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The Bartlesville Diversity Unity Forum was held at the Tower Center at Unity Square with issues such as race, diversity and inequality being discussed among several panelists and the public over the weekend.

Panelists in Saturday's forum included Tracy Roles, Scott Owen, Nick Castillo, Tom O'Connor, Morgan Lawrence, Tara Gotwalt, and Steven Griffith.

Bartlesville Police Chief Tracy Roles said there is a huge need for the American police system to change. That being said, Chief Roles asked what that change looks like and offered his solution for change. Chief Roles asked the public to be part of the solution while showing everyone unconditional respect.  He said we fix the problem by looking at ourselves in the mirror while asking ourselves what we are doing to be part of the solution.

Tara Gotwalt with Tri County Tech shared these sentiments when it came to talking about critical conversations. Gotwalt said we cannot assume where people are coming from when we interact with them. She said we have to meet people where they are when we are having conversations with them.

Pastor Steven Griffith of New Beginnings Family Church in Bartlesville said we have come a long way, but we have a long way to go. He said change starts with us.

Leaders make the first step. Griffith said leaders are the ones that step out passed the fear, passed being complained about, and passed being talked about to make things better. He said leaders do this to create a better world for our children. The challenge to the public was to make Bartlesville better.

The Bartlesville Diversity Unity Forum at the Tower Center at Unity Square lasted approximately two hours. Sharon Reese, the Director of Veterans Connection Organization in Bartlesville, was one of the two moderators during the event. She said the goal was to have a group of people familiar with the area talk about the “temperature” of Bartlesville instead of having an outside group talk about what is happening in the city.

Below is video of the Bartlesville Diversity Unity Forum provided by the Veterans Connection Organization of Bartlesville and Sharon Reese.