On Wednesday October 17th, the St. Cloud Regional Human Rights Commission held an open forum for the community to discuss discrimination. We had a great turnout--at least 40 people showed up--and everyone had a chance to voice their questions and concerns.
Some common concerns that people shared:
1. Employment discrimination in the region. People released from prison, unaccompanied youth (often young adults out of the foster care system), youth under 18 years old, transgender people, and people with disabilities have a difficult time finding employment in central Minnesota. While times are hard for everyone, some employment applications still ask questions that are against state law. Forum attendees asked what groups in the region assist disenfranchised people in finding employment, and they wanted to know how they could find out more.
2. Discrimination against people of color. Somalis who live in a particular section of St. Cloud live in fear of their apartment manager and a security force. In the St. Cloud 742 school district, a clinical study of 25 African-American boys is being conducted without parental consent. Not all of central Minnesota is as diverse as St. Cloud; some children of color feel isolated in their schools because they may be the only ones.
3. Communications and connections. While the St. Cloud Regional Human Rights Commission meetings are open to the public, they have not been advertised. Some people requested future updates to issues brought up at the forum. Commissioners reminded attendees about the blog and Facebook page.
4. Forum as Safe Space. Some of the most at-risk populations in central Minnesota who would benefit from some support and guidance from the Human Rights Commission may not feel safe in a public forum outside of their comfort zone. People suggested that, to attract more participation from groups in need, Human Rights Commissioners should organize population-specific forums in those places where those groups feel safe.
Please watch this space--as well as our Facebook page--for information about upcoming forums.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Out in the Community
Members of the Saint Cloud Regional Human Rights Commission were at St. Cloud Pride on Saturday September 22nd, meeting the community and advertising our Open Forum in October!
The Saint Cloud Regional Human Rights Commission Open Forum will be on Wednesday October 17th from 6 pm - 7:30 pm in St. Cloud City Hall Council Chambers. Meet the commission members, learn about what we are doing to fight for human rights, and join us in conversation on how we can work together in ending discrimination in the region. Become a member of our Facebook page and join our event!
The Saint Cloud Regional Human Rights Commission Open Forum will be on Wednesday October 17th from 6 pm - 7:30 pm in St. Cloud City Hall Council Chambers. Meet the commission members, learn about what we are doing to fight for human rights, and join us in conversation on how we can work together in ending discrimination in the region. Become a member of our Facebook page and join our event!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Saint Cloud Pride Week
This week, citizens of Saint Cloud will come together in support of LGBTIQ Pride through a variety of events:
Thursday September 19: PFLAG PRIDE RALLY AND ABOVE THE CLOUDS PRIDE MARCH at Barden Park (in front of the Miller Center Library at Saint Cloud State University) 7:00-10:30 pm. This is the last rally that we will have prior to the November election on the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. All are welcome to attend. The Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus will also perform at the event.
Saturday September 22nd: The St. Cloud Pride in the Park Festival will be at Lake George/Eastman Park from 11 am - 5 pm. Free entertainment, exhibitors, community organizations, and food vendors will be there. The Saint Cloud Regional Human Rights Commission will also have a table there--come and say hi to Rachel! :) St. Cloud Pride is a family friendly event--don't miss it!
Later that Saturday night is The 3rd Annual Drag Show at the Rivers Edge Convention Center. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the show goes from 7:30-11:30 pm. Tickets are available from Blooming Creations or the LGBT Resource Center for $10, or pay $12 at the door. Our drag performers really are the best--their performances will keep you warm through our long winter months.
Sunday September 23rd: Biology 701 at 701 West Germain St. in downtown St. Cloud will host a brunch from 11 am - 1 pm. Tickets are available for $10 in advance, or $12 at the door. Click on this link to buy advance tickets. Brunch menu will be posted soon.
Thursday September 19: PFLAG PRIDE RALLY AND ABOVE THE CLOUDS PRIDE MARCH at Barden Park (in front of the Miller Center Library at Saint Cloud State University) 7:00-10:30 pm. This is the last rally that we will have prior to the November election on the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. All are welcome to attend. The Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus will also perform at the event.
Saturday September 22nd: The St. Cloud Pride in the Park Festival will be at Lake George/Eastman Park from 11 am - 5 pm. Free entertainment, exhibitors, community organizations, and food vendors will be there. The Saint Cloud Regional Human Rights Commission will also have a table there--come and say hi to Rachel! :) St. Cloud Pride is a family friendly event--don't miss it!
Later that Saturday night is The 3rd Annual Drag Show at the Rivers Edge Convention Center. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and the show goes from 7:30-11:30 pm. Tickets are available from Blooming Creations or the LGBT Resource Center for $10, or pay $12 at the door. Our drag performers really are the best--their performances will keep you warm through our long winter months.
Sunday September 23rd: Biology 701 at 701 West Germain St. in downtown St. Cloud will host a brunch from 11 am - 1 pm. Tickets are available for $10 in advance, or $12 at the door. Click on this link to buy advance tickets. Brunch menu will be posted soon.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
September Holidays
September 8th is International Literacy Day. UNESCO has been celebrating International Literacy Day for over forty years, reminding the international community that literacy is a human right and the foundation of education.
September 15th kicks off National Hispanic Heritage Month. Check out how the Library of Congress is recognizing the Latino/Latina population of the United States. National Hispanic Heritage Month ends on October 15th.
September 17th is Citizenship Day, also known as Constitution Day. How much do you know about the United States Constitution? See how well you do on these quizzes.
September 21st is the International Day of Peace. Established in 1982, the International Day of Peace provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date.
Happy September!
September 15th kicks off National Hispanic Heritage Month. Check out how the Library of Congress is recognizing the Latino/Latina population of the United States. National Hispanic Heritage Month ends on October 15th.
September 17th is Citizenship Day, also known as Constitution Day. How much do you know about the United States Constitution? See how well you do on these quizzes.
September 21st is the International Day of Peace. Established in 1982, the International Day of Peace provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date.
Happy September!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Back to School for Hungry Homeless Kids
Roughly three hundred homeless students will start a new school year in Saint Cloud, and almost seventy in Sauk Rapids-Rice.
Local organizations such as Anna Marie's Alliance are providing all the support they can for children and teens in the shelters. It is extremely difficult for homeless kids in shelters to keep up with school, as shelters only allow families to stay for 30-45 days at a time. Anna Marie's Alliance has recruited tutors for the homeless children, and a fleet of five iPads so that students can stay connected with assignments and instruction through online learning and educational apps.
Even among the college set, some students couch surf and live out of their cars while they get an education. Their families might have kicked them out, they might have run away from home, or they simply have no family in the area and nowhere to stay while they go to college.
In Minnesota, ten percent of the population does not know where their next meal is coming from. Children make up forty percent of the hungry population. School becomes attractive to hungry kids, because they can receive at least one free meal there. Stearns and Sherburne Counties have more than the average number of hungry people in the state; many will be students.
For anyone who works in a school, the kindest thing to do is bring food for the kids. Any type of food will do. As Minnesota has also revamped its cafeteria menus to provide "healthier" lunches, all students will be eating less. Our hungry students will not make it through the winter without your help.
Local organizations such as Anna Marie's Alliance are providing all the support they can for children and teens in the shelters. It is extremely difficult for homeless kids in shelters to keep up with school, as shelters only allow families to stay for 30-45 days at a time. Anna Marie's Alliance has recruited tutors for the homeless children, and a fleet of five iPads so that students can stay connected with assignments and instruction through online learning and educational apps.
Even among the college set, some students couch surf and live out of their cars while they get an education. Their families might have kicked them out, they might have run away from home, or they simply have no family in the area and nowhere to stay while they go to college.
In Minnesota, ten percent of the population does not know where their next meal is coming from. Children make up forty percent of the hungry population. School becomes attractive to hungry kids, because they can receive at least one free meal there. Stearns and Sherburne Counties have more than the average number of hungry people in the state; many will be students.
For anyone who works in a school, the kindest thing to do is bring food for the kids. Any type of food will do. As Minnesota has also revamped its cafeteria menus to provide "healthier" lunches, all students will be eating less. Our hungry students will not make it through the winter without your help.
Monday, August 20, 2012
What No One Is Talking About
Voter turnout in the 2012 Minnesota primary election was the lowest in over 60 years.
Only 8% of the state voted. People are either happy with the status quo, are resigned to the status quo, or...seriously...they did not get a reminder postcard from their local board of elections, or a booklet of some kind about the candidates. Not only that, but candidates were not campaigning as hard this year as they had in previous years.
Only 8% of the state voted. People are either happy with the status quo, are resigned to the status quo, or...seriously...they did not get a reminder postcard from their local board of elections, or a booklet of some kind about the candidates. Not only that, but candidates were not campaigning as hard this year as they had in previous years.
Friday, August 10, 2012
One Perspective
For centuries, European countries have existed as unique, individual entities. Each country had prejudice against the others, during times of war and peace alike. Each country had prejudices against common minorities as well.
In the twenty-first century, despite the financial problems caused by Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, the western nations of the European Union seem to function like a close-knit team. They have committed to some loft goals in terms of human rights, particularly in the area of LGBT individuals. The Council of Europe has recognized that LGBT people contribute to national culture, and that by 2020 all cultural heritage institutions in the European Union will have LGBT resources. The European Union has gone so far as to say that "homophobia will not be tolerated in the EU", and it is beginning to enforce anti-discrimination laws in its new central and eastern European member states. Prominent European sports figures have even made pro-LGBT statements on television, with the hope of taming any homophobic sentiments in their rowdy fans.
At the same time, in everyday conversations, ordinary EU citizens make it plain on who does not belong. They are fast to say that the Muslims do not support gay pride, which quickly translates to Muslims are the problem in the EU, even though . They are also chilly toward any mention of Serbians, Russians, and Ukrainians. "The Ukraine will never be a part of the EU," a man from Ireland told me, even though my question to him was how to help two gay Ukrainian men find funding for their magazine, the only gay magazine in the Ukraine. The privileged educated elite also have no sense of charity or reaching out to the working class and poor. There is no sense of LGBT brotherhood/sisterhood that transcends class or educational status. It is a very different movement than in the United States.
I have returned from two weeks in Amsterdam, which is one of the most multicultural, international cities in Europe. During that time I have spoken with native Amsterdammers, as well as people from other EU countries during an international conference for LGBT librarians, archivists, and museum curators. I was shocked to find that their concept of support for LGBT rights did not extend past their borders. In an increasingly wired world, where only laws prohibit us from making all LGBT books available digitally for everyone around the world, this attitude must change. Social justice is a global movement, not limited to a privileged few.
The motto of the European Union is "United in Diversity". But how is it so when EU countries continue to ban headscarves, veils, and other religious clothing and jewelry, when EU countries ban kosher and halal slaughter, and when EU countries continue to evict and forcibly relocate their Roma populations? If homophobia has no place in the EU, then what about all of the other phobias?
In the United States, we have our problems. We are far from a perfect country, and perhaps we are a little less educated than the European Union. But we admit our faults. We know too well our history and present state of racism, religious discrimination, and homophobia/transphobia. We make fewer grand national statements, but make greater, more permanent improvements in civil rights through national discussion as well as legislation. We know that there will always be those who will not agree...and we know that, as long as they harm no one, we are OK if they do not agree.
In the twenty-first century, despite the financial problems caused by Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, the western nations of the European Union seem to function like a close-knit team. They have committed to some loft goals in terms of human rights, particularly in the area of LGBT individuals. The Council of Europe has recognized that LGBT people contribute to national culture, and that by 2020 all cultural heritage institutions in the European Union will have LGBT resources. The European Union has gone so far as to say that "homophobia will not be tolerated in the EU", and it is beginning to enforce anti-discrimination laws in its new central and eastern European member states. Prominent European sports figures have even made pro-LGBT statements on television, with the hope of taming any homophobic sentiments in their rowdy fans.
At the same time, in everyday conversations, ordinary EU citizens make it plain on who does not belong. They are fast to say that the Muslims do not support gay pride, which quickly translates to Muslims are the problem in the EU, even though . They are also chilly toward any mention of Serbians, Russians, and Ukrainians. "The Ukraine will never be a part of the EU," a man from Ireland told me, even though my question to him was how to help two gay Ukrainian men find funding for their magazine, the only gay magazine in the Ukraine. The privileged educated elite also have no sense of charity or reaching out to the working class and poor. There is no sense of LGBT brotherhood/sisterhood that transcends class or educational status. It is a very different movement than in the United States.
I have returned from two weeks in Amsterdam, which is one of the most multicultural, international cities in Europe. During that time I have spoken with native Amsterdammers, as well as people from other EU countries during an international conference for LGBT librarians, archivists, and museum curators. I was shocked to find that their concept of support for LGBT rights did not extend past their borders. In an increasingly wired world, where only laws prohibit us from making all LGBT books available digitally for everyone around the world, this attitude must change. Social justice is a global movement, not limited to a privileged few.
The motto of the European Union is "United in Diversity". But how is it so when EU countries continue to ban headscarves, veils, and other religious clothing and jewelry, when EU countries ban kosher and halal slaughter, and when EU countries continue to evict and forcibly relocate their Roma populations? If homophobia has no place in the EU, then what about all of the other phobias?
In the United States, we have our problems. We are far from a perfect country, and perhaps we are a little less educated than the European Union. But we admit our faults. We know too well our history and present state of racism, religious discrimination, and homophobia/transphobia. We make fewer grand national statements, but make greater, more permanent improvements in civil rights through national discussion as well as legislation. We know that there will always be those who will not agree...and we know that, as long as they harm no one, we are OK if they do not agree.
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