Shiloh Church in New London on Saturday morning held its 10th Annual Community Prison Awareness & Prevention Gathering, through Zoom, with the theme of "Everyone Counts — Utilizing Our Voices and Voting Power for Justice" and a focus on having uncomfortable conversations around race.

The theme relates to the importance of the census and voting, organizer Winston Taylor explained. The primary goals of the gathering are bringing awareness to the mass incarceration of people of color, understanding the impact of incarceration on families and communities, and developing strategies to prevent crime and access services for the incarcerated.

The keynote speaker this year was Daryl McGraw, founder of Formerly Inc, a group of criminal justice and reentry consultants with the goal of teaching people "how to get out and stay out of prison." He is also co-chair of the state's Police Transparency and Accountability Task Force.

"I grew up admiring the drug dealers," said McGraw, who spent 10 years incarcerated. "I admired drug dealers, who had the money, the cars, the jewelry; they had what I believed to be power. Today, I choose to lead by a different example."

McGraw received a master's in organizational management and leadership, and is a property owner, and he wants young people to look to business owners and property owners as role models, instead of to drug dealers.

Shiloh's Bebe Norman presented awards to five people who have been involved with the church's prison ministry: JoAnn Miller, Wanda Short, Ralph Hightower, Stephane Browder and Solomon Hardy.

Mayor Michael Passero gave opening remarks, expressing hope that state and federal leaders are "starting to recognize the past failures" around incarceration.

"They're understanding the failures of the War on Drugs, they're understanding the failures of minimum mandatory sentencing rules," Passero said. "These policies have helped to exacerbate the inequities in communities like New London."

Connecticut Department of Children and Families Commissioner Vannessa Dorantes, the agency's first African-American commissioner, said DCF needs to separate out data and ask, "Do we remove black or brown children more often than we do their white counterparts? Do they stay in foster care longer than their white counterparts?"

Panel discusses importance of voting, having uncomfortable conversations on race

In the 3-hour gathering, a panel discussion touched on coping strategies through the pandemic and unrest, voting rights, steps to help people understand racism and ensure justice, and how to start conversations with white people who may not be receptive to conversations about race.

Anderson Curtis, field organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, said as someone who was formerly incarcerated, there was a time when his vote was taken away. But now that this right has been reinstated, he said "not to participate is no longer an option."

Saint Bernard School junior JoJo Carter said as someone under 18, she can't vote, but people she's talked to look at the political climate and are scared for what the future holds.

"The way we can address this is encouraging those who can vote to vote," she said. "Yes, you are voting for your rights, but you're also voting for the rights of the next generation."

Rashelle Litchmore, professor of human development at Connecticut College, said "as a resident alien, I am not allowed to vote, but I am affected by everything." She specifically pointed to how elections determine what kinds of policies are put in place to slow down the pace of climate change.

Speaking about the importance of voting in state and local elections, attorney Paul Narducci said we "are suffering the consequences of taking our eye off the ball in 2010," when the "groundswell of voting for Republicans" in a decennial year led to gerrymandering.

As the only white person on the panel, Narducci said it's important to keep lines of communication open so he can hear what others say about what they're going through.

State Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London, talked about how proud he was to see the protests. He later added, "Standing up and not being worried about being disliked when you fight for what's right, that's important, because a lot of people are going to try to shame you and make it look like you're the one who's indifferent."

Nolan said it troubles him "when people don't want to listen about the racism we have in our community" but he tries to have open conversations politely and unapologetically.

Litchmore said when white people shut down in these conversations, people of color need to not take responsibility, because it's not their fault. Curtis said when he has these conversations, he asks himself, "Do I want to be effective or do I want to be right? Because sometimes being right is not being effective."

e.moser@theday.com