County Council confirms County Executive appointment to commission to recognize victims of lynchings and takes steps to address past wrongs in the county.
SILVER SPRING, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Board, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, applauds the confirmation by the County Council of Planning Board Member Tina Patterson’s appointment to the Remembrance and Reconciliation Commission. Patterson was appointed at the Montgomery County Council meeting on Tuesday, December 10. The commission will support community efforts to work with the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) to recognize the victims of lynchings in Montgomery County and help the community understand and take steps to address its own history.
Patterson will serve a three-year term as a non-voting ex officio member appointed by the County Executive after consulting with the Office of Human Rights.
“I’m honored to be appointed to this most esteemed commission,” said Patterson. “It is our duty and responsibility to remember and make amends for the past so that we can move forward as one community.”
“I know Board Member Patterson will do a great job representing M-NCPPC on this important commission,” said Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson.
Patterson, who has served on the Planning Board since 2017, has served on the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission, the National Board of UNIFEM (now titled UN Women) and on the board of the Zonta Club of Washington, DC.
Patterson joins additional non-voting ex officio members appointed on December 10 including Okianer Christian Dark of the Human Rights Commission, Matthew Logan of the Montgomery County Historical Society, and Anthony Cohen of the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project.
About Montgomery County’s Remembrance and Reconciliation Commission
The Remembrance and Reconciliation Commission was formed on January 29, 2019 with a resolution by Councilmembers Will Jawando, Craig Rice and Hans Riemer. The commission was established to support the goal of bringing the county together to promote a better understanding of our history. The commission will work with the national EJI and other stakeholders to claim and install the county’s monument commemorating three locations in Montgomery County where lynchings have been documented. The commission will also be responsible for creating and installing historical markers, collecting and displaying soil from each of the locations, and also will design programs to advance the dialogue that the monuments, historical markers and soil should foster.
About Tina Patterson
Tina Patterson is and the owner of a management consulting firm and is an experienced facilitator, handling dispute resolution for public agencies and private companies. Ms. Patterson is a member of the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission and for more than two decades, has been involved in advocacy, education and outreach on issues dealing with human and women’s rights. She has been a speaker and guest lecturer on various topics, including human trafficking, minority leadership, landmine removal and mediation. She received a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a graduate certificate in alternative dispute resolution from Southern Methodist University.