IC What's Up! - March 2021

THIS MONTH

Our team grew!

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We hosted on second virtual IncluCity session

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Our LeadDIVERSITY Advocates went on a virtual tour of Omaha

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We talked about What Culture Means to Us

UPCOMING

March 25 - NET Nebraska's Coded Bias Virtual Screening and Panel Discussion

Click here to Register

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March 30 - Queer Table Talk on Transgender Awareness

in partnership with OutNebraska

Click here to Register

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April 8 - OTT Native and Indigenous Perspective: The Nebraska Experience

Click here to Register

AWARENESS

Women's History Month

Developmental Disabilities Month

WORDS FROM MAGGIE WOOD

How are we caring for our youth?

As we continue to grow and as we reach more individuals across the country, we are constantly having conversations as an organization about how we persist in confronting prejudice, bigotry and discrimination in all forms. Some of the questions we have been asking ourselves - when do we start these conversations? How do we keep them going?

As well-meaning as it is to want to spare young people from the ugly truths of society's inequities, are we denying their agency by not engaging them in conversations early enough? Are we ignoring that they are inherently not insulated from the pervasive violence of the environments in which they exist?

It is important to us that we begin these conversations early on to engage young people, to foster their own independence of thought, and the importance of representation and equity. We recognize that vulnerability and powerlessness, in as much as they affect our BIPOC youth, can also affect some white youth in a way that pushes them towards radicalization. This is the level of care that we can give to them with the goal of having an inclusive future.

What does that youth engagement look like? As we grow our Inclusive Communities team, we've been discussing this more and more. Alongside our high school and middle school programming (and budding elementary education), we think that education also must include intentional one-on-one conversations to leave space for their thoughts, and to help build that relationship in which the exchange of ideas can meaningfully occur.

We’ve been doing this for 20+ years with our residential camps, our youth education and our young adult programming - and we’ve been listening, paying attention and letting them lead us in their ways. As a result, our fee-for-service, business and organizational work, and system change initiatives are centered around creating spaces for businesses, organizations, municipalities, Institutions, and communities to be ready and responsive to the needs of today’s youth when they come and work alongside you tomorrow.

This work gets ten times harder when our belief systems are already in place as adults, so part of our method to confront the prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination becomes the level of care we continue to invest into our youth so we can evolve into that inclusive society we believe is possible.

WELCOME TO THE TEAM

In November we began our search for two new Program Partners to expand our capacity as an organization. We're stoked that we found two wonderful new additions who have fit right in. Kandace and Alina will be working on planning and facilitation for our various programs, and we're super excited to add their energy and passion for this work to our team. Go Team!

Say Hi to Kandace!

Kandace Freeman joined the IC team as a Program Partner in February 2021. Kandace uses She/Her pronouns. Kandace was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska; she was raised by her fabulous mother and has four sisters. Kandace has a BA in History from Doane University and is currently pursuing her Masters's degree in Management with an emphasis in human resources. She relocated to the Omaha area in 2016 for a previous job opportunity and continue her work in the non-profit sector.

Kandace's primary expertise is in youth programming coupled with many years in the customer service industry. She has held various management positions in the customer service industry and non-profit realm, but her true passion is advocating for social justice initiatives through education and dialog. Kandace feels her cheerful, easy-going personality combined with her knowledge and experience will be a wonderful addition to the IC team.

When she's not working, Kandace loves to be social; you can find her spending quality time with her family, her partner, and fur babies Oliver and Hobbes. Kandace loves to shop, is a major foodie, a lover of all things sweet, and can't wait to get back to traveling the world when it's safe again.

Kandace says: "I am beyond excited to be a part of an organization that is unafraid to challenge the norms and advocate for change by breaking down barriers and offering knowledge to those who need it. I can't wait to get to work and fight the good fight."

Meet Alina!

Alina Lopez (She/Her/Hers), a UNO graduate, is the newest IC team member. She brings with her over thirteen years of community work. Alina has worked at Omaha Public Schools, UNO, and more recently at Spark CDI. She has coached girls’ soccer and has mentored about 35 youth throughout her adult life.

Alina brings with her long lasting and valuable grassroots community relationships and a great understanding of our growing Latino/a population in Omaha. Alina is a trained facilitator and mediator; she is currently finalizing her Professional Project Management Certification with plans to soon resume and complete her MPA. Alina currently sits on the MYLPA board and numerous other committees, councils, and advisory groups advocating for just and equitable changes to outdated policies. Her deep-rooted passion and belief for our youth motivates her to continue to fight for systemic obstructions interfering with our youth’s successes.

Alina is a proud immigrant from Michoacán, Mexico and mother of five beautiful children: Eileen (16), Genesis (13), Emilio (11), Naylea (8), and Leah (4). When she is not involved in community work, you can find her on the sidelines of a soccer game proudly cheering on her kids, a modeling training session with her daughters, or exploring new places with her five accomplices. You can also find her training her kids to be not only physically strong but also mentally strong, to become change makers utilizing their voice and platforms to raise awareness about racism, discrimination, and prejudices.

Alina is always ready for a challenge and can’t wait to start building new partnerships and creating opportunities for important dialogue leading to positive impacts.

Next Up it's ~~Omaha~~ Queer Table Talk

March 30, 2021 at 6:00 pm CST. Don't miss our QTT on Transgender Awareness. This program is held in partnership with OutNebraska. This topic was specifically chosen to honor the fact that the following day is Transgender Day of Visibility. You can learn more about TDoV here. Our Panelists will be

Avalisa Gallo
Eli Rigatuso
Andira Losh

The discussion will be moderated by OutNebraska Executive Director Abbi Swatsworth.

Previously on Omaha Table Talk

Omaha Table Talk | Reparations

This month our Advocates prepared a virtual historical tour through Omaha to bear witness to the beautiful diversity that has developed our city. In groups, they prepared presentations for the cohort on El Museo Latino, Boystown, The Durham Museum, The Great Plains Black History Museum, and The Malcolm X Foundation. They also got to hear from Preston Love Jr. and Beth Morrisette!

What Does Culture Mean to Us?

We participated in the University of Nebraska Service Learning Academy's CultureFest 2021, a celebration of the rich diversity of our community through various cultural performances and demonstrations. Members of our team talked about what culture means to them!

What is IT?

by Krysty Becker

As some of you may know, I’m from a tiny twin island republic in the Caribbean called Trinidad and Tobago. It’s a beautiful place. Part of our national anthem is “Here every creed and race find an equal place…”

We have a huge amount of diversity that enhances our beauty. Though we’re more equal at certain times than others. Carnival – it’s one love. Elections – different story (and for another day). Recently though, I’ve been struggling with a trend that’s becoming ever more glaring at home, violence against women. There’s been a fairly steady stream through my social media of girls who have gone missing, been found murdered, women who have been brutally attacked by men who are family, known, or unknown. The level and frequency of violence against women is truly distressing.

Recently however, a young girl got into a taxi (taxis are different in Trinidad as compared to the US. Think more like an Uber Pool, where you share the car with multiple strangers, but there’s no app that tracks the driver or determines their safety record). She didn’t get into the car alone, as Trini women are often instilled with the ‘don’t get into a car with only men and try not to travel by yourself’ advice from very young. So, she got into the car with a friend. The friend got dropped off before her. She never made it home. She was missing for just under a week and the national news was feverishly covering the story, the pleas from the family, the ins and outs of her schedule, her daily life, her qualifications. She was a good girl. A perfect victim.

When the news broke that a body had been discovered down a precipice in a lonely area, the media naturally rushed to the site, to find the police escorting her father to said precipice to identify the body. In “normal” circumstances, I’d think that to preserve the victim’s dignity and to not add to the family’s distress, you maybe don’t do an identification in this way (and that again is a conversation for another day). Yet this family’s grief became a spectacle – the police holding his hand and leading him, the media following closely behind, the people stopping on the side of the road and joining the macabre procession, all relishing in the “What it is going on, boy? They really find the girl?”

Later on, many took to social media to respond, “It’s seeing the father going with the police that really did it for me.” My question is: What is - IT? And what are we planning on doing with said IT? Why is there this need to witness injustice to this horrific degree? And in this instance, we should not have been privy to it in the first place. If this is what finally makes us act, or converts us to suddenly being decent, was that high a price really necessary? Did we really need to get “here” to remember our humanity? Is it violence that truly moves us to action? Or is it living vicariously through someone else’s pain?

These aren’t questions just for Trinidad and Tobago. In the US we see videos all the time of violence perpetrated on Black folks, LGBTQIA2S+ folks, people with disabilities, women, children. And we say things to ourselves like, “it’s seeing the reaction from the mom that really did it for me.” Can we answer - Does IT really do it? Does that moment motivate us to real action? And are we simply unbothered by injustice until IT happens? I don’t have answers to any of these questions, nor do I think asking these questions absolves me or sets me apart from the crowd. I wrestle with my own level of action and inaction, the causes I give my attention to, and the ones I don’t know how to engage. It is a difficult moment to be in, reckoning with IT.

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