Speaking from the CORE

SPEAKING FROM THE CORE

A Series of Discussions on Race & Our Schools with Experts, Activists, Academics and C.O.R.E. students

2020 Speaker Series

2020 February 1: Will Keeps & Asphate

location: Roosevelt Library time: 3:00-4:30pm

2020 February 29: Jen Ulie Wells

location: Roosevelt High School

time: 3:00-4:30pm

2019 March 30: Jen Harvey, Ph.D.

Race Is A House: How Do You Want to Build Yours?

This system was built and we could build it a different way. If we know the origin, definition, and structures of race, we can decide together what we need to destroy, fix, and re-build—and what kind of house we want to hand down in the future.

Reserve your Seat: https://speakingfromthecoreraceisahouse.eventbrite.com

Rev. Dr. Jennifer Harvey is a writer, speaker, and professor of religion at Drake University where she also serves as Faculty Director for the Crew Scholars Program. She has a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Her work focuses primarily on racial justice and white anti-racism. Dr. Harvey's most recent books include Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in Racially Unjust America (Abingdon Press) and Dear White Christians: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation (Wm. B. Eerdmans). Dr. Harvey has contributed to the New York Times, CNN and been a guest on both Iowa and National Public Radio (including NPR’s “It’s Been a Minute with Sam Sanders”) She is a widely sought after public speaker and is ordained in the American Baptist Churches (USA).

location: Valley High School Library

time: 2:00-3:30 pm

2019 April 6: Mark Stringer

Got Rights in Education?

All young people living in the United States have the Constitutional right to a free public education and equal educational opportunity. Lived experience, however, would suggest that these rights are too often not fully realized. In this interactive workshop, we’ll talk about rights in education, how bias (implicit or explicit) gets in the way of those rights, and how we can together reclaim the rights of students that are too often denied.

Reserve your Seat: https://speakingfromthecoregotrights.eventbrite.com

Mark Stringer began as the Executive Director of the ACLU of Iowa in May 2017, following a 16-year tenure as the Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines. Mark has been a leader in Central Iowa including serving as the founding board chair of Project IOWA, an AMOS-instigated 21^st-century workforce development initiative, and as a board member of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, including two years as chair. In 2007 Mark had the honor of officiating at Iowa’s first legally recognized same-sex wedding.

location: Drake University

Cowles Library, Reading Room

April 6: 2:00-3:30 pm

2019 April 13: Sonia Reyes-Snyder, & Kenia Calderon

Rewriting the Immigrant Narrative

The narratives used to advocate for immigrants have left some out of the conversation and advocacy efforts. Many have been students who have not fit a profile of the immigrant that have been painted through the media and elected officials. During this session, our participants will learn how to change the narrative and include those who need to be heard and seen. Attendees will learn how immigrants deal with trauma and how we can all be their champion.

Reserve your Seat: https://speakingfromthecorerewritingimmigrantnarrative.eventbrite.com

Originally from El Salvador, Sonia is the Executive Officer for the Office of Latino Affairs, Iowa Department of Human Rights. In this role Sonia advocates and serves as an ongoing resource for Iowans of Latino heritage, government agencies, businesses and other organizations by coordinating and participating in economic, social and cultural efforts statewide. She has been doing grassroots work with the Latino Community in Iowa for almost 20 years assisting victims and survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, working in dropout prevention with Latino youth in high school and college, with Latino families who are involved with the Department of Human Services helping them reach their goals and in her last position as the Regional Director at Proteus, she worked to help migrant and seasonal farm workers in Iowa reach their educational, health and personal goals.

A native of El Salvador, Kenia Calderon has been a tireless advocate for Latinos, for the undocumented community and those with DACA status (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as Dreamers). Kenia’s advocacy work has garnered substantial local and national media attention. In 2015 she was named one of the “15 people to Watch in 2015” by the Des Moines Register and in 2016 she was named an Iowa International Center Passport to Prosperity Honoree.

Kenia is the co-founder of the immigrant advocacy group, Iowa Dream Coalition. She is a graduate of the 2014-2015 Latina Leadership Initiative and 2017 Adams Academy cohort. During her time at Drake she co-founded three student organizations: La Fuerza Latina, UNITY Roundtable, and Drake’s Women in Business. She enjoys writing about the topics she is passionate about such as the development and growth of the Hispanic community, immigration, and access to higher education. A few of Kenia’s pieces have been published by The New York Times, Huffington Post, and The Des Moines Register.

location: Roosevelt High School Library

time: 2:00-3:30 pm

2019 April 20: Stephanie Jones, Ph.D.

"Y'all Gon Learn Today": How to Throw Anti-Racist Shade in the Classroom

Receiving an education in the United States most likely means that you have witnessed and have had to forcibly comply with the structure of white privilege. From course readings to instructor comments on papers, schools have becomes sites of black suffering (Dumas, 2014)and racialized trauma. This interactive workshop co-taught with high school students will consist of a teach-in of how white supremacy flourishes (both past and present) in classroom environments, how to identify it, and how to throw anti-racist shade. Each participant will leave the workshop with an understanding of what a culturally relevant curriculum is and a crowd-sourced syllabus for reclaiming the education we should have received.

Reserve your Seat: https://speakingfromthecoreyallgonlearn.eventbrite.com

Stephanie P. Jones, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Education at Grinnell College, where she teaches courses in Youth Culture, Young Adult Literature and Introduction to Educational Studies. Her two research strands examine Black women’s literacy practices and the exploration of racialized trauma in school curriculums. (www.facebook.com/mappingracialtrauma) She is part of the inaugural cohort of Associated Colleges of the Midwest Mellon Faculty Fellows and was recently awarded the STAR fellowship through the Literacy Research Association. She is working on a forthcoming manuscript about the intersections of surveillance, curriculum violence, and racialized trauma. She can be reached at jonesste@grinnell.edu or on Twitter @spatricejones

location: Lincoln High School Auditorium

April 20: 2:00-3:30 pm

2019 April 27: Jen Ulie-Wells

location: Valley High School Library

April 27: 2:00-3:30 pm

Civil & Human Rights Symposium

CORE's speaker series, Speaking from the CORE, kicks off at the Civil and Human Rights Symposium on March 20th at Des Moines University.

CORE students will be speaking with Richard Reseda, founder of Question Culture and a recording artist, designer, community organizer and social entrepreneur who was freed from prison in July, 2018. The anti-patriarchy work he led while incarcerated was chronicled in the CNN documentary "The Feminist on Cell Block Y." He changes California prison policy with the organization he helped co-found in prison, Initiate Justice.

Yahriel: Valley High School

"Questioning Culture"

CORE Session 1: Civil & Human Rights Symposium

Join Richard Reseda and CORE students for their session, Questioning Culture, a story-telling workshop that leads us to question oppressive culture and ourselves through the stories in our lives.

DaMariyon: Lincoln High School

"Equity Audits: Clearing the Way of Discriminatory Policies"

CORE Session 2: Civil & Human Rights Symposium

The equity audit is a powerful tool for identifying "hot spots" of equity and inequity within institutional systems like schools. Learn about the basics of applying this tool, common pitfalls when using it, its impact on students helping to administer the tool, and its potential for disrupting oppression.

Katy Swalwell, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the School of Education at Iowa State University. Her passion for Iowa history is evident in an open access online class she teaches every June called "The History of Anti-Black Racism in Iowa" and the recent publication of a book called Amazing Iowa Women (RAYGUN, 2018).

Alfreda: Valley High School

"Dreams for the Future: Overcoming the Hurdles in Education for Undocumented Student"

CORE Session 3: Civil & Human Rights Symposium

The journey to a path post high school graduation is lonely and unknown for undocumented students. Let’s explore the ways we can support our undocumented community as they seek opportunities after high school.

Gift: Lincoln High School

A native of El Salvador, Kenia Calderon has been a tireless advocate for Latinos, for the undocumented community and those with DACA status (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as Dreamers). Kenia’s advocacy work has garnered substantial local and national media attention. In 2015 she was named one of the “15 people to Watch in 2015” by the Des Moines Register and in 2016 she was named an Iowa International Center Passport to Prosperity Honoree.

Kenia is the co-founder of the immigrant advocacy group, Iowa Dream Coalition. She is a graduate of the 2014-2015 Latina Leadership Initiative and 2017 Adams Academy cohort. During her time at Drake she co-founded three student organizations: La Fuerza Latina, UNITY Roundtable, and Drake’s Women in Business. She enjoys writing about the topics she is passionate about such as the development and growth of the Hispanic community, immigration, and access to higher education. A few of Kenia’s pieces have been published by The New York Times, Huffington Post, and The Des Moines Register.

Gabriella: Roosevelt High School