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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, where I
work, is having an interesting forum this Friday. It's one of the monthly forums
like the one we held last November on the growing arts community. This one,
though, is special because it's being planned and moderated by the teenagers in
our Youth Leadership Program.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here's the press release. Please come if you find
it intriguing:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14px"><FONT size=3><FONT face=Verdana>The teen
members of the UNITY Youth Leadership Program invite the entire community to the
Northern Berkshire Community Coalition’s May monthly forum, when the Youth
Leaders will facilitate a community discussion of “Diversity and
Discrimination.” The forum takes place on Friday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to noon at
the First Baptist Church, Eagle and Main streets, North Adams.<BR><BR>The Youth
Leaders chose these issues to discuss with adults in the community because they
saw that everyone, no matter what their background, has had some experience that
taught them what it feels like to be treated unfairly. They observed that even
though these issues affect everyone in the community, they are not often
discussed openly. <BR><BR>At the forum, the Youth Leaders will draw on their
personal experiences as well as the facilitation skills and diversity training
they have received to facilitate a unique community meeting you will not want to
miss! Together the group will explore the different kinds of discrimination,
such as racism, homophobia, and classism, that exist throughout society, with
the hope that the participants will think as a community about how to address
discrimination and ultimately move beyond tolerance to full acceptance.
<BR><BR>For further information about the forum or about the UNITY program,
contact Mary Parkman at 663-7588 or at <FONT
color=#0000ff><U>mparkman@nbccoalition.org</U></FONT>.</FONT><BR></FONT></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>