Jonathan Bernstein, Not In Our Town executive director, has been tapped for California Attorney General Kamala Harris [1]’ Civil Rights Enforcement Transition Team. The transition team is one of 10 “Smart on Crime Work Groups” and is chaired by Bill Lann Lee, who served as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice under President Clinton.
The transition team includes more than 50 civil rights leaders across the state who are weighing in on civil rights issues that include disabilities, immigration, Latino and African-American communities, worker’s rights, and LGBTQ issues. Bernstein has been recruited for his hate crime expertise. Before joining Not In Our Town last year, Bernstein worked with the Anti-Defamation League for nearly 20 years, the last 11 of which he served as regional director of the Anti-Defamation League's San Francisco office. The team will be delivering a briefing paper to Attorney General Harris on March 1.
This Monday, Bernstein was one of the featured speakers at the California Association of Human Relations Organizations [2] in Los Angeles. The conference brought together commissioners, staff, volunteers, and activists from human relations and human rights commissions and community-based organizations throughout the state. During his talk, Bernstein introduced the Not In Our Town model and how the positive stories of people coming together to stop hate inspires others to take action. As examples, Bernstein screened several Not In Our Town films that highlighted community actions in the Northern California cities of Sacramento and Anderson as well as a sneak peak at our upcoming film in Lancaster, CA.
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Not In Our Town [3]