D.C. Students and Parents with First-Hand Experience to be Featured at Commission on Black Men and Boys Bullying Hearing, Wednesday

Statement

Three D.C. students who have endured bullying, and two parents of D.C. students who are currently going through bullying, will testify at a Commission on Black Men and Boys community roundtable hearing, entitled "A Candid Conversation with the Community on Preventing Bullying," tomorrow, Wednesday, November 20, 2013, at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library (901 G St. NW), from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The community roundtable, held by the Commission on Black Men and Boys, in conjunction with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), will also take testimony from the public. D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray will also attend, and testimony from two experts -- Dr. Joseph Wright, Senior Vice President of Children's National Medical Center, and Suzanne Greenfild, Director of DC Bulling-Prevention Program -- will be heard, followed by audience participation.

"Not only will we hear powerful testimony from D.C. students and parents who have experienced bullying and its effects firsthand," said Norton. "This is also a rare opportunity for other D.C. students, parents and residents to participate in an open conversation on bullying, identifying it, its devastating effects, and how to eliminate it from our schools and communities."

Norton established the Commission on Black Men and Boys, chaired by former D.C. police chief Issac Fulwood, to provide a thoughtful forum for discussion and problem-solving on some of the most persistent and controversial issues faced by African American men and youth and their families. The Commission's well-attended hearings have given voice to many issues that are rarely discussed with public participation.

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