Tag Archives: sylvia spears

UPDATES – July 2021, Farewell from Sylvia

July 14, 2021 Social Justice Center Leave a comment

Dear Members of the Emerson Community,

Consistent with a longstanding tradition, the SJC Community Update typically begins with message from me. In those messages, I often share a reflection about what’s happening at Emerson or in the world. Sometimes I scribe a short message intended to speak to the heart. This update is no different, except that this will be my last message to the Emerson Community
as Vice President for Equity & Social Justice.

“All that you touch
You change.

All that you Change
Changes you.

The only lasting truth
Is change.”

– Octavia E. Butler

My friends, it has been a wild ride—full of incredible moments, deeply moving experiences, and the most wondrous and unexpected opportunities for personal growth. I must say that so many of my most treasured memories at Emerson have happened in community with students—with the activists and advocates, agitators and accomplices, the co-conspirators and the curious—all of you who have cared enough about Emerson to call on it to live up to its highest promises. Please know that you gave me life. There have been so many times when I was in awe of your fearlessness, your ability to speak truth to power, and your deep commitment to moving in solidarity with one another. You all know who you are. Please know that while I am leaving my role at Emerson, I am not leaving you. I am so honored to have crossed paths with you and we will find each other. Look me up on social.

In the past nine years, there have also been moments that were unbelievably challenging. Of course, some challenges are to be expected with my position, a role that by its very nature disrupts the status quo and disquiets the comfortable. There have been times when I have witnessed and experienced harm, times when people have disappointed me, and times when circumstances revealed things about us as a community that I wish I had not known. All of this, the good and the not so good, comes with being in a community struggling together to become its better self.

While I will not be around to see all of the change that we wanted to see come to pass at Emerson, I know that there are so many kindreds among this community of students, faculty, and staff who will carry this good and important work forward. I thank you for your labor toward making Emerson a place where people—Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Disabled, First Gen, people without government papers, the religiously diverse, and those struggling financially—can show up fully in all of their beauty in a beloved community of care. We should never settle for anything less.

To the staff of the SJC, past and present, “What’s up, Family!” I thank you for your fierce commitment to justice, your quirky and raucous humor, the fantastic home-cooked meals we have shared, and your willingness to trust in me. There just might be a few “self-actualized jewels,” among you, after all.

Finally, one of the things I have learned during my time at Emerson is how important it is to control the narrative. My departure from Emerson will be framed in a number of ways, some of it will be accurate and some of it will not.

So, if you hear someone say that I left because I wanted to work closer to home, or I left because President Pelton left, or I left because of campus activism, please know that none of those things would ever be enough of a reason.

During the pandemic, I found myself frequently summoned by an internal question—“What am I called to do with the precious life force energy that I have been given?” Over many months, I discovered that I am called to find the cure for what ails higher education. That’s why I came into higher education in the first place. So, my leaving is actually a continuation of a quest that was started many years ago.

Today, I can’t think of a better use of my life force energy than working to develop an educational model that honors and serves the students who are the most marginalized but who have so very much to offer the world.

In Solidarity,
Sylvia

*****

Best Wishes for Greta

It is with mixed emotions that I share that Greta Spoering, Associate Director of the Healing & Advocacy Collective, and Survivor Counselor/Advocate, will be leaving Emerson for another opportunity across the river at Harvard as the SHARE Senior Clinical Coordinator within the Office for Gender Equity where she will continue to do prevention and response work, while taking on the task of opening a new space to support those who have been impacted by power-based interpersonal violence on Harvard’s campus. Greta’s last day will be July 23. As many of you know, Greta’s contributions over the past seven years have been far reaching and deeply impactful for so many Emersonians. Greta has been a source of solace and support for those impacted by power-based violence and other harms, a fierce advocate for trauma-informed practices, and a caring and compassionate space holder for so many individuals and groups. She has also been an expert educator and facilitator who has developed enduring relationships across the campus. Not only has Greta increased consciousness about the personal and systemic impact of oppression on people and communities, but she has made significant contributions to shifting the culture at Emerson.

Greta has also been a vital member of the Social Justice Center staff. She helped to shape much of what the Social Justice Center has become in so many ways. She contributed to the development of the Bias Response program, now the Identity-Based Harm program, when students had nowhere to bring their concerns. She was also a significant contributor to Mapping the Margins of RePresentation: A Response to Students’ Call, also known as the “black book,” published by the Social Justice Center in 2019. She was a key player in the development of the SJC LIVE Facebook Series, the many SJC poster campaigns that we have launched, the person behind our thought-provoking social media posts, and so many other programs and events.

Greta has been an extraordinary teacher and guide to all of us in the SJC, nudging us to deepen our social justice practice by sharing yet another book for us to read or suggesting another podcast of note. But, most importantly, Greta has modeled for us every day what it truly means to show up for people. The Social Justice Center and Emerson is better place because Greta has been part of this community.

I am forever grateful for Greta’s friendship, wise counsel, and her magical ability to turn into a powerful super human, whenever the situation warrants it. I wish Greta the very best as she continues to embody what it means to live justice in every breath.

*****

Healing & Advocacy Growth and Transitions

Building on the incredible work that Melanie and Greta have done building a place of support for people who have been impacted by power-based interpersonal violence, the Healing & Advocacy Collective will be growing to address community need. In response to the ESOCWeekOfAction Student Demands, Healing & Advocacy received approval for an additional employee position. The search has begun for staff to join Healing & Advocacy to assist with advocacy-based counseling and prevention. In addition, graduate interns will be joining Healing & Advocacy in September. Additional staff will strengthen and enhance our continued support of community, especially for Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Trans and Genderqueer folks, and community members with disabilities.

Healing & Advocacy is available to support individuals and communities impacted by power-based interpersonal violence, including sexual assault and harassment, stalking, abusive relationships, child abuse and neglect, identity-based harm, and additional experiences of trauma. Healing & Advocacy plans on continuing our work in solidarity with those most impacted and committed to social justice and liberation. We invite you to join us as we continue to explore opportunities for healing, community-building, artistic expression, anti-oppression and liberation work, and prevention through culture change.

*****

Summer Exploration

We Want to Do More Than Survive by Bettina Love
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622408/we-want-to-do-more-than-survive-by-bettina-love
Drawing on her life’s work of teaching and researching in urban schools, Bettina Love persuasively argues that educators must teach students about racial violence, oppression, and how to make sustainable change in their communities through radical civic initiatives and movements. She argues that the US educational system is maintained by and profits from the suffering of children of color. Instead of trying to repair a flawed system, educational reformers offer survival tactics in the forms of test-taking skills, acronyms, grit labs, and character education, which Love calls the educational survival complex.

The Right to Maim by Jasbir K. Puar.
https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-right-to-maim
In The Right to Maim Jasbir K. Puar brings her pathbreaking work on the liberal state, sexuality, and biopolitics to bear on our understanding of disability. Drawing on a stunning array of theoretical and methodological frameworks, Puar uses the concept of “debility”—bodily injury and social exclusion brought on by economic and political factors—to disrupt the category of disability.

Finding Our Way Episode 12: Harm, Punishment, and Abolition with Mariame Kaba
In this episode, Prentis sits with activist, organizer, educator, and author, Mariame Kaba, to discuss abolition and its connection to healing work. This conversation asks us to confront difficult truths about our enacting of relationship, our striving for innocence, and how much we might actually draw pleasure from punishment.

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Social Justice Center

Community Updates

UPDATES – June 2021

June 18, 2021 Social Justice Center Leave a comment

A Letter from Sylvia Spears on Juneteenth

Dear Members of the Emerson Community,

This Friday, Emerson will observe Juneteenth as an official holiday for the first time in the College’s history. Although Juneteenth may be new to some members of the Emerson Community, observances in the form of gatherings, celebrations, musical events, and religious services have been taking place in African American communities for a very long time. Against the backdrop of what is now being described as a time of racial reckoning in the United States, Juneteenth has come more fully into the public’s awareness. States, cities, businesses, organizations, and a host of colleges and universities have added Juneteenth to their official holiday calendars. And, yes, that is a good thing.

Yet, I continue to think about all of the historical and present-day complexities surrounding the holiday, especially our understandings of what abolition might truly mean. Juneteenth recognizes the day that the Union Army freed the last group of people in the United States who remained enslaved for two years beyond Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Think about what it means that the U.S. government made slavery illegal in 1863 but it continued in Texas for two more years. What does that reveal about our reliance on government-granted rights to ascribe value to our humanity, especially if those rights can be given, ignored, or taken back? What does it mean to celebrate the abolition of slavery while many continue to fight for the fundamental promises of abolition? Further, how might we think about abolition beyond the release of iron shackles to the transformation of the consciousness that allowed slavery to happen and still permeates our society today?

These questions cause me to ponder what it means for Juneteenth to slowly become mainstream. This year, more companies than ever will observe Juneteenth—Best Buy, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Google, J.C. Penny, J.P. Morgan, Master Card, the NFL, Nike, Target, Twitter, Workday, and many more. Is this a sign of growing commitment to racial justice? Just yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Are these groups and organizations committed to growing their anti-racist practices or is observance of Juneteenth a symbolic gesture driven by the politics of appearances and devoid of any effort to address the myriad of injustices that affect the lives and well-being of African American and Black communities? These are the questions that weigh on my heart as I also honor the ancestors who fought for freedom.

Today, I wonder how we, at Emerson, might meaningfully observe Juneteenth in light of the long arc of history in which “freedom is a constant struggle.” For me, Juneteenth cannot solely be a time for celebration. It must also serve as an act of resistance. It is my hope that we will all choose to reflect, to learn, and to act in ways that help us to realize true abolition and liberation for African American and Black communities, along with all other communities who are affected by oppression.

Juneteenth Resources: https://websites.emerson.edu/juneteenth-resources

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Mural by artist Wesley Cabral in Hayes Valley featuring a portrait of Gabriella Momah

Deepening Our Disability Justice Practice

On April 6, Access: Student Disability Union, Emerson’s first affiliated student organization for disabled students, informed the Emerson Community of the Access Advocacy Project (linktr.ee/AccessSDU). In their materials, the group called upon the College “to do the hard, but important work of making itself more equitable to disabled students and community members.” In addition to sharing an Action Plan for Disability Equity as a starting point for change, Access: Student Disability Union noted that “…anti-ableism work requires a communal, continuous effort….” The staff of the Social Justice Center extend gratitude to Access: Student Disability Union for their call to our community to make the College more accessible and equitable for students and community members with disabilities.

We pledge to work with sincerity and sustained commitment to deepen our understanding of disability justice, to address instances of ableism within our practices and at Emerson, and to work toward true liberatory access for members of our community. To this end, the Social Justice Center had entered into a more in-depth study of disability justice and will be working to realign our practices accordingly. Please know that changes in our practices will be deliberately considered and a work in progress.

We invite the Emerson Community to join us in this important work. For resources related to Disability Justice, please visit the SJC’s Radical Guide for Social Justice at https://guides.library.emerson.edu/radical. The selected materials center the experiences and perspectives of people within the disability community.

“I want to say unequivocally that disabled people are everywhere. We are one of the largest oppressed groups on the planet. We are part of political movements, even if you don’t know or don’t acknowledge that we are. No matter what community you’re working with, you are working with disabled people. “ Mia Mingus – Longmore Lecture
https://longmoreinstitute.sfsu.edu/mia-mingus-longmore-lecture-video-now-available

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As part of the refinement of the College’s strategic goals in 2012, Emerson sought to increase its engagement in communities within the Boston area. At that time, a new center was created as an administrative hub for some of this work. This new center was named after Elma Lewis, an Emerson alumnae ’43, who was arts educator and the founder of the National Center of Afro-American Artists and The Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts. With permission of Miss Lewis’s family, Emerson’s new center was named the Elma Lewis Center for Civic Engagement, Learning, and Research (ELC).

Over the past several years, we have noted that the language that describes this body of work has shifted away from the nomenclature of civic engagement, and moved to a more community-based language and practice. In keeping with this shift, we are updating the name of the ELC to the Elma Lewis Center for Community Engagement (ELCCE). The scope work of the Center remains the same and we will continue to support all of the ways in which community engagement, cross-community learning, and community-centered research pratices occur. Please check out what is happening at the ELCCE at https://www.emerson.edu/social-justice-center/elma-lewis-center.

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Summer Exploration

10 Laws with East Forest - Bayo Akomolafe Ten Laws Podcast with East Forest, #112 with Bayo Akomolafe: Uncovering Bones

https://ten-laws-with-east-forest.simplecast.com/episodes/bayo-akomolafe-uncovering-bones-the-invitation-being-made-112 and where podcasts are available

Bayo Akomolafe is globally recognized for his poetic, unconventional, counterintuitive, and indigenous take on global crisis, civic action, activism and social change. He is an international speaker, poet, and activist for a radical paradigm shift in consciousness and current ways of living. His readings of ‘knowledge’, ‘development’, ‘progress’ and ‘truth’ as Eurocentric metanarratives led him and his wife, Ej to develop the first International Workshop on Alternative Research Paradigms and Indigenous Knowledge Promotion (WARP, 2011). Bayo has authored two books, We Will Tell Our Own Story! and These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home.

A Third University Is Possible by la paperson

Uncovering the decolonizing ghost in the colonizing machine. Drawing parallels to Third Cinema and Black filmmaking assemblages, A Third University Is Possible ultimately presents new ways of using language to develop a framework for hotwiring university “machines” to the practical work of decolonization.
www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/a-third-university-is-possible

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Finding Our Way Podcast, Season 2

Finding Our Way is conversation between Prentis and activists, artists and leaders to discuss how to realize the world we want through our own healing and transformation. This isn’t a podcast about answers.

Hosted by Prentis Hemphill where podcasts are available.

www.instagram.com/findingourwaypodcast

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Social Justice Center

Emerson College

(617) 824-8528

www.facebook/SocialJusticeCtr

www.instagram.com/socialjusticectr

www.emerson.edu/social-justice-center

Community Updates

UPDATES – May 2021

May 7, 2021 Social Justice Center Leave a comment

Exhale: A Meditation

This has been an unusual year. In so many ways, this year has been a portal; a portal that opened a window into the greater Truths of our existence. It showed us who we are, who we can be at our best, and who we can be at our worst.

It also revealed the gap between our dreams, institutional promises, and our lived realities. It illuminated a schism; a kind of brutal disappointment in the very institutions and systems that we thought would serve us. We have been holding our collective breath for far too long. We must embrace the power and promise of a long, deep exhale.

As more and more people become safe from the virus, our collective sense of comfort in the world slowly and cautiously begins to return. We Exhale.

As communities work toward change together, we see the possibility of transformation in places that were previously perceived as intractable. We Exhale.

As we gather together with newfound intersectional solidarity, we feel the power of collectivity and what it means to be in community. We Exhale.

As the Spring reveals its rich fullness, we recognize that all around us change is constant and we are part of that change. We Exhale.

And those of us who have been fighting for justice…we are coming to understand that justice cannot exist outside of us until it exists with us. We Exhale.

And as we move to the close of the academic year, it is my hope that you will now allow yourself to exhale. Exhale away anything that doesn’t serve you. You can Breathe now.

Breathe for those who no longer have breath.
Breathe for those who can’t catch their breath.
Breathe for those yet to have breath.
Breathe for the planet so that she may be healed.
Breathe so that we may remember to remember who are and that freedom begins at the Exhale.

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Congratulations, SJC Graduates!
We congratulate Ashley Tarbet-DeStefano in the Elma Lewis Center for completing her MS degree in Critical Ethnic and Community Studies from UMass Boston, and Jeeyoon Kim in the Elma Lewis Center for completing her MA degree in Digital Marketing and Data Analytics from Emerson.On The Move:
It is with sadness that we inform the Emerson Community that Jeeyoon Kim will be transitioning out her role as Assistant Director for Youth Programs, and leaving Emerson. Jeeyoon played a critical role in guiding the development of some of the College’s distinct youth programs, more specifically, Creative Community Network and the Youth LEAD Sharon program. Jeeyoon has had a significant impact on the young people with whom she worked and has been a valued member of the Social Justice Center team. We extend our thanks and appreciation for Jeeyoon, as she and her partner make moves in the world. Jeeyoon, thank you for who you are and all that you have to done to create a vibrant learning community of young people. We are all better because of the time we have spent with you. Best wishes to you for what comes next in your life.

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Seed to Harvest: The Wooden Book, a touring book project where the people and communities write the pages, launched its Boston-area tour from Emerson’s Elma Lewis Center in April. Seed to Harvest: The Wooden Book is the first in a series of books that will travel throughout the United States and 14 U.S. territories collecting stories in the form of memories that will serve as medicine for its readers. In collaboration with Arts Emerson artist-in-residence, Toshi Reagon’s Parable Path Boston, the Traces/Remain ensemble is inviting people in communities to join them on a Sower’s journey that uses memories as medicine. You may submit your original content in response to one of four narrative prompts. The prompts include reflections on personal connections with trees, to memories of what you are ready to pass onto others for the purpose of healing, to what are you planting and what will you sow. Original poems, essays, short stories, articles, drawings, paintings, music, etc. may be submitted. We encourage all Emersonians to consider submitting their work. Entries may be made via email at seedtoharvestentries@gmail.com and more information can be found at artsemerson.org under programs.

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Access, Equity, & Title IX
During the 2020-2021 academic year, Access, Equity, & Title IX (AET) received and evaluated 110 reports, 80 of which involved prohibited conduct under the College’s Power-Based Interpersonal Violence Policy. Reports involved a wide range of behaviors, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, and relationship violence. AET authorized two requests for a formal resolution processes (investigation and adjudication) and implemented supportive measures in response to 21 reports, either at the request of students or based on an assessment by AET staff. These measures were singular or a combination of measures, including but not limited to No Contact Orders; Stay Away Directives; requests for academic, residential, or workplace modifications; policy reminders; and targeted inquiries for safety assessment.

Identity-Based Harm (Bias)
This academic year, we received 39 reports of identity-based harm, a significant reduction in the number of reports received last year (62). The classroom continues to be where a majority of harm is occurring. Experiences of harm related to ethnicity/culture, race, and gender identity/expression continue to be the most reported, as well as an increase in the number of experience of harm related to disability. Over the summer months the Social Justice Center will be in conversation with Academic Affairs, Campus Life, and Human Resources regarding additional options for reporting experiences of bias, microaggressions, and identity-based harm that will allow for direct reporting to the areas noted above while also maintaining an option of anonymity for those who report. This revised system will allow Academic Affairs, Campus Life, and Human Resources to monitor, track, and respond to experiences within their areas of the College. The Social Justice Center will continue to provide support and advocacy for those impacted by identity-based harm.

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Summer Exploration

Decarcerating Disability by Liat Ben-Moshe. Liat Ben-Moshe provides case studies that show how prison abolition is not an unattainable goal but rather a reality, and how it plays out in different arenas of incarceration—antipsychiatry, the field of intellectual disabilities, and the fight against the prison-industrial complex. Her analysis of lived experience, history, and culture charts a way out of a failing system of incarceration.
https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/decarcerating-disabilityWe Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba. What if social transformation and liberation isn’t about waiting for someone else to come along and save us? What if ordinary people have the power to collectively free ourselves? In this timely collection of essays and interviews, Mariame Kaba reflects on the deep work of abolition and transformative political struggle.

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1664-we-do-this-til-we-free-us

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon. A genre-bending work of Gothic fiction. Here, monsters aren’t just individuals, but entire nations. It is a searing, seminal book that marks the arrival of a bold, unignorable voice in American fiction.
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374266776

Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals. Undrowned is a book-length meditation for the entire human species, based on the subversive and transformative lessons of marine mammals. Alexis Pauline Gumbs has spent hundreds of hours watching our aquatic cousins. She has found them to be queer, fierce, protective of each other, complex, shaped by conflict, and struggling to survive the extractive and militarized conditions humans have imposed on the ocean. Employing a brilliant mix of poetic sensibility, naturalist observation, and Black feminist insights, she translates their submerged wisdom to reveal what they might teach us. The result is a powerful work of creative nonfiction that produces not a specific agenda but an unfolding space for wonder and questioning.
https://www.akpress.org/undrowned.html

Community Updates

UPDATES – SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

September 24, 2020 Social Justice Center Leave a comment

Dear Members of the Emerson Community,

This community update was written before yesterday’s ruling by Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, regarding the indictment of officers involved in the shooting and death of Breonna Taylor. In many ways, the content of much of this newsletter feels out of sync with this moment and what some members of the Emerson Community may be feeling or needing in this moment. Regretfully, there is no measure of consolation that I can offer to sufficiently address the pain that some of us are experiencing today.

I don’t know all of what happened in Breonna Taylor’s apartment that night. We may never know.

What I do know is that Breonna Taylor was not a suspect of a crime. She was an EMT who was working to save the lives of people during a pandemic.

What I do know is that she was sleeping in her apartment when all hell broke loose resulting in six shots being fired into her body.

What I do know is that she is one of a long list of unarmed Black people who have been killed as a result of state sanctioned violence.

What I do know is that I am grieving for her, her family, communities of color, and those of us who don’t have the privilege of safety while we sleep, run, drive or even breathe.

Today, I will grieve. Tomorrow, I will continue to work for change.

– Sylvia

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The Social Justice Center has a number of new programs that are available to the Emerson Community.

Panic & Patience Podcast – Building Community Through Art, Education, and Social Justice

The Panic & Patience Podcast series is hosted by Jae Williams, Director of Special Projects in the Social Justice Center. This series highlights the work of artists, educators, entrepreneurs, athletes, and community leaders as they explore issues affecting marginalized communities, and how we as leaders can create space and support efforts of change. “This is a space where Black and Brown folks can see themselves and their experiences reflected all of their inherit brilliance, fullness, and power,” said Sylvia Spears, Vice President for Equity & Social Justice. This series is anchored in an understanding that this work is an urgent ever-changing process of dismantling social constructs, unconscious bias, and systematic oppression, while also working to build for a future that encourages cultural humility, inclusion, and community growth. Panic & Patience is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Season One is available at Panic & Patience on Youtube. Feel free to check out Jae’s personal Panic & Patience website: https://bit.ly/ourpanicandpatience

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Radical Guide for Social Justice

A collection of texts, videos, podcasts, and other multimodal materials gathered by members of the Social Justice Center as we work to deepen our individual knowledge and collective practice. We share this collection for those who are also interested in doing their own work for social justice. These topics provide an entry point for further exploration into social justice, anti-oppression, liberation, and organizing movements. As you expand your interest in any particular area, we encourage you to take an intersectional approach by exploring other topics as well. Visit https://guides.library.emerson.edu/radical

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Healing & Advocacy

We’re still available and can connect via email, phone, and through video calls! Some additional ways to connect are though:

Trauma Informed Yoga
Focused on listening to your body.
Wednesdays from 6-7 PM EST on Zoom
Register at: https://tinyurl.com/Y67j6RN0

Support Group
A space for folks to gather who have experienced PBIV.
For more information or to join, email advocacy@emerson.edu

What We Grow: An Intentional Practice Community
This Practice Community is an intentional 8 week-long space focused on growing self-accountability in our own lives through relationships and cultivating a beginning understanding of transformative justice. This group is inspired by the article ‘Dreaming Accountability’ by Mia Mingus, her work, and the work of BATJC, Just Practice, and many, many other femme, trans, and gender expansive communities of color who have long been rooting into practices of community accountability. For more information or to join, email advocacy@emerson.edu

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A Book Club Won’t Save Us: Study, Act, Reflect, Repeat

What does principled struggle mean? More importantly, why does it matter? Join Samantha Ivery, Director of Diversity & Equity Initiatives in the Social Justice Center, in a 4-week series to begin a praxis of “study, act, reflect, repeat.” Participants will meet weekly for a month to:

Take personal responsibility for increasing our own awareness and knowledge base of societal norms linked to systemic oppression;
Develop critical thinking muscles to integrate dissonant themes into practice;
Build a repertoire of reflective practices;
Leave motivated to repeat.

SERIES #1

Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England (Jared Ross Hardesty)

October 6, 13, 20, 27 – AFTERNOON 12-1PM

October 6, 13, 20, 27 – EVENING 5-6PM

SERIES #2

See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love (Valarie Kaur)

November 10, 17 & December 1, 8 – AFTERNOON 12-1PM

November 10, 17 & December 1, 8 – EVENING 5-6PM

Registration: Click the links above for the dates and time slot of your choosing. Please contact samantha_ivery@emerson.edu for questions or more details.

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What we have been reading and thinking about…

The Four Parts of Accountability: How To Give A Genuine Apology Part 1
How To Give A Genuine Apology Part 2: The Apology – The What and The How
Mia Mingus is a writer, educator and organizer for disability justice and transformative justice. Read at https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com

A Conversation About Healing Justice with Cara Page
Cara Page is a Black queer feminist cultural/memory worker, curator, and organizer. She joins Isha Weerasinghe, a senior policy analyst focused on mental health and works on CLASP’s (Center for Law and Social Policy) youth team. Watch at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=1420060828384539

Connectfulness Podcast 010: Mending Racialized Trauma: A Body Centered Approach with Resmaa Menakem
Rebecca is joined by healer, author, and trauma specialist, Resmaa Menakem. Resmaa helps people, communities, and organizations find strength and healing that’s both holistic and resilient. Listen at https://connectfulness.com/episode/010-resmaa-menakem-racialized-trauma

The Deep by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes
The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society—and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future in this brilliantly imaginative novella inspired by the Hugo Award nominated song “The Deep” from Daveed Diggs’ rap group Clipping. More info at https://www.riverssolomon.com/thedeep

Community Updates

Updates – June 5, 2020 – George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Botham Jean, Tony McDade, Nina Pop

June 5, 2020 Social Justice Center Leave a comment

Message from Sylvia Spears

This past week has been deeply challenging for me, my family, my communities of color, and for feeling people all over the globe. I am so weary. I have spent the past 25 years working to create more diverse, equitable, and socially just communities at colleges and universities. Yet, I can’t find real evidence of fundamental transformative change in education or in our society. As a result, this moment represents not only a crisis of consciousness for many but also existential crisis for me on so many levels.

I do find some comfort in the emails and social media contacts I have received unexpectedly from current and former students—some from Emerson, some from Dartmouth College, and even some from the University of Rhode Island. While I continue to question the meaning of my work in light of everything that is occurring, these students tell me that it has not been in vain.

They give me life, joy, and a reason to carry on.

— Sylvia

Implementation of New Department of Education Regulations

As many of you are aware, the Department of Education recently published new Title IX regulations. Emerson, along with other colleges and universities across the country, is required to bring its policies and processes for the handling of reports of specific types of power-based interpersonal violence into compliance with these new regulations by August 14.

You may recall that the Presidential Working Group (PWG) recently published its draft report and recommended the establishment of a Standing Committee to facilitate communication and coordination of the College’s response to reports of power-based interpersonal violence and to assume responsibility for addressing recent changes to the Department of Education Title IX regulations. Due to the Department of Education’s deadline of August 14, for colleges and universities to come into compliance with new regulations, President Pelton and other senior leaders of the College have approved the immediate establishment of an ad hoc Steering Committee and relevant Sub-Committees to advance the work necessary to revise policies, establish new processes, and develop new trainings on Title IX specific to the new regulations. As such, Pam White, Associate Vice President & Title IX and Clery Act Coordinator, and I are convening a Steering Committee and corresponding Sub-Committees to assist us in advancing the necessary work to bring the College into compliance with these new regulations.

The Steering Committee and Sub-Committees members include students, union representation from both staff and faculty, academic deans, staff in areas of the College responsible for aspects of implementation of process changes as well as members of the College’s senior leadership team. These committees will focus very narrowly on implementing the new Department of Education Title IX regulations into the College’s Sexual Misconduct Policy. This work does not replace the work that is ongoing on the part of the Presidential Working Group, whose focus extended beyond the new regulations but was limited to the student ecosystem of sexual misconduct.

The Presidential Working Group

As many of you are aware, the Presidential Working Group (PWG) recently published its draft report, which includes their findings and recommendations. It is without question that the members of the PWG who participated in this academic year long endeavor did so out of a commitment to Emerson students and to the College. When the PWG launched, I shared with the Berkeley Beacon that the group was taking on an important and herculean task.

The PWG has opened a comment period on their draft report that closes today, June 5. As Vice President for Equity & Social Justice and supervisor for Title IX Access & Equity and the Healing & Advocacy Collective, I have thoughtfully considered the findings and recommendations of the PWG. I have drafted comments that I hope will provide some additional insights and context for this important body of work. Consistent with the public nature of the draft report from the Presidential Working Group, I will also make my comments on the report, as well as the comments submitted by Title IX Access & Equity and the Healing & Advocacy Collective, accessible to the Emerson Community. You can find these comments at: https://bit.ly/sjcresponses2020

In Solidarity

If you are currently looking for ways to engage in solidarity, we encourage you to use the many resources that people have already created explaining white supremacy, structural violence, and how to build an anti-racist practice. We ask that you begin to do your own work to deepen your understanding in lieu of asking individuals and communities of color to do more labor to facilitate your learning or to give you guidance about what to do.

You can find some of these resources compiled at https:/linktr.ee/sjc, as well as watch the SJC LIVE videos on anti-racist practice and power, violence, and institutional betrayals at www.facebook.com/SocialJusticeCtr/videos or read the transcripts at https://bit.ly/sjclivetranscripts. In addition, we are regularly sharing information, links, and art reflecting the brilliance of our communities on Facebook (facebook.com/SocialJusticeCtr) and Instagram (instagram.com/socialjusticectr).

Social Justice Center

Emerson College

(617) 824-8528

Community Updates

Updates – September 4, 2019

September 4, 2019 Social Justice Center Leave a comment

A Message from Sylvia Spears, Vice President for Equity & Social Justice

Welcome back Emerson students and faculty, and greetings to new members of the Emerson Community. I offer a special shout-out to Emerson’s staff who have been plugging away all summer with just a week or two of reprieve.

As the fall semester gets underway, I am struck by the throngs of students hanging out in front of the Little Building, a spot once barricaded with scaffolding. I am also energized by the buzz on Boylston St. and delight in the joyous reunions that occur during the 18 second walk signal across Boylston and Tremont. There is something special about that crossing; it reminds me of all the directions from which we have come to be here in this place and in this moment to learn, work, and create.

This is a time of significant transition for all of us. New students hope to find their way, those of us who are returning (or never left) try to settle back into a routine, and all of us feel the pangs of summer’s waning. The sun is setting earlier. Soon, the crisp fall winds will start to dance through the air.

And we begin again.

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New Social Justice Center Events

The Social Justice Center is pleased to announce our Fall 2019 series of events and programs. See the full poster of events below. Gatherings range from Community jam sessions and art events in the new Elma Lewis Center space (148 Boylston St.) to our new Freedom Fridays program beginning this Friday, September 6.

Freedom Friday, September 6, noon @ Common Ground, 120 Boylston St. 10th floor
Grow Some Roots: The transition from summer to fall can leave us feeling unsteady. As the temperature drops and the winds begin to swirl, take a moment to plant your own seeds and grow greater rootedness. Leave with your own potted plant to add to your living space.

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Title IX Update

As many of you are aware, the Office of Title IX Access and Equity has been searching for a new Deputy Title IX Coordinator & Investigator. Although the College retains a number of external investigators who continue to conduct Title IX investigations for Emerson, we also seek to have a Title IX Investigator on staff. Our search processes last year were unsuccessful. In an effort to expand the recruitment of viable candidates, we have hired a firm to assist us with this important search. They have been actively recruiting candidates on our behalf during the summer and we expect to be able to fill this position soon.

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Identity-based Harm (Bias, Micro-aggressions, and Structural Oppression)

In 2016, in response to student concerns, the Social Justice Center (formerly the Division of Diversity & Inclusion) developed the Bias Response Program in an effort to provide a central location for reporting incidents of bias. This summer, SJC staff revisited the program to assess its alignment with our current foundational values. In addition, we sought to clarify the purpose, the scope, and the authority of the program.

Our new approach to identity-based harm (bias, micro-aggressions, and structural oppression) seeks to affirm the lives, experiences, and resilience of people and communities who are most marginalized, while also acknowledging that interpersonal harm in the form of bias, micro-aggressions, and structural oppression continues to occur, even in the places where we should feel most accepted and validated.

For information on identity-based harm or how to share your experience, please visit www.emerson.edu/bias.

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Community Centered Projects and Courses

Are you a student, staff, or faculty member interested in developing community-centered projects or courses that are built on authentic relationships? The Social Justice Center invites you to a workshop about practices that do this within a social justice frame. Deep experience welcomed. No prior experience necessary. Light lunch provided.
October 30, 12:00 – 1:30, ELC, 148 Boylston St.

RSVP: elc@emerson.edu

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Social Justice Center – Fall 2019

Freedom Fridays
Caring for yourself is an act of resistance.Freedom Friday, September 6, noon
Common Ground, 120 Boylston St. 10th floor
Grow Some Roots
The transition from summer to fall can leave us feeling unsteady. As the temperature drops and the winds begin to swirl, take a moment to plant your own seeds and grow greater rootedness. Leave with your own potted plant to add to your living space

Wednesday, September 18, 4-7pm
ELC, 148 Boylston St.
Music. Poetry. Healing. Organizing.
Storytelling and performances centering the wisdom of Boston-area youth sharing their journeys as artists, organizers, and activists. Join us for music, poetry, and conversation on race, immigration, and identity, as well as personal and collective healing. Featured artists: Angelina Botticelli, Thays Figueiredo, Gabriela Barroso, and Andrine Pierresaint.Freedom Friday, October 4, noon
Common Ground, 120 Boylston St. 10th floor
Got Game?
Cultures around the globe have traditions that bring their communities together. Playing games creates space for building community and growing skills. Make new connections, play some games, and have fun.

Thursday, October 17, 4-7pm
Common Ground, 120 Boylston St. 10th floor
Screen Printing for Activists
Activists and communities have long used screen printing to raise awareness in order to create change. Learn the basics of screen printing and leave with your own self-made resistance art, or create something for mutual aid, survival, and mobilization. No experience necessary.

Freedom Friday, November 1, noon
Bordy Auditorium, 216 Tremont Street
Slow Your Roll With Meditative Yoga
Yoga is about more than a physical practice in a crowded and steamy studio. Meditative yoga brings peace of body and mind, and renewed energy. Come find inner peace through a mindfully led meditative yoga practice.

Wednesday, November 20, 4-7pm
ELC, 148 Boylston St.
Truth to Power Jam Session
Bring yourself, bring your instrument, and join us in a celebration of Boston-area musicians from the African Diaspora as they speak truth to power through music and spoken word.

Freedom Friday, December 6, noon
Common Ground, 120 Boylston St. 10th floor
Color Outside the Lines
Coloring books are not just for kids. Coloring can reduce stress, stimulate creativity, and foster mindfulness. Come color and leave with supplies to develop your own relaxation practices.

Social Justice Center

Emerson College

(617) 824-8528

Community Updates

Updates – April 30, 2019

April 30, 2019 Social Justice Center Leave a comment

A Message from Sylvia Spears, Vice President for Equity & Social Justice

I have come to recognize the month of April as a time when tensions rise, student resilience wanes, and the hurts that have been held silently all year spill over into the community. What occurs is not related to workload stressors or the amount of GRIT students demonstrate. It is about the cumulative impact of daily conditions that slowly eat away at students’ sense of agency and their ability to maintain a sense of control over their lives and their well-being. What we have seen in the last weeks of this semester is about much more than a single incident or even individual acts by members of our community. This moment is about the impact of structures and systems that remain invisible to most of us and yet have an impact on all of us. It is a reflection of what is in the air that we breathe. For some of us, the air is toxic. Simply put, students have reached their human limits.

So now what? Do we turn our eyes away from students’ concerns out of our own anger, hurt, or shame? Do we reject the validity of students’ pain because we don’t like the way the message was delivered? Or do we sit in the discomfort of it all and work to right the real wrongs? I suppose one could argue that any of these responses is appropriate but only the last one will move us forward and toward a more reconciled and compassionate community.

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Mapping the Margins of RePresentation at Emerson: A Response to Students’ Call

The Social Justice Center recently released Mapping the Margins of RePresentation at Emerson: A Response to Students’ Call. Through the analysis of existing institutional data, this Social Justice Center study reveals disproportionate representation of specific student demographic groups in Emerson service or program interaction based on their representation in the Emerson community, showing systemic roots of students’ experiences of marginalization. These findings suggest that specific phenomena exist that may be having an adverse impact on specific student communities.

Although the study did not seek to determine causal or correlational relationships, it is our hope that this book will serve as a catalyst for the Emerson community to examine what may be causing disproportionate representation and to create substantive change for students who are most impacted. In Mapping the Margins of RePresentation, you will find information about why we did this project, who was involved, how we approached our work, and what we found, situated in the context of national data, Black Feminist Theory, Transformative Justice, Critical Trans Politics, Abolition, and Decolonization Theory that reflects a broader structural context. “We hope that this work honors students’ lived experiences,” said Sylvia Spears, Vice President for Equity & Social Justice. “The implications of these findings are significant. We encourage members of the community to read the book, sit with its impact, do your own work, and move toward ways of doing things that create the possibility of freedom and liberation for everyone.” Limited copies of the book may be available by contacting sjc@emerson.edu.

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Bias Incident Reports: Annual Update

This academic year, we received 48 reports of incidents of bias, which reflects a drop in the number of reports from the 2017-2018 academic year (68). There was a slight decrease in the number of bias incident reports received from students and a slight increase in the number of reports submitted by staff and faculty.

Faculty continue to be most reported as individuals engaging in bias. Bias incidents related to ethnicity/culture, race, and gender identity/expression continue to be the most reported types of bias. In the past two weeks, there has been a significant uptick in the number of bias incident reports received. Aggregate data for the 2018-2019 academic year will be updated to reflect bias incidents received through Commencement.

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The Emerson360: Community Climate Student Survey, which focuses on student perceptions of general campus climate dimensions as well as topics related to power-based interpersonal violence, was administered during the fall semester. The survey had a 9% response rate, which is significantly lower than the response rate for the 2014 survey (32%). The following is a high-level summary of the findings from this year’s Emerson360: Student Survey.

The highest positive score (94%) was in response to the statement, “Diversity and inclusion are important values to me.” Other high positive scores were in the bystander intervention dimensions, with 83% of participants responding positively to the statement, “I would report senior leadership, staff, or faculty who engage in power-based interpersonal violence;” 80% responding positively to the statement, “I would speak up to other students who make inappropriate or hurtful comments or gestures;” 78% responding positively to the statement, “I can recognize signs of power-based interpersonal violence;” and 74% responding positively to the statement, “I would report others who engage in power-based interpersonal violence.”

Of greatest significance this year is the drop in the percentage of overall positive scores in comparison to the 2014 survey. The overall percentage of positive scores dropped from 64% in 2014 to 53% in 2018. The lowest positive scores were related to statements regarding bystander attitudes. Scores related to fair treatment dropped from 70% positive in 2014 to 56% positive in 2018. In addition, knowledge of Title IX polices dropped from 66% positive response in 2014 to 59% in 2018. In relation to on-campus locations, 12% of student survey participants responded “yes” to the question, “Has anyone ever displayed behavior that made you feel afraid for your personal safety, feel fear, or alter your daily activities?” 5% of participants indicated being in a relationship with someone who tried to control them, and 17% of survey participants indicated that someone had made unwelcome sexual advances toward them or unwelcome requests for sex.

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The Elma Lewis Center Relocates to New Space at 148 Boylston Street

The Social Justice Center recently celebrated the upcoming relocation of the Elma Lewis Center to a new street level space at 148 Boylston St. The celebration, primarily for Boston area community groups, was standing room only for the entirety of the 3-hour event with an estimated 150 people in attendance. Local community members, some Emerson staff and faculty, security guards, and students filled the space. Local spoken word artists, singers, and other performers brought energy and joy to the event. We are pleased to share that some friends, former students, and family members of Elma Lewis ’43, were also in attendance — Barry and Sandra Gaither, Sandi Bagley, Larry Blumstack, and Kafi Meadows (Elma Lewis’s great niece) and her daughter. We expect to host another open house in the early fall semester next year.

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Title IX Update

During the 2018-2019 academic year, 77 reports of violations of the College’s Sexual Misconduct Policy were received by Title IX Access & Equity. Reports include a range of behaviors and are not limited to sexual assault. Of the 77 reports, Title IX Access & Equity received requests from 8 reporting parties for investigations. All requests were moved forward for investigation. At the request of students or based on the College’s own assessment, 21 instances of accommodations, interim measures or protective measures were issued. These measures include some singular or combination of interim suspensions, No Contact Orders, Stay Away Directives, housing accommodations, and classroom accommodations.

The search for a Deputy Title IX Coordinator/Investigator continues. To date, 31 applicants have been received, 10 candidates have been considered, and 4 have been invited to participate in first-round interviews. No candidates have progressed to on-campus interviews. Despite advertisement in national outlets and active recruitment, we have not identified candidates with sufficient Title IX investigation experience.

Social Justice Center
Emerson College
(617) 824-8528

Community Updates

Updates – September 11, 2018

September 11, 2018 Social Justice Center Leave a comment

Over the past several months we have been questioning what it means to truly engage in social justice work. What is it that we are striving for? What is our urgency? Can we collectively envision the world we are working toward?

We have come to more deeply know that anti-oppression work is insufficient. It is not enough. While we mitigate the harms caused by oppressive structures and practices, and seek to disrupt our own internalized oppression, we must also call for liberation. This understanding has led us to ponder what it means to truly be free.

Right now:
We ask, are you free? Are you really free? At locations throughout campus you will find black boxes. Grab a card, write your thoughts, and insert the card into one of the black boxes. Keep an eye out for interactive installations on Walker 10, in the Iwasaki Library Co-lab, and in Paramount.

Throughout the year: We hope you will grapple with us about what it means to decolonize, reclaim, imagine, and manifest a future of co-liberation.

In reflection, we have considered whether our office names and titles align with our deepening values. This is especially important as we think about the incredible work that Melanie Matson and Greta Spoering do in support of our community, especially those who are impacted by power-based interpersonal violence. We seek to lift up and recognize the power of authentic relationships, the importance of trauma-informed practices, and the incredible strength of individuals and communities, as well as their extraordinary capacity to heal. In support of our community the Office of Violence Prevention & Response has become the Healing & Advocacy Collective—a space for being believed, a space where you can be yourself, and a space for healing.

And finally, many of you are aware that I was hired six years ago as Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion. In keeping with our shift in focus to social justice, President Pelton has changed my title to Vice President for Equity and Social Justice. I take on this title with full recognition of the weight of the work ahead and hope you will join the Social Justice Center in manifesting a future of co-liberation.

Community Updates and Special Messages from the Social Justice Collaborative at Emerson College