Category: Community Event

Jarvis Boyland’s work contemplates the past to help us question how we romanticize it. His figurative paintings and drawings conjure retro environments that evoke the 1970s. Through his idyllic color palette and delicate rendering of textiles and flesh, Boyland offers moments of personal reconciliation that traverse time. 

Over the years, Boyland has negotiated aspects of his Southern religious upbringing through aspirational images of Black relationships. His sensitively rendered portraits of people from his community, often situated in fictitious domestic environments, consider gender and intimacy. 

[button link=”https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tamarind-talks-jarvis-boyland-tickets-464740420107″ type=”big”] Register [/button]

Anita Fernander, PhD
Executive Diversity Officer/Professor
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center School of Medicine

Learning Objectives:

Extinguish myths & misunderstandings about Critical Race Theory;
Distinguish between the historical underpinnings of “race” as a social/political/economic classification as opposed to “race as biology”;
Apply CRT to historical & contemporary racialized political & social determinants of health to contextualize health inequities among African Americans; and
Charge academic medicine with a duty to reckon with the “ugly side” of medicine.

[button link=”https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/1a82b35445d142ce8f6b4b2c9b3db559″ type=”big”] Register[/button]

Biography:
Dr. Anita Fernander was recently appointed as the Executive Diversity Officer in the School of Medicine in the College of Health Sciences at the University of New Mexico. Prior to joining UNM’s School of Medicine she served as the inaugural Chief Officer for Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and Interim Department Chair & Professor in the Department of Population Health at Florida Atlantic University (FAU). Dr. Fernander also served on the faculty in the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine for 19 years. She held key diversity roles at University of Kentucky College of Medicine, where she was founding faculty of the Center for Health Equity Transformation and received the Inaugural Excellence in Diversity Faculty award (2021) and the Inaugural Diversity Champion Award (2018). She has been engaged in leadership, teaching, research, and community engagement to address health inequities, enhance patient advocacy through cultural humility as a de-biasing strategy, and exploring transformational interventions to address historical and contemporary racism embedded in the political and social determinants of health. Her primary area of research has focused on the impact of race-related stress on health inequities among African Americans.

Workshop Description:
Critical Race Theory (CRT) has recently become a target of national attention due to recent Presidential Executive Orders and state and local governmental bodies banning its use in public school settings. However, such attention has only led to critical race theory being misconstrued by the media and misunderstood by the common lay person. Critical Race Theory is a specific pedagogical and theoretical approach to understand how racialized historical contexts influence contemporary society. Clarifying and positioning CRT in a manner within which to understand health inequities experienced by racialized groups in the United States is paramount in order to address the social mission of health professions education, faculty development, and clinical practice. A critical examination of the historical and contemporary issues of race and racism in America provides the necessary context within which to understand the long-standing and persistent existence of health disparities experienced among racial/ethnic populations in the United States. The session will rely on the presenter’s two decades of teaching in academic medicine on the history of medicine among African Americans and provide a primer within which to understand the historical and contemporary political and social influences of race and racism on health. Health professions training institutions have a professional and ethical responsibility to educate its trainees and health professionals on the history of medicine – including its ugly side – and to critically examine how historical and contemporary political and social factors have created racial/ethnic health disparities. Until such reckoning occurs the field of medicine’s ability to achieve health equity for all will continue to be futile.

Senior Special Assistant to the President and CEO for External Affairs,
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science
Daughter of Dr. Charles R. Drew

Learning Objectives:

Articulate the roles of HBCU medical schools and development of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

Discuss the namesake of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Dr. Charles R. Drew

Share personal experiences in health advocacy

[button link=”https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/1a82b35445d142ce8f6b4b2c9b3db559″ type=”big”] Register for Lecture[/button]

Biography:
She is the youngest daughter of Dr. Charles Richard Drew and Minnie Lenora Robbins Drew. She has two sisters and a younger brother.  She graduated from the Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.  From there, Drew gained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History at Vassar College and obtained her Jurist Doctorate from Howard University School of Law.

After leaving Howard, she began working at the Citizen Advocacy Ctr. in Washington D.C., the Native American Legal Defense Fund, and was Assistant Counsel to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1969 to 1974.  In 1974, she married Artie Ivie, and the couple had two children, Leslie and Drew.  She became executive director of the National Health Law Program and director of the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Drew Ivie is the former Senior Deputy for Human Services for Mark Ridley-Thomas of the LA County Board of Supervisors, 2nd District. Before this, she was a consultant to the California Endowment, Disparities in Health in South LA, on the faculty of the Community Health Leadership Training Program, and was the Chief Executive Director of the T.H.E. (To Help Everyone) Clinic, Inc. T.H.E. Clinic is a primary health care clinic serving largely minority and immigrant women and children in South Central and Southwest Los Angeles, California.

Her last position was as Mental Health Deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. Drew Ivie was also formerly Senior Deputy for Human Services for Mark Ridley-Thomas of the LA County Board of Supervisors, 2nd District. Her professional career includes serving as Executive Liaison to Los Angeles County Commission for Children and Families at the LA County Board of Supervisors.

Drew Ivie was also the Founder and Project Director of the South Los Angeles Community Kitchen, which taught healthy cooking skills to youth, seniors, and patients with chronic diseases. Before this, she was a consultant to The California Endowment, Disparities in Health in South LA, on the faculty of the Community Health Leadership Training Program, and was the Chief Executive Officer for 16 years of the T.H.E. (To Help Everyone) Clinic, Inc. T.H.E. Clinic is a primary health care clinic serving minority and immigrant women and children in South Central and Southwest Los Angeles, California largely.

She is the recipient of many awards, including the 1993 United Way’s Agency Excellence Award for the Most Innovative Approach to Service Delivery, the 1994 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation’s Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, the 1995 Center for Women’s Policy Studies’ Wise Women Award, and the 2002 California Black Caucus’s Community Asset Award.  Drew Ivie is the Executive Liaison to Los Angeles County Commission for Children and Families at the LA County Board of Supervisors. The Commission is dedicated to a vision of a child welfare system where family, community, and a county continuum of care work seamlessly together for the benefit of children and youth.

In 2016 Sylvia Drew Ivie, JD, accepted the position of Special Assistant to the President of Charles Drew University of Medicine and Research. She will serve as an advisor on community relations/affairs. In her role, she will work with health centers, community-based organizations, and community coalitions to develop and implement programs that promote the University and its strategic plan. In addition, she will assist with establishing and promoting positive external relationships with various community-based organizations, individuals, and businesses that support the University’s strategic outreach efforts.

Sara Addison, aka Juba Griot, is an award-winning storyteller, inspirational speaker, and teaching artist. She was born in the Mississippi Delta, raised on a farm in Kansas, and now resides in Las Cruces, NM. She does not merely tell a tale with words, she uses music and gestures to transport her listeners to different worlds. She weaves world history, folklore, and fairy tales through her timeless stories. In addition, Juba’s stories teach about cultural identity and diversity, allowing individuals to connect and learn from each other’s differences, social responsibilities, and spirituality. Please join Sara, aka Juba Griot, in telling the story of Fannie Lou Hamer.

Location: CNM Student Resource Center Room 204

[button link=”https://www.cnm.edu/depts/student-services/student-activities-office/clubs-organizations/black-student-union/black-history-month” type=”big”] Learn More[/button]

Join local leaders as we spend a day at the capital celebrating our contributions to New Mexico. This is a statewide event on the legislative process, information on the Acts and Bills passed which specifically impact the African American community, a dynamic guest speaker, resources for our African American youth, and food and entertainment.

[button link=”https://www.nmlegis.gov/Publications/SocialCalendar.htm” type=”big”] Learn More[/button]

Join this speed networking event on February 9th from 7-9pm at Draft and Table on campus.

The goal of the program is to expose students to thriving Black professionals and offer them space to develop networking skills. The program will begin with a few quick tips on networking from the Black Chamber of Commerce, followed by round table panel discussions with Black professionals.

[button link=”https://news.unm.edu/news/aass-hosts-black-history-month-events-activities” type=”big”] Learn More[/button]

The two-day event will include panel discussions from local Black business owners with a focus on capital and financial empowerment, access to funding, resources for businesses, and learning how to compete and prepare for government contracts.

The summit is open to everyone, from businesses in their “ideation stage,” to start-ups as well as those in transition.

[button link=”https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-business-summit-tickets-518212105357″ newwindow=”yes”] Register[/button]

Join UNM Student Health and Counseling, Planned Parenthood, Self Serve Toys, and African American Student Services as they offer information on how to be ‘Sexy, Safe, and Black’ in the African American Students Services lounge from 4-6 p.m.

Visit the University of New Mexico Student Union Building from 10 am – 2 pm for free HIV testing and resources. Free and open to the public.

Nina Farrow will be discussing the Crown Act and other matters concerning black hair and answering questions from the audience.

Ms. Farrow has been in the beauty industry for 31 years specializing in ethnic hairstyling, teaching, and producing hair shows. To remain current in hair products and trends, she consistently attends the Atlanta Bronner Brothers hair show, the Orlando, Florida International show, the Las Vegas, Nevada hair show, and local hair shows. Not only is she a licensed cosmetologist, she is also a licensed barber and cosmetologist instructor with the following teaching experience: Instruction at A Better U Barber academy, workshops at the Career Enrichment Center (CEC) for Albuquerque Public Schools, and inner beauty conferences for the Office of African American Affairs She has also produced 3 Hair Shows, 1 for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and 2 for the Albuquerque Black Expo, 2015 & 2016.

The CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” is a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination in both schools and places of employment. The denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or bantu knots remains a source of racial injustice with serious economic consequences. The CROWN Act corrects these racial injustices by making hair discrimination illegal in schools and in workplaces.

[button link=”https://www.cnm.edu/depts/student-services/student-activities-office/clubs-organizations/black-student-union/black-history-month” type=”big”] Learn More[/button]