Inaugural Racial Healing Event To Be Held Oct. 21 in Brooklyn Center
The cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, and the Osseo Area School School District are partnering for a first-of-its-kind event promoting racial justice and healing.
The inaugural Racial Healing Initiative event takes place Saturday evening at the Brooklyn Center Community Center.
The event includes a free community dinner that begins at 5 p.m. followed by a Q&A with Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated Five in the 1989 New York Central Park jogger rape case.
Salaam was recently elected to the city council in Harlem.
LaToya Turk, a director in administration for Brooklyn Center, says this is the first time Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center have teamed up to hold a joint conversation focused on racial healing.
Turk said the past several years have led to a heightened awareness of racial injustice in the community and society. She said events like these are a chance to spark conversation across the Brooklyns.
“There’s a large awakening and need for that conversation to happen in a safe place, to be able to have open dialogue and start the healing process here in the city,” Turk said.
In addition to the Q&A, there will also be a partial screening of the movie “When They See Us,” a short film based on Salaam’s story.