Greetings,
This past month, our office engaged in conversations and learning about Israel and Palestine. I admit that I do not know much about foreign affairs and forgot a lot of what I had learned in K-12 about the region. And talking about what has been happening felt uncomfortable for me. I recognized this discomfort and leaned into it to learn more about myself and the topic. It was important to do so because our office espouses the brave spaces concept, so we also have to model this ourselves. Callie, Lindsey, and I shared various articles that we saw streaming on our social media and articles that were shared with us. From these materials, we compiled what we felt were the most helpful materials in understanding Israel and Palestine through a JEDI lens. They cover information about how Jews and Palestinians have been oppressed. Separate, but related to what is going on in Palestine, we recognize anti-semitism and have a list of resources below for understanding anti-semitism.
Finn Gardiner and Sandy Ho spoke with us during the synchronous Power, Privilege, and Positionality event. It was a powerful conversation where we had the opportunity to learn about the intersectionality of different types of oppression, including racism, ableism, fatphobia, heterosexism, and classism. Sandy is a founder of the Disability and Intersectionality Summit and their kick-off was on June 12! Deafies in Drag was the keynote. If you have not yet seen their videos, please check out the Deafies in Drag Youtube channel. Some of the video clips are applicable to the healthcare setting, such as interpreting services in private practice.
Juneteenth is on the Saturday following our first Summer Friday. Here is a resource about the history of Juneteenth by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. While we will not be having formal programming for Juneteenth, we wanted to share information about the 4th annual Malden Juneteenth event, Freedom Day Celebration & Remembrance. ASL will be provided.
The JEDI Office would also like to acknowledge IHP community members who engage in JEDI work on top of their existing roles. Our goal is to make their efforts visible. Please fill out the form to let us know if a student, faculty, staff, and/or alum has supported you as it relates to JEDI.
I feel like with each edition of the JEDI Newsletter, we are sharing more and more resources. I hope that you will be able to review them or keep these in your back pocket for when you may want to refer to them.
Until next month,
Kimberly A. Truong, Ph.D.
she/her/hers/they/them/theirs
Chief Equity Officer
Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)
|
|
- Continued Learning
- Upcoming Events
- IHP & JEDI News
- Community Events
|
|
Learning About Conflict in Palestine
The JEDI Office has been engaging in learning about the current events in Palestine and how they connect to sociopolitical history. We have been compiling educational resources for ourselves to better understand the connections between Palestine and the larger conversations we have had about anti-oppression, justice, and equity. The following resources are ones we have read and are sharing with anyone who is interested in engaging in learning as well: “Growing up Palestinian in the United States” by Tala Alfoqaha Representative, Rashida Tlaib’s speech “End the Apartheid System,” and “Living under fire in Israel, when the rocket shelter becomes your home” from Reuters. You can learn more about the history of the conflict by reading Israel vs. Hamas from the New York Times, and watching the video The Israel-Palestine conflict: a brief, simple history from Vox. This is not an exhaustive list. We encourage you to continue learning about the current events and to read with a critical eye these and other materials. |
|
Learning About Antisemitism
|
|
Asian and Asian American Identifying Student Space – Tuesday, June 15
JEDI Fellows Corliss Kanazawa, Richard Monari, and Kana Sakai will lead the Asian and Asian American Identifying Student Space on Tuesday, June 15, 7:00–8:00 p.m. via Zoom. |
|
United in Anger Documentary Discussion – Thursday, June 17
Join the JEDI Office for a virtual discussion on the documentary United in Anger on Thursday, June 17, 7:00–8:00 p.m. We will discuss the film, HIV/AIDS crisis, and how this history connects to Pride Month and current events. Participants will stream the documentary prior to the discussion, available for free here. Open to all IHP students, faculty, and staff. Register.
|
|
Pride Month Keynote – Thursday, June 24
Dallas Ducar, NP, founding Chief Executive Officer of Transhealth Northhampton, will give the talk "Co-creating a Community-Based Health Center: The Story of Transhealth Northampton" on Thursday, June 24, 3:00–4:00 p.m. via Zoom. Register.
Dallas is on faculty at Northeastern University, the University of Virginia School of Medicine and Nursing, Columbia University, and has served on faculty at the MGH Institute for Health Professions. She has advised international research groups on best practices and has carried out community-based participatory action research programs. Dallas seeks to revolutionize healthcare, building novel systems to provide holistic, empowering, gender-affirming care.
|
|
The History of AAPIs & The Diversity Within AAPI Communities
– Thursday, July 8
This summer, the JEDI Office, in partnership with Mass General Brigham's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Office, will hold an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) learning webinar series. The first webinar, The History of AAPIs in the U.S. and Diversity within AAPI communities, will be on Thursday, July 8, 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Panelists include Phitsamay Uy, an associate professor in the College of Education at UMass Lowell, and Karthick Ramakrishnan, a professor of public policy and political science at the University of California, Riverside. Gayun Chan-Smutko, an associate professor in the Department of Genetic Counseling at the IHP, will moderate the panel. Please save the date! More information will be in the IHP News.
|
|
JEDI Fellowship Program Info Session – July 1
The JEDI Office is hiring for Fellows to consult with the Departments of Occupational Therapy, Genetic Counseling, Physician Assistant Studies, Physical Therapy. If you are interested in applying, fill out the form and email Lindsey Lo your resume by Thursday, July 15. Attend the JEDI Fellowship Information Session on Thursday, July 1 at Noon via Zoom. Hear from current JEDI Fellows and learn more about the program. |
|
From the Associate Director of JEDI Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Faculty Support
Dr. Callie Watkins Liu, associate director of JEDI Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Faculty Support, has written a chapter in Cabo Verdean Women Writing Remembrance, Resistance, and Revolution, a book that documents the work and stories told by Cabo Verdean women to refocus the narratives about Cabo Verde on Cabo Verdean women and their experiences.
She presented "Advancing a Freedom Dream and Building Racially Restorative Practices in Higher Ed." at Bunker Hill Community College's Fourth Annual Center for Equity and Cultural Wealth Institute. This year's theme was "The Urgency of Now: Transformative Resistance in Higher Education." She also presented "Supervising for Justice: Working to Address Microaggressions within Supervision" the Equitable and Inclusive Care in Genetic Counseling conference.
A Padlet has been launched with JEDI resources for students. Please use the password IHPJEDI to access this. Thank you to JEDI Fellows Annika Chan, Bella Coyne, Rosa Ortega, Alejandra Luna, and Richard Monari, Amanda Tarbet, Callie Watkins Liu, and Lindsey Lo for putting this together. While these resources are geared towards students, they are open to everyone. Our team will launch Padlets for faculty and staff over the next few months. Please let us know if you have any feedback.
The summer iteration of Power, Privilege, and Positionality (PPP) was held on June 2. This program focuses on building foundational knowledge for all incoming students and IHP community members. For this session, Dr. Watkins Liu completely reimagined the PPP curriculum to foster a deeper understanding of the intersection of race and disability. Thank you JEDI Fellow Richard Monari for moderating the panel and all faculty, staff, and student facilitators and participants.
|
|
JEDI D2L
The JEDI Fellows created a JEDI Community D2L page. Self-enroll to get all of the latest JEDI events in one place! |
|
JEDI Recognition Survey
The JEDI Office would like to acknowledge those who engage in Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) work at the IHP on top of their existing roles. Our goal is to use this information to make these contributions visible to the broader IHP community. Please fill out the form if a student, faculty, staff, and/or alum has supported you as it relates to JEDI. |
|
Congrats, Kamaria Washington – Adams Fellow Award Recipient
Kamaria Washington, PT, DPT, is the recipient of the Adams Fellow Award which was established to offer financial support for graduate education for physical therapists at the Institute. This award is given to students who show evidence of leadership abilities, service to the profession, and the potential to make a significant contribution as a clinical scholar. Congrats, Kamaria!
|
|
Welcome Staff Council JEDI Reps
The JEDI Office would like to welcome Yolanda Mendez Rainey (left) and Jessica Loeser to the JEDI Council as representatives from Staff Council. JEDI Staff Council representatives are elected to serve for two years.
|
|
Leading with Inclusivity Panel
Dr. Kimberly Truong (top left), executive director of the JEDI Office, JEDI Fellow Annika Chan (top right), an occupational therapy student, and Dr. Eleonor Pusey-Reid (bottom right), a distinguished teaching associate professor in the School of Nursing, were featured on the panel "Leading with Inclusivity" on June 10. Dr. Mike Boutin (bottom left), assistant dean for faculty and student success in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, moderated. This panel was a part of Raising Your Leadership Impact, a program for nurse leaders organized by the Department of Continuing Education.
|
|
Academic Impressions Shout Out
The IHP's Commitment to Equity and Anti-Oppression was highlighted as a resource in an email sent following Academic Impressions' Anti-Racism in Higher Education conference. Thank you, Dean Gormley, for highlighting our statement! |
|
Pride Month Video Series
Kay Martinez, director of EDIJ training, education, and development at Lesley University and former associate director of the JEDI Office, is featured in videos about Pride Month and the LGBTQ+ community. Check out Part 1 (right) and Part 2! |
|
|
Learn About Southeast Asian Deportation
For the past two decades, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Lao, and Hmong migrants have been unjustly targeted with detention and deportation. The Asian American Resource Workshop has been organizing locally and nationally in response to the rise in deportation in the Southeast Asian community. Follow them on social media to learn more about their work. |
|
MGH LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group Membership Drive
The MGH Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and others (LGBTQ+) Employee Resource Group is rekindling and looking for new members! The LGBTQ ERG has a new leadership team, an updated mission and we want to reengage with all our members.
Our updated mission is to educate the Mass General community about LGBTQ health issues and to create an environment that is supportive of LGBTQ employees, patients, families, friends and allies. We invite you to join our ERG as a general member whether you are a long-time MGHer or new to the hospital. If you were on the membership list before, we would like to reconfirm your interest. Please join our membership list! Please know that if you sign up for our list, your membership will be kept confidential.
We have many projects and events in the works that we are excited to share in the future. We also want to get feedback from our members and plan to reach out to hear what YOU want to see in this ERG!
We look forward to collaborating with you to make MGH a more inclusive place.
|
|
The Intersectionality of Freedom in Boston – June 16
Attend the community conversation "The Intersectionality of Freedom in Boston" on Wednesday, June 16 at 10:30 a.m. Reexamine the concept of liberation and its real meaning for the Black community. What does Black freedom look like in the city of Boston? What can we do – and what should we do – to continue the fight for liberation for all of our people? Register.
|
|
Art for Social Change with the Cast of Alice in Rainbowland – June 16
Attend a panel discussion on the role of art in social change, the motivation behind Queer Bodies in Motion’s inaugural production of Alice in Rainbowland. The roundtable will be moderated by Kay Martinez and feature cast members Lilly Rose Valore, Just JP, Tina Cavicchio, Gabriel Colon-Sciabarrasi, and Ana Masacote. Register.
|
|
Juneteenth Panel – June 17
Attend "Juneteenth: Harvard Division of Continuing Education Panel Conversation" on Thursday, June 17, 1:00–2:00 p.m. Panelists will discuss the history of Juneteenth, what the holiday means for Americans, and ways all communities can observe, reflect, and educate in commemoration. Register.
|
|
Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation – June 17
Attend Suffolk University's "Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Initiative - Shifting the Narrative: From Here to Where" conference virtually on June 17, Noon–6:00 p.m. Register.
|
|
Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation – June 17
GBH will hold the panel "Decolonizing Mental Health: A Conversation Inspired by the WORLD Channel Series" on Thursday, June 17, 7:00–8:00 p.m. Industry experts and advocates will come together to discuss the unique mental health care challenges faced by underrepresented communities and those that have been historically marginalized. Register.
|
|
Malden Juneteenth Freedom Celebration – June 19
MaldenCORE will present the fourth annual Juneteenth Freedom Celebration virtually on Saturday, June 19, 7:00–8:30 p.m. Celebrate Black and African American culture and reflect on the meaning of freedom. Learn more.
|
|
Addressing Bias and Eliminating Discrimination of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders – June 23
The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation will host a webinar addressing bias and eliminating discrimination of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in health professions learning environments on Wednesday, June 23 at 4:00 p.m. via Zoom. Register to attend.
|
|
What Does Transgender and Gender Diverse Inclusivity Look like in Research? – Wednesday, June 30
In celebration of Pride Month, the Brigham Research Institute (BRI) and the Brigham’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) are hosting an hour-long panel discussion on transgender and gender diverse inclusivity in research on Wednesday, June 30 at Noon. Researchers in all fields are encouraged to attend and hear from our expert panel, which will be moderated by Dr. Kathryn Rexrode and featuring Dr. Sari Reisner, Director of Transgender Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Dr. Frances Grimstad, Director of Trans Reproductive Health Service at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dr. Rodrigo Aguayo-Romero, a postdoctoral fellow in Endocrinology at the Brigham and The Fenway Institute. The event is open to all Mass General Brigham affiliated employees, and it will be recorded. Register for this event.
|
|
2021 Pride CommuniT – June 30
Dana Farber Cancer Institute invites all transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, two-spirit, and gender non-conforming staff and faculty in the Longwood Medical Area, its satellites, and MGB to gather in a virtual space for community and connection on June 30 at 4:00 p.m.! Register.
|
|
Check us out on social media! |
|
Advancing Care For a Diverse Society |
|
|
|
|
|
|
