- Video shows Chief Equity Officer, John Willis, and Racial Equity Commission Chair, Kesha Hamilton.
- The City's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department and Racial Equity Commission are hosting a listening session on October 17.
- The City plans to take input from the meeting to conduct a racial equity audit of the City's operations.
The city is providing a listening ear to neighbors. John Willis, the City of Jackson's Chief Equity Officer, explains, "Are there any disparities we're missing? What does the community see and what is it they want to see in Jackson?"
The City is seeking to find opinions on racial equity in the neighborhood. With the feedback, the Racial Equity Commission will conduct a racial equity audit alongside nonprofit, CNA. Willis says, "Once we get a baseline, we'll begin to understand how everybody feels, how our services reach the constituents, and how the equity feels within the city."
Kesha Hamilton, Chair of the Racial Equity Commission, says she's excited to see the direction the City is going with their racial equity efforts. She says, "The work that racial equity requires is slow, intentional, but steady." According to Hamilton, some efforts have been updating policies through the racial equity lense and eliminating assessments in the MLK Corridor.
However, Hamilton says the work needs to continue outside just City Council. "We need our city to be more inquisitive. We need them to be concerned about this in a way that leads them to asking questions. Then, forming an opinion based on those questions and the information they've learned," says Hamilton.
A conversation that the City and Racial Equity Commission will continue to push. "I really want people in our community to seek, understand, ask questions, and feel free to join the conversation so that they can understand what's going on, so that we can do this work together."
A listening session focused on racial equity in the police department is scheduled for October 17.
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