Media reports notwithstanding, the Northampton Human Rights Commission is actively and effectively fulfilling its mission as an advisory board to the city. For context, it should be noted that the Northampton electorate voted to change the city charter in 2012, giving the mayor the authority to redesign the missions of all city boards.
The Human Rights Commission’s mission is to serve in an advisory role to the mayor and city councilors.
We do this by actively promoting the 30 ideals articulated in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights in a variety of ways, including newspaper columns and letters to the editor, speaking during the public comment segment at City Council meetings, appearing on the radio, at rallies and at any number of public meetings.
We have spoken forcefully on many issues. This includes taking a public stand against hate when the Israeli flag was burned on the site of Congregation B’nai Israel in Northampton and enthusiastically supporting the annual living wage campaign spearheaded by the amazing Kitty Callaghan and her colleagues at Living Wage Western Massachusetts.
When City Councilor Marianne LaBarge asked for the commission’s support for public benches to be installed in downtown Florence to enhance a sense of community, she got it. When City Councilor Ryan O’Donnell asked the commission to back his proposal to keep the city’s water supply safe from being privatized, the commission affirmed its support.
Commissioners backed a resolution to have Northampton open its arms to Syrian refugees, while at the same time calling on the city to address the needs of our homeless people. The commission endorsed a local resident’s effort to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Spearheaded by City Councilor Alisa Klein, who is also the city’s representative on the commission, the proposal became law.
The commission also urged the City Council to reaffirm a resolution establishing the city as a safe place for unions to organize employees without the threat of retaliation by employers.
Even in its pre-charter reform incarnation as an entity that offered to mediate disputes, the commission is a volunteer body without particular training in labor laws or mediation.
What the commission does have is a bully pulpit, and we use it.
Within weeks of becoming the city’s new top cop, Police Chief Jody Kasper accepted my invitation to come to a commission meeting and speak about horrifying events nationally in which rogue police officers have killed innocent black men, women and children.
Chief Kasper and her team attended two commission meetings to hear from the public and commissioners. Recently she also acted on President Obama’s call to launch a Police Data Initiative. The information collected will provide to the public a clear picture of who gets arrested and for what. It will detail how and when police use force.
As Obama said at the time: “The question then is how do we bridge these issues: concern about fairness and a concern about effectiveness in making sure that police officers get the support they need.” Northampton may be the first city in Massachusetts to respond to the president’s call to action, and one of only about 60 nationwide. The city’s Human Rights Commission fully supports the chief and her Police Department in this initiative.
I am sorry that three commissioners resigned recently. They added great insight and vitality to the commission and I have communicated this to each of them.
Their departures are a reflection of their publicly stated frustration at the limitations of the commission’s role in helping to resolve issues. Yet, since my appointment to the commission in 2012, I see the commission as a valuable platform to shine a light on injustice and to work collaboratively to create an environment that deters future rights violations.
It is a great opportunity to work with Mayor David Narkewicz, Police Chief Kasper, all city councilors and any and all city residents to keep banging the drum for human rights. The mayor himself and his chief of staff, Lyn Simmons, are open and responsive to commissioners’ questions, concerns and comments.
There are many strategies in the struggle for human rights. The commission represents just one approach. It is a long, long march to the day when all the ideals articulated in the UN Declaration of Human Rights become reality, but I am grateful to be on this march with my colleagues on the commission, the mayor, the chief, and everyone else who dreams that a better world is possible.
We are continuing the hard work and welcome the public’s participation.
Natalia Muñoz is chair of the Human Rights Commission.