community conversations out of a growing awareness that in America today, people with disparate political, religious, cultural and social views are struggling with one another. Using the Conversation Café model for holding community conversations, we developed the ‘Let’s Talk’ series of programs, which encourage curiosity about other’s ideas and promotes respect, active listening, and problem solving among people of different points of view. We have held 20 ‘Let’s Talk’ programs on many divisive topics, such as the Second Amendment, Islamophobia, the conservative/liberal political divide, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and racism and we have held 9 other events specifically about antiracism, including 2 book discussions. The programs have been attended by more than 800 people, and participants have asked for more. These programs help us discover what unites us rather than what tears us apart.

So early this year, when a number of citizen leaders, out of concerns about the current climate with regards to matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, were looking for a way to engage in discussions on race, the Library was a ready partner, along with City Manager Norb Klopsch and School Superintendent Kyle Ramey.

We started meeting in January to talk through how we might create a coalition that would foster an inclusive community through education, programs and projects that explore and celebrate diversity. While we were under stay-at-home orders and could not meet, the issues of race in America took a more urgent turn, and as soon as it was safe to do so, we renewed our effort to establish By-Laws for the Oakwood Inclusion Coalition that you have before you today.

The group will be a volunteer organization of government, school, and library leaders, private citizens, faith, ethnic and cultural leaders, and representatives from the business and media communities. We look forward to sponsoring, hosting, and supporting events, programs, and educational opportunities that will help us understand and value diversity in all its forms.

We will spend the remainder of this year developing the organization and leadership team and building membership, and in particular, we are looking for community volunteers to assist the OIC with obtaining 501c3 status, and we are also looking for community volunteers to assist with branding and website development. We hope to hold our first meeting in January.

“It is really good to be here tonight to present a new phase in a long-standing effort. Having the advantage of many, many years as a resident of Oakwood, I am aware of how we have progressed as a community. Our population has not grown in numbers, but it has grown significantly in the diverse mixture of our residents. We were a great city 50 years ago but we are an even better city today. Enjoying neighbors with different histories, nationality, faiths, and ethnic backgrounds is a positive addition to our community. It opens the door to discovery, learning and lots of enjoyment. For our children growing up, the experience allows them the comfort of familiarity when their lives take them beyond our borders. Over the years, all this happened very naturally, without disruption or fanfare.

The benefits were recognized so efforts were made to ensure success with what we were doing. For a long time we had every year a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. The breakfast event focused on educating our school aged students. To this day, we regularly invite new residents to a breakfast to welcome them and introduce them to highlights of city services and opportunities in the cities. We are conscious that including takes more than good thoughts.

Many voices throughout our community encourage us to travel further along this path and do so in a purposeful manner. The development of the Oakwood Inclusion Coalition will give structure to this effort. Fortunately, we are the beneficiaries of highly successful programs developed at Wright Library under Kristi Hale’s leadership. They will significantly help us in the development of the Oakwood Inclusion Coalition programs.

As citizens, we find Oakwood a great place to call home. We are grateful for the many amenities that make our community appealing and strive to maintain them. It is what we offer to people considering making Oakwood their home in the future. More and more of our citizens want assurances that ‘welcome’ is expressed as well. The Oakwood Inclusion Coalition’s mission is to assure that the message of welcome is clear and genuine both within our community and beyond our borders. With the participation of our citizens we will find a common voice that is heard by all and through consensus remove any barriers