Community dialogues centered around Bellevue communities of color are happening in July and August through the Bellevue Centers Communities of Color Initiative (CCC). All are invited to apply to the dialogues using the registration form. Participants will be assigned a meeting date and location that works for them no later than two weeks after filling out the form.
“In these dialogues, groups of 15-25 community members will discuss topics important to Bellevue’s diverse communities and provide recommendations for how Bellevue can move forward to becoming a more equitable and inclusive city,” the form states.
According to the form, the next community meeting will be Wednesday, Aug. 2 from 9:00 a.m. to noon, as well as the next Wednesday, with a total of seven different meeting dates. A meal will be provided at every dialogue.
The CCC website expresses, “The CCC team will use the ideas collected from those dialogues to consider possible changes to city policy aimed at improving equity and inclusivity in Bellevue.”
The Bellevue Centers Communities of Color Initiative was approved in 2021 and proposed by Council members Barksdale and Zahn. They started a three-year initiative with three goals in mind: To develop trust through dialogue, to build racial literacy skills through education and training, and to co-create recommendations for action.
According to the City Council session on Jan. 19, 2021, “Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities make up 49 percent of Bellevue’s racial demographics. BIPOC communities are disproportionately affected and harmed by individual and systemic racism […]”.
The City of Bellevue hopes to address these disparities in events like the aforementioned community dialogues.
