Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission

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The City Council has established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to bear witness to the truth of racial injustice in Iowa City and to carry out restorative justice, through the collection of testimony and public hearings, with such work to include a recommendation to the Council of a plan for dedicating and/or renaming public spaces and/or rights of way in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Public Meeting

The Commission meets the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7PM in Emma J. Harvat Hall, City Hall, 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City. Meeting dates and locations may vary, we highly recommend subscribing to E-subscriptions so you can receive agenda notices directly to your inbox.

Agendas

In order to encourage input from the public, the Commission intends to offer the opportunity to participate in the meeting remotely. However, this meeting is in-person, and those wishing to ensure their ability to participate should attend the meeting in-person. If you instead wish to participate remotely, you may attempt to do so by joining the below link. Please note that the meeting link and ID for the first Thursday is different than the meeting link and ID for the third Thursday.

First Thursday Meetings
ID: 867 2424 8095

Third Thursday Meetings
ID: 895 3695 0485

If you have no computer or smartphone, or a computer without a microphone, you can call in by phone by dialing (312) 626-6799 and entering the meeting ID when prompted.

Watch Previous Meetings

Beginning April 29, 2021, City Channel 4 began providing video of Truth and Reconciliation Commission meetings. You can watch or listen to previous meetings on City Channel 4's website. Video and audio will be uploaded within two business days of the scheduled meeting.

Documents

Duties

The charges of the TRC are as follows:

Fact-Finding - The TRC shall collect evidence, including first-hand testimony, of discrimination and racial injustice in multiple settings and compile a complete record of racial injustices that will inform and support the fundamental institutional and policy reforms necessary to address systemic racism.
Truth-Telling - The TRC shall: 1) Provide multiple fora and creative opportunities for persons impacted and traumatized by racial injustice to share their stories of racial injustice and experience to be heard by: (a) fellow communities of color; (b) a broad cross section of the entire Iowa City community; and (c) key decision-makers in city government, the business community and the University; 2) Explore ways to provide such opportunities through art, music, theater, workshops, rallies and other forms of congregation, multimedia and listening designed to reveal truths that cannot be fully expressed in traditional fora; and, 3) Create a repository for community stories expressed in multiple media (written, video, audio, art) that can be catalogued and used to educate and inform members of the community.
Reconciliation - The TRC shall: 1) Provide opportunity for and facilitate direct conversation among and between community members of color, white community members and representatives of various sectors in which people of color experience discrimination and injustice (e.g. police and protesters, landlords and tenants, students and teachers, patients and health care providers, business owners and staff); 2) Create a replicable model that provides a structure for enabling these conversations throughout the city; 3) Make available opportunities for a broad cross section of the community to learn about discrimination and racial injustice in our community; and, 4) Identify and recommend to the City Council institutional and policy reforms, new social practices, expectations, protocols, habits, rituals, conversations and celebrations that will move Iowa City toward a shared experience of race and difference, justice and equity and community and harmony.

Mission Statement

Who are we? Our Commission represents a collection of citizen activists from diverse backgrounds calling on the Iowa City community to account for their history of racialize oppression. We are individuals who are committed to structural change, truth telling, healing trauma and repair. We share in common a vision for an equitable and sustainable community free of violence and systemic racism. We believe the time has come to foster change.

Our Mission: The Iowa City Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission is committed to implementing and sustaining grassroots, community-centered truth-telling processes to address past and present instances of both direct and indirect actions of violence, discrimination, and racism in Iowa City. We will collect testimony from a variety of institutions including but not limited to schools, housing providers, government officials, health care, banking institutions, and law enforcement.

Indigenous Land Acknowledgement of the Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Human Rights Commission

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