On June 9th, 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Lane County Board of County Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution drafted by the Equity and Access Advisory Board that acknowledges the work Lane County must do in order to achieve true racial equity.
Now, we need to hear from you. Join us for a virtual listening session where you will be able to voice your thoughts, feelings, and concerns about racial equity in Lane County, and help us answer the following questions:
- What could or should Lane County do in order to ensure that racial equity is achieved?
- How will you know that we got it right?
We will be holding 8 different sessions for the community to share your thoughts — 5 will be more targeted to a specific subject; the other 3 will have a less specific theme.
Below is the list of virtual sessions with corresponding dates and a short description to help you decide which session(s) you would most like to attend (you can attend more than one).
During each session we will provide a brief explanation of Critical Race Theory and describe how it informs this work. We will also provide a review of the resolution and the commitments that Lane County has agreed to uphold. The goal is to listen to what the community has to say and work together to identify, acknowledge and address the root causes of inequities in Lane County services and outcomes and to find antiracist policies to eliminate those inequities. This is intended to be a safe space where our objective is simply to listen and validate what you are feeling and witnessing in an effort to make our communities more equitable and just.
We appreciate your willingness to participate in these listening sessions and your commitment to holding Lane County accountable to working toward racial equity. We look forward to hearing from you.
This is the first stage of what we imagine will be a long journey. The themes and ideas that come out of these listening sessions will be shared during the quarterly update to the Board of County Commissioners on October 6th, 2020.
If you plan to participate in one or more of the sessions and need special accommodations (deaf, people with hearing
loss, language translation), please make your request at
least 48 hours prior to the meeting to [email protected].
Mental Health Listening Session on Tuesday, August 11th, 5:30p.m.-7:30p.m.:
This session is dedicated to hearing from front line workers, people who receive services from, work in and are interested in the mental health system in Lane County. Because it is important to ensure that a wide range of voices participate in the dialogue as Lane County looks to shape a mental health system that achieves racial equity, please share your thoughts and opinions about things Lane County can do.
General Listening Session on Tuesday, August 18th, 5:30p.m.-6:30p.m.
This session is open to everyone. Anyone is invited to register and share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about what actionable things Lane County could or should do in order to ensure that racial equity is achieved.
Health Listening Session on Thursday, August 20th, 5:30p.m.-7:30p.m.
This session is dedicated to hearing from front line workers, people who receive services from, work in and are interested in the health system in Lane County. Because it is important to ensure that a wide range of voices participate in the dialogue as Lane County looks to shape a health system that achieves racial equity, please share your thoughts and opinions about things Lane County can do.
Juvenile Justice Listening Session on Tuesday, September 1st, 5:30p.m.-7:30p.m.
This session is dedicated to hearing from front line workers, people who receive services from, work in and are interested in the juvenile justice system in Lane County. Because it is important to ensure that a wide range of voices participate in the dialogue as Lane County looks to shape a mental health system that achieves racial equity, please share your thoughts and opinions about things Lane County can do.
General Listening Session on Wednesday, September 2nd, 5:30-7:30
This session is open to everyone. Anyone is invited to register and share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about what actionable things Lane County could or should do in order to ensure that racial equity is achieved.
Economic Justice on Thursday, September 3rd, 5:30-7:30
This session is dedicated to hearing from front line workers, advocates, people who receive services from, work in have been historically unheard and/or are passionate about the housing, business, and employment systems in Lane County, positive or negative. Because it is important to ensure that a wide range of voices participate in the dialogue as Lane County looks to shape an economic system that achieves racial equity, please share your thoughts and opinions about things Lane County can do.
Public Safety Interest Listening Session, October 1st, 5:30-7:30
This session is dedicated to hearing from front line workers, people who receive services from, work in and are interested in the public safety system in Lane County. Because it is important to ensure that a wide range of voices participate in the dialogue as Lane County looks to shape a mental health system that achieves racial equity, please share your thoughts and opinions about things Lane County can do.
Sesión General de Escuchar (en español), 27 de enero, 2021, 6:00-8:00p.m.
registrarse aqui
Esta sesión está disponible al público en general. Todos están invitados a inscribirse y compartir sus pensamientos, sentimientos y opiniones acerca de las cosas accionables que el Condado de Lane podría o debería hacer para garantizar que se logre la equidad racial.
It is important to note that each session will be recorded and if you would like to share, you must pre-register using the following links. All meetings will be held between 5:30-7:30 PM.
If you are unable to join us, or have participated in a listening session and have additional information to share, please take a minute to fill out this survey. Encuesta en español
We will be using GoToMeeting. Once registered, you will receive a link that will prompt you to download a video conferencing application that is free and secure.