Like so many across the nation, we were outraged by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. We felt it was time to make an unprecedented statement addressing this human rights violation.

The killing of George Floyd resonates within our community, illuminating the failure to address underlying economic and social forces perpetuating systemic racism throughout our nation. Because of these failures, many names have become headlines: Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Botham Jean, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, among so many other BIPOC. Living While Black...

The City of Iowa City’s Office of Equity and Human Rights is available to assist businesses, landlords, and property managers on questions concerning unlawful discrimination and harassment.

Staff has recently put together a memo containing guidance on fair housing and COVID-19 . The memo on this topic, as well as other memos on unlawful discrimination, are available online...

The City of Iowa City Human Rights Commission is seeking nominations for its Annual Youth Awards program.

This annual event recognizes the contributions of youth who have promoted and/or contributed to human rights causes locally or globally.

Nominations will be considered for work that has taken place since June 2019. Youth Award nomination forms are available at www.icgov.org/humanrightsyouthawards .

All nominations must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 17, 2020. Late nominations will not be accepted...

In 2017, the City Council created the Social Justice and Racial Equity (SJRE) Grant to assist community-based organizations in building capacity to address social justice and racial equity needs. Seventy-five thousand dollars has been allocated yearly for the SJRE Grant since Fiscal Year 2019.

The grant is available to for-profit and non-profit Iowa City-based organizations to fund programs, activities, or services that help eliminate inequities in the community. The grant lists six priority service areas: education, building community, housing, criminal justice, health, and...