Group Seeks Volunteers Ready To Listen Peace And Justice League Develops Anti-Racism Program

Just listen.

That’s what members of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane hope to do as part of their “listening project” - a special program aimed at addressing racism.

Trained volunteers will interview young teenagers, encouraging them to talk candidly about the issue.

“If done right, we will bring racism out of the shadows,” said Rusty Nelson, co-director of the Peace and Justice Action League.

Organizers are looking for volunteers to help with the interviews and serve on an advisory committee. The goal is to start laying a foundation for more open dialogue concerning racism, said Cha Merino, project coordinator.

“Listening is really a gift,” Merino said. “Younger people don’t have much of a voice in this city. We want to hear their voices and hear their experiences.”

The project will give people a chance to discover their own thoughts and feelings about racism, Merino said.

Volunteer Cris Currie wants the program to become a long-term tool for improving race relations in Spokane.

“If we listen more, we might be able to find some ways of solving problems that aren’t otherwise evident,” Currie said.

Information collected from interviews will be shared with the public and schools - particularly middle schools.

“We feel that the middle school age is a key age in formulating impressions about diversity,” Nelson said.

The group is concentrating initially on Chase Middle School due to complaints of racial tension there, organizers said.

Last year, parents accused Chase officials of racism when they searched four black students’ lockers after a teacher reported a missing wallet.

The school’s response included hiring a national expert on conflict resolution and bringing in a Seattle-based theater group to perform a play about racism in schools.

Nelson said much more needs to be done.

His group hopes to start the listening project, patterned after a similar effort in Seattle, this spring. Plans, goals and questions for interviewers are being drafted.

Organizers hope the project will make “a better Spokane.”

“My ideal would be that the communities of color here not feel isolated from each other or from the rest of the community,” Merino said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Meeting The group meets Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at 224 S. Howard. Tuesday’s meeting is the last until January. For information, call 838-7870.