Racial Barriers Presentation, Looking Ahead

The meeting began with a presentation by Sharon Kyle and Dick Price of the LA Progressive titled "Racial Barriers to Social Engagement". The presentation challenged participants to focus on strengthening personal skills on engaging with others by developing self awareness of cultural, racial and economic factors in the lives of individuals encountered. Examples were provided by the presenters and participants shared personal experiences.  A list of books that might aid in each person's examination was provided and included ""The Sum of Us", "What Racism Costs Everyone" and "Dying of Whiteness". The full list with author information can be found on the PowerPoint that was shown during the presentation. PowerPoint is available upon request. The LA Progressive is sponsoring a conference on October 2, 3, 4, 2026 at Cal State, LA. All are invited and registration information is available on the LA Progressive website.

The participants were reminded of local organizations that support community coming together:

NAACP, Pasadena 

ACLU

Center for Restorative Justice

Coming to the Table

The next meeting will be October 16, 2026 at 12:00PM PST. The topic will be a presentation on the Harlem Renaissance by Dr. Mario Ortiz. 

Dr. Ortiz is a Member Correspondent of the North American Academy of Spanish Language (ANLE). He received his Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature from Indiana University, where he also completed all the doctoral coursework in musicology.

Looking ahead, The Center for Restorative Justice will be presenting to the group for the November meeting.