As you may remember, I was nominated by LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger to be a commissioner on the LA County Commission on Human Relations. The commission's mission is to promote better human relations in LA County and help build vibrant, thriving communities by working to transform prejudice into acceptance, inequity into justice, and hostility into peace. These last 15 months on the commission have been amazing and transformative. Never before have I been surrounded by so many community members from as diverse a group of people as the commission is, working toward the same goal of combating hate.

Last week, I attended the 2023 Hate Crimes Report Press Conference, where the report was presented to the community. And to put it mildly… the numbers are staggering. As I sat listening to both the summary of the report's findings and remarks from all five LA County Supervisors, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna, and newly elected LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, I was struck by a sense of optimism.

While the number of reported hate crimes in LA County during 2023 was the highest ever recorded, and likely the incidents of hate and crimes were significantly higher since they often go unreported for a wide variety of reasons, I had a hopeful feeling and outlook because so much attention is being placed on the amount of hate that exists in society today.

You see, when people are made more aware of an issue, collective attention is placed on working towards eradicating it. And rather than only a small group of people, often the targets of hate, we have a far greater chance of accomplishing it when we work together as a society to do so.

As I sat and listened, I also realized that we need to do a better job of encouraging people to report hate when they see or experience it. To that end, if you or someone you know sees or experiences any form of hate, here is what you need to do:

1. Contact our Jewish Federation (626.445.0810 or federation@jewishsgpv.org) so that we can be made aware of the incident and keep track of what is happening in our community.

2. Report it to one of these entities
   1. ADL – la.adl.org
   2. LA vs. Hate - www.lavshate.org or call 211
   3. FBI or your local law enforcement (All of our community's sheriff stations have a hate crimes coordinator on staff who can assist you in your report.)

I cannot encourage you enough to share this information with anyone you speak with who has witnessed or experienced any form of hate - whether it is an incident like hate speech or rhetoric or what law enforcement may determine was an actual hate crime like hate-motivated property damage or violence.

The more each of us can do to continue to bring attention to this climate of hate, the greater chance we have to not only mitigate its rise but also help create policies that work to hold those who commit these hateful acts accountable.