1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,400 I am Mathur Alire, the Chair of Fargo Human Relations Commission. 2 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:21,080 The City of Fargo Human Relations Commission, Martin Luther King Jr. annual award, recognized 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:28,960 those who promote respect and acceptance for the diversity and help to eliminate discrimination 4 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,520 and who embody the work of Martin Luther King Jr. 5 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:41,360 This award recognizes youth, adults, and organizations for their contribution to the City of Fargo 6 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,760 in the area of human rights. 7 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:57,920 Congratulations to the 2021 winners, Claire Derby, Nola Storm, and Wynn Liberia. 8 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:05,160 We are so happy and overjoyed for this moment, and I want to extend my attention and appreciation 9 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:12,880 to the warm, loving people of Fargo, North Dakota for selecting us for this great award. 10 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:21,180 And also, this award gave me the opportunity to stand in this gap for all other Black immigrant 11 00:01:21,180 --> 00:01:25,280 women and children within the Fargo-Moor area. 12 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:34,860 The whole idea of what Dr. King stood for was equality to be respected as a human being. 13 00:01:34,860 --> 00:01:41,720 And I do hope and pray that I have tried to live my life to make sure that that's the 14 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,080 case for other people. 15 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:50,400 I think we're hard-pressed to live up to it as an example, but I do think that my faith 16 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:55,840 calls me to at least try to make sure that our community is a place where people can 17 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,000 feel safe, can be respected as a human being. 18 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:06,140 I think thinking about it in terms of climate justice, climate change is a human rights 19 00:02:06,140 --> 00:02:07,140 issue. 20 00:02:07,140 --> 00:02:10,860 It will affect the most marginalized in our communities the hardest. 21 00:02:10,860 --> 00:02:15,700 And also, those communities tend to have the least impact on climate change. 22 00:02:15,700 --> 00:02:17,480 They have the lowest carbon footprint. 23 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,220 What that means for me as someone who comes from a place of privilege is like, how do 24 00:02:20,220 --> 00:02:25,400 I utilize my privilege and give voice to the voiceless and make sure that their needs 25 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:26,400 are being met? 26 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:31,780 And that equity is central into our approach of tackling climate change. 27 00:02:31,780 --> 00:02:32,780 How do we build back better? 28 00:02:32,780 --> 00:02:35,820 How do we have a just transition for our workers? 29 00:02:35,820 --> 00:02:37,700 How do we ensure Indigenous sovereignty? 30 00:02:37,700 --> 00:02:44,260 All of those things. 31 00:02:44,260 --> 00:02:49,660 We believe that everybody are included and everybody is supposed to be loved. 32 00:02:49,660 --> 00:02:54,740 So we work with everybody around the Falco Mohe era and our goal is to work with the 33 00:02:54,740 --> 00:02:56,400 whole our lives. 34 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:01,740 You have a place where you can get out, you can meet other people that you never meet. 35 00:03:01,740 --> 00:03:05,700 I mean, I think of all the people that have met each other at the garden, we've never 36 00:03:05,700 --> 00:03:07,260 had that opportunity. 37 00:03:07,260 --> 00:03:12,820 And once you know somebody who maybe has a skin color different than you or wears clothing 38 00:03:12,820 --> 00:03:18,740 different than you, but you get to know them and you're working together, you build rapport. 39 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:23,180 And if you can't have a conversation, you start to build a rapport by spending that 40 00:03:23,180 --> 00:03:25,140 time together. 41 00:03:25,140 --> 00:03:27,580 Climate change affects every single aspect of our life. 42 00:03:27,580 --> 00:03:29,980 Every person has a stake in it. 43 00:03:29,980 --> 00:03:34,020 And so I think it's really important to understand where people are coming from and how climate 44 00:03:34,020 --> 00:03:39,180 change will impact their lives and like true solutions to environmental issues is going 45 00:03:39,180 --> 00:03:44,820 to be like a cultural shift. 46 00:03:44,820 --> 00:03:51,660 I also think that inclusion is one of the powerful tools that God use to make the world 47 00:03:51,660 --> 00:03:54,500 a better place for all humankind. 48 00:03:54,500 --> 00:03:59,740 Being included does not mean you just have to have the seat. 49 00:03:59,740 --> 00:04:08,220 It means being welcome and loved by the people on the table, but not just being on the table, 50 00:04:08,220 --> 00:04:11,060 but for your voice to be heard. 51 00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:21,740 Regardless of your gender or your race or your faith, that your input in your community 52 00:04:21,740 --> 00:04:24,540 is as important as the next person's. 53 00:04:24,540 --> 00:04:32,140 That your physical presence in a community is as important as anyone else. 54 00:04:32,140 --> 00:04:36,620 Inclusion I think is a step beyond diversity. 55 00:04:36,620 --> 00:04:38,780 Diversity is having people in the room. 56 00:04:38,780 --> 00:04:42,140 And it's about making sure that they're heard and that they're valued. 57 00:04:42,140 --> 00:04:47,020 And so especially as a white person working in these spaces is making sure that like I'm 58 00:04:47,020 --> 00:04:48,940 listening and taking a step back. 59 00:04:48,940 --> 00:04:51,940 And so when I say that like I try to give voice to the voiceless and like utilizing 60 00:04:51,940 --> 00:04:57,420 my privilege in that way, it's very important that I'm not speaking for these people. 61 00:04:57,420 --> 00:05:00,780 And so it's that balancing act is like how are they included and how do I just create 62 00:05:00,780 --> 00:05:03,260 that space for them instead of speaking for them. 63 00:05:03,260 --> 00:05:11,460 Our organization is here to stay. 64 00:05:11,460 --> 00:05:20,180 So we asked the Fargo City Commission and the City of Fargo and everyone's in the Mohawk 65 00:05:20,180 --> 00:05:30,580 area to actually help empower our work to sustainable and resources that can make us 66 00:05:30,580 --> 00:05:36,980 to have a long-term goal and project be implemented because we are here to stay. 67 00:05:36,980 --> 00:05:40,740 We want to work hard and get to the better place. 68 00:05:40,740 --> 00:05:49,180 But I'm so grateful to how the partnerships in our community has supported us. 69 00:05:49,180 --> 00:05:56,820 So grateful for people who have just supported us and stepped in and and then all the volunteers 70 00:05:56,820 --> 00:05:59,060 as you know the core leaders. 71 00:05:59,060 --> 00:06:04,100 I think awareness is the critical thing in Fargo. 72 00:06:04,100 --> 00:06:09,380 We have these projects from the City of Fargo, the divergent project, the water intake project 73 00:06:09,380 --> 00:06:11,180 that will be starting in a couple of years. 74 00:06:11,180 --> 00:06:13,320 These are climate resiliency problems. 75 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,260 We are looking at both increased flooding and increased drought. 76 00:06:17,260 --> 00:06:23,420 And so the City of Fargo is being very proactive in addressing these issues now. 77 00:06:23,420 --> 00:06:28,940 And I will leave you people with awards from Martin Luther King that says we all may have 78 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:36,540 come from different ways of life, but now we are on the same boat. 79 00:06:36,540 --> 00:06:38,100 Acceptance is all that we need. 80 00:06:38,100 --> 00:06:41,420 We cannot go forward without us being accepted. 81 00:06:41,420 --> 00:06:46,700 So the fact that the Law for Diversity were able to bring us here, let the Law for Diversity 82 00:06:46,700 --> 00:06:49,320 continue to carry us through. 83 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:54,020 We want to thank again this year's winners of the Human Relations Commission, Martin 84 00:06:54,020 --> 00:06:55,940 Luther King Jr. Award. 85 00:06:55,940 --> 00:07:01,860 Our community is a better place because of NOAA's lifelong services to Native Americans. 86 00:07:01,860 --> 00:07:08,520 When Liberia commitment to women's and children's and clearer activism in the environment caused 87 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:14,700 and black lives met, we are grateful for all the work you do in our community to make it 88 00:07:14,700 --> 00:07:16,660 a more welcoming place. 89 00:07:25,940 --> 00:07:26,940 Thank you.