GREENFIELD — The city has hired two experienced facilitators to host a series of community conversations on race, gender, class and equity, among other topics.
“My hope is that this series will facilitate substantive and frank conversations on difficult topics that have the potential to bring the community together, rather than create divisions,” said Mayor Roxann Wedegartner. “I invite the community to join in the dialogue as we explore these important issues guided by experienced facilitators.”
The first of the “Dialogues Across Differences: A Community Conversation” sessions — hosted by Tanisha Arena, executive director of Arise for Social Justice in Springfield, and JAC Patrissi, an internationally known trauma clinician and author — will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Mondays, Nov. 28, Dec. 5 and Dec. 19. All three sessions will take place virtually.
“In this series of three meetings, community members will be invited to learn and practice a set of dialogue skills as we talk in real time about issues of deep import to us all,” Patrissi said in a statement. “Each session will build on the next. Please plan to attend all three if you can.”
The series comes as the community grapples with conversations around race and racism, particularly in the wake of the Hampshire County Superior Court jury verdict that found that Police Chief Robert Haigh Jr. and the Greenfield Police Department racially discriminated against former Officer Patrick Buchanan when he was denied a promotion in 2014.
“It is possible to navigate the most difficult, racially sensitive topics in a way that increases deep understanding,” Arena said in a statement. “We can practice talking to one another and solving problems in a way that moves us forward as a community.”
Those who wish to take part in the dialogue can access all three conversations at bit.ly/GfieldDialogues. Log-in information is also available on the calendar on the city website at greenfield-ma.gov/calendar. There is no charge to attend these sessions.
“I would invite all of you and members of the public to attend any one or all three of the meetings,” Wedegartner told city councilors and community members at a recent City Council meeting. “I’m looking forward to this. It’s a step in the right direction.”
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.