Special to the Journal
The Revere Human Rights Commission (HRC) held its regular monthly meeting last Thursday, December 4, in the City Council Chambers. On hand for the session were Chair Chaimaa (Shay) Hossaini, vice-chair Herby Jean-Baptiste, Albert Tecci, Sheila Johnson, Kourou Pich, Police Chief Maria LaVita, Fire Chief James Cullen, Dr. Lourenco Garcia, who is the Assistant Superintendent of Equity and Inclusion and Chair of the Equity Advisory Board of the Revere Public Schools, and Steve Morabito, who is the HRC’s Executive Director and the city’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
The session began with the members reciting together the HRC’s Mission Statement:
“The Mission of the Revere Human Rights Commission is to promote human and civil rights and empower all people of Revere by ensuring that everyone, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized, have equitable opportunities, equal access, and are treated with dignity, respect, fairness, and justice.”
Hossaini then presented the usual Land Acknowledgement, in which the Pawtucket tribe was recognized as the original holder of the land.
Hossaini informed the members that the HRC’s application for a grant from the Revere Cultural Council to be used for conducting circle practice listening sessions in each of the city’s six wards had been rejected. She added that a further appeal of the rejection also was rejected.
In response to a question from Johnson, Hossaini said the grant was turned down because the council believed that the HRC’s proposed program did not “provide a lot of public benefit to the city.”
Hossaini next discussed a meeting she had with Deb Peczka, the Director of Elder Services for the city’s Elder Affairs Dept., regarding the possibility of creating outreach questionnaires to be submitted to the city’s seniors at the five senior centers in the city.
Hossaini stated that she will be having further meetings with Peczka in order to formalize plans for the outreach questionnaires.
Hossaini next presented an update on the working groups that the HRC created two years ago. Hossaini suggested that the HRC establish three groups, Senior Connections, Student Involvement, and Community Outreach, “that will allow us to focus on smaller projects within our bandwidth.”
Hossaini, Johnson, and Jean-Baptiste were named to the Senior Connections working group; Tecci, Garcia, and Pich were named to the Student Involvement group; and Hossaini, Johnson, Garcia, and Pich were named to the Community Outreach Group. Chiefs Cullen and LaVita agreed to accept general roles with all of the groups, as did Morabito.
The members then voted unanimously to establish the working groups and their members.
After Hossaini read an email she had received from a member of the community regarding a claim of discrimination, Hossaini asked the members to create another group, a Mediator Group, to review discrimination claims and meet with the person who filed the claim.
The members voted to establish the new group and Hossaini appointed Johnson, Jean-Baptiste, and herself to the group.
The HRC will not be meeting in January and next will meet in February.
