TRANSFORMATION IN ACTION 2022
2022 CALENDAR
JANUARY 6 - ELISHEBA JOHNSON
FEBRUARY 3 - DR DANIELLE DICKENS
FEBRUARY 3 - DR DANIELLE DICKENS
Co-Founder and Curator at Wa Na Wari, Seattle WA
THE STORY OF WA NA WARI: FIGHTING GENTRIFICATION WITH ARTS AND CULTURE
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Wa Na Wari is creating new models for Black families to fight gentrification and displacement with arts and culture. Johnson will share cases studies of how the arts are being used to create new realities for Black people to be self determined in spite of inequity.
FEBRUARY 3 - DR DANIELLE DICKENS
FEBRUARY 3 - DR DANIELLE DICKENS
FEBRUARY 3 - DR DANIELLE DICKENS
Associate Professor of Psychology, Spelman College
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TOLL OF IDENTITY SHIFTING: THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF BLACK PEOPLE BEING THEMSELVES AT WORK
Purchase access to the recording
To cope with experiences of discrimination and to contest the negative consequences associated with discrimination, Black people may alter their behaviors, speech (code switch), appearance, and perspectives, also known as identity shifting. This may include changing one's hairstyle to fit Eurocentric standards of beauty or changing how one talks by "talking White."
In this interactive talk, Dr. Dickens will break down why people from oppressed groups may feel pressured to adopt their behaviors in the workplace, the benefits of costs of shifting, and how to create inclusive working environments to lessen the need of shifting by those who are marginalized.
MARCH 3 - DANA NICKSON, PhD
FEBRUARY 3 - DR DANIELLE DICKENS
APRIL 7 - DR BRODERICK SAWYER
Assistant Professor of education equity and justice in leadership, policy, and politics at The University of Washington
CITIES, SUBURBS, AND EDUCATION EQUITY: SEEKING JUSTICE ACROSS BOUNDARIES AND BORDERS
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Social phenomena, such as gentrification, Black and Latinx suburbanization, school closures, and school choice are dramatically changing U.S. metropolitan regions. What we typically think of as an urban or suburban school may fail to recognize the heterogeneity within communities and the interdependency across school systems. These norms in how we imagine place and space hinder our ability to adequately frame and solve education injustices that disproportionately harm families and communities of color.
Paying particular attention to the historic formations and contemporary politics of the Seattle metropolitan area, this talk will explore racial and socioeconomic demographic change in schools and communities, provide time to reflect on and locate our own educational experiences within unequal educational landscapes, and suggest how we can respectfully uplift and learn from the educational agency of Black and other students and families of color to contest unjust education policy.
APRIL 7 - DR BRODERICK SAWYER
APRIL 7 - DR BRODERICK SAWYER
APRIL 7 - DR BRODERICK SAWYER
Clinical psychologist specializing in race-based stress and trauma, mindfulness, and compassion
EMOTIONAL INTEGRATION AS A MEASURE OF ALLYSHIP: GENERATIONAL HEART-CLEANSING
Purchase access to the recording
The recording is available as part of the Heart Package, see below Bio section for more info.
Many want to become effective allies for racial justice, and many are generally unaware of or unwilling to address centuries-long emotional blockage. When learning about privilege, we tend to prioritize intellectual learning with books, believing that only new language will undo centuries of both intellectual and emotional conditioning.
In his time providing workshops, talks, and working with ally-hopefuls, Dr. Sawyer has identified two primary issues in addressing one’s privilege, which, are also issues he has seen in his time as a psychologist providing therapeutic treatment for those seeking emotional resolution: 1. Lack of individual emotional awareness/integration, and 2. Lack of individual daily mental health hygiene practice. In this workshop, Dr. Sawyer will unpack and address these 2 issues, and discuss why our Western fixation on language has become a barrier to true emotional change.
MAY 5 - JOCELYN RICARDA
APRIL 7 - DR BRODERICK SAWYER
MAY 5 - JOCELYN RICARDA
Disabled Chicana content creator, actress, model, and speaker
THE INTERSECTIONS OF RACISM AND DISABILITY IN EDUCATION
Purchase access to the event recording
In this talk, Jocelyn Ricarda will speak on her experiences as a first generation Chicana from the south of Louisiana and from her online activism which includes published essays, hashtags like #IAmAbleist and #AbledsWTF, and opening up her platforms for Disabled people to come together and share their lives. Her work on access, disability justice, racism and ableism, has led her to speaking at Tulane State University, and organizing with Congress of Day Laborers of New Orleans on "Disabled And Detained". Jocelyn has been featured in Forbes, New York Times, NowThis, Dazed, and BuzzFeed.
AUGUST 4 - ARIA MUSTARY
APRIL 7 - DR BRODERICK SAWYER
MAY 5 - JOCELYN RICARDA
Founder and President of the Mai Soli Foundation
USING WESTERN PRIVILEGE TO BREAK THE CYCLES OF CHILD MARRIAGES IN BANGLADESH
Aria will speak about how she grew up in poverty, little to no access to resources, and how education and western privilege led her to create the nonprofit Foundation. The Mai Soli Foundation levels the playing field between young girls and boys in Bangladesh. She will share the origins of her Foundation as well as it's mission to end child marriage in Bangladesh. Her story begins in Brooklyn, New York and where she endures the effects of racism and othering in college and how that led to the research and creation of a nonprofit foundation.
Aria co-created curriculum with world-class entrepreneurs and educators about financial literacy, leadership, and confidence. Specifically, the Foundation teaches young girls how to be confident in their own skin, by learning valuable business skills to counter centuries of British colonialism perpetuated colorism: the idea to young girls that they are not beautiful or valued because of their dark skin. The Foundation seeks to empower young women to build new possibilities.
SEPTEMBER 7 - TERENCE LESTER
SEPTEMBER 7 - TERENCE LESTER
SEPTEMBER 7 - TERENCE LESTER
Speaker, activist, author, and thought leader in the realm of systemic poverty
A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOMELESSNESS AND RACE
We interview Terence about the intersectionality of race and being unhoused, and about trauma and being unhoused. We will talk with him about his new book When We Stand and he'll share how sacrifice, being proximate and the power of an invitation is really all some folks need to join us on the journey. Terence's organization Love Beyond Walls in Atlanta has been working with the unhoused for over 25 years and were instrumental in getting portable hand washing stations set up in many cities across the country when covid hit. We're thrilled to welcome him and learn from his experience and extraordinary example of compassion in action.
JANUARY 6 - ELISHEBA JOHNSON
Ms Johnson will talk about the Story of Wa Na Wari: Fighting Gentrification with Arts and Culture
This session will be recorded and available for future viewings to all who purchased tickets for the event.
Elisheba Johnson is a curator, public artist and administrator. Johnson, who has a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts, was the owner of Faire Gallery Café, a multi-use art space that held art exhibitions, music shows, poetry readings and creative gatherings. For six years Johnson worked at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture on capacity building initiatives and racial equity in public art. Johnson is currently a member of the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Network advisory council and has won four Americans for the Arts Public Art Year in Review Awards for her work. She currently co-manages Wa Na Wari, a Black art center in Seattle’s Central Area that uses the arts to build community and resist displacement
Where to find Elisheba Johnson
Instagram: @wanawariseattle
FEBRUARY 3 - DR DANIELLE DICKENS
Dr. Dickens will talk about the Psychological Toll of Identity Shifting: The Costs and Benefits of Black People Being Themselves at Work
This session will be recorded and available for future viewings to all who purchased tickets for the event.
Dr. Danielle Dickens is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Spelman College. Dr. Dickens earned her B.A. in psychology from Spelman College, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from Colorado State University in Applied Social and Health Psychology.
As a Black feminist social psychologist, she leads a program of research that uses quantitative and qualitative methodologies to examine stereotypes, discrimination, and intersections of race, gender, class, and age in the U.S. with an emphasis on Black women, in the workplace, higher education, and STEM. Particularly, she is an expert in understanding how experiences of discrimination results in a coping strategy known as identity shifting, the conscious or unconscious process of altering how one speaks and acts in order to mitigate the negative outcomes of discrimination, particularly among Black women.
In 2018, Dr. Dickens and her colleague at Winston Salem State University were awarded a National Science Foundation grant to explore identity shifting among Black women in STEM education. In 2019, she received the American Psychological Association (APA) Teaching of Psychology of Women Award and the 2020 APA Psychology of Black Women Foremothers Mentorship Early Career Award. In all, her teaching and research aims to contextually position and understand the lived experiences of Black women in the U.S, to identify effective strategies to reduce inequalities, and improve their career development and mental and behavioral health outcomes
Where to find Danielle Dickens, Ph.D.
Dr. Dickens at Spelmen College
Twitter: @DaniDickensPHD
MARCH 3 - DANA NICKSON, Ph.D.
Dr. Nickson will talk about Cities, Suburbs, and Education Equity: Seeking Justice Across Boundaries and Borders
This session will be recorded and available for future viewings to all who purchased tickets for the event.
Dana Nickson, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of education equity and justice in leadership, policy, and politics at The University of Washington.
Dana studies the intersections of racial demographic change, politics of place (e.g. school choice policies, histories of Black placemaking, gentrification), and educational agency in U.S. metropolitan regions. Her research specifically centers Black families and students’ diverse knowledge systems and educational experiences to offer possibilities for justice-centered collaborations and practices within and across school systems. Dana is also the 2021 recipient of the American Education Research Association's Education Policy and Politics Outstanding Dissertation Award, and recently published a paper on African American mother’s educational activism in Detroit. At UW, Dana teaches courses on the Politics of Education and Family-School-Community Relationships and Equitable Engagement, among others. Dana is a proud auntie and is enjoying exploring Seattle’s beautiful parks.
Where to find Dana Nickson, Ph.D.
Dr Nickson at the University of Washington
Twitter: @amandla_awethu7
APRIL 7 - DR BRODERICK SAWYER
EMOTIONAL INTEGRATION AS A MEASURE OF ALLYSHIP: GENERATIONAL HEART-CLEANSING
This session will be recorded and available for future viewings to all who purchased tickets for the event.
Dr. Broderick Sawyer is a clinical psychologist specializing in race-based stress and trauma, mindfulness, and compassion. He obtained his masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Louisville and completed his internship at Stony Brook University Counseling and Psychological Services.
Broderick Sawyer, PhD, is an activist, psychologist, and meditation teacher in Louisville KY. Broderick specializes in helping historically oppressed people unconditionally love themselves, despite ongoing intersectional oppression. Using principles from Eastern philosophy, learning theory, and liberation psychology, he teaches all beings to actively unlearn internalized oppression, practice mental health hygiene, and engage in heart-opening practice. For more information about his workshops, meditation instruction, and equity consultation services.
Where to find Dr. Broderick Sawyer
MAY 5 - JOCELYN RICARDA
THE INTERSECTIONS OF RACISM AND DISABILITY IN EDUCATION
Jocelyn, aka Jocy, was born in Galveston, Texas, and is a first generation Mexican-American from the deep south of Louisiana with a disability called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. She’s a Disabled Chicana content creator, actress, model, and speaker.
In 2019, Jocelyn was told her life did not matter during an emergency drill at graduate school by a school official. She was then denied the chance to get her Masters at the beginning of Covid-19. She was denied access. Jocelyn then did what she did best, she vented on social media about discrimination. Her story went viral along with other Disabled people's stories, and she was featured in NowThis and her story was published at a university research journal. What Jocelyn experienced wasn't new to her experiences growing up in south Louisiana and what Jocelyn experienced, wasn't an isolated event to other Disabled people of color.
Where to find Jocy Ricarda
@jocyofthedragons across all social media platforms
AUGUST 4 - ARIA MUSTARY
USING WESTERN PRIVILEGE TO BREAK THE CYCLES OF CHILD MARRIAGES IN BANGLADESH
Aria Mustary is an award-winning first-generation social entrepreneur, scholar, and the Co-Founder and President of the Mai Soli Foundation. Mai Soli Foundation is an international non-profit that works to prevent child marriages; focusing their work in Bangladesh with the 4th highest rate of child marriage in the world. In her own eyes, she witnessed her mother live the life of an underage bride. Nearly becoming a victim of the same fate, she broke the generational cycle.
Together with her co-founder, she conducted extensive field research and created the first Girls' Empowerment Program in Bangladesh. It encourages young girls' creativity and leadership, entrepreneurship and financial skills, by pairing university-educated mentors with girls in schools, so that they can see their limitless potential.
Where to find Aria Mustary and Mai Soli:
Twitter: @maisolifnd
Instagram: @maisolifoundation
SEPTEMBER 7 - TERENCE LESTER
A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOMELESSNESS AND RACE
Terence Lester is a speaker, activist, author, and thought leader in the realm of systemic poverty. He’s known for nationwide campaigns that bring awareness to issues surrounding homelessness, poverty, and economic inequality. His awareness campaigns have been featured on MLK50, CNN, Good Morning America, TVONE, Creative Mornings, USA Today, NBC, AJC, Black Enterprise, Rolling Out, and Upworthy. These campaigns have been viewed by millions of people worldwide.
In 2018, Terence led the March Against Poverty as he walked from Atlanta to Memphis (386 miles). He finished the march and spoke at the historic Lorraine Motel for the 50th Anniversary of MLK’s assassination.
He has spoken on the same platform as other civil rights activists: Bernice King, Roland Martin, Gina Belafonte, Michael Eric Dyson, Tamika D. Mallory, and many others. Terence’s unique approach combines storytelling and digital media to help illustrate social justice issues with practical approaches to solving these ailments. In 2013, Terence founded the non-profit “Love Beyond Walls” and has helped hundreds of individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty rebuild their lives.
In 2019, Terence launched the first museum in the U.S. representing homelessness out of a shipping container called Dignity Museum. Terence has written six books, and his new book, “When We Stand: The Power Of Seeking Justice Together,” released May 18, 2021, with InterVarsity Press. He also holds four degrees and is working towards his Ph.D. at Union Institute & University in Public Policy & Social Change.
He is happily married to his best friend, Cecilia Lester, and they have two amazing children, Zion Joy and Terence II.
Where to find Terence Lester:
Twitter: @IamTerenceLester
Instagram: @iamterencelester
THE HEART PACKAGE
$12
Access to 2 event recordings that will make your heart sing!
Send email to hello@transformingprivilege.com to request access and payment information.
Dr. Broderick Sawyer
Clinical psychologist specializing in race-based stress and trauma, mindfulness, and compassion
EMOTIONAL INTEGRATION AS A MEASURE OF ALLYSHIP: GENERATIONAL HEART-CLEANSING
In his time providing workshops, talks, and working with ally-hopefuls, Dr. Sawyer has identified two primary issues in addressing one’s privilege, which, are also issues he has seen in his time as a psychologist providing therapeutic treatment for those seeking emotional resolution: 1. Lack of individual emotional awareness/integration, and 2. Lack of individual daily mental health hygiene practice. In this workshop, Dr. Sawyer will unpack and address these 2 issues, and discuss why our Western fixation on language has become a barrier to true emotional change.
Antesa Jensen
An authority in the domain of Emotional Intelligence
THE SEVEN LAYERS OF LISTENING: HOW TO HEAR WITH YOUR HEART
Have you ever considered that your most prominent defense mechanisms could exist in your quality of listening? How we listen communicates a lot about our true receptivity. As of the past ten years, any self-respecting progressive person has aimed to listen to understand, sure that this would be the most respectful way to resolve conflict and bring about social change. But often times listening to understand only leads to more confusion, and more division. Why is that? In this interactive talk, Antesa breaks down the seven layers of listening, including what exists beyond listening to understand and how you can activate your heart’s hearing capacity in order to ignite true sustained social and interpersonal change.
Send email to hello@transformingprivilege.com to request access and payment information.
TRANSFORMATION IN ACTION 2021 RECORDINGS
We have recordings of most of the past events. See below for more information about purchasing recording access.
More information about the 2021 speakers and subjects
July 2021 Amanda Joy Calhoun, MD
Adult/Child Psychiatry Resident at Yale School of Medicine
BEYOND DISCUSSIONS: COMBATING ANTI-BLACK RACISM IN REAL-TIME
September 2021 Antesa Jensen
An authority in the domain of Emotional Intelligence
THE SEVEN LAYERS OF LISTENING, AND HOW TO HEAR WITH YOUR HEART
October 2021 Dr. Danielle Dickens
Associate Professor of Psychology at Spelman College
THE POWER OF PERCEPTION: THE TRUTH ABOUT IMPLICIT BIAS
December 2021 Dr. Lulu
Pediatrician with 30 years of clinical experience and coach to parents of LGBTQIAP children.
THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF RACE AND LGBTQIAP IDENTITIES FOR CHILDREN
More information about the 2021 speakers and subjects and how to request access.
