January 27, 2021 American University, "Dr. Earl Lewis: Why Higher Education Must Join the Fight for Reparations"

On Wednesday, January 27, CSS founder and director Earl Lewis spoke virtually as a featured speaker for American University's Anti-Racist Research & Policy Center speaker series. In his talk, "Why Higher Education Must Join the Fight for Reparations", Dr. Lewis discussed the history of segragated schools, the roles colleges and universities play in combatting racism, and the history of reparations in the United States. Watch his talk here.

 

January 27, 2021 University of Michigan, MLK Day Symposium "Mistrust in Medicine"

Later that same day, associate director Alford Young, Jr., spoke about his years  conducting cultural sociology research and how it relates to "Mistrust in Medicine", presented as part of the University of Michigan's MLK Day Symposium and co-sponsored by the FIMRC University of Michigan chapter. Dr. Young was accompanied by Dr. Jessica Jaiswal, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Science at The University of Alabama and a Visiting Scholar at Yale University in the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS.

Though Dr. Young's work is not directly related to the medical or healthcare industries, many of the issues he explores are inherently connected to these realms. "[Black Americans] are less likely to be accepted for in-patient care than White Americans are, as they suffer from the same afflications. Compounding on everything I said before is this notion of what happens particularly in low income communities when folks actually dare to engage with medical intervention." 

Further drawing on his research, Dr. Young noted, "From my research in Ypsilanti, I’ve found African Americans in small cities have the same mistrust in institutions as African Americans in large urban settings."

 

January 29, 2021 Rutgers University, Building an Inclusive Academy Symposium

On Friday, January 29, Dr. Lewis spoke with Chancellor of Rutgers - Newark, Nancy Cantor, and Senior Vice President for Equity at Rutgers - Newark, Enobong Anna Branch, as part of the Building an Inclusive Academy Symposium held by Rutgers. Lewis and Cantor, moderated by Branch, spoke about how institutions go beyond "the numbers" of diversity to achieve actual diversity and equity. 

"Welcoming is just the first gesture, we need to find the space to include," states Lewis. "What does it mean to include? How do we begin to transform the community so it's not just welcoming, but inclusive? How do we begin to think about a diversity 2.0 or 3.0 framework, rather than being stuck in a diversity 1.0 framework?"

Watch their conversation here.