Issue Groups
We have five Issue Groups: Education, Law Enforcement, White Privilege, Limited Presence, Employment & Income Gap.
History
In a series of four focus group type meetings between October 2011 and April 2012, a group of 22-25 African Americans met. In dialogues coordinated by the Steering Committee and facilitated by Dr. Wornie Reed, the participants developed a list of racial issues faced by blacks in Montgomery County, Virginia. These issues formed the basis for the larger community’s dialogue, which became the Dialogue on Race Summit.
The Summit successfully put community members in Montgomery County on a course of action. After the summit, the Steering Committee members and willing participants organized into six issue groups representing the areas outlined in 2012 by the focus groups, eventually whittling down the six groups to five: employment and income gap, education, law enforcement, limited presence, and Jim Crow/white privilege. These working groups continue to meet and take action on these items, reporting their progress at subsequent meetings.