As agreed, we’ll be sharing the summaries of our steering committee meetings and any other meetings we have to keep you aware of what’s happening behind the scenes. Below is the recap for what we’ve been up to this week. Please review and let us know if you have questions.
Meeting with County Leaders
Yesterday, we attended a meeting with our county leaders to discuss the changes we want to see in our community, specifically our five police reform demands. Attendees included the County Executive, the Sheriff’s office, the State’s Attorney’s office, the Elkton Police Department, leaders in local education, and leadership from local churches.
Discussions were broken into three panels (public safety, education and social justice groups) where each shared their thoughts on our current challenges with race relations in our community. We did not receive specific details on what they were doing to combat/prevent systemic racism and implicit bias within their organizations. However, we were able to ask questions of each panel during the Q&A segments and will be following up to request copies of their action plans and agreed next steps forward.
Tyra Hill asked about recognizing Juneteenth (June + 19) as a holiday the same way we celebrate July 4th and Mayor Alt of Elkton agreed and announced that he is recognizing June 19 as Freedom Day. (Persistence pays off!)
Read the Cecil Whig’s coverage of this meeting.
Steering Committee Call
As promised, we have taken your feedback and have formed subcommittees (see list below) that are sponsored by each steering committee group member to ensure all of you are able to actively participate in our combined efforts and have your voices heard. This will help ensure we are consistent in our efforts across the County and are all aligned in our approach. We will provide additional details, including the contact information for the chairs of each group and the committee sponsor in the coming days.
Subcommittees:
- Event Planning
- Policy Development
- Fundraising
- Communications
- Social/Print Media
- Education
- Civics/Voter Engagement
- Mutual Aid Committee
- Mental Health/SA
- Community Engagement
Friday’s Candlelit Vigil
The candlit vigil is still on (rain or shine) for Friday at the North East Park. We’ll gather at 7:30 to meet/greet each other, listen to our speakers and then march on Main Street to the police station/library parking lot. Please contact Nick Letts if you have questions.
DC March on Washington
We will not be organizing a group bus trip due to logistics. We are looking into options to host a local viewing party, so please stay tuned.