
started
with
peace
corps
and
I
just
started
demanding
racial
equity
justice
there
and
I
was
like
we
had
to
do
something
as
an
organization
with
the
volunteers,
but
also
educating
our
host
country
nationals
as
well,
because
I'm
here
serving
abroad
helping
people
to
learn
about
americans.
Where
my
fellow
volunteers
don't
know
the
struggles
of
be
I'm
new
to
the
bpoc,
I
just
say
bi
poc,
so
I
was
like,
let's
start
there
so
then
I
came
back.
J
I
got
a
job
in
an
international
relations
field,
but
I'm
still
like
not
feeling
fulfilled
completely,
and
sadly
george
floyd
happened
his
murder
and
then
that
totally
like
just
like
devastated
me
to
my
core
and
my
fellow
volunteer
from
the
peace
corps
we
would
like
we
have
to.
We
have
to
act
now.
What
are
we
gonna
do,
and
so
we
decided
to
form
the
beacon
axiom
group
and
from
there
we
want
to
focus
on
not
just
diversity
and
equity,
but
we
wanted
to
challenge
the
status
quo.
J
We
wanted
to
just
disrupt
that
and
we
also
said
we
wanted
to
ensure
that
these
behaviors
no
longer
go
on.
So
we
we
have
big
dreams.
We
just
started
in
june
and
I
said
before
we
get
to
that
major
stage.
Let's
look
back
at
our
community
and
that's
what
drove
me
back
to
bloomington
from
all
my
experience
from
childhood
young
adult
and
into
now,
and
I
was
like
we
have
work
to
do
and
I
was
like
I'm
gonna.
Be
that
beacon
hand
speaking
axiom
group,
and
so
that's
how
I
started.
A
You
approached
me
and
mayor
and
some
other
council
members
about
having
or
a
community
conversation
with
some
of
the
african-american
members
from
the
booming
community,
about
issues
around
police,
community,
policing
and
and
issues
of
fairness
and
justice,
and
things
like
that.
Do
you
want
to
share
with
the
audience
today
sort
of
like
what
motivated
you
to
do
that?
I
imagine
it
was
probably
an
intimidating
experience
to
say.
Well,
I'm
going
to
reach
out
to
the
mayor
and
say
I
want
to
have
a
conversation
about
issues
of
community
pollution.
A
J
You
know
so
I
was
like
these
issues
are
still
going
on
today
and
then,
like
I
believe,
after
the
george
floyd
incident,
there
was
a
another
black
man
that
posted
something
on
facebook
where
he
got
pulled
over
and
I
was
just
like
okay,
we
have
to
do
something
and
again
I
I
I
said:
I'm
not
gonna
wait.
So
I
I
reached
out
to
my
co-founder
and
he's
like
okay.
Whatever
you
want
to
do,
we
can
do
some
research
and
so
me
and
him
we're
kind
of
comfortable
academia.
J
So
we
started
researching
and
we
just
started
realizing,
there's
some
issues
in
our
city
that
we
need
to
work
on.
So
I
reached
out
to
you.
I
started
reaching
out
to
my
different
networks.
I
started
going
to
businesses
and
just
I
again,
we
used
to
live
in
georgetown.
We
don't
live
there
anymore.
I
started
reaching
out
to
my
old
neighbors
and
just
asking
them.
How
do
you
feel?
What
do
you
think?
J
I
can
say
these
things,
but
like
I'm
only
one
if
we
all
come
together,
we'll
have
a
stronger
impact,
and
so
we
just
started
from
there
and
bloomington.
Although
it
is
a
city,
it
kind
of
acts
as
a
suburb,
so
we
don't
have
like
a
lot
of
organizations
that
kind
of
represent
the
black
community.
So
it's
kind
of
hard
you
just
kind
of
know,
people
and
kind
of
reach
out
and
tap
into
the
different
sources
that
you
have.
So
that's
what
I
did
and
hopefully
we
can
keep
it
going.
A
Yeah-
and
so
I
mentioned
that
you
reached
out
to
the
city
and
we
had
a
meeting
and
you
were
able
to
share
some
of
your
concerns,
I
know
that
you
have
been
doing
some
community
organizing
work
around
housing
issues
and
things
like
that.
I
have
I'll
post
you
the
same
question
I
posed
to
dr
mitcheller.
So
what
are
some
of
the
indicators
of
progress
that
you've
witnessed
if
there
are
any
over
the
last
several
months?
And
then
what
are
you
looking
forward
to.
J
So
I
am
looking
forward
to
those
in
our
community
that
feel
marginalized,
having
their
voice
heard,
feeling
included,
feeling
like
they
can
trust
the
systems
that
are
in
place
and
also
feeling
that
they
want
to
be
stay
wannabe
and
stay
engaged.
So
throughout
from
the
summer.
Until
now,
I
see
that
there's
a
lot
of
interest
and
desire
in
home
ownership
in
bloomington.
J
So
right
now
a
lot
of
the
mainly
black
community
they
want
to
own,
but
they
don't
know
how
and
so
they're
really
interested
in
that
there's
also
the
business,
so
they
they
want
to
find
different
ways
to
provide
for
their
family.
They
want
to
become
their
own
business
owner
so
like
looking
into
those
different
issues,
policing
is
very
very
like
a
major
issue
and
the
fact
that
we
had
that
meeting
a
lot
of
people
felt
inspired.
They
felt
like
okay
change
is
coming.
J
There
were
some
that
were
still
questioning
like
is
this
just
for
show,
but
the
fact
that
I
think
the
work
that
you're
doing
and
the
ongoing
efforts
in
the
city's
more
vocal
actions
and
like
promoting
racial
equity
in
the
business
plan.
I
think
that
has
gotten
a
lot
of
good
buyback,
and
so
that's
really
great,
and
I
just
hope
we
can
continue
on
from
there.
A
J
I
loved
my
hbcu.
It
gave
me
a
sense
of
community.
It
gave
me
that
boost
that,
like
where
I'm
going
is
the
right
place,
but
I
want
to
say
I
I
decided
to
do
mcc
first
because,
like
john
shared
I
had
that
I
was
like
lower
I
economic
socioeconomic
status.
I
was
first
generation,
you
know
I'm
black,
so
I
was
like
okay,
I
didn't
have
all
that
support,
so
I
decided
to
start
there
and
then
that
helped
me
get
the
confidence
to
like
you
can
go
anywhere.
So
then
I
that's
from
there.
J
I
decided
to
go
to
hbcu
because
of
all
the
things
that
happened
in
my
childhood.
I
was
like.
I
want
to
have
that
strong
connection
with
like-minded
people,
and
so
that
gave
me
a
really
good
boost
in
life,
but
I
want
to
say
a
huge
thank
you
to
miss
wade
if
it
wasn't
for
you,
I
wouldn't
be
doing
this
line
of
work
and
I
wouldn't
have
that
voice.
So
thank
you.
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
sharing
that,
and
so
at
this
point
I
it's
about.
6,
30
and
sort
of
the
plan
for
after
presentation
is
to
break
out
into
some
small
group
breakout
rooms.
But
before
we
ask
for
remarks
from
any
of
our
elected
officials,
I
just
want
to
spend
make
space,
so
maybe
about
five
minutes
or
so.
If
we
need
it
for
any
of
the
presenters
who
presented
tonight
to
add
some
final
reflections
or
thoughts
or
even
take
away
so
I'll,
just
open
up
to
you
all.
I
Well,
I'll
jump
in
real
quick
faith,
so
I
you
know
I've
been
sort
of
texting
on
the
side
here
with
a
couple
of
other
people
who
are
viewing
and
we're
all
just
so
appreciating
the
space
for
people
to
come
together
and
be
able
to
share
what's
happening
in
bloomington,
because
you
know
we
know,
there's
work.
That
needs
to
be
done,
and
this
is
a
great
opportunity
for
us
to
hear
what
different
organizations
different
people,
government
entities
are
doing
and
how
we
might
be
able
to
work
together
as
we
move
forward.
A
A
Seeing
none
at
this
time,
I
am
going
to
turn
it
over.
I
know
we
have
a
few
of
our
council
members
participate
in
here
tonight,
and
so,
if
you
would
like
to
give
remarks,
just
either
raise
your
physical
hand
or
your
virtual
hand
and
then
matt
who's
handling
olive
I.t
will
give
you
the
ability
to
unmute
yourself.
K
Raised
well,
I
just
really.
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you.
Thank
you
to
faith
for
for
organizing
this
and
and
putting
this
together
and
and
excuse
me,
thank
you,
dr
esther
and
and
john
some
of
you
know
my
mom
taught
at
normandale
community
college
for
39
years.
She
still
talks
about
how
wonderful
a
place
it
is
and
and
clearly
that's
still
very
much
the
case.
K
I
am
just
thrilled
with
the
work
that's
going
on
there
and
to
tom
and
maul
I
mean
it
sounds
really
really
cliche
to
say
the
future
is
in
good
hands,
but
my
god
is
it
ever.
I
am
just
inspired
by
the
work
that
that
you
folks
are
doing
so
just
just
keep
it
up
really
and
the
the
other
presenters
sue
and
denisha
and
dr
mitcheller
and
and
jonathan
it's
it's
just
really
really
incredible.
K
To
hear
about
the
work
that's
going
on
in
the
community,
and
I
guess
I
would
you
know
I
would
just
say
not
that
anybody's.
Looking
for
my
advice,
but
you
know
speak
up
act
out,
do
the
things
that
we
know
need
to
be
done.
There
is
a
real
desire
to
for
for
change
to
make
things
better
in
the
city
of
bloomington
and
there
is
a
real
desire
to
fight
back
against
that.
But
you
know
we.
We
know
what
side
we're
on.
K
A
L
All
right,
I
think,
I'm
unmuted
so
I'll
just
jump
in
really
quick,
so
hi
everyone,
I'm
jenna
carter
and
I
will
say,
I'm
having
some
bandwidth
issues.
I
was
trying
to
kick
my
kids
off
whatever
they're
streaming,
but
my
sound
was
going
in
and
out
before.
So
I'm
sorry,
if
that
happens
again,
while
I'm
talking
so
I'm
an
at-large
representative
for
the
city
of
bloomington,
and
I'm
just
really
really
grateful
and
humbled
to
be
here
tonight
and
really
inspired
just
by
all
of
the
really
incredible
work.
L
That's
happening
among
residents
and
then
among
the
the
organizations
in
our
community,
and
so
I
I
really
loved
that
dr
esther
brought
up
amanda
gorman's
poem
today
that
she
read
at
the
inauguration
and
and
particularly
her
last
couple
lines.
They've
really
they've
just
been
kind
of
repeating
in
my
head
throughout
the
day,
and
then
they
were
repeating
in
my
head.
L
Throughout
this
whole
conversation,
and
so
you
know,
I
want
to
thank
you,
faith
for
your
leadership
and
for
facilitating
this
call,
and
I
want
to
thank
all
of
the
people
who
called
in
or
joined
via
video
to
to
participate
and
listen.
And
then
I
really
really
want
to
express
my
deep
appreciation
for
all
of
the
speakers.
I
mean
you
are
the
light
in
our
community.
You're
gonna
help
us
do
this
work,
I
mean
we're
all
gonna
we're
in
it
together
and,
I
think
oftentimes.
L
L
L
M
Oh,
hopefully
you
can
hear
me
want
to
apologize
for
being
late.
Having
meetings
at
five
o'clock
sometimes
gets
a
little
rough
with
me
with
my
work.
So
again
I
want
to
apologize
for
that.
Many
of
the
folks
here
I
I
know
you
in
different
capacities
and
again
want
to
thank
you,
faith
and
also
the
rest
of
staff
and
really
the
council
really
for
our
direction
around
this
particular
topic,
as
we
kind
of
continue
to
move
forward.
Certainly
you
know
my
family
has
lived
here.
M
You
know
my
whole
life
and
we've
been
working
on
these
issues
for
a
long
time
and
it's
great
to
see
such
emphasis
now
on
moving
this
particular
these
items
forward.
My
mom's
work
with
hra
making
sure
that
there
we
had
equity
and
folks
being
able
to
to
apply
for
housing
for
apartments
at
that
particular
point
in
time.
M
M
N
N
This
gave
me
tremendous
hope
tonight
because
I
think
that's
the
greatest
display
of
strength.
We
can
have
to
be
honest
and
say
where
we
need
to
work,
so
we
can
build
coalitions
and
start
fixing
those
things
so
yeah.
I'll.
Just
add
to
my
colleagues
call:
please
do
as
we
are
continuing
to
work
on
this
call
into
public
comment,
keep
participating
in
these
meetings
because,
where
those
voices
aren't
coming
forward
that
that
fear
that
division,
it
always
fills
the
vacuum.
So,
thank
you
all
for
your
work.
It's
appreciated.
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
that
council
report
and
in
in
the
spirit
of
thank
yous
before
I
turn
it
over
to
the
final
person
we'll
hear
from
tonight,
who's
going
to
give
us
a
call
to
ask
and
make
sure
you
stick
around
for
that,
because
you
don't
want
to
miss
it.
I
will
offer
up
my
thank
yous
as
well
to
all
of
our
sponsors
I'll,
be
really
brief.
Normandale
community
college,
the
human
rights
commission
also
northwestern
health
scientist
university.
A
Also,
again,
thank
you
to
the
wonderful
presenters
for
sharing
your
story
for
being
authentic
and
for
being
honest
about.
You
know
what
are
some
of
the
challenges
that
we
have
and
then
also
for
being
brave
enough
right,
as
I'm
all
in
tom
talked
about
to
sort
of
do
things
right
and
step
out
there
and
move
this
word
forward,
and
so
with
that,
I
think
I've
covered
all
bases.
We've
heard
from
elected
officials
and
I've
given
out
all
my
thank
yous.
A
So
I
am
going
to
turn
it
over
to
someone
that
we've
heard
a
lot
about
tonight
and
that
is
don't
make
that
face
director.
Dina
wade,
artley
of
the
bloomington
public
schools,
district
and
c
is
going
to
end
tonight's
call
with
the
call
to
action
and
then
from
there
we're
going
to
break
out
into
small
groups
and
we'll
actually
just
to
stick
around
for
about
10
or
15
minutes
or
so
the
network
and
and
get
to
know.
A
O
O
So
it's
always
nice
to
get
together
and
talk
about
all
these
wonderful
things
and
listen
to
presentations
and
just
kind
of
nod
your
head
and
go
along
with
it.
But
tonight
before
we
leave
here,
we
want
to
know
what
each
of
you
are
going
to
do
to
make
bloomington
public
schools
a
better
place
for
this
cause.
O
O
O
We
didn't
just
come
and
we
got
entertained
or
felt
bad
or
felt
good.
What
are
we
committing
to
do
and
in
our
small
groups?
That's
what
we
will
be
talking
about.
Each
small
group
has
a
facilitator
that
will
take
notes
and
ask
questions
and
you
can
answer
them.
I
hope
you
do
because
this
will
help
us
move
forward,
there's
nothing
worse
than
having
all
of
this
energy
and
the
wow
of
this
event,
and
then
we
all
drop
the
ball
and
walk
walk
away.
O
O
We
end
tonight
with
a
commitment
at
bloomington
how
we're
going
to
make
this
world
a
better
place
for
our
bart
members
for
the
school's
students
for
dina.
As
she
gets
older,
I
might
be
in
a
nursing
system
living
in
bloomington.
I
want
to
be
served
purposefully,
you
know
be
taken
care
of
well
and
for
the
mayor
who
will
have
a
strong,
strong
work
ahead
of
him
that
will
he
will
be.
O
A
Thank
you
so
much
for
that
direct
await.
I
love
the
animations
as
well,
so
at
this
point,
matt
who's
running
technology
will
break
us
out
into
those
rooms.
Just
a
quick
reminder
if
you're
interested
in
leading
this
event
next
year,
because
we're
looking
for
community
members
to
take
it
over
and
plan
it
and
give
us
ideas,
send
a
email
to
equity
at
bloomingtonmn.gov
and
we'll
make
sure
that
you'll
be
involved
in
that
process
for
next
year.
So
until
next
time.
Thank
you
so
much
for
being
here.