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The Commission on Human Rights is a city agency that is responsible for enforcing
the city's very broad and very protective anti-discrimination
and anti-harassment protections we have jurisdiction over many aspects of life
in New York City so we protect against discrimination and harassment
at the workplace, in housing, in places of public accommodations, on the street,
and also by sprays profiling by law enforcement. We also have
over twenty two categories of protection so you know many people in New York City
are covered by our laws and can find remedies for when they are facing
discrimination or harassment
I came in to lead the Commission a little bit over two years ago
and since I've come in as the chair and Commissioner for the
agency it has been our mission to reach out to both some of the city's most
vulnerable communities as well as communities that haven't typically had
strong relationships with government and when we think about who some of those
communities are they certainly include some of the city's African communities
so we want to make sure that you know folks know who the Commission is
specifically know people at the Commission because it's a relationship
they need to build and we need to be building with people so they have to
know who they are calling when they need help or when they need resources
and we also wanted to make sure that by inviting over 20 other city agencies and
community partners we were also providing an opportunity where folks
could find out resources across the city so they have not only the resources for
you know if they're being discriminated or harassed but they also have resources
so if they need to know what resources they have for purposes of immigration
related issues, family related issues, what have you that there are other
organizations and groups and agencies here that they can speak to
when I just look
at the Commission statistics frankly from the past year you know
reporting in to the Commission is up by 60% just last year and when you break
down those statistics you know if I look just at the area of claims
of discrimination based on race and national origin and religion
and immigration status and faith just those statistics alone those are up by
whopping 30 percent and certainly and if I think
about the different reasons that African immigrants or children of
African immigrants might experience discrimination or harassment in the city
they certainly fall into those categories so we want to make sure this
which is obviously relevant as we're seeing the statistics that we're
reaching out to the communities that need this information the most
My take away would be that they are a lot of resources available out there for the
african community and that's something that although I knew a little bit about
but I didn't really know that we had so much to offer so it's really it's great
I went around all the tables I was able to gather some information that
myself could share with a lot of people so I learned a lot
I think one thing
that African immigrants kind of where we suffer is that within ourselves we don't
necessarily discuss things that are pertaining to us and what our problems
are because we fear that others may judge or will be quick to kind of give
us a negative experience but in fact I think the moment that we do actually
talk about what's happening to us how we're being affected that's when we can
allow for protection to come in and for change to actually happen and so I think
at least with this forum one thing that's great is that
you were able to leave here with at least two to three connections that you can
definitely follow up with on your own and they had the languages that were
available I mean I I'm still learning French I'm not fluent in French but I
feel like when you have someone who is fluent in the language and is explaining
to you one on one you feel way more comfortable and even open to asking
questions because
it's just easier to get that communication across
I'm from Nigeria. This is my one-year exactly in New York I was mid preview of this
information to attend this forum initially I was really disturbed because
of the things I was actually going through and reason why I was
why came to New York so far so good the forum has been a very inspiring one in
the sense that it touched on the various aspects of fears and questions that
I needed to know regarding immigration regarding my rights as an immigrant in
the United States and the facilitators were also very helpful and they were
up-to-date on information regarding the recent happenings
around immigration issues and what we should do, where to go to, numbers to call
in case we have any difficulties or challenges I look forward for other
experience like this and also to share this information with others who might
not know or be aware of a forum like this
I think it is difficult for anyone if
they are the victim of discrimination or harassment to come forward and say
something because often times they're dealing with their own
feelings of being alienated, treated differently and everything that
might controvert for not just themselves but frankly also their family or their
community so I think what's essential in this is that government especially local
government takes on the responsibility of building relationships with these
communities because you know we don't expect that folks are going to come
forward and just embrace government without these relationships being in
place and that's why again over the last two years we have really prioritized
making our staff at the Commission on Human Rights more representative of the
communities because people understand that if we look like these communities
if we sound like these groups if we are from these communities they are more
likely to come forward and raise these claims of discrimination and harassment
so you know one thing off the top of my head is over the last two years we went
from speaking six languages across the agency to 29 so our staff combination of
our staff now speak 29 different languages across this agency so that we
can actually speak like the communities that we're serving
so one of the things
that people need to know in New York City is we protect people
specifically because of their immigration status so if somebody is
being treated differently meaning like for instance if a landlord is saying to
somebody you know what I'm not going to fix the problem you're having with your
electricity or your water I'm not going to make the necessary repairs that I
would for somebody else and I'm not going to do them because I think that
you're not going to say anything because of your immigration status those
are precisely the types of cases that Commission on Human Rights wants to take
on because those are precisely the people that should not be victimized
ever and especially in this climate so New York City and City human rights law
does protect people because of their immigration status because of their
national origin, because of their faith, because of their race, because of many different
categories that we have under the law
if you are a victim of discrimination or
harassment if you think you might be if you've witnessed somebody being attacked
or somebody who has been victimized because of discrimination or harassment
again in employment, in housing trying to access a public accommodation
or you know on the street please do call the Commission on Human Rights you can
reach us by dialing 3-1-1 asking for Human Rights or you could also reach us
directly if you call 718-722-3131