CDOR started in 1998, spurred by President Bill Clinton’s Initiative on Race. Over the years, HSU has committed to creating safe spaces for this dialogue, which provides an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and the community to experience workshops, keynote speakers, poster sessions, panel discussions, and conversations exploring race.
The program’s mission is to promote and facilitate social and environmental change by engaging a diverse range of individuals, communities, and viewpoints to explore the impact of racism and its intersections with all forms of oppression.
The keynote speaker is Denice Frohman, an award-winning queer Latinx poet, educator, and performer. Born and raised in New York City, she is a CantoMundo Fellow, Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, 2014 National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures Fund for the Arts grant recipient, 2013 Hispanic Choice Award winner, and 2012 Leeway Transformation Award recipient. Her work has been commissioned by ESPN and Twitter and appears in Women of Resistance: Poems for a new Feminism, Nepantla: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color, The Acentos Review, Winter Tangerine, and more. Her poems have gone viral with over 7.5 million views online and have been featured on Upworthy, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, mitú, and Refinery29.
This event is supported and coordinated by HSU students, staff, and faculty, as well as: Associated Students, Departments of Critical Race, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, English, Social Work, and Sociology, Cultural Centers for Academic Excellence, Division of Student Affairs, Housing, HSI-STEM, MultiCultural Center, Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Office of Student Life, University Library, Equity Alliance of the North Coast, and Arcata Main Street.
Here are a few highlights. For the full list of events and details, see the Events Calendar.
Saturday, Oct. 27
Diversity Day at Farmers Market
9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Arcata Plaza
WE ARE YOUR COMMUNITY is a poster campaign created by masters in Social Work students Erin Youngblood-Smith and Amy Mathieson with the aim of bridging the gap between the local community and students of color. The project seeks to help people in Humboldt County better understand the experiences of students of color on and off campus. There will be tabling by a variety of local and campus organizations on the Plaza during farmers market to engage with the community on the subject of diversity.
Monday, Oct. 29
Kick off on the Quad!
11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Stop by the Quad to pick up Campus Dialogue On Race event schedules and to hear about upcoming workshops!
Cultural Appropriation VS. Appreciation Workshop
11 – 11:50 a.m., Goodwin Forum (Nelson Hall East 102)
Presenters will highlight the realities and experiences of cultural appropriation that have been witnessed throughout our lives. They will discuss the effects of appropriation within our personal stories and narrative because there is never just one story.
Presenters: Tania Cubas & Deema Hindawi, Women’s Resource Center & MultiCultural Center
Featured Speaker Raina León
Poetry Readings/Q & As and Workshops
Raina León is an Associate Professor of the Single Subject Credential Program – English at Saint Mary’s College of California. She is currently a teaching artist in residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, and is part of College of the Redwood’s Visiting Writers Series. She will host two readings followed by Q&A sessions and generative creative writing prompts.
·“Say Her Name!”: Poetry of Witness and Resistance
2– 3 p.m., Goodwin Forum (Nelson Hall East 102)
Poet and educator Raina J. León will offer a short selection of poetry generated from a place of witness and resistance in these times of increased tumult, marginalization, and violence against people of color.
·Love and Happiness as Revolution
3 – 4 p.m., Goodwin Forum (Nelson Hall East 102)
Raina J. León will offer a short selection of poetry that focuses on joy, life, and birth as a political act. She will read new poems, offer a Q&A, and then provide generative writing prompts that focus on generational joy, lineage, and legacy.
Loving the Skin I’m In: My Story
3:30 – 4:30 p.m., Nelson Hall East Room 106
Sixth-grade African-American student Sadie Shelmire will share her experience as a student of color in the Arcata School District. She will give advice to local teachers and administrators on how they can be more welcoming, supportive, and inclusive.
Presenters: Sadie Makayla-Tiye Shelmire, 6th grader, Sunnybrae Middle School &
Tay D. Triggs, HSU administrator
Keynote Speaker Denice Frohman
5 – 6:30 p.m., Kate Buchanan Room
Existencia es Resistencia – Existence is Resistance
Denice Frohman is an award-winning poet, educator, performer, and speaker (bio above).
Tuesday, Oct. 30
Embodied Liberation: Somatic Tools for Metabolizing White Fragility Workshop
10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m., Goodwin Forum (Nelson Hall East 102)
Presenters will draw from the studies and writing of Resmaa Menakem, Robin DiAngelo and Generative Somatics (body-centered healing) to provide tools for white bodies to metabolize their false sense of fragility around race-related topics.
Presenters: Shanti Belaustegui Pockell and Samantha Stone
A Sense of Belonging – Obstacles Hindering Latinx Students in College Campuses
4 – 5 p.m., Library Fishbowl (Room 209)
Talk about the Mexican American/Latinx/Hispanic experience in the United States and how it ties to the obstacles one faces in the community and at home.
Presenters: Abdel Amador, HSU Residential Life
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Pedagogy of the Unwoke Workshop
10 a.m. – Noon, Goodwin Forum (Nelson Hall East 102)
This participatory workshop will provide ideas to enter conversations about racial injustice without blame, shame or guilt. We will also explore how to use restorative approaches to address structural racism in interpersonal interactions.
Presenters: Ron White and Iva Dubyak, Humboldt Area Foundation
Disrupting Bias 101 Workshop
Noon – 2 p.m., TBD (off-campus location to be confirmed)
This workshop will address the first two of four dimensions of racism defined as internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and structural (or systemic). Participants will learn common language used to discuss racial equity, and examine how living in a culture dominated by messages of white superiority impacts how we see ourselves and how we consciously and unconsciously see and interact with others.
Presenters: Cori Jara, Lead Case Manager, McKinleyville Family Resource Center; Meridith Oram, Community Development Specialist, Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, HSU
Thursday, Nov. 1
Data Informed Conversation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Workshop
1 – 2 p.m., Goodwin Forum (Nelson Hall East 102)
This presentation will highlight the importance of data-informed conversations of diversity, equity, and inclusion. By exploring the historical context of diversity data collection and original intent, we can unlock the mysteries of why institutions collect diversity data in the way that they do and how modern behavioral researchers can use those data to better understand their institution.
Presenter: Michael Le, Office of Institutional Effectiveness
Featured Speaker Workshop with Rev. Alvin Herring
3 – 4 p.m., Kate Buchanan Room
Alvin Herring will host a community organizing workshop. Herring is the Executive Director of Faith in Action, formerly PICO National Network, an international network of 39 federations and local groups in 21 states and 3 countries.
2018 Distinguished Alumni Speaker
Eliberto “Eddie” Ramos: “Life and Work Alterations: The Journey from Gang Culture to Inmate Advocate”
4 – 6 p.m., Goodwin Forum (Nelson Hall East 102)
Eliberto “Eddie” Ramos (‘99, Sociology) is a Psychiatric Social Worker for Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Court Linkage Program within superior courts. He also worked for the R.M. Pyles Boys Camp, a wilderness camp promoting leadership and character development for low-income, disadvantaged boys. Ramos, who attended the camp as a youth, is now on the board of directors. Following the talk will be a Q& Asession and a meet & greet with snacks and refreshments.
Featured Speaker Presentation with Rev. Alvin Herring
5 – 6 p.m., Kate Buchanan Room
Rev. Alvin Herring worked as the Director of Racial Equity and Community Engagement for the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the fifth largest foundation in the world. While serving in this role, he advanced racial justice by ensuring groups leading racial justice work had resources to propel their campaigns and initiatives. Rev. Herring is the Executive Director of Faith in Action, formerly PICO National Network.
Friday, Nov. 2
Issues in ADPI Communities Workshop
11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Goodwin Forum (Nelson Hall East 102)
Presented by the Asian Desi Pacific Islander Collective (ADPIC), this workshop discusses issues facing Asian, Desi, and Pacific Islander (ADPI) community and students, specifically underrepresented and marginalized populations, addressing institutional changes to advance the success and voices of these people.
BlacKkKlansman
5 – 8 p.m., Kate Buchanan Room
In Spike Lee’s new film based on real events, Ron Stallworth, an African-American police officer in Colorado, successfully infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan. A discussion will be facilitated by Ramona Bell, Department of Critical Race, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (CRGS). This event is sponsored by the Office of Student Life.
Presenter: CRGS Professor Ramona Bell
Dia de los Muertos Dance
7 p.m. – Midnight, Arcata Veterans Hall, 1425 J Street, Arcata
Latinx Center for Academic Excellent presents the first annual dance event! All ages welcome! $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Food available for purchase. Proceeds from food and ticket sales will help fund LCAE’s future events and cultural graduation in May 2019.
For more information, LCAE@humboldt.edu, or call 707.826.4530