Today is Saturday, August 10. August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM). NIAM raises the awareness about why vaccines are important for people of all ages and how they can help prevent serious, sometimes deadly, diseases and illnesses. Monday, August 12 is International Youth Day, This day celebrates young people and the integral
role they play in helping to create a world fit for children. Tuesday, August 13 is Tish’A B’av, the Jewish mourning of the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and 70 CE. Tuesday is also the Buddist Ullambana (also known as Obon). Ullambana, a Sanskrit term that means “hanging upside down and suffering,” honors the spirits of past ancestors and strives to relieve aching souls from suffering. It lasts about half of the month of August. Obon, the Japanese transliteration of Ullambana, is only three days and varies from region to region—July in the eastern region and August in the western region
Quote of the Week: “We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.” Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, born August 4, 1961 – present
Featured Civil Rights Activist/Abolitionist/Pioneer for this week: Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, born August 4, 1961 – present
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barack-Obama
EVENTS:
1. See the “SUPPORT BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES” section below for information on the Friday August 16th, 4:30pm-7:30pm, Paddleboard Chocolate Mindfulness Retreat at Canandaigua Lake.
2. Bill Wynne shared that this Saturday, August 10, you can join Writers and Books for a staged reading of Monologues on Clarissa Street, from 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM at 740 University Avenue, Rochester. See below for details and tickets.
3. The Rochester Area Community Foundation is sponsoring an interactive workshop and experience pieces of the “Our Local History” curriculum with program founders Kesha James and Shane Weigand on Tuesday August 13th
4:00-5:30pm, at 1040 East Avenue, at Asbury First United Methodist Church Gathering Center. See details below.
4. The 26th Annual Clarissa Street Reunion will be celebrated on Saturday, August 17th from 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM on Clarissa Street.
https://www.clarissastreetlegacy.com
https://www.minorityreporter.net/post/26th-year-annual-clarissa-street-reunion-festival-celebration
5. The Jewish Federation of Rochester, with the Levine Center To End Hate, is continuing it’s Rochester Rekindle Program in Black-Jewish Dialogue. The 2024 Rekindle sessions will take place on Monday evenings: September 9, 16, 23, and 30 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Dinner is provided during each session. The 2024 application is here:https://www.jotform.com/form/241695921292160 and is open until August 20th.
6. Writers and Books offers an encore performance of the staged reading of Monologues on Clarissa Street, Sunday, August 25, as part of the Sankofa Theatre Festival at The MCC. See the Writers & Books website, “wab.org” for details.
7. The Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester is hosting the Mort Skillboll Lecture on Antisemitism with Dr. Rachel Fish on September 5 at 7:00 PM (location to be determined). See further information at link below.
https://jewishfederationofgreaterroche.regfox.com/mort-skirboll-lecture-on-antisemitism
8. Tickets are now on sale for the Urban League – Rochester’s (UL-R) 5th Annual ‘Interrupt Racism’ Summit to be held at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on 9/18/2024 . This year’s theme is ‘Honoring Whence We Came”. This year’s Keynote Speaker is Ms. Cheryl Brown Henderson, daughter of the late Rev. Oliver Brown, lead plaintiff in the Brown vs. Board of Education court case that led to the desegregation of schools.
2024 Interrupt Racism Summit Tickets On Sale Now! (mailchi.mp)
9. Exploring Racism Group program celebrates 5 years. Join us on Tuesday, September 24 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM to reunite and energize for the next 5 years. See link for more information and to register.
http://evite.me/QCsFn5A2eD
10. George Eastman Museum presents ‘In This Moment; Revolution, Reckoning, Reparation’, a book launch and panel discussion to be held on Monday, September 30, 2024 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at the Dryden Theatre. See the link below for details.
https://www.eastman.org/moment-vol-3
11. George Yeodan suggests this program offered by the Smithsonian Associates, ‘Bloody Tuesday: The Untold Story of the Struggle for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa’ on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 – 6:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. See details at link below.
12. Monday, October 14 is Indigenous People’s Day. There are 3 major gatherings that day in City parks at sunrise, noon and sunset. The City of Rochester is sponsoring but is seekig co-sponsors. Attached below are details for the day and an application for co-sponsors.
NEWS, HISTORY & RESOURCES:
13. Bob Whipple shares 2 video presentations on the benefits and drawbacks to Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs. One is a video (48 minutes) of an interview with SHRM CEO Johny C. Taylor by Jessica Kriegel. His analysis is that DEI is moving backward and is in need of a change. He is recommending that SHRM drop the “E” and just have “D” and “I.” That is a very radical change, and he is taking a lot of flack for it. In this video interview he explains the rationale for this recommended change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxj7jjk8Wpk
The other side of the coin is that DEI is really working well and we should continue it. This viewpoint came in a recent interview with Richard Edelman and others (a little over 1 hour contains much valuable information and data). Quite a contrast from the SHRM viewpoint. Here is a link to that interview.
2024 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report Business and Racial Justice (youtube.com)
14. Here are two (2) articles from the Minority Reporter;
a. The Climate Crisis Is Devastating Black Communities. Public Transit Is a Solution.
b. Maintaining a Diverse Federal Judiciary
https://www.minorityreporter.net/post/maintaining-a-diverse-federal-judiciary
15. Here is one (1) article from the Beacon this week.
The election is coming and we have to talk about it. The Winters Group offers a program that may benefit you, ‘Engaging in Bold, Inclusive Conversations. See link below for details.
16. There are 6 articles that deal with Race, Poverty, Hate or Intolerance found in D&C over the past week.
a.Meal board helps diner fight food insecurity (what a beautiful business plan).
b. Massey’s death prompts rare union move (was this incident too outrageous to support or a new trend?).
c. Leaks, dangerous stairs, vermin, mold (we need to have better, more responsivie oversight by municipalities)
d. GRIDIRON LEGACIES TO BE REMEMBERED (H.S. athletes have more to their stories than football).
e. Report on maternal deaths faults NY Audit (most of this information has been known, why has it been ignored?.
f. Rochester announces first annual Frederick Douglass HBCU Classic (an event where Black youth can visualize a positive future).
OPPORTUNITIES: Please share any opportunities for employment, assistance, grants, etc. that you are aware of with the community by sending them to “tcmitch1951@gmail.com”.
17. We continue to repeat the link Bill Wynne provided to a video of Alvin Mitchell’s for youth at Rochester’s Cobbs Hill. As shared in the past, Alvin is virtually a one man band aiding kids and young adults at Cobbs Hill during the summer…the resources it takes for the program all flows through him with small donations makes this all possible … but he needs help. See below.
https://rocovp.com/2024/07/11/meet-x-the-mayor-of-cobbs-hill
18 Here is an opportunity to directly help the poor and homeless. Please read.
Brooks Landing Diner gives back by serving those in need
SUPPORT BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES:
19. Support the Black Community by supporting their businesses. Please share Black businesses you support and value. A good resource is “Black Owned in Rochester”
Black Owned Businesses Rochester NY Black-Owned In Rochester (blackownedinrochester.com)
20. Interested in eating healthy but don’t have time or know how? Check out the Hungry Root. See below.
21. Looking for a program to immerse your employees in experiential wellness practices that decrease stress to increase productivity and improve retention? Check out MYRetreat, a wellness app that pairs chocolate with mindfulness to dramatically improve habit formation. Also, see the business case for MYRetreat below that.
https://exploringracism.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/MYRetreat-wellness-app.docx
https://exploringracism.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Business-Case-for-MyRetreat.pdf
Here’s a Paddleboarding Chocolate Mindfulness Retreat in partnership with Fingerlakes Yogascapes
If you have an item to include in the week’s sharing we need to have it by noon on Friday.
Thank you!