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ASSEMBLE a planning group Ashcraft outlined his initial goals for the emergency meeting: "to get the council, mayor, others to respond forcefully and send a message that [hate] will not be tolerated in this new San Leandro," and for "white folks to speak out" against hate. With a few hours to prepare, Ashcraft called the press, and Grant and Ashcraft reached out to community stakeholders. Twelve stakeholders attended the emergency meeting including representatives from the African -American Chamber of Commerce, the Police Chief, a school board representative, the executive director for the Davis Street Family Resource Center (a social service orientated nonprofit), and a couple of current and former City Council members. San Leandro Police Chief Jeff Tudor described his participation at the emergency meeting as "the right thing to do." City Council Member Benny Lee described the initial gathering of community leaders as an "opportunity to make change ... to identify what the issues are ... to make policy change to dispel" issues related to hate and race relations in the community. Former City Council Member Diana Souza explained, "People didn't hesitate to engage." The newly formed group considered how to respond to recent hate incidents collectively. They discussed programmatic material, considered how to reach out and work with schools and parents, suggested ideas for facing hate, looking to neighboring communities for ideas (e.g., the City of Hayward posts street signs which state "no room for racism"), and identified opportunities for collaboration with existing non -profits (e.g., with Not In Our Town'). Souza recalled, "Everyone had the same end game, but different paths were proposed:' The group quickly realized "we had the same priorities from different perspectives" At subsequent meetings, the group settled on a definition for Unity in the Community: "Community stakeholders with a deep history in San Leandro committed to erasing racism, with short and long term strategies" UITC articulated its mission to "erase racism in San Leandro," and identified a vision for "a community free of racism where we embrace and celebrate our differences." UITC identified history as the catalyst for coming together: "what has brought us together are the recent local incidents in San Leandro and the nation, in regards to hate crimes." UITC identified four concrete actions steps: organizing a community rally; developing stronger ordinances on hate crimes; hosting community town hall events with open and honest discussions; and, developing a speaker series through the City of San Leandro. Perhaps because they convened the March 2016 emergency meeting, Grant and Ashcraft are the de facto leaders of the group, with Grant facilitating meetings and reaching out to regular UITC participants to develop and vet meeting agendas and ideas. Grant recalls one of her UITC colleagues confirming her leadership role: "We made you the leader — we didn't ask you to be the leader." UITC regularly invites guest speakers to its meetings to provide inspiration, guidance, and direction to the group ranging from the Alameda County District Attorney's office, and World Trust2 founder and director Dr. Shakti Butler, to Divided Community Project Director Grande Lum. UITC meetings focus on event planning, developing strategy to develop stronger ordinances on hate crimes, and discussion of recent hate incidents in the community and nationally. Grant notes "whenever we get ready to meet, something happens" which feeds UITC's work and conversations. In 2016, the group discussed local hate incidents, tragic deaths of African -American men across the country, the tragedy at Pulse Nightclub, and the tone of the Presidential election. In 2017, UITC discussed the effect of the Presidential election and subsequent executive orders on local immigrant populations. At one early meeting, the group discussed the young man who was arrested for tagging the San Leandro school building with hate -laced graffiti. Grant recalled the police reporting the young man was "full of hate" —he did not realize he was tagging the school; he thought he was tagging a church. As UITC convenes in fall 2018, Grant anticipates discussing how recent violence at neighboring Oakland's BART stations affects the San Leandro's unity and inclusiveness. After two years of work, UITC continues to host meetings on a monthly basis — open to any member of the San Leandro Community. Since March 2016, there have been few public hate incidents in San Leandro, but Grant explains there are still racist incidents at some level that "require a space" for the average community member to say something. UITC continues to be a vehicle for speaking out against hate in the community.