"80 percent of success is showing up" — Woody Allen

The Sparks City Council voted in January 2007 to establish a diversity commission and nothing's been heard since despite ongoing prodding from its Reno-Sparks NAACP sponsors.

Sparks was recently approached to help form a regional human rights commission but told Reno City Hall that the city is broke. For once, they told the truth. All the corporate welfare given away to the likes of downtown (Barbwire 12-14-2015) and Marina/Scheels developers has put the Rail City, like Reno, in a financial straitjacket. For much more about much worse, see the Barbwire Corporate Welfare Archives at NevadaLabor.com/

Both understaffed city police departments have almost no minority officers and Reno's entrance exam even screens out minorities in the initial phase. (Barbwire Reno Gazette-Journal 7-17-2016 and Trib followups)

About two years ago, Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve appeared to be leading the way on the human rights project but that seems to have been sidetracked by black tower intrigue.

Business as usual. Reno will now have an advisory-only body which will meet only when the Good Lord's willin' and the cricks don't rise.

Whenever a local government creates a toothless advisory-only body allowed to review only narrowly-tailored issues on an ad hoc basis, it means somebody's selling some serious cosmetics.

It's time to kick ass.

And so we come to Thursday and Saturday of this week in which the Reno-Sparks NAACP shoehorns its two major annual events into 48 hours.

First up, the Branch's second Community Policing Forum takes place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 12, at Northern Nevada HOPES' third floor Community Room, 580 W. 5th Street, Reno.

Admission is free but arrive early. Last year's event attracted an overflow standing-room audience. Local police agencies will take questions from Branch members and the public.

"At the event, we especially want updates on minority hiring practices and human rights advisory committees," stated President Patricia Gallimore.

An archive about last year's event will be linked to the web edition of this screed at Barbwire.US/

The NAACP's 72nd Annual Freedom Fund Awards Banquet happens two days later on Oct. 14 in the Mandalay Ballroom at Circus Circus Hotel-Casino. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6:30. Advance reservations are strongly recommended.

Individual tickets, tables of 10 and sponsorships may be reserved via RenoSparksNAACP.org or better yet, e-mail or call me at 775-882-TALK. (Time is tight.)

This year's keynote speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds, co-author with Coretta Scott-King of "My LIfe, My Love, My Legacy," the life story of Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. published earlier this year. Dr. Reynolds has written for many major magazines and newspapers including The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Playboy, Ebony, Essence, and USA Today where she was a columnist and editorial board member for 13 years. She was the first African-American woman to serve on the panel.

Tickets and tables for Saturday will be available at Thursday's Community Policing Forum if any remain available.

In recent years, the Reno-Sparks NAACP made a high profile issue of Washoe and Clark County school districts artificially inflating graduation rates and glossing over embarrassing minority performance. It has been a successful plaintiff in major voting rights litigation and has registered tens of thousands of new voters statewide.

In December, 2014, this little mouse roared with a little help from The Barbwire. The New York Times and every medium from the Maui News to The Washington Post to The Guardian of London carried the story of overtly racist (and onetime Tribune columnist) Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, becoming speaker of the Nevada State Assembly. (Details at BallotBoxing.US/) He resigned. The issue was so important that it generated assistance from the late, great Julian Bond in one of the final acts of his distinguished life.

The Branch needs new members to serve a mushrooming population base. So get involved.

Show up!

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)

ONLINE EXTRAS —>
Las Vegas 2017: Fire is the devil's only friend
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 10-4-2017 Sparks Tribune
Rewriting the Civil War and the Mexican War
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-27-2017 Sparks Tribune / Updated 9-28-2017 / Expansions in blue
Freedom loving racists shoot to rewrite history
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno / Expanded from the 9-20-2017 Sparks Tribune
Rewriting History
Reno News & Review Editorial : Remove Klansman's sculpture at UNR / 9-14-2017
Virginia City Nevada celebrates Slave Labor Day
Barbwire by Andres Luis Barbáno / Special online Labor Day edition 9-2-2017

ANTE INTO THE GAME: Support the new season of Barbwire.TV by putting your money where my mouth is. A thousand thanks to those who keep sending show suggestions.

  Stay tuned.

  I encourage you to donate to the cause at Barbwire.TV/ The medium that shapes public opinion needs at least one refuge where it is not filtered through the distorted green eye shades of prissy corporate accountants for whom profit is the only priority; where self-censorship is the journalist's normal work environment and where all sins of omission are tacitly encouraged and forgiven with the wave of a balance sheet.

  This is important. We've got a lot of work to do.

END OF TIMES SURVIVAL KIT. Defend yourself with humorous or humorless but always-peerless predictions for 2017by subscribing to the Barbwire Confidential News Service. Hush Hush!

Last year's dark foreshadowings unfortunately became reality. I thus suggest inoculation by signing onto the HushHush! list at BallotBoxing.US/

It's cheap as well as enlightening entertainment. I suggest coming aboard now. Subscription prices go up soon. Thank you kindly for your support.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)