The Plug
The Center for Identity and Inclusion, May Edition
What an Amazing Year!
It is hard to believe that the academic school year has already come to a close. It feels like it was just yesterday that the first day of the fall semester began. Yet here we are. This year has been one of growth and we would like to extend a huge thank you to the MICA community who have supported the mission of our office on a daily basis. This edition of The Plug is a reflection of what has been accomplished and all of the memorable contributions during the 2017-18 academic year. We hope all campus community members have time to enjoy the summer break. Remember to have fun and be safe. See you in the fall!
Director, Center for Identity and Inclusion
Jellema Stewart, our former Assistant Director, has applied for and been promoted to the Director for the Center of Identity and Inclusion. Jellema will immediately assume new leadership over student support and retention initiatives, identity-based programming, and the day to day operations of the Center.
As a lifelong student advocate, she believes that education is a social issue and that students learn best when the classroom and community are connected. Jellema earned both her B.S. in Sociology and M.S in Higher Education, from Buffalo State College. She is also a certified facilitator for Safe Zone trainings for Allies of the LGBTQIA+ community. Prior to MICA, Jellema served as the Director of Multicultural Affairs at the State University of New York at Fredonia. She joined the MICA Community in March 2017 and has quickly made a major impact on the campus and the students we serve.
We look forward to her new leadership role and greater capacity of the Center to serve students. Both Jellema and Clyde will immediately begin the search to fill the vacated Assistant Director role, and look forward to providing you updates on that search over the summer.
Seeds for Thought
There's something about summer that makes it a time ripe for reflection—an opportunity to slow down and explore new ideas or try on different points of view. In continuation of MICA’s ongoing conversations about equity, diversity, inclusion, and globalization, the CII team, Diversity Coordinators (DC) and various campus leaders shared their recommendations for beloved books, movies, podcasts, and other media that explored the histories and perspectives of marginalized groups—or pointed a way forward toward a more equitable society. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but we hope the selections below, will plant the seeds for an enlightening summer.
Books:
- Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture, Adrienne Shaw
- Nevada, Imogen Binnie
- Bird by Bird, Anne Lame
- Typical American, Gish Jen
- Together We Are One: Honoring Our Diversity, Celebrating Our Connection, Thich Nhat Hanh
- Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More, Janet Mock
- The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Why Asia? Essays on Contemporary Asian American Art, Alice Yang
- Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move, Reece Jones
- Black Indians: A Hidden History, William Loren Katz
- Hiroshima: The Autobiography of Barefoot Gen, Keiji Nakazawa
- Silencing the Past, Michel-Rolph Trouillot
- Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
- The Tiny Buddha's Guide to Loving Yourself, Lori Deschene
- What Works: Gender Equality by Design, Iris Bohnet
- Orientalism, Edward Said
Article:
The Ugly Truth of Being a Black Professor in America. George Nancy
https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Ugly-Truth-of-Being-a/243234
Podcasts:
- The Danger of a Single Story, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Ted Talk)
- The Beauty and Diversity of a Muslim Life, Bassam Tariq (Ted Talk)
- Nancy
- On the Media
- Last Name Basis
- CodeSwitch
- Kondabolu Brothers
- FRUIT, Issa Rae
- There Goes the Neighborhood
- Whiting Wongs with Dan Harmon and Jessica Gao
- Yo, Is this Racist?
- Call Your Girlfriend
- Latinos Who Lunch
Shows/Movies:
- Brown Girls web series (website)
- On My Block (Netflix)
- I am Not Your Negro, film based on the work of James Baldwin
- The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo (You Tube)
- EastSiders (Netflix)
- Lion (Netflix)
- Una Noche (2012 film)
- Why Pronouns Matter (short video)
Misc. Awesomeness
- Justice for Mario Woods, 2015 (collaborative poster art)
- Through our eyes: Living with Asperger's (You Tube)
- The Work of Christine Sun Kim, hearing impaired sound artist Christine Sun Kim
- Giovanni's Room Open Mic at the GLCCB!!! Hosted every first Friday of the month by MICA's own Unique Robinson.
A Year in Review
Join us on a visual journey of the Center of Identity and Inclusion's programs and activities for 2017-2018
Congratulations to the Class of 2018! We are excited about your future. We celebrate the following graduating students who worked in The Center:
- Destiny Belgrave
- Alicia Robinson
- Anthony Nguyen
- Masaki Saitoh
- Chelsea Lozano
- Brandon Campbell
- Brandon Brooks
- Clifford Patterson
- De (Demetrius) Robinson
- Kirkland Lucas
- Ian Mitchell
- Kamaria Cunningham