The original Greenbooks were a form of printed mutual aid that helped Black folk travel safely during the times of segregation and sundown towns. It’s notable that both CB and amateur radio were also used by Black travelers.
As we (re)inter a post-truth time in the US, it’s good to keep lists of those brave and supportive spaces where everyone, including Black, Indigenious, People of Culture and 2SLGBTQIA+ siblings, are welcome and respected. I intend to use this page as a Greenbook for Ham radio with a desire to for it to be used to help build Martin Luther King’s Beloved community on- and off- the air.
Brave Volunteer Examiner Coordinators
All VECs must certify that they will adhere to 97.521 VEC qualifications in order to be VEC. This section includes the following language:
However, some VEC (indicated in the table below) have chosen to take the additional step of calling out their willingness to make their support for diversity and inclusion explicitly known. I created the table by searching the VEC websites, VE applications, bylaws, and other associated collateral for DEI statements and the results (so far) are displayed in the table below.
My aim with this table is towards encouraging all VECs to include DEI statements in their training and applications for volunteers–not to bash particular VECs. VEs are at the interface to the hobby, and they (we) must be about encouraging all newly minted amateurs to join the hobby and become “radio active.” There’s no place for bullying, “dog whistles”, or off-color hate masquerading as “jokes” in the VE exam. It behooves us to conduct ourselves professionally, and serve as models for new hams. Who knows, some of the new hams may want to join our ranks as VEs!
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m a member of ARRL and GLAARG and a former member of W5YI VECs.
| Volunteer Examiner Coordinator | Explicit Equity Statement? | Location | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorage ARC VEC | Yes | Club website. Referenced in VE manual | |
| American Radio Relay League (ARRL) | Unknown | ||
| Central Alabama CAVEC, Inc. | Unknown | ||
| Golden Empire Amateur Radio Society (GEARS) | Unknown | ||
| Greater L.A. Amateur Radio Group(GLAARG) | Yes | VEC Manual | I recommneded GLAARG to learners in the NRAO Ham Radio project because they waived exam fees for students with college IDs. |
| Jefferson Amateur Radio Club | Unknown | ||
| Laurel Amateur Radio Club, Inc. | Unknown | ||
| MRAC VEC, Inc. | Unknown | ||
| MO-KAN VEC Coordinator | Unknown | No website or listings in hamstudy.com | |
| Sandarc-VEC | Yes | Bylaws | |
| Sunnyvale VEC | Unknown | ||
| W4VEC Volunteer Examiners Club of America | Unknown | ||
| W5YI-VEC | Unknown | ||
| Western Carolina Amateur Radio Society VEC, Inc. | Yes | VE application |
This is a “living” document and in future iterations, I hope to include ratings and comments from people who have taken tests with specific VEC teams. Please send any questions, corrections, or suggestions to the email on my QRZ page and include your callsign and other identifing information for follow-ups.