[Peace-discuss] Fwd: The Struggle for Equitable Justice

Sat Nov 7 13:18:16 CST 2009

Joy,
The thing about mediation is that both sides need to agree 1) that there's a problem and 2) that coming together can solve it... and (in case you've missed it) there's considerable reluctance from "their" side. 

That being said, the community is extremely upset about a Champaign policemen's shooting and killing of an unarmed 15 year old and won't let the issue drop until its many concerns are addressed... so it may be worth contacting Carol Ammons to offer yr services -- you probably remember Carol from the MLK panel discussion that you moderated in 2009. 

Good luck --  it's a worthwhile cause, to say the least.
 --Jenifer

--- On Fri, 11/6/09, Melodye Rosales <melodye at nitrogendesign.com> wrote:

From: Melodye Rosales <melodye at nitrogendesign.com>
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Fwd: The Struggle for Equitable Justice
To: "Peace-discuss" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Date: Friday, November 6, 2009, 10:43 AM

Thank you Joy for your sincere offer to mediate---but the climate in Champaign is decades old and in my opinion, beyond mediation.  I don't speak for the community so I cannot accept or reject your offer.  

That said, I will answer your questions regarding "my" personal take on the matter:

"I would like to know what your bottom line is?" 
Building and Sustaining an Equitable Community

"and how it could be achieved?" 
To have those with the power of the pen look beyond their financial gains in bricks and mortar and rebuild their community assets by investing in human equity.

"Dream big."
To have the City held under a "Consent Decree" that way if the City is doing everything they claim the Consent Decree will not step in and oversee the process----however, if the City is not meeting its obligations a Consent Decree will make certain the community---All of the community has an equitable seat at the table.

Again, I appreciate your concerns--I will direct you to: 

"Carol Ammons" <carolammons at gmail.com> 

If you would like to connect with someone who is one of our community organizers and is a voice of the issue we are currently dealing with.

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 5:37 PM, <jgeo61 at comcast.net> wrote:

Hello Melodye,

I am hearing from you that too many voices are not being listened to, respected and taken seriously.  I am also hearing that you feel that past efforts have been quite artificial, meaningless and not done in good faith by the other side.  Am I close?  I would like to know what your bottom line is and how it could be achieved?  Dream big.

We are local, serving Champaign Urbana and surrounding counties.

In Peace,
Joy
Prairie Land Conflict Mediation Center

----- Original Message -----
From: "Melodye Rosales" <melodye at nitrogendesign.com>

To: jgeo61 at comcast.net
Cc: discuss at communitycourtwatch.org, "Peace-discuss" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Thursday, November 5, 2009 12:53:35 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Part III Post-Kiwane Carrington: The Struggle for  Equitable Justice

Thank you Joy for weighing in.  Where are you located?

The final straw was the city bringing in Bergeron--who was here two-years ago----mediated---heard the complaints--and the CCAPP members at that time can attest to nothing was changed---just window dressing added----new members were recruited and some of the older ones stopped coming out of frustration.  Most recently another fresh crop of quasi-Black leaders were asked to join the group----even the CCAPP members already in place don't know who asked the more recent ones to join----CCAPP is a controlled group----Steve Carter's comments this past Tuesday were misleading when he spoke about the CCAPP.  

Ms. Joy---our community has been patient---has sat at the table----before the CCAPP there was a group the city formed called Study Circles for about eight years----My Husband, Giraldo Rosales was part of Study Circles----when that began to wane, Giraldo applied and joined the Human Relations Committee---became the Vice-Chair----during that time the HRC received citizen complaints--many about the CPD---Giraldo realized that HCR had no power and that the complaints they were able to review had already been filtered by the City---HRC had no authority to do anything with the complaints---to this day--the HCR is window dressing to make it appear the city is meeting State and Federal mandates for the Civil Rights act----During Giraldo's tenure as a Vice-Chair of HCR Tracy Parsons (Director of the Urban League of Champaign County) and Cleveland Jefferson (Director of the NAACP of Champaign County) brought in a request/demand for a citizen's review
 board----Giraldo quickly realized the HCR was unable to advocate and back such a proposal to fruition and that is when Giraldo ran for City Council at-Large and was elected----inbetween Giraldo's VP of HCR and his transition to his elected position, after Parsons and Jefferson's proposal was made public-----Steve Carter informally asked the three of them plus a few others to come in and share their voice with him-----Carter's rationale at that time was that he was the person responsible for the city and all of its governing bodies (which included the CPD)----that was approx. 10-years-ago----during those years Carter invited other's he perceived were Black Leaders to join in the informal conversations-----during this time----at some point---this group was given a name (Police Community Review Committee---later to become Champaign Community And Police Partnership)----throughout its tenure CCAPP has had many Black and White community leaders who were
 concerned about the growing deterioration between the CPD and the Black community and out of frustration the City was not acting upon their advice or appearing to acknowledge the problems were serious enough to follow a course more effective in resolving the festering crisis----they left the group---however---they were always replaced by new identified "Black" leaders---Giraldo remained the only regular member who attended all of the monthly meetings since the conversations began---the reason Giraldo has not left the group (though tempted many times out of the same frustrations) is because he knows that once he leaves, so does the history of the conversations discussed during the 10-years----Giraldo knows that the City would love for him to stop coming so they can start erasing the intended purpose---and the subsequent conversations and promises made and not met---or made into a totally different "feel good" public display that had short term effect and
 was simply a distractor from what they were really being pressured to do by the committee.

For more information about my Husband, Giraldo Rosales----  www.giraldorosales.com

What the Black Community does not realize is that the City has already begun to dismantle the CCAPP.  They would love for Giraldo to disappear so they are not bothered by his monthly tone of dismay and calling them out on what they have not done---which by default educates the new recruits----the City would love for the Black Community to be the authors of the dissolve so they won't be blamed-----the City would love to pit Black Leaders against Black Leaders with the traditional divide and conquer when you can't win fairly----the City would love to have another group form who they can feed information to-----that will take a few years to begin to understand the layers of B.S. that the City has covered the community with.

What should be happening is that the Terry Townsend's and other interested persons should not ask to dismantle the CCAPP--but to have this group opened to the public and once that morphs---so does the title and purpose of this group. The goal should be to reeducate those CCAPP members who have bought into the illusion that the City respects their input.  I can assure you not all CCAPP members are on board with the illusion---but as a minority---they can not influence the majority---but they have knowledge and understanding of the game plan--both original and the revised editions.

Forgive my hurried jargon and bulleted points----but I wanted to get this to sooner then later and have no time to sound eloquent

PeaceOut
Melodye

On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 11:34 AM, <jgeo61 at comcast.net> wrote:

Hello Melodye,

Thanks for sharing this.  As an active mediator with my own non profit center I wanted to share that if one side, say the police departments, really have no interest in working for a resolution to an issue and are on the defensive, mediation will never work.  That said, a good mediator will be able to bring out important information from both parties in order for each side to have a better chance of coming to a resolution.  I would like folks to "keep the faith" concerning whether to mediate or not.  I do believe that the benefits far out weigh the costs.  

I am interested in furthering this conversation.

In Peace,
Joy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Melodye Rosales" <melodye at nitrogendesign.com>

To: "Courtwatch Discuss" <discuss at communitycourtwatch.org>
Cc: "Peace-discuss" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 11:48:40 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Part III Post-Kiwane Carrington: The Struggle for Equitable Justice

Part III   The Struggle for Equitable Justice

Post-Kiwane: A City Preparing for Community Building or A City Fulfilling its Divide and Conquer Plan in order to achieve perceived calm and control.

"...Kenith Bergeron is the U.S. Justice Departments Conciliation Specialist that Champaign City Manager, Steve Carter brought in to "so-called" mediate, with the City's hand-picked choices they've entitled Champaign's Black Leaders, after the tragic death of 15-year-old Kiwane Carrington, a slightly built, unarmed, African-American youth.  Bergeron is not new to Champaign or the climate unrest among the racial divide.  Bergeron was called in by the City Manager two-years-ago after the Brian Chesley "resisting arrest" case that led to this African-American youth's arrest that also caused unrest in the Black Community, leading to protests and public complaints about the Champaign Police Department "Use of Force" tactics and Bias Profiling in areas heavily populated by African-Americans..."

Part III:

http://www.mail-archive.com/mpls@mnforum.org/msg12296.html

[Mpls] To mediate or not

timothy connolly
Mon, 29 Jul 2002 23:59:19 -0700

Sunday's StarTribune contained a report that the U.S.
Justice Department was undertaking a preliminary
inquiry of complaints from members of minority
communities that the Minneapolis Police are guilty of
biased and brutal law enforcement.

As part of this process the Community Relations
Service of the Justice Dept. has offered mediation
services to the city.

St. Paul recently underwent a similar mediation
process between the NAACP and the St. Paul Police
Dept.

I am of the opinion that it would be a major mistake
to engage in mediation before there were a thorough
independent investigation of the Minneapolis Police
Department.

I'm certain that if the Justice Department conducts a
preliminary inquiry they will find probable cause to
proceed further with a full investigation.

It is disturbing that this story has been unfolding
for several months behind closed doors and only now
are we hearing of it.

The Mayor's office will churn out reams of happy news
but would they release a statement saying that the
Mayor has turned down the offer of the Justice Dept.
to mediate between the city and its minority
communities?

You can bet that if the Mayor engages the services of
the Justice Department's community relations service
we will see a press release leading us to believe it
is a good thing.

At the end of Sunday's report, Kenith Bergeron of the
Justice Dept. Mediation service said that "in general
he thought they(the Justice Dept. Civil Rights
Divsion)typically would not be investigating a city
involved in mediation."

He added, "they would see a city in mediation as going
forward. They would see a city working with the
community."

I would see a city wanting to skirt the issue.

I would see a city afraid to look closely at itself.

The time for mediation is AFTER an investigation, not
before.

Tim Connolly
Downtown West 

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