Black Lives Matter
Ministry Action Team
June 8, 2020
The program meeting convened at 7 pm on Zoom. The zoom
invitation gave the meeting time as 6:30, so some people signed on early. Cat
will communicate with BUF Administrator to make sure the time is correct (6 pm
for business meeting the first Monday, 7 pm for program meeting on second Monday.
Also, publish the link in the midweek update.
Present were Barbara Gilday, Kathryn Allen, Judy
Kasper, Paul Beckel, David Curley, Henry Ohana, Rick and Nancy Steele, Michael
Betz, Amoret Heise, Jane Ronca-Washburn, Mary Alden, Lauralee Carbone, Claire
Lending, Murray Bennett, Genia Allen, Jane DeBrock and Cat McIntyre
First we had check in to introduce ourselves to new
people, each describing how they're feeling and what they've been up to. Then
we went around with each telling what anti-racism action they expect to be
accomplishing immediately.
1. Put
the Black Lives Matter banner up outside BUF.
2. Read
the list of black-owned businesses in the Bellingham Herald, and patronize
those businesses. Also, be aware of businesses that are funding Law & Oder
President and cut off spending there (Home Depot, McDonalds, etc.)
3. Write
letters to Whatcom County Executive, Satpal Sidhu to reallocate funding for
police and sheriff for community, especially Generations Forward Family Council
(see below, at end of minutes).
4. Create
a phone/text tree to notify those interested in actions like the rally on
6/6/20. Henry Ohana and Genia Allen will work on this. Cat will transmit the
names to them. We also need a script for such phone calls, with information
solicited from those who are contacted by black-led groups for action; this
will make sure we have their direction for what is needed and
when. We have current connections to the Whatcom Human Rights Task
Force (DavidCurley), Black Lives Matter-Bellingham (Cat) and Racial Justice
Coalition (Cat and others).
5. Educate
ourselves about racism and antiracist history and current actions. Read books,
watch films, listen to black leaders. Consider organizing resources and posting
them in easily-accessed spots on BUF website, and/or BUF Black Lives Matter
blog.
David Curley offered a powerpoint describing the Rapid
Response Team plan developed in 2019 by the three Beloved Conversations study
groups. He offered to share the powerpoint upon request : dcurley1945@gmail.com We
discussed a need for training in what to do and what not to do when
demonstrating.
One suggestion was to practice one-on-one how to
de-escalate confrontations with those who are doing racist actions. We
suggested using local experts (Training could be arranged with Whatcom Peace
and Justice or Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center. Rev. Paul can split the zoom
meeting into breakout rooms so we can practice confrontations one on one.
Our next business meeting will be Monday, July 6 at 6
pm. Our next program meeting will be Monday, July 13 at 7 pm. If
we can arrange training with one of the local experts, will conduct that at the
July 13 meeting; if not, we will watch the documentary, The Bail Trap.
Announcements and zoom links will appear in the BUF Midweek Update and sent out
by email to those participating in this meeting,.
Respectfully submitted
Cat McIntyre, co-facilitator
Information about
Generations Forward Family Council reported by Mary Alden at 6/8/20 BUF Black
Lives Matter program meeting.For further information, contact Hilde Festerling.
land line 360 312-0396 or cll 360 594-8612. Her email is in the
email copied below.
Begin forwarded
message:
From:Hilde
Festerling <hildebootstrap@gmail.com>
Date:June
8, 2020 at 6:35:26 PM PDT
To:Mary
Alden <mary@sunrisechapel.org>
Hello
to my friends at Black Lives matter BUF!
I
have been working with a group called the Generations Forward Family council
for the last 18 months. We have helped draft and pass in principle through
County Council a plan called the Whatcom County Child and Family Action Plan.
This plan was developed with grassroots community oversight and with input from
the visionary work of black community leaders. The plan is a blueprint for
stopping root causes of childhood trauma and closing equity gaps based on race
in the county The county council are writing their budget this month and we are
asking community groups for their support and collaboration in asking County
Executive Sidhu to Fund the Plan, Not the Police. I've included some of our
draft materials, and we welcome your collaboration!
Sample
letter to County Executive Sidhu
County
Executive Sidhu
We
call on you to invest in families and communities, not policing and jails.
This
Whatcom County Sheriff’s office has overseen rising incarceration rates and
rising jail-time stays. It disproportionately targets, arrests, and
incarcerates black, Native American, and Latinx people. These practices are
traumatic and destructive to individuals, families and communities, and
perpetuate systemic racism and inequity in our county.
The
county must stop investing in practices which harm the community and perpetuate
systemic injustice. We must invest instead in families, communities, and
measures to close equity gaps in our county. The Whatcom County Child &
Family Action Plan, which was passed in February of 2004, calls for those
investments. While the Child & Family Action Plan offers a clear path
forward to support Whatcom children and families, it has not yet received
financial backing.
This
moment, in which our local crises of poverty, racism, and homelessness are
compounded by a pandemic, in which we are all reeling from images of police
violence, and in which we are experiencing a national uprising against police
brutality, this is the moment to make clear and appropriate financial
commitments. The answer is clear: redirect funds away from law enforcement and
jails, toward community.
Signed
