Day 2 Continued: Lessons from Ferguson

Dr. Veronica Benavidas, Harvard University

My Day 2 afternoon session was lead by two AMAZING and ACCOMPLISHED women of color.

Dr. Benavidas was involved in a case study that brought her to Ferguson in the immediate aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown to look at how the three school districts and the community worked together through the period of civil unrest.  Her work, titled "Lessons From Ferguson: Leadership in the Times of Civil Unrest", was presented in brief.

We then watched as she lead a powerful role playing exercise where adults were faced with moments of needing to "interrupt" racism and it was humbling to say the least.  This was hard.  For everyone. Confronting folks when they are perpetuating systemic racism is hard work.  And it must be done in a way that keeps the dialogue open and holds the space of loving accountability.

Dr. Raygine DiAquoi, Columbia University, Director ODCI

The other part of the session included the work of Dr. Raygine DiAquoi, Director for the Office of Diversity,Culture and Inclusion (ODCI) at Columbia University, where she is also an alumna. Both DiAquoi and Benavidas worked on the case study in Ferguson, Illinois.

The following is an excerpt from an article from Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health:

"DiAquoi did her graduate work at Harvard on “the Talk”—how African-American parents speak with their children about racism, including warnings about interactions with law enforcement. Her parents, both Haitian immigrants, began conversations with their daughter about racial discrimination and bias as soon as she could talk—lessons that gained more meaning in the private secondary school where she was the only black student in her class.

In her doctoral thesis, DiAquoi examined how the content of "the Talk" evolved through the 20th Century to the present, coming to the sobering conclusion that today’s conversations have regressed, resembling those from Jim Crow—a reality she says reflects structural racism of mass incarceration and policing that disproportionately affect people of color. More recently, her work on the way schools in Ferguson, Missouri, responded to the death of Michael Brown was crafted into a case study that has been widely used among educators and other leaders.

I will be getting a copy of the case study referenced above and we will explore its findings TOGETHER!