ECC launches Black Lives Matter series; lawmakers push police reform

Pain. Frustration. Anger. Love. Understanding. Hope.

These emotions have been simmering within Faith Jones since protests and riots erupted nationwide against police brutality mourning George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.

"Riots are the language of the unheard," said Jones, an Elgin Community College student, during a Black Lives Matter talk Wednesday on "Policing in the U.S." hosted by ECC's Multicultural and Global Initiatives Committee.

It's what happens, she said, "when communities are neglected, disenfranchised, told to wait for justice and justice does not come properly."

She said that though protesters may dwindle in number over time, "the momentum needs to keep going."

Part Two of the Black Lives Matter conversation about being an anti-racist and becoming an ally continues at 2 p.m. June 25 on ECC's Facebook page.

College credit

For Celina Sarangaya, the hardest part of earning a high school diploma and 26 college credits simultaneously was achieving both through distance learning after the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools.

Sarangaya had to learn in a small home shared with nine other family members.

"I had to constantly remind myself why school is so important to me: To become a first-generation college student and achieve the life my parents came to America for," said Sarangaya, who graduated Saturday from Larkin High School in Elgin with a 4.0 GPA.

She was among 47 Elgin Area School District U-46 seniors honored for completing the district's full-time dual-credit program, taking rigorous courses at Elgin Community College.

The district is expanding the program in the 2020-21 school year to include high school seniors and juniors. Its first group of students conferred with both a high school diploma and associate degree will graduate in 2022.

Coordinating equity

Denise Barreto, a former Lake in the Hills village trustee, is Cook County's inaugural director of equity and inclusion.

Barreto, of Evanston, will coordinate and integrate racial equity principles into all county operations, projects and services. She is responsible for design, coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of proactive equity and inclusion initiatives that support the Cook County Policy Roadmap and other policies and programs.

"We've seen through the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive protests in response to the murder of George Floyd that racial equity and healing is needed now more than ever," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.

Barreto was the first black person elected in Lake in the Hills and one of the first black women to be elected in McHenry County. She briefly served as diversity consultant for the city of Elgin in 2018. Her firm, Relationships Matter Now, provided training about unconscious bias for its employees.

Local change

In the wake of the Floyd killing, Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain is calling for expanded use of cameras in all squad cars and equipping officers with body cameras.

Meanwhile, a county board member is urging demilitarization of police and changing conviction standards for officers accused of wrongdoing.

Kane County's population is about 6% African American, but black people made up nearly 46% of the jail population in recent years. Currently, around 33% of inmates are black.

Hain is calling on local courts and prosecutors to focus on helping inmates become productive members of society by using employment, mental health and addiction support programs.

Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon also has called for changing the standard for using deadly force from one based on a "reasonable belief" of imminent danger to one in which such force is deemed "necessary" to prevent a threat.

• Share stories, news and happenings from the suburban mosaic with Madhu Krishnamurthy at mkrishnamurthy@dailyherald.com.