Supplement for members of the
Nationalities Council of Indiana, Inc.
1. The Nationalities Council is participating in discussions regarding Amy Minick Peterson�s International Welcome Center initiative. Frances Russell (individual member) attended one of the three roundtables, Susan McKee (president) attended one, and our views were presented by K.P. Singh at the third. While the proposal is still in the planning stages, we are pleased that the Mayor�s Office is taking an active role in local immigration issues.
2. At the discussion roundtable session Susan attended in July, Karen Celestino Horseman (the City-County Council�s first Hispanic member) took center stage with a story. She�d invited the priest from a local Sikh gurduwara to give the invocation at a council meeting, and three of the councilors walked out in protest! As the discussants around the conference table -- including the Mayor�s wife -- recoiled in horror, yet another resolution to educate Indy about the diversity in its midst emerged. Indy can't help immigrants if the "natives" will rise up in opposition to �pandering to foreigners who ought to go back where they came from�.
3. Which brings up a related topic. Susan, as part of the Race Relations Leadership Network, is working with staff of the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee to develop a quick-and-dirty ten-minute presentation on the diversity in Indianapolis to use as a wake-up call for local CEOs and civic leaders (all the guys who can�t see that Indianapolis is now, has always been, and will continue to be a diverse community). Ammunition welcome!
4. If� you doubt the necessity of the public education task, read the lead editorial in The Indianapolis Star on 27 July (http://indyinternational.info/star_manners27july2002.htm) and a follow-up letter (http://indyinternatinal/star_mannersreply1.htm) � about the shabby treatment of �foreign� visitors to Indy. And, many of you have personal stories to tell us!
5. Those of you who attended the July meeting got copies of the first draft of our new NCI brochure. Please bring comments, questions, suggestions, etc., to the August meeting.
6. The 2002 International Festival team was assembled at the May meeting. In addition to the assignments as noted then, each board member also will take a turn in the NCI booth at the festival. Please plan ahead for that (minimal) time commitment!
7. NCI in a nutshell: The Nationalities Council of Indiana is a non-profit, all-volunteer 501(c)3 corporation that began meeting in 1973. During a NATO Mayor�s Conference held in Indianapolis the previous year, many ethnic groups organized special events for delegates from their home countries. The founders of NCI realized that these groups, some of which had existed without recognition for decades, could unite to celebrate together the diversity of Indiana�s capital city. From a nucleus of 5 groups,� NCI now represents more than four dozen ethnic clubs and has many other individual, associate and reciprocal members. The NCI produces the largest and longest-running ethnic festival in Indiana each fall.
����������������������������������������������� Susan
���������������������������������������������������������������������������� Susan McKee
���������������������������������� President, Nationalities Council