At its monthly workshop tomorrow night, Sunday, August 12, Santa Monica’s Committee for Racial Justice will take a proactive position on the issue of brown/black tensions.

In a statement, the committee said, “We don’t want to wait and hold our breath as school starts and wonder if there will be a repeat of some of the violent altercations between Latino and African American high school students that we witnessed last year. It’s not clear that any of those tensions were effectively addressed in the wake of several such incidents. No one has all the answers and there aren’t easy fixes, but let’s begin the conversation with facilitator Art Cribbs. Our hope is to develop ideas to present to SMMUSD.”

Cribbs, Executive Director of Clergy and Laity for Economic Justice, will be the featured speaker at the workshop. His subject will be
“Building Peace at Santa Monica High School: Changing the Racial Climate for Black and Brown Students.”

The workshop will be held Sunday, August 12th, 6-8:30pm at the Church in Ocean Park; 235 Hill Street Santa Monica. Everyone is invited. A free dinner will be served. Child care and Spanish translation will be available to people who RSVP today, August 11.

Who is Art Cribbs? Art Cribbs writes:
” I was born and reared in South Central Los Angeles in the Watts-Willowbrook-Compton corridor. In high school, I worked with the National Conference of Christians and Jews (later renamed National Conference for Community and Justice). The NCCJ provided grounding for my involvement in race, community, and police relations. That was in the aftermath of the 1965 “Watts Riots” or uprising. Later, I worked with and for the American Friends Service Committee where I was trained in nonviolence and peaceful resolution of conflict. Since then and over many years, I have been active in the United Church of Christ as an executive in the overseas office and head of the denomination’s office of communication. I was seconded to Los Angeles in 1993 in the aftermath of the “Rodney King police brutality” trial to work closely with congregations and community based organizations. Specifically, my assignment began as an effort to bring together Korean and African American faith and community leaders to address the tension within and between those groups. My assignment evolved and broadened to include Latino and White groups and their leaders as well. Through the UCC, I have had extensive exposure to anti-racism programs and workshops. I am very much interested in opportunities that open conversations and allow diverse and divergent voices to be heard. Between 1990 and 1992, I was the national coordinator of a process titled, “After 500 Years, What Is Our Reality?” We held a symposium in Chicago and a follow-up event in Maryland that brought together academics, activists, faith and community leaders, etc. from the international communities of this hemisphere.

“Professionally, I am a journalist (worked for ABC News, CBS News, Independent News Service, CNN, and Essence Communications); pastor (San Diego and San Marino); and, now a community organizer as executive director of CLUE-CA. I earned a BA in political science from the University of California, Berkeley; Master of Divinity from The Chicago Theological Seminary; certificate in clinical pastoral education from the University of Chicago Medical Centers; and a Doctor of Ministry in ethics from The Claremont School of Theology.”