The Orange County Board of Supervisors honored Rusty Kennedy at its meeting on October 11. Chairwoman Lisa Bartlett presented a resolution commending Rusty Kennedy on his retirement and 40 years of vision and great service as the OC Human Relations Commission Director.
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OC Human Relations CEO, Rusty Kennedy, was honored with a “Beacon of Light” Award from Costa Mesa’s Fairview Community Church on September 17, 2016. Rusty was honored along with Gustavo Arellano of the OC Weekly, and Christina Fiahlo of the activist group CIVIC (Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement). Congratulations Rusty and the other awardees!
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OC Human Relations found that reports of hate crimes in Orange County rose 10% in 2015. The most frequent target, according to the tally, was the LGBT community with 11 incidents, four of them aimed at people who are transgender. Hate incidents increased dramatically, from 14 in 2014 to 43 in 2015, mainly targeting Muslims and those thought to be Muslim, including the Sikh community.
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Hate-motivated incidents against Muslims in Orange County and throughout Southern California skyrocketed last year, with the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino driving the increase, according to organizations that track the incidents. “There was a clear statewide increase in the targeting of Muslims for hate and bigotry,” Rusty Kennedy said. “There is no doubt.”
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In an opinion piece, Rusty Kennedy, OC Human Relations CEO suggests that we are a stronger community when everyone is included. But we cannot just put out the welcome mat and expect that everyone will enter. We must reach out. We must listen. We must provide a safe place for everyone, but especially for those who have been shut out before.
Read more →On Sunday evening, the LGBT Center OC and our community partners, organized a vigil and candlelight march to create a space for our community to gather and grieve. Over 200 people came to the vigil including many community leaders
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Earlier this month, the Disneyland Resort was honored at OC Human Relations’ Awards 45 event with the “Distinguished Business Award” for embracing diversity in how it recruits, hires and develops its 29,000 cast members, engages guests from around the world and supports diverse students and nonprofits in Orange County. Michael Colglazier, president of the Disneyland Resort, was honored with the
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The first chair of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, Amin David, has died at the age of 83. The longtime Anaheim resident was a founding member of Los Amigos, the Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development and Orange County Community Housing Corporation and recently was an active member of the Anaheim police chief’s advisory board.
Read more →After initially being barred from wearing “Dump Trump” T-shirts because of safety concerns, a group of Latino students at Newport Harbor High School was allowed to wear the shirts on campus after the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s rally in Costa Mesa. On Friday, representatives of the Orange County Human Relations Commission met with about 60 Newport Harbor students on how to be politically involved while respecting one another’s differences.
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Three moms from a troubled Anaheim neighborhood. The head of the local building industry’s charity group. A transgender educator and advocate. The couple behind a Sikh arts and film festival. And, Disneyland Resort. What would any of them have in common? All are among the unsung heroes to be honored Thursday at the OC Human Relations Awards 45 presentation in Anaheim.
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OC Human Relations now has a new name. We are Groundswell!
Use the link below to visit our landing page and learn more about this exciting announcement!