On Friday, February 3, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., YWCA Greater Cleveland will host, It’s Time to Talk: Forums on Race – Foundations for Change. This is the third such event for the organization.

This year, the forum is part of "Stokes: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future," which is a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Carl Stokes' election as mayor of Cleveland. YWCA Greater Cleveland is a partner in the initiative.

The 2017 "It's Time to Talk" forum will be held at the Cuyahoga Community College's Eastern Campus, 4250 Richmond Road, in the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center and will feature a public discussion led by Jane Campbell, the first woman mayor of Cleveland, and her mother Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, an activist and local leader who helped organize volunteers for the election of Carl B. Stokes. The duo has much to say about being a “first woman,” intersectionality, civil rights, and the Stokes legacy.

"It’s Time to Talk" will also feature an excerpt from Playwrights Local’s performance of Objectively/Reasonable, a play about the 2014 shooting of Tamir Rice. Two actors will perform portions of the play, and a member of Playwrights Local will discuss the creation of the work, which originally ran from August 18 through September 4, 2016, at the Creative Space at Waterloo Arts. Directed by Terrence Spivey, the play was praised by Broadway World as “a must-see experience for anyone interested in the real world around them.” Cleveland Jewish News said of the work, “These slice-of-life monologues come in varying shades of anger and disillusionment that do not shy away from ardent social commentary…they pulsate with purpose and artistic integrity.”

David Todd conceived Objectively/Reasonable, which was written by an ensemble of playwrights including Mike Geither, Tom Hayes, Lisa Langford, Michael Oatman, and Todd.

After two successful years hosting the "It’s Time to Talk" forum, YWCA Greater Cleveland has engaged more than a thousand individuals in conversations about race, discrimination, unconscious bias, and cultural competency. YWCA has trained more than 65 Racial Justice Facilitators who are now able to lead this dialogue in organizations and the community.

Click here to register for "It's Time to Talk," purchase tickets, see schedule information and to find out how to become a Racial Justice Facilitator. Tickets are $60 for adults and $25 for students, non-profit workers, teachers, and seniors.

In March 2016 the American Jewish Committee of Cleveland recognized YWCA Greater Cleveland for its work with It’s "Time to Talk" with the Isaiah Award for Human Relations. This award acknowledged YWCA Greater Cleveland for empowering the community to begin conversations around race and racism in Cleveland.

Fresh Water Cleveland is a media partner on this event.