January 2018

Conversations on equality and minority rights don’t happen in a vacuum. Many of this year’s DreamWeek events focus on issues pulled straight from local, state and national news headlines. Here’s a few we’ll be tuning in to.

Immigrant Rights After the 85th Legislative Session and the End of DACA
Immigrant rights advocates spent 2017 fighting political moves that would significantly impact the lives of undocumented immigrants, on both a state and national level. Last summer, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 4, known as an anti-sanctuary, “show me your papers” law, and later in the year, President Donald Trump announced he’d be ending DACA, the program that allowed undocumented people who had arrived in the U.S. as children to legally live and work here. This presentation organized by the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund will discuss the impact those moves will have on the immigrant community, and inform community members how to get involved with legislation. Sat. Jan. 6, 2018 from 10 a.m. – noon. El Progreso Hall, 1306 Guadalupe St.

Planned Parenthood’s Second Annual Action Forum
For the second year in a row, Planned Parenthood Texas Votes will be hosting a forum to talk about their victories and losses in 2017, and what’s on their radar for the new year. Staff and activists are calling on the community to get involved to help them strategize ways to improve reproductive health access and women’s rights in the next election cycle. Wed. Jan. 10, 2018 from 6 – 8:30 p.m. The Movement Gallery/ Galeria de Movimiento, 1412 E Commerce St.

Digital Inclusion
This panel brimming with local leaders, internet service providers and organizations will go over the importance of internet access in San Antonio, and what it means to be a “Digitally Inclusive Community. ” The panel, hosted by the brand-new Upgrade SA, will discuss achieving city-wide digital inclusion for all residents, and why universal internet connectivity is an important resource to improve education and provide more career opportunities for all. Fri. Jan. 19, from 4-6 p.m. Las Palmas Branch Library, 515 Castroville Rd.

From headlines about unequal pay based on gender to rampant sexual harassment in some industries, women are speaking up about their rights. A local group is working to give women in San Antonio a voice to do just that and more.

San Antonio’s sixth annual DreamWeek summit kicked off Friday, the beginning of two weeks of community programming aimed at advancing tolerance, diversity, and equality while celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

Through lecture series, workshops, mixers, film screenings, art shows, live music, and other gatherings, DreamWeek organizers seek to foster healthy public discourse about relevant topics in today’s society. What started with 30 events six years ago has grown into a 16-day commemoration with more than 226 events throughout the city organized with 180 local partners.

Of those partners, 90 are participating in DreamWeek for the first time.

With events of DreamWeek set to begin Monday, one of the country’s oldest minority chamber of commerce celebrated its 80th anniversary with a posh gala.

City and business leaders gathered at Pearl Stable Friday for an evening of refreshments, dancing and networking in celebration of the Alamo City Black Chamber of Commerce’s annual gala.

According to the chamber, it was created in 1938 by 11 men and 1 woman as the San Antonio Negro Chamber of Commerce, at the Pine Street YWCA.

SAN ANTONIO – A 16-day summit known as “DreamWeek” got underway in San Antonio Friday morning with a breakfast attended by dozens of business, community and government leaders.

Although its name implies that it will last seven days, it actually will feature more than two weeks’ worth of events. That includes music, art and conversations aimed at promoting harmony and understanding among people in the city.

The goal is to continue the dream of civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“It’s a time to celebrate our accomplishments, but also talk about the difficult conversations that we have and will continue in the future for us to be a truly compassionate and inclusive place,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who attended the kickoff at the Briscoe Western Art Museum.

This is the sixth year the summit is being held. This year, however, it coincides with the city’s Tricentennial celebration.

Nirenberg said the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

“It makes complete sense that DreamWeek would thrive in San Antonio,” he said. “If there’s a city in the world that can handle an important event like this, it’s San Antonio. ”

He said although there appears to be widespread tension in this country based on race and other issues, San Antonians have a history of working together.

People who attended the Friday morning kickoff heard from a man who makes it his mission to heal hate.

Daryl Davis gained notoriety for building relationships with members of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, and in many cases, changing their hearts.

“We hate those things that frighten us,” Davis said. “And if we do not keep that hate in check, that hatred in turn will breed destruction.”

Davis said he, initially, was unaware of the type of hate he later would encounter.

However, he said his naïveté was shattered when, as a child marching in a parade in Massachusetts, people in the crowd hurled bottles at him. Davis said he learned the reason was because he was the only African-American marching in an all-white parade.

“There are people who have an issue with the color of someone’s skin, and why they had that issue I did not know,” Davis said. “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?”

That question led to a lifelong search for answers.

Davis, who is a professional musician, had a chance meeting with a member of the KKK while playing piano at a bar.

That meeting led him to find those answers in an unlikely source, the leader of that white supremacist group in Maryland.

He said after building a friendship with that KKK leader, he ultimately convinced him to stop hating.

That, too, is the dream behind DreamWeek.

The Opening Breakfast Ceremony will kick off the DreamWeek 2018 Summit on Friday, January 5 with a keynote address from Daryl Davis, a musician, author, and lecturer who has received national acclaim for his work in race relations. The Ceremony will also include a presentation by DreamVoice founder and CEO Shokare Nakpodia as well as brief remarks from San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

Hosted by DreamVoice, LLC.