Last October at CAHRO's Civil Rights Retreat sixty California Civil Rights leaders met to discuss the future of California. They made recommendations and encouraged CAHRO to use our
conference as the foundation for establishing a statewide collaboration of human relations leaders drawn from academia, religious congregations, and community advocacy organizations to formulate policies and implement strategies to
promote and protect efforts to build harmonious relations and combat discrimination. CAHRO has worked hard to make sure this is not just a show and tell, talking head event, but an opportunity for people to learn
about critical issues, and see the challenges and opportunities in coalition building. There will be workshops providing skills in building and sustaining coalitions and organizing. Some workshops will address the challenges
in coalition work between different groups serving different constituents. Examples are environmental and labor organizations, religious and gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered groups, etc. There will also be
skills-building workshops on conducting outreach using the internet, youth outreach and alternative forms of organizing utilizing cultural forms like hip hop, community organizing as well as technical assistance in raising funds,
using the media, sustaining coalitions, and organizing students.
The issues of the widening income gap and the demographic shifts in California will be analyzed as they impact intergroup relations.
Following these presentations participants will be able to meet with others from their region to discuss how these issues are impacting their area and explore how they can work cooperatively to heal schisms forming between their
constituencies.
CAHRO will use the occasion to honor people who have done exemplary work in human relations at our awards banquet scheduled for Friday evening, November 5th. California Attorney General Bill
Lockyer will serve as the emcee for the event.
Input from the participants at the conference will guide CAHRO's efforts over the next few years in establishing a permanent human relations forum that will work towards
creating an inclusive society where all people will have the opportunity to set constructive life objectives and achieve them without fear of violence or arbitrary discrimination.
