Chair’s Corner

By Katherine Brewer, CRAC chair

The Tennessee Civil Rights Advisory Committee started the fiscal year by welcoming our newest members. Starting for fiscal year 2023 we are joined by Frank Barbour and Devin Ross as our new Associate Members, as well as Eric Peitz as our new Asian American/Pacific Islander Emphasis Program Manager and Sarah Singhurst as our Federal Women’s Program Manager. We also had Lauren Carter join us late last fiscal year as the LGBTQ+ Emphasis Manager. We are excited to welcome our new members!

We were able to start the new fiscal year right by gathering in Knoxville for our first quarter meeting. We prepared for the new year by drafting our FY23 Business Plan, discussing the fall recruitment events we attended and how we can improve recruitment going forward, making field office Civil Rights review assignments, and getting updates from our SEPMs. Tammy Swihart also shared the results of the TN and KY Disability Survey (found here) to initiate a discussion on the disability related resources, training, and education needs of the state.

During the meeting we also visited the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture on the University of Tennessee’s campus. The museum’s primary focus is on the natural and cultural history of Tennessee, but it also has rotating exhibits celebrating other cultures as well. We were very lucky to be there during The Spirit of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) exhibit. The brightly colored displays contained ofrendas (offerings) which take the form of alters piled with photos of lost loved ones, their favorite food items, candles, and many other significant items, as well as art from local artists displaying the traditional alebrijes (spirit guides) and calaveras (skull or skeletons). Día de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico by the joyful gathering of friends and family to pay respect to those they lost. To learn more about Día de los Muertos check out Dre Funk’s article in the latest Tennessee Civil Rights Newsletter found here.

We are intending to continue our way across the state for our quarterly meetings and our next stop is scheduled for McMinnville at Tennessee State University’s Otis Floyd Nursery Research Center on February 1-2. Our intention with meeting in each part of the state during the fiscal year is not only to be more equitable with the burden of travel among our members, but to also offer the opportunity to have staff from across the state join us. If you would like to attend a meeting, to either present a topic or just listen in, please let me know and request approval from your supervisor. We would enjoy having you join us!

As always if you have any feedback or questions for the CRAC you can provide them anonymously here.

Happy New Year!