2020 Legislative and Community Engagement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vermont Racial Justice Alliance Announces Legislative and Community Engagement
Burlington, Vermont, January 7, 2020 – Today the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance announced a comprehensive plan that will serve as an informational resource to policy makers and engage and educate in communities across the state. The plan provides for a “Legislative Series” and a “Statewide Community Tour”. The Legislative Series, designed to educate and gain perspective from community members while informing the legislative process, will offer recurring forums in the Statehouse throughout the legislative session. The first forum, “Hidden in Plain Sight: The Truth About Systemic Racism,” will be on January 15th, from 5:30 PM till 7:30 PM, in Room 10 at the Statehouse. Additional forums on a number of other topics are scheduled in the same location throughout the session. The Hidden in Plain Sight Forum will also be presented on the Statewide Community Tour.
The Racial Justice Alliance has conducted a number of community outreach events in the Burlington area throughout the legislative off-season and recently released the first Race Traffic Stop Data Dashboard (RTSD) in Vermont’s history of data collection. The RTSD Dashboard’s latest version (1.2) has been released on day one of the 2020 legislative session and adds robust search and hit rates analysis capabilities.
The Alliance’s legislative agenda includes an anti-slavery constitutional amendment and bills relating to a Task Force to study a State apology and proposal for reparations; data collection in the justice system and standardization of use of force practices. An antiracism bill is pending release. Rev. Arnold Thomas, an Alliance Steering Committee Member says “I find it fascinating that this initiative begins during the season of Epiphany, which means a “great insightful and life-changing discovery,” for it offers a wakeup call to all Vermonters that a new day is dawning in which all we do must naturally integrate the perspective and sensitivities of those we’ve ignored and marginalized.” Information on the Series, Tour and RTSD Dashboard can be found vtracialjusticealliance.com
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About the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance
The Vermont Racial Justice Alliance, under the leadership of a people-of-color led Steering Committee, advocates for the implementation of State and local policy and provides a variety of community forums, panels and lectures that enable folks to learn about systemic racism, contextualize lived experiences and provide important perspectives and direction on community oriented and policy solutions.
Contact: 802.532.3030 or [email protected]