RACED founders Monique Salhab, left, and Kendra Toth are the speakers for the Sept. 28 Voices of Los Alamos presentation. Courtesy photo
VOICES OF LOS ALAMOS NEWS
Please join us from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28 for our next Voices of Los Alamos Zoom presentation by RACED co-founders Monique Salhab and Kendra Toth. Founded in 2019, RACED (https://www.racedconsulting.com/), a cross-race, cisgendered-queer team of facilitators, helps people to actively deconstruct organizational beliefs, practices, and policies that perpetuate racist behaviors beliefs through fostering healthy conflict in a nurturing environment.
Monique and Kendra will share how they’ve built personal and organizational practices to problematize white supremacy culture, not cultures of color. Their work illuminates the challenges to creating real equitable and inclusive practices that nurture a diverse community.
The Zoom link will be shared with our Facebook group and mailing list prior to the meeting.
BIOs
A queer first generation American and Post 9-11 veteran, Monique Salhab has advocated and worked with vulnerable communities – unhoused men and women, formerly incarcerated women and veterans struggling with PTSD, addiction and moral injury. Additionally, she co-managed a veteran farm and conducted outreach to/with communities, educating/advocating others to grow food as another form of revolution. Monique conducts trainings on NVDA, Safety and Community Defense, Bystander Intervention and Oppositional Strategy for Organizing. She is a Lifetime Member of Veterans For Peace (VFP) and served on the VFP National Board of Directors from 2015-2018.
Kendra Toth has over 15 years of experience in classroom teaching, school leadership, facilitation, and one-on-one mentoring. She is a certified mediator and holds certification in Mindful Facilitation: Theory and Practice. She started her anti-racism journey when charged with fostering an Intercultural Education initiative as a school leader. Kendra is a founding member of Women, Whiteness, and Leadership which works to provide peer support for white women committed to anti-racist practices in their professional settings.
Other announcements
● Sept. 30 at 2 p.m. MST, Statewide Town Hall with Senator Martin Heinrich for Indivisibles in NM (Voices of LA is an Indivisible group). Heinrich will make some remarks then take questions from the attendees. Register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwocOGurjIjEtG4y7_-ofIXnWKEDFSMbT9V After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
● A shout-out to the New Mexico Recycling Coalition who just received a $88,000 grant from USDA to divert solid waste from rural communities (< 10k population). NMRC executive director Sarah Pierpont, who spoke to our group last April, wrote the proposal.
● You can now request your absentee ballot online at nmvote.org. Have your driver’s license ready, update your mailing address, and submit your ballot request! https://portal.sos.state.nm.us/OVR/WebPages/AbsenteeApplication.aspx
● The US postal service recently put out a recommendation to mail ballots by Oct. 20 to ensure delivery before the deadline. Even better, plan to drop off your ballot at a drop location. If there is more than one voter in your household, remember that voting envelopes are personal, so make sure you are signing the envelope with your name (I learned that the hard way!). If you’d rather vote in person, early voting begins Oct. 6.
● The 2020 Census deadline is approaching and New Mexico’s response rate is currently rating very low! If you haven’t done so yet, fill out your response by Sept. 30 at http://www.2020census.gov or call 844-330-2020. Spread the word!
● The newly formed Racial Justice Action Advisory Council is a grass-roots group of Los Alamos citizens focused on racial justice and anti-racism actions. Membership is open to all and areas of interest need participants: communications, allyship, BIPOC caucus, lab, school, healthcare. For more info email Racial Justice Los Alamos . A representative of the RJAAC will be speaking at the LWV Lunch with a Leader in November.
● Join Voices of Los Alamos Facebook page for ongoing events and updates. Voices of Los Alamos is a non-partisan, progressive advocacy group created as a way for Los Alamos residents to voice their concerns over current political events, both at the state and federal levels. VOLA strives to build community, educate, discuss, and enact action plans, with a focus on the following issues: social justice, women’s rights, human rights, education, environment, health care, gun safety and election reform.