Board of Commissioners
Chicago Commission on Human RelationsChicago, IL 60654 (Directions)
This is a remote assignment. The meeting agenda and Zoom link will be posted on this webpage.
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team
Bullying, Gender non-conforming youth, Asian hate crimes
The CCHR consists of up to fifteen mayor-appointed members and four ex officio (obligatory due to their position) members.
The CCHR enforces the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance & the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance.
The Human Rights Ordinance defines/prohibits discrimination in employment, public accommodations, & credit transactions.
The Fair Housing Ordinance prohibits housing discrimination…
More on these ordinances here: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cchr/AdjSupportingInfo/AdjFORMS/OrdinanceBooklet2012.pdf
And here’s todays agenda: https://chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cchr/BoardMeetings/BoardAgenda/2021DecBoardAgenda.pdf
The meeting is taking place via ZOOM. I was just elt in. Here’s that link as well: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6949428452
Commissioner Nancy Andrade is welcoming everyone. Minutes will not be gone over from September because quorum will not be met.
Introductions are currently happening.
There are 15 of us on ZOOM. This includes @CollinHazlett and I for Documenters + CynthiaGarcia from @UChicago who has been working w/ the Commission.
Andrade announced the open Investigator 2 position has been filled. This new hire will deal w/ employment discrimination matters
Advisory Council representatives are providing updates.
Kim Fountain provided a brief update on the Women’s Advisory Council + work being done by the gender based violence committee.
Esther Nieves: The Equity Council has a summit in quarter 3-4 of 2022 in the works
Butch Trusty is providing an update on working w/ CPD to set LGBTQ+ liaisons positions. + Updates on mental health awareness campaign for having non-police officers respond to calls –> A committee is helping to include data from these calls that involves the LGBTQ+ experience.
Andrade addresses the New Americans Advisory Council. She says they’re working to bringing attention to human trafficking matters and bring awareness to the work being done on the council.
Andrade says she and CCHR are working to uplift the five advisory councils.
Andrade says the ad-hoc committee to address hate crimes happening to the AAPI community is meeting on the 15th.
She referenced the murder of 71-year old Woom Sing Tse near John C. Haines Elementary School in Chinatown. https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shooting-chinatown-woom-sing-tse-alfonso-joyner/11315148/
No one is signed up for public comment today. Calls for new business are being taken.
Julio Rodriguez has stepped up to address the uptick in bullying in COVID-19. He recalls his experience feeling unsafe in school as a gay man & says it needs to be examined in the home as well.
A public health advisory recently showed that there’s been a 51% increase in suicide attempts among girls compared to a 4% increase for boys.
“Most children included in the report have also lost a loved one to COVID-19,” according to @wttw‘s reporting.
Kim Fountain says when we consider bullies and people inflicting harm, we need to consider that many bullies have been bullied themselves.
“We need to careful how we classify these things,” they said, citing differences in bullying cases in school vs. violence in the home.
Gender nonconforming youth are more likely to fall into the school-to-prison pipeline because of school discipline and biased application of policies, mentions Fountain.
Julio Rodriguez says he’d be happy to help organize a group to come and talk about these issues, though he can’t take this on alone.
Kim Fountain is requesting an offline conversation with him to address the intersection of mental health issues, LGBTQ+ youth and bullying.
Kim Fountain is part of the Stop Asian Hate Committee & says the conversation surrounding Asian hate can’t just happen within the Asian community.
The vast majority of Asian adults (81%) also say violence against them is increasing (@pewresearch)
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/21/one-third-of-asian-americans-fear-threats-physical-attacks-and-most-say-violence-against-them-is-rising/
The meeting has officially ended (not-adjourned because quorum was never met.) There were a lot of floating ideas mentioned by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations that will hopefully be addressed in the new year.
Agency Information
Chicago Commission on Human Relations
CCHR consists of up to fifteen mayor-appointed members and four ex officio members.
According to its mission statement:
The Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) is charged with enforcing the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance [Municipal Code 2-160] and the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance [Municipal Code 5-8]. The Commission investigates complaints to determine whether discrimination may have occurred, and uses its enforcement powers to punish acts of discrimination. Under the City’s Hate Crimes Law, the agency aids hate crime victims. CCHR also employs proactive programs of education, intervention, and constituency building to discourage bigotry and bring people from different groups together.