Juneteenth National Independence Day 2021: A National Holiday

June 19, 2021

To the UConn Community:

On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, Union military authorities reached Galveston, Texas, and enforced the executive order to free all people enslaved in Confederate territories. All people held as slaves in Texas were finally free.

On Thursday, June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill establishing Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday is effective immediately. This designation of Juneteenth Independence Day is the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.

According to Dr. Matt Delmont, a professor of African American history and the history of Civil Rights at Dartmouth College, Juneteenth is about addressing the issues that continue to face the Black community. Issues such as healthcare and healthcare disparities, racialized violence, systemic racism and the ban on teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) in classrooms. Dr. Carolyn Calloway, chair of African American and African Diaspora studies at Indiana University states that “Juneteenth is a way of calling attention to some of America’s sins, while acknowledging the beautiful possibilities for redemption.” The national holiday is also, “a reminder of our collective struggle for freedom and a commitment to protect all that it entails, including voting rights and equity in justice,” says Dr. Jeffrey Ogbar, professor of history at UConn.

As a community, we must pledge to continue to raise our voices in support of the abolition of hate and racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, ageism and oppression. Let us commit to being the light!

Let us commit to being activists in the spirit of Miss Opal Lee, a 94-year-old Black activist and retired educator who is known as the grandmother of Juneteenth. Miss Lee has devoted much of her life to a campaign for making Juneteenth a national holiday. In 2016, at the age of 89, Miss Lee walked 1,400 miles from her home in Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC in an effort to get Juneteenth recognized as a national holiday

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Happy Juneteenth National Independence Day!

May love fulfill you, may peace enfold you, may hope envelope you!

Dr. Frank Tuitt

Vice President & Chief Diversity Officer

Office for Diversity and Inclusion

Dr. Willena Kimpson Price

Director – H. Fred Simons African American Cultural Center

Affiliate Faculty, Africana Studies Institute

Message from ODI In Support of Racial Justice

June 3, 2021

Office for Diversity and Inclusion Statement in Support of Racial Justice

We are angered and distraught by the recent senseless killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor at the hands of the police and neighborhood vigilantes. Although not unique in nature, these murders speak to the ongoing consequences of structural and systemic racism that continue to permeate all areas of society.   We want to let members of our community who are directly impacted by these blatant disregards for human life know that we see you, we feel with you, and we are here to support you.  Unfortunately, many of us know all too well the cost and trauma associated with constantly having to navigate racism, discrimination, and oppression. We want to remind you of the resources that are available to you through our office, other areas across the campus, and throughout the state. 

Best,

The Office for Diversity and Inclusion

LUNAFEST 2021

April 28, 2021

The Women’s Center is happy to announce the 20th annual LUNAFEST, the first traveling film festival celebrating stories by women, about women. Collectively, LUNAFEST films captivate audiences, compel dialogue and arm those who participate with both the knowledge and the motivation to make a difference in their communities. For more information about the films, please visit https://www.lunafest.org/filmmakers

Topic: 20 Years of Progress: Spotlighting Films By and About Women

Date April 28, 2021

Time: Film begins at 5:00 PM; Discussion Follows at 7:30 PM.

Format: Virtual

This event is a celebration of women creatives and fundraiser for the Women’s Center.

President’s Statement on Chauvin Verdict

April 20, 2021

To the UConn Community:

As the world watched the trial of Derek Chauvin unfold in Minneapolis this month, culminating in today’s verdict, it was natural for concerned citizens, activists, and commentators to focus on the broader questions raised: police brutality, anti-Black racism, the long struggle for justice in the United States, and more.

But it’s important to recognize that a criminal trial is not a final reckoning with deep-rooted social forces. It is not a quest for larger truths. Criminal trials are, at heart, tests of imperfect evidence related to a specific set of circumstances. Ultimately, this trial told us little more than what 12 citizens of Minneapolis believe about the evidence they were permitted to see in court.

It is up to each and every one of us, and educational institutions like ours, to make sure the larger issues and concerns stemming from the killing of George Floyd are understood, not forgotten, and ultimately addressed.

First, and most importantly, that means a direct confrontation with America’s legacy of anti-Black racism, which continues to blight our society to this day. The truth is clear to anyone who watched the unbearable video from Minneapolis last spring and so many others. There can be no progress as a society until we address the systemic reasons behind it.

These and many related issues don’t have easy answers, and the discussions around them will be passionate, protracted, and difficult. But we must have them, at UConn and throughout society, if we are to make progress toward becoming the kind of society to which our highest ideals aspire.

To that end, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion and the Provost’s Office are organizing a series of panel discussions with thought leaders and scholars from across a variety of fields over the coming days, and I invite you to participate.

The outcome of a criminal trial in Minneapolis doesn’t absolve us of the debt we owe to George Floyd, and to future generations. We may face setbacks. We may even fail. But justice – as opposed to the nuances of law – requires that we try.

 

Sincerely,

Tom

Thomas Katsouleas

President

ODI’s Statement on Chauvin Verdict

Today’s verdict provides a glimmer of hope in what continues to be a long-standing battle to end systemic racism in the United States and across the globe. However, there is still much work to be done. History has taught us all too well that we must pause, rest, and regroup because the struggle for racial justice continues. As we take solace in the justice delivered today, we remain committed to addressing hate and structural oppression. We want to remind you of some of the resources and spaces that are available to you in the continued struggle for racial justice:

Also, there will be several events in the coming weeks for us as a community to discuss the implications of this verdict as well as the steps we can take moving forward. In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., “there are some things in our world to which [people] of goodwill must be maladjusted” and that includes bigotry, systemic racism, and other forms of hate that deprive people of their humanity. We need to be “creatively maladjusted” to “courageously do battle for truth.”

 

The Office for Diversity and Inclusion

President’s Statement on Chauvin Verdict

To the UConn Community:

As the world watched the trial of Derek Chauvin unfold in Minneapolis this month, culminating in today’s verdict, it was natural for concerned citizens, activists, and commentators to focus on the broader questions raised: police brutality, anti-Black racism, the long struggle for justice in the United States, and more.

But it’s important to recognize that a criminal trial is not a final reckoning with deep-rooted social forces. It is not a quest for larger truths. Criminal trials are, at heart, tests of imperfect evidence related to a specific set of circumstances. Ultimately, this trial told us little more than what 12 citizens of Minneapolis believe about the evidence they were permitted to see in court.

It is up to each and every one of us, and educational institutions like ours, to make sure the larger issues and concerns stemming from the killing of George Floyd are understood, not forgotten, and ultimately addressed.

First, and most importantly, that means a direct confrontation with America’s legacy of anti-Black racism, which continues to blight our society to this day. The truth is clear to anyone who watched the unbearable video from Minneapolis last spring and so many others. There can be no progress as a society until we address the systemic reasons behind it.

These and many related issues don’t have easy answers, and the discussions around them will be passionate, protracted, and difficult. But we must have them, at UConn and throughout society, if we are to make progress toward becoming the kind of society to which our highest ideals aspire.

To that end, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion and the Provost’s Office are organizing a series of panel discussions with thought leaders and scholars from across a variety of fields over the coming days, and I invite you to participate.

The outcome of a criminal trial in Minneapolis doesn’t absolve us of the debt we owe to George Floyd, and to future generations. We may face setbacks. We may even fail. But justice – as opposed to the nuances of law – requires that we try.

Sincerely,
Tom
Thomas Katsouleas
President

ODI’s Statement on Chauvin Verdict

Today’s verdict provides a glimmer of hope in what continues to be a long-standing battle to end systemic racism in the United States and across the globe. However, there is still much work to be done. History has taught us all too well that we must pause, rest, and regroup because the struggle for racial justice continues. As we take solace in the justice delivered today, we remain committed to addressing hate and structural oppression. We want to remind you of some of the resources and spaces that are available to you in the continued struggle for racial justice:

Anti-Racism Resources
The Cultural Centers
Academic Institutes
Also, there will be several events in the coming weeks for us as a community to discuss the implications of this verdict as well as the steps we can take moving forward. In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., “there are some things in our world to which [people] of goodwill must be maladjusted” and that includes bigotry, systemic racism, and other forms of hate that deprive people of their humanity. We need to be “creatively maladjusted” to “courageously do battle for truth.”

The Office for Diversity and Inclusion

School of Medicine’s Statement on Chauvin Verdict

Dear School of Medicine Community,

There are so many names. So many names and so many lives ended by violence. So many lives ended by violence at the hands of those who have sworn to protect and serve; Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, and so many others. As we await the jury deliberations in the death of George Floyd, we continue to witness the ongoing killing of Black and Brown men, women and children. Most recently, Adam Toledo, a thirteen year old Latino child, was shot and killed in an alley in Chicago by police as he stood with his hands raised, surrendering to police. At the same time, individuals of Asian descent live in fear of xenophobic violence related to being scapegoated for the coronavirus pandemic. Even if one is not a direct victim of violence, it is still difficult not to feel traumatized. The violence is epidemic and seems senseless. However, if one is familiar with the history of policing in this country, although the current situation is tragic and totally unacceptable, it does not seem senseless.

Modern policing has its roots in antebellum slave patrols which established state sanctioned violence. These patrols were abolished at the end of the civil war, but the legacy of oppressive policing without accountability continues, and can be seen currently in the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Amaud Arbery by neighborhood vigilantes. Being Black is still criminalized (e.g. national drug policy, laws such as “stop and frisk, discriminatory sentencing for non-violent crimes), and the violence continues.

Police violence (and over-policing in general) is a threat both to public and individual health with regard to the manner in which it perpetuates negative stereotypes of minority populations, disrupts the social fabric of communities, and traumatizes and damages the physical and mental health of individuals. There are individuals in our community here at UConn Health who are already traumatized; who are concerned for their own safety; who have made significant changes in their personal and professional lives to decrease the probability of encountering police in the conduct of their personal lives. If this is happening in the environment that we inhabit, imagine the level of fear and anxiety that exists in less privileged settings.

Many among us are traumatized and emotionally exhausted by the relentless onslaught of violence. The trial outcome, either the verdict and/or the subsequent reaction will deepen preexisting trauma. This is not happening in a vacuum as evidenced by the many police killings since George Floyd’s death. We must be ready to support each other, as we find a way to collectively move forward. As racism is a public health threat, collectively and individually we must be part of the solution to the problem. We must stand together and support each other in collective anti-racist action. Mahatma Ghandi challenged us to be the change we wish to see. Therefore, we invite you to a conversation that will proceed over the coming days and weeks as the response to the verdict unfolds. The conversation will be devoted to how, as a community, we may be able to confront racism as an existential threat, and move the anti-racist needle forward.

This may be a good occasion to remind us all that direct support is provided in a number of venues by the institution for the benefit of anyone in need, namely:

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP https://health.uconn.edu/occupational-environmental/employee-assistance-program/); 860-679-2877
Student Behavioral Health (https://health.uconn.edu/student-wellness/psychological-wellness/individual-counseling/), and
The Ombuds Office (https://ombuds.uconn.edu/) 860-679-5061
UConn Health Ombuds – Donna Douglass Williams
Office of Multicultural & Community Affairs (OMCA@uchc.edu)
Assoc. Dean – Dr. David Henderson (Henderson@uchc.edu)
Director – Dr. Linda Barry (lbarry@uchc.edu)

Thank you,

Bruce T. Liang, MD, FACC

Dean, School of Medicine

David Henderson, MD

Associate Dean, Multicultural and Community Affairs

Linda Barry, MD, MPH, FACS

Director, Multicultural and Community Affairs

Melissa Held, M.D.

Associate Dean, Medical Student Affairs

Statement from School of Medicine

Dear School of Medicine Community,

There are so many names. So many names and so many lives ended by violence. So many lives ended by violence at the hands of those who have sworn to protect and serve; Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, and so many others. As we await the jury deliberations in the death of George Floyd, we continue to witness the ongoing killing of Black and Brown men, women and children. Most recently, Adam Toledo, a thirteen year old Latino child, was shot and killed in an alley in Chicago by police as he stood with his hands raised, surrendering to police. At the same time, individuals of Asian descent live in fear of xenophobic violence related to being scapegoated for the coronavirus pandemic. Even if one is not a direct victim of violence, it is still difficult not to feel traumatized. The violence is epidemic and seems senseless. However, if one is familiar with the history of policing in this country, although the current situation is tragic and totally unacceptable, it does not seem senseless.

Modern policing has its roots in antebellum slave patrols which established state sanctioned violence. These patrols were abolished at the end of the civil war, but the legacy of oppressive policing without accountability continues, and can be seen currently in the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Amaud Arbery by neighborhood vigilantes. Being Black is still criminalized (e.g. national drug policy, laws such as “stop and frisk, discriminatory sentencing for non-violent crimes), and the violence continues.

Police violence (and over-policing in general) is a threat both to public and individual health with regard to the manner in which it perpetuates negative stereotypes of minority populations, disrupts the social fabric of communities, and traumatizes and damages the physical and mental health of individuals. There are individuals in our community here at UConn Health who are already traumatized; who are concerned for their own safety; who have made significant changes in their personal and professional lives to decrease the probability of encountering police in the conduct of their personal lives. If this is happening in the environment that we inhabit, imagine the level of fear and anxiety that exists in less privileged settings.

Many among us are traumatized and emotionally exhausted by the relentless onslaught of violence. The trial outcome, either the verdict and/or the subsequent reaction will deepen preexisting trauma. This is not happening in a vacuum as evidenced by the many police killings since George Floyd’s death. We must be ready to support each other, as we find a way to collectively move forward. As racism is a public health threat, collectively and individually we must be part of the solution to the problem. We must stand together and support each other in collective anti-racist action. Mahatma Ghandi challenged us to be the change we wish to see. Therefore, we invite you to a conversation that will proceed over the coming days and weeks as the response to the verdict unfolds. The conversation will be devoted to how, as a community, we may be able to confront racism as an existential threat, and move the anti-racist needle forward.

This may be a good occasion to remind us all that direct support is provided in a number of venues by the institution for the benefit of anyone in need, namely:

 

Thank you,

Bruce T. Liang, MD, FACC

Dean, School of Medicine

 

David Henderson, MD

Associate Dean, Multicultural and Community Affairs

 

Linda Barry, MD, MPH, FACS

Director, Multicultural and Community Affairs

 

Melissa Held, M.D.

Associate Dean, Medical Student Affairs

 

Dr. Esther Choo: “Racism as a Public Health Crisis” Talk

April 6, 2021

Dr. Esther Choo Talk

Asian American Cultural Center presents Dr. Esther Choo’s “Racism as a Public Health Crisis” talk. Dr. Choo, a practicing physician and popular health and science communicator, is the founding member of TIME’S UP Healthcare, which advocates for equity in the healthcare workforce. Dr. Choo is also the co-founder of Equity Quotient, which assesses organization culture to help create a culture of respect. Her commentary on the culture of healthcare institutions has led her to appear in numerous publications, including The New England Journal of Medicine and The Washington Post.

She is a regular guest on CNN and MSNBC, as well as an invited speaker for TED Talks. Her work on the COVID-19 pandemic has been featured in InStyle and People magazines. Using impactful data, infused with her signature wit and humor, she’ll discuss how to create gender and racial equity in the workplace based on her experience in healthcare. Key topics of her talk will include how to build organizational cultures and create a culture of equity. The discussion will be moderated by staff of the Asian American Cultural Center at UConn.

Date: April 6, 2021

Time: 6:00 – 7:30 PM

Format: Virtual

Asian American Cultural Center would like to thank the African American Cultural Center, Asian American Studies Institute, Center for Career Development, the Hartford Campus, the Stamford Campus, and the Women's Center for cohosting this event.