APC

May is Jewish Heritage Month, along with AAPI and Mental Health Awareness Month (as we highlighted last week). The White House issued a proclamation that begins with, “This month, we celebrate the enduring heritage of Jewish Americans, whose values, culture, and contributions have shaped our character as a Nation. For generations, the story of the Jewish people — one of resilience, faith, and hope in the face of adversity, prejudice and persecution — has been woven into the fabric of our Nation’s story.” Read the entire Presidential proclamation here.

May is a great time to explore the Jewish experience. You might start with achievements and contributions, but as one reader suggested, it is critically important to also examine the more painful aspects of antisemitism faced by Jewish people throughout history. The Anti-Defamation League found that antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased by more than 35% in 2022. Even more reason to attend the upcoming seminar on Standing Up to Hate Crimes. See details below.

Upcoming Community Event: Standing up to Hate Crimes, Thursday, May 18 4-5:30pm, online via Zoom
Hate crimes are exponentially increasing in California. How do we, as a community, support victims of hate crimes? The State of California Civil Rights Department has developed tools for victims to report hate crimes and receive support. Co-sponsored by the Contra Costa County Libraries. Click here for registration information.
 
Summer Program for Teens: QLIT at The Athenian School, June 20-30
The vision of  this program is for Queer Leaders in Training (QLIT) (rising 9th, 10th, and 11th graders) to find their people, feel safe, proud and affirmed, and realize their power to make a difference in their community and beyond. And of course, have so much fun. The QLIT program will be free of charge or “pay-what-you-can.” Learn more about the camp here.
 
DEI’s 2023-2024 planning is underway. Please share any thoughts or ideas you have with us here. Out of the box thinking is welcome. This is a collaborative process and we encourage participation. Lots of ways to be involved without a huge time commitment.

May is both Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage and Mental Health Awareness Month. The Lafayette Library’s CelebrateDiversity page contains information to help celebrate the month. Library staff have curated booklists for all ages that feature AAPI voices and stories. As well, the county library system posted a quick read titled, HowAreYou? HowAreYouReallyDoing? to their adult blog page.

Upcoming Community Event: Standing up to Hate Crimes, Thursday, May 18 4-5:30pm, online via Zoom
Hate crimes are exponentially increasing in California. How do we, as a community, support victims of hate crimes? The State of California Civil Rights Department has developed tools for victims to report hate crimes and receive support. Co-sponsored by the Contra Costa County Libraries. Click here for registrationinformation.

DEI’s 2023-2024 planning is underway. Please share any thoughts or ideas you have with us here. Out-of-the-box thinking is welcome. This is a collaborative process and we encourage participation. Lots of ways to be involved without a huge time commitment.

DEI’s 2023-2024 planning is underway. Please share any thoughts or ideas you have with us here. This is a collaborative process and we encourage participation. We are also looking for parents to help out with events and communications next year. Specifically, we would like to find people interested in re-posting items to our social media, maintaining an announcements calendar, and supporting a few annual events. Not a lot of hours involved, but definitely rewarding work. If you are interested or have an out of the box idea on how you can be involved, please reach out.

April is Autism Awareness Month honoring and recognizing our fellow community members on the autism spectrum. Have you heard people talk about neurodiversity? Harvard Health explains the origin of the term and application here.
 
DEI’s 2023-2024 planning is underway. Please share any thoughts or ideas you have with us here. This is a collaborative process; we encourage participation. It is important that a plethora of voices and ideas are heard. We are also looking for parents to help out with events and communications next year. We have several active members aging out or retiring. Specifically, we would like to find people interested in re-posting items to our social media, maintaining an announcements calendar, and supporting a few annual events. Not a lot of hours involved, but definitely rewarding work. If you are interested, please reachout.