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February 2017 Newsletter
Partnership Update
Dear Partners,

We’ve had great participation in our three priority work groups to date:

  • Work Force Diversity
  • Race, Ethnicity and Language (REaL) Data, and
  • Culturally Effective Organizations (CEOrgs)

The groups are each working with our Antioch partners to facilitate our determining and refining shared goals and strategies. And if you missed any of the group kickoff events, the slides are available on our website.

You are welcome to join any group that is of interest. Please contact Nathalie Ahyi, or Christa Krideras, for further information.

National Equity Leader, Rinku Sen, Urges “Embrace the Wounds”

On the night of February 8th Keene State College Office of Diversity and Multiculturalism hosted Rinku Sen, the president and executive director of Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation . She is also the publisher of the award-winning news site Colorlines and the author of Stir It Up and Accidental American . Ms. Sen delivered a lecture titled The Big Picture: Structural Racism, Equity and Intersectionality to students, faculty, and the public. She is a visionary and pragmatist, and one of the leading voices in the racial justice movement.

Ms. Sen spoke passionately about the multicultural, pluralistic society we all live in. She reviewed many of the executive orders that Mr. Trump has issued during his first 19 days in office and stated, “We have more to lose now because of our civil rights infrastructure we have built.” 

Throughout her lecture she asked us to focus on three points when working for racial justice.

Read more...
Rinku Sen, President and Executive Director of Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation
Rinku Sen answers questions from those gathered to hear her speak. She concluded her lecture by asking all of us to engage in our local community.
Partner Profile: 
Yemi Mahoney’s Lifelong Commitment to Education and Diversity has made NH a Better Place!
Yemi Mahoney came to New Hampshire to challenge herself, share her love of education, and support diversity on a college campus. 

A first-generation college student, she comes from a family that placed a strong emphasis on education, even though her parents didn’t attend college themselves.  Her mother was raised in a small town in Mississippi, the oldest of 10 children.  Her father dropped out of high school because he hated it and thought it wasn’t “cool”.  However, when he realized that people with high school diplomas were getting better factory jobs, he went back to school and obtained his GED. 

Her parents instilled in young Yemi the value of education and the expectation that she would definitely be going to college.  Yemi’s graduation from Northwestern University in 1993 was a very proud moment for her entire family.  However, Yemi didn’t stop there; she continued her studies and completed a Masters of Arts degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Dayton. 

Read more...

Yemi Mahoney shared her love of learning for more than seven years with students at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH as director of the College’s Multicultural Center
"It is imperative that we see ourselves as worthy and deserving of a good life. There may be rejections; it may take us a while; but as long as we stay in the game, there's every chance we'll score. On the sidelines, we can only watch as others do the work and the winning."

Excerpt from January 1 from Black Pearls by Eric V. Copage.
Paying Tribute to a Great Community Leader, Nabil Migalli

New Hampshire said goodbye to a great community leader with the passing of Nabil Migalli on December 6th of last year. The Egyptian-born social worker and community organizer had lived in New Hampshire for the past 35 years. 

Nabil’s work centered on Arab-American matters as well as outreach to immigrant and refugee groups in New Hampshire. In this role, Nabil saw first-hand the barriers that newcomers face.

He became involved with nearly ten community groups in the Manchester area and across New Hampshire. Some of his most passionate work was done on behalf of the Arab-American community. Nabil co-founded the New Hampshire American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee as well as the Arab-American Forum, and a NH non-profit organization “Educating for Justice”. 

Eva Castillo and the late Nabil Migalli in the studio for an episode of the Girard at Large Manchester radio program in 2016.

Nabil’s Migalli's Words Live On

The following excerpt is from an interview Nabil gave several years ago. The words of a great American. We thank him for his legacy. It lives on.

“I would like to emphasize that it is impossible to lump 300 million Arabs or 1.2 million Muslims into one basket and label them all a threat to U.S. security. It is an issue of stereotyping,” Nabil said. “We live in a world of hyphens. You can be Irish-American, African-American, Arab-American, Italian-American. It can be a proud part of your identity but it can also be something that limits you. We should all strive to be simply American with no hyphens to qualify.”

The NH Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration’s Equity Task Force:  Using an Innovative Approach to Advance Equity in Cancer Screening

The NH Comprehensive Cancer Collaboration is a partnership of individuals and organizations working together to eliminate cancer, the leading cause of death in the state.  The Cancer Collaboration’s Equity Task Force recently released a report, Examining Preventive Cancer Screening Rates Among Vulnerable Adults in New Hampshire, which found a correlation between social determinants of health and lower cancer screening rates within vulnerable populations in our state.

English and Spanish Infographic highlighting free breast and cervical cancer screenings offered in New Hampshire through the Let No Woman Be Overlooked Breast and Cervical Cancer Program
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Record Breaking Crowd at the NH Women’s Day of Action & Unity

On Saturday, January 21, 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire (ACLU-NH), along with nearly 30 local, state and national social justice organizations, organized the NH Women’s Day of Action & Unity, in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington, DC. This inclusive day-of-action focused on empowering people to take both individual action, and to work together to build diverse coalitions, in the defense of the most marginalized among us.

All who stand for religious freedom, human rights, climate justice, racial justice, economic justice, and reproductive justice came in droves to the steps of the NH State House in downtown Concord, NH.

A record number of 5 thousand people showed-up – the largest public gathering in the history of the City of Concord. 

Read more...

Dr. Dottie Morris, Associate Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Multiculturalism at Keene State College and member of the H&EP Steering Committee, emcees the morning Rally. Image by  Adam Urquhart  via  The Equinox
Crowd at the January 21st, 2017 NH Women’s Day of Action and Unity in Concord, NH.
Three generations of a New Hampshire family speak at the morning rally.  From left to right, N.H. State Representative Caroletta Alicéa from Boscawen, her grandson Samuel Alicéa , and daughter, Stephanie Alicéa.   
Activist training session
TRANSforming NH Healthcare Summit: The First Statewide Transgender Health Conference

When it comes to healthcare, transgender people face unique and specific barriers. From navigating insurance plans, to finding compassionate, experienced providers, to coping with transition-related health issues - transgender patients must hurdle a range of obstacles that other people rarely have to think about.

That’s why in September 2016, American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire (ACLU-NH) and Freedom New Hampshire partnered with leaders in health, legal experts, school administrators, and community advocates to host TRANSforming NH Healthcare Summit - a one-of-a-kind 5-session event which was dedicated to discussing transgender specific health issues and to ensure health professionals and schools administrators have the tools they need to provide compassionate care.

This was the Granite State’s first-ever statewide healthcare gathering dedicated solely to the issues and challenges facing New Hampshire’s transgender community. 

Read more...

Mara Keisling, founding Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)
Training Active Bystanders to Speak Up:  Knowing What to Do!

On Tuesday, February 7, the Granite State Organizing Project (GSOP) hosted a two hour Active Bystander Training from Quabbin Mediation at the Manchester Unitarian Universalist Church.  Participants explored their own experiences with harmful situations as both targets and bystanders, discussed the types of harmful situations that they may encounter, and participated in active and reflective exercises to try out various approaches to deescalating a situation and supporting the person who was the target.  Participants left with specific skills and an approach to being an effective active bystander.  There is also a program for students and teachers to learn how to interrupt harmful situations with a variety of safe intervention techniques.

February is Black History Month... Join the Conversation

Mark your calendars for the 2017 Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talks participatory lecture series that will  tackle politics, history, religion, and more for six consecutive Sunday afternoons from February 5th to March 12th.

Presented by the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail in collaboration with the Seacoast African American Cultural Center, these Sunday afternoon talks will be held at  Discover Portsmouth, 10 Middle St., Portsmouth, New Hampshire from  2- 4 pm. All talks are free and open to the public.  

In case of inclement weather, cancelled Tea Talks will be rescheduled for Sunday, March 19 and/or Sunday, March 26. Please call 603-436-8433 or email JerriAnne Boggis for more information.
Week 5 of the Tea Talks (March 5th) features an author presentation of "Never Caught: The Washington’s Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge".
About Us

The New Hampshire Health and Equity Partnership is a public-private collaborative effort of philanthropic organizations, public health agencies, community based organizations, advocates and others concerned with health equity.  The Partnership is guided in its work by the Plan to Address Health Disparities and Promote Health Equity in New Hampshire. The goal of the plan is to define statewide priorities and prepare recommendations to advance health equity for NH's racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority communities. 

The New Hampshire Health and Equity Partnership is an initiative of the Foundation for Healthy Communities.