Race Relations

About the Mayor's Summit on Race, Culture and Human Relations

The focus of this effort is on communication, reconciliation and responsibility to ensure that the issue of race relations remains a priority. The Mayor's Summit is administered and coordinated by the Equity & Workforce Development department. The goal is to develop strategies to address its impact on policy, social, economic and cultural matters.

Day of Dialogue: A Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration

Every January, the City of Tallahassee's Equity and Workforce Development department holds its annual Day of Dialogue in celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Citizens are invited to express your perspectives on race relations and diversity at this open mic forum.

15th Annual Day of Dialogue - January 16, 2012

This year's program will focus on Dr. King's philosophy of A Beloved Community - Redefining What it Means to Belong.

It will be held on Monday, January 16 (the observed Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday) from 2:00-4:30 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers, located on the second floor of City Hall (300 S. Adams St.). Seating begins at 1:30 p.m. Free parking will be available at the Kleman Plaza Parking Garage (enter via Duval St. only).

A panel of community leaders in the areas of healthcare, financial literacy, cultural arts and religion will discuss the "Beloved Community" concept in an effort to raise awareness around issues that unite us as a community and those things that can keep us from achieving our full potential. Panel members include:

Imam Muhammad Abulezz - the Islamic Center of Tallahassee
Karen Gillespie - Executive Director of Mind over Money Consulting, Inc.
Judith Barrett - Executive Director of Ability 1st Center for Independent Living
Clyde Diao - Chairman of the Asian Coalition of Tallahassee (ACT)
Dr. Kenneth Fowler - Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Traumatologist
Joe Quetone - Executive Director, Governor's Council on Indian Affairs
Teandra G. Delancy - former AmeriCorps Project manager and Certified Bankruptcy Counselor
Sulaiman Ali - local businessman and member of the Islamic community

A moderator will facilitate discussions between the panel and the audience. The last 30 minutes of the event will be devoted to capturing ideas that can be implemented to close the gap in achieving Dr. King's vision of a "Beloved Community." Those ideas will be used to develop a set of action steps that the community can fulfill. The action steps will be placed on the City's Talgov.com website and the public will be encouraged to select items they wish to accomplish to help advance social change in our community.

View the flyer for the 15th Annual Day of Dialogue (PDF)

Tallahassee Human Relations Council (THRC)

The mission of THRC is to serve in an advisory capacity to the Tallahassee City Commission and to the Equity and Workforce Development (EWD) on issues presented to the Council. Some of these issues include:

Promoting an understanding of human relations issues among and between members of the Council and the community, as well as internal diversity matters to improve the quality of life;
Developing relationships between diverse community groups;
Establishing an objective process by which issues related to diversity in the community may be proactively addressed.

The THRC meetings are held the 3rd Wednesday of every month in the Florida Room from 6:00-8:00pm.

THRC Council