Vermont’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is Convened
From VPR on March 31, 2023, reported by Lexi Krupp
A state-funded effort has begun to document how Vermont state laws and policies have discriminated against marginalized committees, including people with disabilities, Black people, Indigenous people, other people of color and people of French Canadian heritage. It came out of legislation passed last year that created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to seek ways to repair harm caused by the state of Vermont.
In a press conference Friday morning, a selection panel announced the commissioners who will lead the effort over the next three years as full-time state employees:
Mia Schultz, president of the Rutland-Area NAACP
Melody Walker Mackin, an artist, educator, member of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and citizen of the state-recognized Elnu tribe
Patrick Standen, professor at St. Michael’s College and leader in Vermont’s disability community
The new commissioners stressed their roles include making policy recommendations, as well as hearing experiences of communities who suffered injustices.