Strengthening Community and Enhancing Belonging
Speaker Series
Becoming Latino/a/x/e and the Invisible Lines that Divide & Unite Us in America: A talk by Dr. Michael Benitez Jr.
October 3, 2024
Dr. Michael Benitez Jr. explores the complexity of the collective sociocultural and political identity that is Latino/a/x/e. Unpack, name, and heal through a process of historicization and reflection, including deeper engagement with intersections of whiteness, anti-Blackness, religious imperialism, and "machismo" within pan-Latino/a/x/e cultural spaces and practice.
Undocumented Action Week Conversations in Collaboration with the Erika Glazer J. Family Dreamers Resource Center
October 16
A conversation with Agustin Raphael.
He shares his family's experience as undocumented Americans, determined to make the best of their always turbulent and sometimes dangerous American existence. An alternatingly hilarious and touching exploration of belonging and identity, Illegally Yours revolves around one very simple question: What does it mean to be American?
IndigeThank: Keynote and Film Screening+Panel
-collaboration with the American Indian and Indigenous Students Association
Keynote Speaker: Honorable Deborah Sanchez: Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court - Chumash, O’odham, and Raramúri
Join us to give thanks with a film screening of the documentary Warrior Lawyers: Defenders of Sacred Justice.
The screening will be followed by a panel featuring:
Audrey Geyer: Filmmaker (Warrior Lawyers)
Honorable Deborah Sanchez: Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court - Chumash, O’odham, and Raramúri
Mary Kathryn Nagle: Cherokee attorney and playwright
Thursday, November 21, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Golden Eagle Ballrooms (2 & 3)
A light IndigeThanksgiving meal will be served
The documentary invites viewers into the lives of contemporary Native American role models. It focuses on the underreported themes of nation-building, tribal justice, and cultural revitalization. Through the personal and professional stories of American Indian Attorneys, Tribal Judges, and their colleagues, the program provides an overview of the major historical, governmental, legal, judicial, and intertwining social issues shaping many Federally Recognized Nations today. Through the exploration of these overarching and foundational Native American issues, the documentary also reveals how traditional Indigenous values and cultural practices can be effectively utilized to face contemporary tribal challenges as well as promote healing and Sacred Justice in many facets of mainstream society at the county, state, and federal levels.
Presented by the American Indian Students Association, the University Library, and the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
Linguistic Justice with Dr. April Baker-Bell.
February 18th
Bringing together theory, research, and practice to dismantle Anti-Black Linguistic Racism and white linguistic supremacy, Dr. Baker-Bell provides ethnographic snapshots of how Black students navigate and negotiate their linguistic and racial identities across multiple contexts. By highlighting the counterstories of Black students, Baker-Bell demonstrates how traditional approaches to language education do not account for the emotional harm, internalized linguistic racism, or consequences these approaches have on Black students' sense of self and identity. This seminar presents Anti-Black Linguistic Racism as a framework that explicitly names and richly captures the linguistic violence, persecution, dehumanization, and marginalization Black Language-speakers endure when using their language in schools and in everyday life.
Professional Development, Presentations, Panels,
Workshops, and Educational Events
The Arqive Project
Location: University Library Innovation Hub (LN A119A)
The College of Arts and Letters faculty Cynthia Wang and Zachary Vernon invite you to a post-lunch snack break to learn about their queer mapping project and invite you to consider ways that you can collaborate. Their project, thearqive.com, is an online map of queer stories, histories, and resources created and collected by and for queer people all around the world.
Designed and built by Cal State LA students and faculty, The arqive has a long history of partnering with various departments on campus, and they are looking to expand! They welcome the opportunity to discuss new partnerships with more departments and colleges on campus (and beyond).
Join us for a quick demonstration of the site, some small group brainstorming, and most importantly, snacks and coffee.
IndigeThank: Joint Event + Keynote
-collaboration with the American Indian and Indigenous Students Association
Join us to give thanks with a film screening of the documentary Warrior Lawyers: Defenders of Sacred Justice.
The screening will be followed by a panel featuring:
Audrey Geyer: Filmmaker (Warrior Lawyers)
Honorable Deborah Sanchez: Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court - Chumash, O’odham, and Raramúri
Mary Kathryn Nagle: Cherokee attorney and playwright
Thursday, November 21, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Golden Eagle Ballrooms (2 & 3)
A light IndigeThanksgiving meal will be served
The documentary invites viewers into the lives of contemporary Native American role models. It focuses on the underreported themes of nation-building, tribal justice, and cultural revitalization. Through the personal and professional stories of American Indian Attorneys, Tribal Judges, and their colleagues, the program provides an overview of the major historical, governmental, legal, judicial, and intertwining social issues shaping many Federally Recognized Nations today. Through the exploration of these overarching and foundational Native American issues, the documentary also reveals how traditional Indigenous values and cultural practices can be effectively utilized to face contemporary tribal challenges as well as promote healing and Sacred Justice in many facets of mainstream society at the county, state, and federal levels.
Presented by the American Indian Students Association, the University Library, and the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
Disability Justice with the Los Angeles Spoonie Collective
February 20th, 2025 Disability Justice 101
May 1st, 2025 Disability Justice 102
Los Angeles Spoonie Collective (http://www.spooniecollective.org) will present two workshops on Disability Justice. Their work brings a disability justice and kyriarchal (kyriarchy is a term that extends patriarchy to encompass and connect to other structures of oppression and privilege, such as racism, ableism, capitalism, etc.) feminist lens to social justice activism. Informed by our many years of community organizing, we offer nuanced perspectives of resilience and resistance from historically oppressed people.
Becoming a Family-Friendly Campus and Supporting Student Parents
Speaker: Jennifer Pocai, Senior Program Manager, Ascend at Aspen Insitute
March 21st, 2025 (Virtual)
Overview: This session will highlight strategies and practices that effectively support student parents, focusing on California laws and policies that address their unique challenges. It will also highlight innovative approaches that empower student parents to achieve educational and economic success, aligning with broader efforts to advance equity in higher education. This perspective is informed by the work of initiatives like Ascend at the Aspen Institute's Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP), which advocates for policies and solutions that promote intergenerational prosperity and well-being.
About Ascend: Ascend at the Aspen Institute focuses on achieving intergenerational family prosperity and well-being, adopting a two-generation (2Gen) approach that intentionally focuses on children and the adults in their lives together, honors lived experience, and encompasses racial, gender, and economic equity through an intersectional lens. Ascend's Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP) initiative raises awareness of and shares recommendations to better support the one in five students enrolled in college who are parents. They work with systems, institutions, and students who are parents to ensure families have access to the resources necessary to achieve their educational goals, ultimately advancing their family's mobility and well-being. Since 2018, the Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP) initiative has been a key driver in building the student-parents movement — an expansive, nationally coordinated effort to advance the development of innovative solutions that provide greater postsecondary access, affordability, and success for parents. They focus on the more than four million student parents enrolled in postsecondary pathways – a group that should inform and strengthen higher education.