Harper College law enforcement career fair seeks minority recruits
Considering a career in law enforcement?
Harper College will host a Law Enforcement Career Fair from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at its Palatine campus. The event, which is open to all but partly is focused on attracting more minority recruits, will offer candidates a chance to network with 30 suburban law enforcement agencies.
"There isn't one agency that isn't looking for diverse candidates," said Brad Grossman, coordinator of Harper's Law Enforcement and Justice Program.
Last year, Harper conducted a police training workshop in partnership with the Northwest Suburban Law Enforcement Recruitment Taskforce comprising seven police departments - Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Mount Prospect, Palatine and Schaumburg. It drew 55 candidates of diverse backgrounds.
Grossman has been reaching out to minority groups to invite applicants. Among the challenges is few people of color apply for law enforcement jobs, he said.
"If you are a qualified minority candidate, you have a phenomenal opportunity," said Grossman, a retired former deputy chief with the Palatine Police Department. "We need minority groups to promote this, as well."
Prospective candidates will meet with each agency, including Illinois State Police, Cook and Lake counties' sheriff's offices, and police departments from Arlington Heights to Wauconda.
Registration is encouraged, but walk-ins are welcomed. Register at bit.ly/3JY9R45.
Hispanic youth
The Hispanic Heritage Foundation recently recognized 30 high school seniors for their leadership in the classroom and community with its Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards.
Students from an eight-state region including Illinois were honored during a virtual ceremony last month. They received gold, silver and bronze awards in various categories. Among Illinois' recipients were:
• Business and entrepreneurship: Gage Lockley of Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows High School, bronze
• Education: Juliany Salazar of Des Plaines, Maine East High School, gold; Jasmin Perez of Elgin, Elgin High School, bronze
• Engineering: Mia Mikolajczak of Long Grove, Adlai E. Stevenson High School, silver
• Media and entertainment: Janessa Mosqueda of La Grange, Lyons Township High School, gold; Javier Garcia of West Chicago, West Chicago High School, bronze
• Public service and social justice: Luka Heidari of Glenview, Glenbrook South High School, silver; Tomas Melgoza III of Naperville, Benet Academy, bronze
• Sustainability: Emily Miranda of Cary, Cary-Grove High School, bronze
One national recipient per category will be recognized at the in-person National Youth Awards Ceremony. Register at rsvpya.com.
Anti-lynching Act
President Joe Biden last week signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act making lynching a federal hate crime.
The legislation passed the U.S. House on Feb. 28 by a 422-3 vote and unanimously in the U.S. Senate on March 7. It was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat who attended the White House signing ceremony.
"After more than 100 years and 200 attempts, lynching is finally a federal crime in America," Rush said after the ceremony. "I am thinking of Emmett Till, who would have been 80 years old today. His brutal lynching ignited the civil rights movement and a generation of civil rights activists."
Till, a 14-year-old Black American, was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman. More than 6,500 Americans were lynched between 1865 and 1950, according to a recent report from the Equal Justice Initiative.
The maximum sentence for anyone convicted under the Antilynching Act is 30 years.
Sikh appreciation
Author and professor Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh will give a virtual presentation on "Wondrous Joy: Sikh Philosophy, Sikh Art" from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday as part of Benedictine University's celebration of Sikh Awareness Month.
Register for Singh's Zoom presentation at bit.ly/3wzSVgs.
In August 2019, Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared April as Illinois Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month. Sikhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world, with more than 30 million Sikhs worldwide. There are 500,000 Sikhs in the U.S. and 25,000 in Illinois.
"Bringing more awareness to the Sikh religion and culture is critical to promoting the beauty of its people, customs and beliefs," said Manmohan Kaur, event organizer and professor of mathematics at the Lisle university. He added, the religion largely is unknown and Sikhs often are subjected to harassment and hate crimes.
Singh is the Crawford Professor and chair of the department of religious studies at Colby College in Maine. She has published extensively in the field of Sikh studies, including the book: "The Feminine Principle in the Sikh Vision of the Transcendent."
Benedictine also will host a traditional Sikh Harvest Festival featuring performers, a dance workshop and food from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. April 21.
Immigration film
A free screening of the documentary "Harvest of Loneliness: The Bracero Program," shedding light on the debate over immigration reform and the use of "guest workers" in American agriculture, will be held April 12, at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake.
The program is being presented by the Land Conservancy of McHenry County, the Illinois Migrant Council, and McHenry County College's Center for Agrarian Learning. The showing is at 6:30 p.m. in the Luecht Auditorium, 8900 Route 14.
The historical documentary examines the Bracero Program - a system put in place from 1942 to 1964 to recruit Mexican farm laborers for temporary work in the United States.
The film includes interviews with surviving braceros, their family members and descendants. After the film, Maggie Rivera, president of the Illinois Migrant Council, will share the story of her father, Raul Enriquez, and family members Teodoro Cardoza and Juan Rivera, who came to Illinois as braceros and worked on farms in McHenry County.
Arab American history
The History (Channel) Television Network, a division of A&E Networks, has launched an official Arab American Heritage Month page on its website history.com.
April has been designated National Arab American Heritage Month in Illinois to celebrate the community's heritage and contributions.
According to the Arab American Institute, an estimated 3.7 million Americans have Arab roots, with ancestries traced to 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
Arab immigration to the United States dates back to the late 1800s, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
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