NEW: California Racial Equity Commission Holds Inaugural Community Engagement Meeting in East Bay, Offers New Attendee Resources to Increase Participation 

September 24, 2024

The California Racial Equity Commission (the Commission) held its inaugural Community Engagement Committee meeting in Oakland, California, on Sept. 17 – working with partners Black Cultural Zone, Asian Health Services, SOMOS Mayfair, and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to demonstrate best practices for boosting community engagement and meeting accessibility.  

The inaugural Engagement Committee Meeting was hosted by Commission staff and happened a day before the regularly scheduled Commission meeting in Martinez, California. Commission staff worked with partners to make this first meeting set a new standard for meetings moving forward – making it as easy as possible for people to attend and participate. Staff arranged for in-person participants who had small children with them to have access to free childcare services, a play table in the foyer, and complimentary food and drinks. In-person and virtual participants also had access to interpretation services in six languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Tagalog, which showed how dedicated the Commission’s staff are to language accessibility, an essential practice of community engagement. 

Emphasizing the power food can play in community engagement, Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Black Cultural Zone, said, “If they are hungry, they can’t hear you. So, we need to provide food and information and resources and make them feel welcome regardless of literary or educational status.”  

Chanell Fletcher, Deputy Executive Officer of Environmental Justice, California Air Resources Board, reflected on her role at CARB and what transformative engagement, the panel’s theme, would entail.  “One of the big questions we’re asking ourselves is what does it look like as a state agency to meaningfully engage, not just engage with communities, but work with communities,” she shared. “What does it look like to share power?”   

Commissioners shared how inspiring they found the panel discussion. “I want to begin by thanking all our invited panelists who just gave a master class on community engagement and are demonstrating how the work is happening day-in and day-out… Thank you. We understand the importance of continuing to learn from your efforts. Our purpose is to build and form recommendations for the racial equity framework. For that reason, we are immensely thankful for the time and thoughts you have shared with us today,” expressed Commissioner Angelica Salas.  

After the Community Engagement Meeting, Commissioners attended a Meet-and-Greet event sponsored by Trybe and Blue Shield of California, taking time for fellowship with community members in Oakland and discussing the Commission’s role and goals for producing a racial equity framework over the next year. 

The next day, in another East Bay city, Martinez, California, the Commission held its fourth-ever meeting of the full Commission. The meeting featured Reverend Diana McDaniel and David Salniker of Friends of Port Chicago and Yulie Padmore of Port Chicago Alliance. Both these guests acknowledging the recent exoneration of the Port Chicago 50. The Port Chicago 50 were a group of Black soldiers who stood up to unsafe working conditions in 1944. At that time, more than 200 Black soldiers loading armed munitions died of a workplace explosion. When the dangerous work resumed, 50 Black soldiers refused to work, and the Navy charged them with mutiny. Eighty years later, this past Summer, the U.S. Navy secretary Carlos Del Toro exonerated the soldiers. Port Chicago is near where the Commission meeting happened in Martinez, California. You can learn more by about the events from 1944 by watching the video below. 

Another highlight of the meeting, Dr. Larissa Estes, Executive Director of the Commission, held a fireside chat with Shireen Malekafzali, Chief Equity Officer for the County of San Mateo. Malekafzali opened the chat with a compelling “Why” in advancing equity across sectors.

“My passion comes from being an immigrant to the United States, experiencing…othering,” she said. “But really also being activated by the environmental justice movement…  I wanted to move… to policy work. How do we say what we want? How do we engage in that conversation and draw the map?” Dr. Estes and Malekafzali also discussed lessons learned and best practices for working across government entities and engaging community members to advance racial equity.