Salt Lake community writers come together to share personal stories and feelings about civil rights

I love attending community events that give me something to write about. But sometimes, it can be really nerve-wracking. Once, I tried bringing my 1-year-old daughter to a debate, and was greatly embarrassed when we were asked to leave. On another occasion, after attending a civil rights conference, I was chastised by the organization head for not revealing my "journalist" status during registration. She tried to coerce me into not publishing my report on the event. I found it odd that a civil rights org would try to intimidate someone out of their first amendment rights. It's not like I'm discouraged about doing what I do here. But I have developed an edgy gut that finds me when I walk into events I plan to report on.

Community Writing Center exhibit panels set up
in the Sorenson Unity Center lobby 

I entered the Sorenson Unity Center, Thursday, Jan. 12th with that same edgy gut. The SLCC Community Writing Center was hosting a reading of the Utah Freedom Writers publication they recently put out. This is the civil rights writing project I participated in a few months ago. I was pleased to discover that over the course of the evening, my anxiety was easily assuaged, and more than that, I quickly felt admiration and kinship for the other writers, as well as the CWC staff.

Mormon Ladies Discuss the Utah Undie Run and Gay Rights

Nov. 5, 2011. It was a tea party.

It was not the Tea Party, but a tea party.  We were 6 Mormon ladies sitting around a table in a living room in Orem, Utah. Mormons follow a code of health that allows for herbal tea, although not regular tea, but our host served hot cocoa instead. She told us she was holding the event because she had attended a quilting club meeting about the courses and customs that go into a traditional English tea. The hostess, and three guests (including myself) were of British heritage--the other two were Brazilian.

Our discussion of culture led naturally to a recent eye-widening cultural phenomenon. I paraphrase our host: "It was on our way to the General Relief Society meeting. There we were, a bunch of church ladies, just a few blocks away from the (LDS) Conference Center, we looked out the window and saw a huge group of men--they were practically naked!" She laughed as she told the story. What they had seen was the Utah Undie Run (Sept. 24-25.) According to the event website, the official purpose was to "protest against Utah being so uptight."

The Undie Run

2,270 runners participated, says the Salt Lake Tribune. The protest planners asked participants to

Immigration Law and Workplace Anti-Discrimination Law have a relationship status: "It's Complicated."

David Littlefield is an adjunct law professor for
the University of Utah. He has specialized in
Immigration Law for over 30 years.

"I'm gonna talk about everything you ever wanted to know about immigration law in the workplace--then, I'm gonna tell you some things you didn't want to know." That was David Littlefield's opening statement. The event was the Salt Lake City Mayor's Anti-discrimination Seminar, September 27, 2011 at the State Bar Association building. Dave, a white gentleman with an impressive beard, was comfortable behind the podium, as if he'd given this presentation many times before. 

the audience, all 32 of us

I surmised that the group was mostly made up of lawyers--many said they were legal advisers for small businesses or locally headquartered corporations. The lady behind the meeting registration desk had asked me if I was

NAACP Conference: What everyone needs to know about employment rights

I attended the Saturday morning and afternoon portions of the three-day NAACP Tri-State Conference here in Salt Lake City at the Little America Hotel on September 24th, 2011. The group of conference attendees was much smaller than I anticipated. Although KSL advertised the conference as open to anyone, I gathered that most of the people there were those in leadership positions representing their NAACP branches.

Image taken from the web page advertising the NAACP Tri-State
Conference.

Some details.

The workshops were conducted in a room I estimated to be about 30x40 feet. Attendees came and went throughout the day, but there were usually about 35 people seated in the conference room at once. I observed that there was an equal number of men and women. Attendees and presenters varied in age, anywhere from 20 to 80 years old. Although the NAACP is historically an African American civil rights organization, they are interested in a wide variety of civil rights causes, and