YOUTH ROUND TABLE December 17

On Wednesday, December 17th, the Christian Education and Faith Formation Ministry sponsored a round table discussion and teach-in with youth, their parents, guardians and interested adults of South Euclid United Church of Christ.  The goal for the evening discussion was to give young people the tools necessary for surviving an encounter with law enforcement personnel.  The objective was to strengthen them with the knowledge of what their civil rights are and to give examples of how to conduct themselves when approached by the police.  Members of the panel were James W. Barrett, former Safety Director of the City of Cleveland, Shakyra Diaz who is Program Manager for the American Civil Liberties Union, B. Mae Payne, Lieutenant of the Cleveland Clinic police force and Earl Williams, Esq., Councilman for the City of Shaker Heights.

The discussion was lively with panelists giving examples of when and how to extract information which can be used later if need be.  By the same token youth were encouraged to show respect for the law and what actions would most likely lead to successful results for both the youths and the police officers.

This teach-in was representative of how South Euclid UCC can be the catalyst for reaching out to the community and our church membership to provide help on critical issues. The event was very well attended.  Discussion centered on a publication produced by ACLU called What to do if you’re stopped by the police that clearly listed what to do and what not to do in a given situation.  This publication can be secured from Rev. Danage or Rev. Carla Jo Howlett. 

Members of the team who helped to make this a dynamic evening possible were Rev. Avery Danage, Aubrie Erkins, B. Mae Payne, Manual Roderick and Eleanore Dees. We want to thank our staff for their assistance, Kathie Buckner for capturing the images of the evening and Leon Bibb who stated so well that the purpose of this type of discussion was to teach youth how to survive an encounter with the police.  Reporters and photographers from station WKYC captured the discussion and aired it on the eleven o’clock news on two occasions that very evening.