##VIDEO ID:P0zVG0wQwtM## hello hello yes okay um well hello everyone um welcome back to the October 3rd rever Human Rights Commission it's been a long time since we've seen anyone in this space so we welcome everyone with open arms um first things first is the attendance of the um of the commission members I'm just going to enlist everyone and then pass the mic in terms of order so um uh chair commissioner chair wow I forgot my name H shimo I'm am here I am present cour chair herin Baptist present okay sorry um human rights commissioner sua larusi commissioner Molly McGee Ed Terell I'm just a guest I was invited thank you commissioner kupich commissioner Loreno Garcia thank you everyone um for introducing yourself um someone who just joined the circle is um director Steve morido so thank you for joining us um before we start the meeting I just want to have a lay acknowledgement especially considering the environment that we are in today um that we are in the land of the PA Tucket and that we encourage any um any person with Native Heritage and Indigenous people Heritage to join us in any of our meetings we welcome you with open arms um I just would like to have um someone to uh put out a motion to approve the um the minutes from the May 2nd monthly meeting so whoever would like to present a motion motion to um approve the minutes from our May 2nd month the meeting second all right with um anyone um all in favor in terms of the monthly meeting just scream out I I all right so the monthly meeting of May 2nd the minutes for that meeting has been approved by the people of the commission um I just would like to just shout out some monthly events are happening in the city of Riv uh October 1st um starts the um Filipino American Heritage Month Italian American Heritage and cultural month uh lgbtqia A History Month uh the national disability of employment Awareness Month National work and family month Polish American Heritage Month bullying prevention month National Family History Month domestic violence awareness month down syndrome Awareness Month National Family Heritage Month national uh October 2nd which was yesterday was the International Day of nonviolence we have uh October 6th which is in a couple of days is a German American Heritage day world mental health day is October 10th the um National Coming Out day is October 11th Yung kapor is also October 11th uh indigenous people's day will be observed on October 14th white cane safety day is October 15th boss's day is October 16th sukut is um October 16th October 17th is the International Day for the eradication of poverty Spirit day is on October 17th uh birth of Bah Allah which is a um Persian holiday will be observed on October 17th Swedish day is October 19th birth of Bob and Shaz is also another Persian um holiday which will be observed on October 20th International studying awareness day is October 22nd uh October 31st is Halloween Along With Sam Haye which is another holiday that will be observed on October 31st I also would like to mention that breast cancer awareness month is also October um so let's all observe all these holidays if there is a holiday that I have missed um please please go on the HRC the reviewer HRC website to add to our calendar so that it would be um mentioned the next time we have our meeting um does anyone want to add something before we move on to the next meeting go ahead um just adding this because we didn't have a a monthly meeting last week but I mean last month uh Hispanic slna Heritage Month began September I think 15th and I think it's supposed to end the 15th of this month thank you very much for that commissioner larusi to start off um with uh we were we will be continuing the rest of our meeting in a circle format um I will give um the mic to either Dr Garcia Dr Garcia or commissioner pitch the first agenda um item on the meeting I'll just go over all of them first we're going to talk just our Reflections on the circle training that we had last week um um the next one is working with uh reviewer Public Schools just referring to that email that I mentioned during the training about the um the teacher that wants us to visit the um the schools uh the next item would be working with the Boston Center of equality I will bring that up in terms of the that Center actually reached out to us to see if we could collab with them um nine would uh the next agenda U item is public statements for regarding whatever is going on with um Palestine in our um public statement regarding indigenous people's day um and then 10 will just be an open Forum which is whatever issues that we would like to discuss will be discussed at that time so I will pass it off to either Dr Garcia or k pitch the process we're going to use the process we're going to use for this meeting today is a circle we're going to use a circle as a process to conduct this human rights uh commission um meeting and uh the first thing we have to focus on and we need to um actually um think about is is the process of being uh the process of orientation what an orientation really is in terms of circle and the circle itself has a process um I'm going to read it for you Circle process is a core mechanism for governance and Indigenous communities throughout the hemisphere circle is a process of community building through the creation of sustainable long-term relationships between members of the circle circles have been used successfully in the community on how to deal with breaking agreements and differences of opinion where all voices are heard so this is important the sense that throughout the circle process we need to ensure that uh we Elevate people voices and we man we also make certain that our voices and persp perspectives are being respected and heard that's important um it helps the you know to Center us Center each individual Sil proc is the enactment of the principles of the indigenous uh medicine will which is an an ontological map that explains the order of the universe the world human relationships and human itself Humanity itself the first layer of meaning pertains to the nature of self which is that we are made up of four core parts body mind emotion and spirit a human being in good relationship with itself in good relationship with its body mind emotion and spirit at this point it is important not to get into the terministic arguments seeking fully understand what each of these means from an indigenous point of view every body is different and so everybody expresses each of these elements in a unique manner the focus is less on the definitions and more on the identification of a type of landscape of human expression from which one can express appreciate each person's unique expression what self on self of self apologize so if you go on page two you will see the way our body uh is structured um we have the spirit the body the emotion and mind and that's clear I can feel that I don't know how that's on page two of this document um so I apologize this is just for the um host right this is just the host piece okay host so I should have articulated that in the beginning the centerpiece circles use a centerpiece to create a focal point that support speaking from the heart and listening from the heart the centerpiece may include items representing the values of the core self the foundation principles of the process a shared vision of the group center pieces often emphasize inclusion by incorporating symbols of individual Circles members as well as cultures repres presented in the circle so I think Miss speech ask everyone to bring a centerpiece uh a talking piece yeah so um we're going to transition to that now talking peace talking peace is sped sunwise around the circle no one can interrupt the the person holding the talking piece one one can pass it they don't have something to share they don't have something to share no cross talking listen fully no interruptions or interrupts shout shouting at someone judging someone Etc only the person holding the talking peace may speak that's so important because sometimes our emotions tend to run High We tend to make an attempt to interrupt another person or to Simply express our emotions and that certainly the talking peace give us that structure of discipline be able to listen to each other with empathy and no judgment and wait for your turn so I think that's important I wish all the circles and all the meetings that we hold certainly has that Foundation those Foundation principles and people by by those principles unfortunately it does not happen we see um disagreements we see fights even in Parliament throughout the world so there's not the people don't tend not to follow that so uh yeah so thank you Dr Garcia for explaining the um the circle process the centerpiece and talking piece um so before before we start any one of the commissioner would like to lit the candle please miss um commissioner L larusa larusi sorry yes please take the candle out as you would like okay yeah some El do it thank you um thank you commissioner so before we are starting our Circle I am going to do a reading opening reading so that we can get centered and this um reading called [Music] um coming together by Margaret Whitley there is no power greater than a community this discovering what it cares about ask what possible not what's wrong keep asking notice what C notice what it cares about assume that many others share your dreams be brave enough to start a conversation that matters talk to people you know talk to people you don't know talk to people you never talk to be intrigued by the differences you hear expect to be surprised treasure curiosity more than certainty invite everybody who cares to work on what possible acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something know that Creative Solutions come from new connections remember you don't fear people who who St whose story you know real listening always brings people closer together trust that meaningful conversations can change the world rely on human goodness stay together so yes we invited everyone to bring um the talking piece that representing who you are your core value your family it can be your heritage and also um your community um so the first question um so I'm going to turn this m back to Dr Garcia who will come up with the first question so um when we pass the mic around you can grab your talking piece um before you answer this question you can also share the story of your talking piece as well it's just like a short kind of um overview of your your talking piece thank you commissioner when we come into the circle the first thing we want to do is to check in to do a check in um certainly there are a lot of things happening in the world in our community in the country around the world so those type of things have have whether we want it we want to believe it or not those things have a have implications for us um for me personally I feel that it has a lot of implication when I read about what's happening in the Middle East um thousands of children Elders uh being killed what's happening in Ukraine how many children the buildings has been shed you know destroyed uh people fleeing places kids dying uh Elders being displaced killed in the process um political tensions in our country also have some implications for us within our own family we have disagreements agreements with friends so all these things we are part of a civilization part of community and certainly we feel it right so um it's important for us at least to have something we are grateful for and I'm sure that there are many things also that we grate for um so the question is share one thing that you are grate for I am grateful great uh grateful for being here um be being part of this group um having a conversation listen to each other uh make connections I'm grateful to be here and being an active participant I'm also grateful for being the city of Riv trying to influence policies and practices to ensure that those who have no voice in the process they voice get elevated and empowered so that they can have a voice and have a place and be part of the common pie okay sorry thank you thank you um Dr Garcia so what I'm grateful for I am grateful for the land um that I'm living on stepping on right now the land of the indigenous um also I'm grateful for my own labor as a woman of color and under the labor of um the black um Community the labor of also um immigrants community and I'm also grateful for everyone who's sitting here in this room and most importantly I'm grateful for my two children who keep me back Who challenged me to be the best version of me and teaching me to be a good mom a good um person to be a good um Community member and I'm grateful for that and I um brought this talking piece um this talking piece um was given to me by an indigenous man um a few years ago a group of of us an an indigenous people we went to um a corn festival and this indigenous man who was struggling to identify himself either as a white man or as an indigenous man and finally um throughout his healing process and his research and he was able to um Embrace who he is and his um indigenous family so um throughout his healing he collect um collected shells and then he made something beautiful out of it and I was lucky to get gifted um by him so that I'm going to pass this talking piece you can also put it down and use your as well thank you I wasn't expecting to speak today sorry I still have a little bit of Po most Co stuff some of you know me terl but most of you really know me as R scanner um I'm thankful for everything I do and all the help that I get um it took me a long time to say it but I am a gay man that took time um I guess I have to put it up yes and I just want to thank everyone for the invitation today thank you again so there's so much to be grateful for um grateful for any opportunity that was uh provided I'm grateful for the White Privilege that I've had um I'm grateful for the people the experiences that made me the person I am um I'm also grateful one thing that um most people don't reflect on working in the city I'm grateful for all the volunteers who work for the city on these boards and commissions because a lot of people uh don't realize that most of these volunteers work full-time jobs uh they're working all day long and then they're doing the extra work not only just coming to the meeting all the extra work that's involved in um preparing for the meeting and actually doing um getting the job done so I'm very grateful for that thank you as I reflect on what I'm grateful for I'm reminded of doing Circle last year with the Human Rights Commission and being asked the same question and I'm reflecting on all the things that I said I was grateful for then and the things that I'm still grateful for now and um despite what's G on in our Global community and our local community I can still always come back and say the same thing I was grateful for then I'm grateful for now it's my children um in the community four and 5 years old they open my world to a whole another world that exists within Rivier it brings out the absolute best in people when they see that I'm a mom and they see that I have young children um that I want to invest in this community I'm very grateful that their father my husband was able to take them to karate practice tonight so that I can be in circle and that he's able to help when I um I'm able to do volunteer work on this commission and that um it's with the idea and the hope that this will better my children's future and everybody's future in rever tomorrow thank you um yeah I'm grateful to be here um I'm grateful almost a year after my first Circle to be joining everyone mostly most of the same people um but this time as a commissioner um grateful for the existence of the HRC and for everyone who has been consistently showing up um and yeah um and then for my little talking piece I brought um a keychain from Morocco cuz I'm Moroccan and it's a little teacup because we're known for having Moroccan mint tea so yeah okay uh I'm grateful that I'm here today um I'm grateful like I know that I'm with all of you guys um this is a very good that I'm able to participate in this circle um I'm grateful like kind know for my family for my two sons for my wife if it wasn't for her I won't be on now um she gave me a lot of support so I'm very grateful about that I'm grateful also about the Asian community that I'm part of um when something happened um especially what that been said to our community to our Asian people um been through a lot since 1990s uh we've been um Accused by like kind know the lot of people that areti immigrants uh but our brothers and sisters I'm grateful like kind of they always like kind of Step Up and to denounce uh all those kind of discrimination and then I'm grateful to for the support that we reive I reive a kind of um everyone from like kind know uh the American uh people that we know like kind know there is some bad apple but there are some good apple um so this is a very very like kind know I'm very grateful that I'm part of this be part of this country and then become a citizen of this country and then to continually kind of to promote our culture in this country uh to make sure like kind of people understand like kind of our background where we come from and then how valuable we are to this country so I'm very grateful like kind know that um this is um a country that I came in and be a citizen and then very thankful about that thank you um um this is um my blackb um it represents everything that I stand for you know um the core values that I go by is putting in effort having the etiquette taking care of my character providing sincerity in finding my sense of control um so in for the past 3 years I had to prove that I was able to change myself as an individual um so so that's the story behind my talking piece um shout out shout out to coach Shihan for teaching me my the ways um instead of saying I'm grateful I'm going to say alhamdulillah it's basically the same thing but just to stay true to my religion I'm just going to say that instead of I am grateful for um um alhamdulillah to be alive um alhamdulillah I'm in the circle of open minded individuals you don't find that everywhere um I'm grateful for well sorry alhamdulillah for my family um andh for the sacrifices we all had to get we all had to make to get to where we are now um um alhamdulillah for the the time I took to be with y'all here today because for some people they don't have the time to do so um alhamdulillah I am healthy and um alhamdulillah we're having the circle today so yeah thank you and now I'm going to pass the uh the mic to um group peit for the agreement um so we just want to kind of share what do you need for yourself and what you need from other to bring your best s to this circle so for me I think what I need for me is just I need to be present I need to be centered and um from others just be patient with me here we go again not expecting to speak what do I need I'm kind of really happy where I am just thank for the invitation I need the tenants and values we've discussed at many of our circles um that commissioner pitch already outlined openness and patience okay um we're going to move to um the medicine will for that I'm going to ask you to take you're going to do a little bit of homework here I'll ask you to take 3 to 5 minutes to read these article we are um in October uh obviously um there's a lot of um misunderstanding uh um confusion um in terms of um honoring and celebrating the indigenous people's Day Columbus Day um the Italian the American Italian Italian American you know um arage month there's a lot of things here to unpack so I decided to we Kar and I you know did a quick research of the literature and we came came up with this article that I um like everyone to read actually this article is a position that uh italian-americans are taking in terms of uh what they think in terms of the indigenous people's day I'm not going to go in any deeper into what this article is talking about so I want you to read it for Take 3 minutes to read it and then we can certainly um answer some of the question that we have for for for for e for for for we good who would needs additional time okay all right thank you um so after reading these article there's a lot of good information there uh it is a call of action at the end of the article um I'm going to pass the microphone around and I want you to express your feelings how does this article resonate with you what's your position there's no judgment as we said is a circle um yeah um I'll start with myself if that's okay I think this is a a call of action um and there's a growing number of um um people from you know um that identify with um uh Italian Americans uh pushing for a uh legislation that really recognizes the indigenous people day as a placement for Columbus Day and they present um strong arguments um that you know um certainly I personally agree with those arguments presented and I think um this article also talks about you know the notion of um white privilege and it also mens the fact that um there is this opportunity that the Italian American because of the race and ethnicity they have an easy way of um integrating at the micro level into the micro level of the society that's predominantly dominated by whites with a lot of privilege um that other groups don't have so I also understand the many of the injustices also that many uh Italian Americans went through in this country I'm not disregarding that there were there were lynchmen actually happening to many Italians in this country that cannot be forgotten but the point that this article is thought is basically trying to address is that even within the Italian American Community there is a strong um strong push for a reform because they do acknowledge that although they have gone through some discriminatory practices and also some of the lynchmen or in this country um the the worst has happened to the indigenous population in this country whom the land was stolen from they were um killed right and left by Columbus and his troops brought disease uh into this country and certainly a lot of murder and raping that took place here um and we are right now the where we are sitting right now here we are sitting on an indigenous land there was no agreement there were no discussion they came they used their weapons they used the religion as a weapon to conquer people and that's what happens nowadays nowadays we have a lot of issues on the land occupied by the indigenous people many indigenous people T have tuned themselves into alcoholics they don't have access to schooling um they live in misery and they are not happy people I did a lot of research over the last few days just to understand that um I urge you to not just take this is an article that takes one side obviously in education I always say go and look for um the two positions because that way we'll have a better idea of the atrocities and things we have in this country that really contributed to the status quo contributed to where our indigenous friends and sisters and brothers are so that's all I I wanted to share and there's a big push on the on the on the path of the uh Italian American community in terms of really making this day happen acknowledge the you know um the indigenous people's day and also acknowledge they suffering and you know do something about it so I'm going to pass the microphone to thank you um so I'm going to use this talking piece called the 13 Moon and was GI gifted to me by um grandfather Joseph 13 Moon is um is freedom so the 13 Moon is the 13 wom who can go to um can visit all the 12 moons so um we're talking about history we are talking about doing it right by the indigenous people we are not diminishing the Italian cultures and Heritage we just don't want to associate Italian with the Columbus because he we're talking about genocide we're talking about yes stolen land we're talking about um prisonment um tearing family you can name all the violence and the indigenous people have been asking to rename October for indigenous people's day in 1970 and um it has been long overdue and now we're in 2024 and we still sitting here and um having this conversation I feel I don't feel good about it as a person um living in this community especially so for me doing the right thing um it's important we all learn about the history um of Columbus and for someone who um working to end domestic violence and gender-based violence I cannot associate with the character of Christopher Columbus so I strongly stand with the indigenous people to change the month of October to be the indigenous people's day in honor of the land that they have shared with many of us with everyone who who lives on this land so excuse me I don't really know where I stand on this issue excuse me I have many different feelings my aunt is 90% indigenous um I have many italian friends so I see both sides if you read the book history of Rivia by schliff when the when the set was arrived here there was a lot of graves here and they had to build here the colonist had to buil here and what they did with the skulls is they played with them like basketballs and they smashed them a lot of great Injustice at the same time I understand how the Italians feel they feel like something is being taken away know it's kind of interesting we sit in this room if we just look around a lot of the portraits are mostly of white men it is what it is we also have a high school building committee that's largely of all white people in a minority majority School District we have a superintendent that allegedly shed an anti-semitic resource that made national news so in terms of Columbus I also think of Ferdinand and Isabella from Spain who funded the trip in the first place so there's a whole another angle to that so if you're from Spanish origin you're kind of Tainted too so there's many angles of looking at this and I wish that that there was a way of putting this forward and moving with progress where everyone could sit at the table and be happy the Italians could be happy everybody could be happy we could all just celebrate I don't know we're there yet I don't know if we figured it out but I hope we do so I think um we have like two different perspectives in history right we have um indigenous people's day that acknowledges the history um cultures and contributions of the Native American communities right offering uh a chance to reflect on their resilience um and the injustices um as far as Christopher Columbus Day it's traditionally celebrating Christopher Columbus arrival in the Americas right um which has been criticized for the harm done um to the Native Americans the impacts of colonization um there's so much to reflect upon but I think while we're re-evaluating and evaluating and assess assessing historical narratives I think we need to come up with an inclusive approach like I think as far we we people have to be understand that no one's trying to take away your culture or Italian culture they're looking to correct a situation that was really horrible but when you look at all the cultures is not just the Italian culture Spanish culture um Arabic culture there's um history of neglect and harm to indigenous peoples so we have to reflect upon that and we got to we really have to I'm for indigenous people today no doubt about it um but we want to set the tone that we're not looking to take away the Italian Heritage which is looking to take away a bad person from the history of his celebration thank you thank you for commissioner pitch and commissioner Garcia for providing us with this reading on italian-americans for indigenous people's day I enjoyed last year's video discussion where we also heard from Italian leaders from the United States that have been campaigning for the celebration of indigenous people's day I found this article to be very concise and make a number of excellent points considering that I've shared I'm an Irish American and wanting to name um that discrimination and racism was perpetuated by um white people Irish Americans English Americans towards the Italian people and for that they often want to be celebrated and separated from other white people other European um groups that do celebrations I've always wanted to call in my Italian American friends and colleagues because I feel that this is a very serious issue in supporting indigenous people's day I feel that this article perfectly says it when it says the Eraser of indigenous people's culture and then celebrates italian-americans are still celebrated in many ways I feel that as a commissioner on the Human Rights Commission our task has been to elevate the most marginalized voices as there are no thank you for pointing out indigenous faces on the walls around us there sits Among Us no people from the tribe of Massachusetts I will continue to work to elevate these voices growing up in New England being from Connecticut I found that indigenous people were underrepresented or misrepresented in the public eye and what I've learned about why they didn't grow up around us is because they've been confined to reservations on their own native land to live in squalor professionally I work as an IM immigration attorney and people often want to claim that Columbus was an immigrant himself and so let me be clear when I say we as a part of our community do not identify that Columbus was a migrant nor an immigrant he was a colonizer a Pillager a rapist and a criminal everyone in previous standards and today's standards that has any concept of History identifies him as such with that being said it's a huge it's a huge disregard to my friends my colleagues and people that I know that are italian-americans and their contributions to not only our nation but our Global Society the physical Arts music Performing Arts Jewelry politics throughout the world and the United States history Cuisine science and language Columbus isn't doing it for us and we need a change so I support indigenous people's day today and always thank you and thank you all for your perspectives um and thank you um commissioner Garcia and commissioner pitch for sharing this article with us um I really enjoyed getting to see a certain kind of written perspective um I definitely have a couple of things to add um in my view in my personal view um um indigenous um I am obviously for indigenous people's day and in my eyes um celebrating um and honoring Columbus Day is a white supremacist statement um I want to be very clear about like the history um because I know that it's been very sanitized but it's not a coincidental thing that we choose in October to celebrate Columbus Day or Columbus himself this was a very strategic thing that Italian Americans had organized for they wanted to choose this specific icon to basically be a mascot for their Heritage um the reason why we celebrate in October is as the song goes that is when Columbus arrived here in the Americas um and quite literally was like the beginning of the end or the genocide um I also want to add on just because a previous speaker had mentioned that um Ferdinand and Isabella did fund and sponsor his voyage um that they themselves were um like actors of genocide as well they um started the Spanish Inquisition um which directly ended up harming many of um my ancestors um but I do want to emphasize that um like many of the previous speakers have mentioned um it's not just that he was bad in today's view but he was bad during his time as well um and so bad that when he came back to Spain from his voyages he was actually imprisoned for his crimes so he was a bad person yesterday he was a bad person hundreds of years ago he's still a bad person today and should not be someone who represents Italian-American Heritage um I do want to be clear that um I understand and I have a lot of um admiration for the italian-americans that have advocated so hard against the Discrimination that their people have gone through here in the United States especially um I really enjoyed like grow growing up being able to like understand um and like learn about the history of like certain people like Sako and vinetti who were like wrongfully assassinated and really understanding Beyond just what um like my peers here in Riv were experiencing like what that history actually looked like of um discrimination against italian-americans um but with that understanding of History um what that presents to me is this question of what does Italian Heritage Pride look like um because when we choose to accept Columbus as an icon for Italian Heritage to me that just is a direct connection to white supremacy it's a direct connection to colonization it is literally choosing that to understand your Italian Heritage Pride as when we actually look back and we think about and reflect like where does that discrimination come from and stem from um I highly recommend if any of you or anyone watching hasn't seen the movie the spike Le film um do the right thing they kind of hint at it but a lot of that discrimination towards italian-americans stems from anti-Semitism it stands from orientalism it stems from anti-blackness um and in my view especially as someone who is of Hispano moish descent um I don't see any real pred in Italian Italian Heritage if there is no um accountability obviously for today's um perpetuation of discrimination which is what the article hints at or talks about um but also I think that there is no point or I don't really see actual pride in being Italian if you aren't accepting of your proximity and your um influence historic influence of all of these other people people of color who um you're basically being discriminated at their expense um so um and with that I actually wanted to just add in terms of like the intersection of just to kind of like highlight the intersection of indigenous people's day that um as I mentioned previously like we're coming up near the end of Hispanic Heritage Month um I think it's absolutely ridiculous to recognize as a city Hispanic Heritage Month and then end the month by celebrating Columbus Day but that's just I don't know um I feel like it just does away with that um just to remind everyone Columbus landed in Hispanola which is modern day Haiti um and I also think adding on to like the political um situation right now going on with Haiti Haitian migrants and even just the migrants that we've had from Haiti before that are here in Riv and have been here for like 20 plus years um it's just another added layer of sensitivity so all that to say um Columbus Day in my eyes is honoring white supremacy and it goes beyond just hurting like indigenous people here locally within New England but it speaks to a larger statement about how we as a city feel um about people from Latin America about really just everybody um whether it's Africans whether it's um people of Oriental desent Etc um I think that it's just a very harmful statement thank you uh thank you um commissioner Garcia and commissioner Fe I think uh I learned a lot you know from um this statement that you guys put out like kind of this is a good you know way to educate me myself like I know so I think um one thing I will said uh about uh Columbus uh uh when he discovered he and back in 1492 so uh after that he's the one like kind know B like kind of all one yeah when he found when he found when he found it sorry about that okay that's a good way to put so I think um at that time he was L Indian uh living uh in that uh territory and then Columbus like kind of get there and then after that um this is how like kind know they bought like kind of L slave like kind know and to Africa about you know 500 people went to Haiti and this is how like kind know the diminish like kind know um you know you see like kind know the Revolution start like kind know people getting I think you know Columbus uh even like kind know my youngest AG in ji I always have issues with him like kind know they way like I know uh he was like kind know when um if on Haiti and then like kind know the we're talking about like kind you're talking about the spanola uh this a one Island like kind know you're talking about Santo Domingo s Domingo is part of like I know the Spain took Santo Domingo and then uh and then FR like kind of to part of like kind of the uh the uh Haiti so it's a one Island but I think um I have like kind of if I have like kind of I don't know why like kind know they have like kind know Columbus like I know I will sympathize to remove Columbus to get another probably holidays to replace like kind know Columbus I think Columbus make a huge impact like kind know in white Supremes and this like kind know this I would say like I know on the America as a whole North America even like I know they consider us as a Caribbean but we part of like another America America Latin so I think you know I will I will continue to read this and do some research more I think uh this is a good tools this is a good beginning for me to learn a lot thank you Vice chair um once again I would like to Echo everyone's um gratefulness to both Dr Garcia and uh commissioner pitch for allowing us to have this conversation especially in a circle form after our training so I think this is very much awesome and I agree with what everyone um has says in terms I I also um support of um in support of indigenous people's day to be um to uh to be renamed as indigenous people's day I think one thing that I really want to focus on when it comes to the people who feel like they their they think that us renaming it indigenous people's day instead of Columbus Day is basically taking something away from them one thing that the article actively mentions is that and I I'll quote this directly from the article it says Christopher Columbus diminishes our culture and does not honor the struggles of our ancestors who throughout the late 19 and much of the 20th century endured profound religious and ethnic discrimination and violence many many of the ital Italian immigrants at the time came with nothing they came with their families and they're starting a brand new life here because they they're escaping from some sort of Calamity that happened back home when Christopher Columbus came here he came here with one the need to find money and two he was being funded he was actively given money to come here while the people who are who spent Generations building their lives here in the United States they started with nothing I personally don't want someone who was richer than me being celebrated um um especially when I've struggled so much I rather have I rather look up to someone who started at the same level as me and made it to the top that's what that wasn't what Christopher Columbus was he was actively funded by the Spanish royal family most people would love to be funded by the Spanish royal family at the time when they had nothing and and I think that just like when we keep on calling Christopher Columbus it's like we're actively taking the um just like the article says we're actively taking the struggles and the hardships that many italian families had to go through just to survive here especially at that time so to to the people to the italian-americans who think that um who think that Christopher like nameing Christopher G will taking that away will ultimately do you some harm no we're taking by renaming it we're taking a figure of someone who was rich that came here while most Italian Americans at the time when they were coming were very much poor starting from zero um another thing is is and this is something that um the Commissioners have heard me saying during the training and I'll say it here in in public the if I was if I was celebrating American Arab Heritage if I had a day to celebrate Arab Heritage Month everyone in their mom if they were have everyone in their parent would go crazy if I named that day wasama banin day because why yes he was Arab you know yes he had influence but what did he had influence for he was an active terrorist just like Christopher Columbus everyone would go bat you know bat crazy if I named if I celebrated a day that had one of the most prolific terrorists in the 21st century in which we spent a decade and a half trying to find and actively kill because he caused such damage in a completely different country which was in America on September 11 2001 the same thing goes for Christopher columus this was someone who was actively one not Italian two came to the United came to a place to actively conquer it and cause damage and then now you want to celebrate it that's how the indigenous people feel at this current moment how people would feel about me celebrating Asama Baden day is the exact same way indigenous people feel every year when we call it Christopher Columbus Day we're actively celebrating a man who was an act of terrorist to the United States then now and forever always be remembered as such so that's just something that I want to say to my fellow Italian Americans I grew up you know I first started in rier I've I spent most of my life in Riv I grew up with active Italian um Italian grandmothers who came straight from the motherland and it's like when I think of Italian Heritage that's what I think I think the the the mothers and the fathers and the parents who came here that started with nothing just like the rest of the immigrants that were here and not buy some rich white guy so I think that's just for um just a perspective just something to think about just if roles were reversed everyone would be mad if I were to do that for Arabs but how do you think the indigenous people feel when they are felt one they do that every year and we celebrate Columbus Day so just something to think [Music] about well thank you for sharing your perspectives uh not just perspectives reach perspectives um you know that's an in-depth conversation that really took place here with people really supporting the establishment of the indigenous peoples they in L of any other um in of Columbus Day um you know um certainly if you read the last two paragraphs that will give you a good idea in terms of um we should be fighting for and what we should be looking for and this is not coming from you know um this is coming from a group of Italians um American people that really are really pushing for this so um I must say that the confusion between the celebration of the Italian American heritage month and Columbus Day unfortunately uh that confusion has been historically propagated by our own schools and our institutions through indoctrination that's what it is they create a you know a monster in the heads of many uh of our students including people from Italian descent and that's what we're trying to fight for because we need to educate people to if to really distance them eles from One Thing versus the other I think that's what's causing the whole confusion it's not about not recognizing the the heritage of any people speec especially of the Italian people it's the confusion of using Columbus as someone that came and quote unquote discover a continent Columbus was that never in North America never he was in the island of Haiti um and other parts of the south of America but not here but yet we chose to celebrate him because obviously our textbooks told us that he was Italian he performed such a press back then he discovered people that probably back then were considered wild people uh and civilized people this is all in our books that's where we have studied I myself I was coriz by Portugal for a number of years and I have expressed these feelings to others and to your to many of you uh in our meetings our culture was negated to us um although we had a rich you know we have Rich culture Rich language tradition but we were not those things were not or honored and only a person who has been oppressed really can feel it and can talk and you can express yourself in a way if you have never been oppressed you didn't feel it then you're not going to be able to really express it in a way that people will understand it we are prevented from learning about our writers our uh tradition our culture our language that all was prevented from us was Rob basically we were forced memorized all the rivers in Portugal all the railroads in Portugal all the kings people who had no connection whatsoever with us so it's something that's very that touches me profoundly when I think about these things and basically to be honest with you if the Italian Americans support a legisl will recognize um the indigenous people's day it's basically they Fring themselves from somebody that really was not a good person it's Freedom it's Liberation so let's continue to support these movements of the Italian-American Americans that is gaining traction around our country and let's help everyone to liberate we we as you know uh my colleague just shared a few minutes ago we all have a space but that space needs to be a space where where you know um this idea and ideology of one being Superior to other and that should go away that's all I can say so uh the next section I'm going to pass it to kich so in the interest of time um director Moro how long can we have this space for until 6m so originally the cult Council 6 okay so in the interest of time I don't think we will be able to um go through all the questions and at the same time I greatly appreciate all the commissioner's point of views and also the commitment and um to continue doing this work and to represent um the people who are on the margin of the margin right and we talking about um the indigenous people the owner of this land um so moving to I guess we can do a checkout round um so the checkout round what is your commitment to to the chain um for me commitment to the chain that will continue this um conversation in this um group and then also in a larger Community as well and I'm more than happy to have conversation with anybody who's interested in learning about the people um indigenous people's day and also to have an understanding of why we need to change um I'm also invite all of the Italian friends family community to also um be part of this change as well thank you to all the Commissioners for the invitation I wasn't expecting to speak today uh thank you all for your perspectives I really do appreciate it thank you for everyone who added input to this meeting um going further uh if you guys do want a two-hour slot just let me know and when we schedule this meeting we can put it in for two hours okay going forward in circle practice I hope to continue to call uh people in to join us from communities that are not always like-minded so that they can engage in this practice effectively and be heard and hear people openly and I thank you um for the Community member that joined us today it's very very nice to have somebody here yeah thank you for joining us today and uh as I will uh equal you to I would like like to have more people like you to come in and be part of this process thank you I would like to thank everyone for giving me for giving their time to the circle um I would also like to thank Mr ento for joining us today I know it was very unprecedented but you know everyone is welcome in the um in the eyes of the Human Rights Commission I would like to also put out disclaimer that even though we're having this discussion that we do not condone any hate to any side of whether that be the IND indigenous peoples or the Italian Italian Americans who live in our city um we like I said we do not condone any violence to any side we're just here to voice our opinions and our concerns to make uh rever a better place for us to live and grow um once again thank you very much for giving me your time um Dr Garcia will you be closing us out sure I'll read by the way thank you for um um saying that we are not supporting violence this is a philosophical discussion that we would like to see action be taken and things you know um things that we believe should be um Drive um you know the culture of our city the fabric of our city and it's a position it's a you know it's our position there's nothing that justifies any type of violence or anything like that thank you I appreciate that closing reading you must teach our children that the ground beneath their feets is the ashes of our ancestors so that they will respect the land tell your children that the land is Rich with the lives of our King teach your children what we have taught our children that the Earth is our Mother Earth does not belong to us we belong to the Earth all things are connected like the blood with which unites one family we do not leave the web of life we are but a strand in the web of life what we do to the web what do to ourselves all things are connected Chief SEO that's the author so um yeah I just want to thank you all for this inspiring and wonderful conversation we had here uh great positions great discussion I really enjoy it and we should be doing this more instead of sitting behind um a barrier to discuss these Ty of things I wish we have more community members families that can join us and contribute just pretty much like uh Mr ano that sit with us today just to share uh our perspectives that I I I always believe and I firmly believe that we can always move forward if we stand unite in the difference of opinion thank you I know this is going to be hard for um with just one microphone so before we head out I am going to read the mission statement in behalf of everyone just for technical but I mean everyone can obviously say out loud just I don't know how the microphone will collect it um the mission statement the mission of the r Human Rights Commission is to promote human and civil rights and Empower all people of R by ensuring that everyone especially the most vulnerable and marginalized have Equitable opportunities equal access and are treated with dignity respect fairness and Justice and in that um like Dr Garcia has mentioned uh we would like to have more community members so we're all open we are a family the whole point is to have discussions like these in order to better create the relationships that we have with the city so I um like I've mentioned before I open open invitation to everyone who wants to voice their stories and voice their opinions of how to make City pardon me so you even got agrees um to um to further uh better our relationship and to create a better rever um before we head out um can I please have a motion do that does anyone want to add anything to the agenda before we head out you have a stat oh yes um it was just basically saying that we have the ability ability to create a statement you know separate from City Hall so it's like I want to work on collectively as a mission to work on a statement regarding before we put it out regarding whatever is going on internationally we will have that discussion separately um yeah anything else that we add before we close out can I please have a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn I make a motion to adjourn anyone second I second that all right uh by um all in favor say I I all right everyone the reviewer Human Rights Commission meeting is adjourned um thank you very much for those who are at home watching us thank you um thank you and have a great evening thank you e