As our community along with the nation grapples with all that we have seen and experienced, there yet is another call for us to 1) courageously stand up to some difficult truths about our country; 2) understand the history of these difficult truths as context is everything; and 3) most importantly, be willing to act in order to effect change.
To help us deal with these emotions and chart a path forward, the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion over the next weeks and months will host a series of virtual webinars and curated conversations about race in our country. We encourage your participation. Events for this week are listed below.
Virtual Vigil: Remembrance of Black Lives Lost to Racialized Violence
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2020
Time: 6 p.m.
Platform: Zoom – details to be announced
Come Sit at My Table: A Campus Conversation
Date: Friday, June 5, 2020
Time: 1 p.m.
Topic: “Pre-Coping: Surviving and Thriving in a Time of Uncertainty”
Facilitator: Dr. G. Christine Taylor, vice president and associate provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Guests: Dr. Martha Crowther, professor and director of clinical psychology at UA
Jennifer Turner, coordinator of clinical services and licensed professional counselor, UA Counseling Center
Platform: Zoom – details to be announced
Other resource can be found at Get Involved.
A message from Dr. Christine Taylor:
Dear Campus Community:
The recent murder of George Floyd took me back to August 2019. I had just completed a presentation when I received a call from my niece.
“Daddy is transitioning,” she said.
The optimist in me asked, “Are they transporting him to a new facility?”
My brother had been hospitalized for the past week; however, he had been showing signs of improvement. But my niece only reiterated her statement, this time with greater force and pleading for me to listen to her words.
“Auntie,” she said, “daddy is transitioning.”
Finally, I heard her and, in that moment and in that public place, I began to scream and cry uncontrollably as I could not believe that a man who had been such an important part of my life—my big brother, my Black superhero, my greatest advocate—was leaving me.He was my big brother. He was me and I was him; we were inextricably bound. How could we do holidays again without him? Who would provide me with loving big-brother advice? The pain of that day still resides deep within my heart. I still weep often, I still miss him daily, and there are moments that I debate within my mind about how it could be that this man is gone.