Virtual “Let’s Talk” Panel Series
YWCA Delaware’s monthly Let’s Talk webinars provide a platform for guest panel speakers and viewers to share their professional, academic, volunteer, or lived experiences in the RSJ field to help increase community engagement and public awareness of issues impacting our local communities. Each discussion below focuses on a topic relevant to racial and social justice issues.
Explore our upcoming conversations listed below.
Let’s Talk Disability
During the second week of our Racial Justice Challenge, we’ll be exploring how redlining continues to impact housing access and how homophobia, racism, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination are driving forces behind homelessness and its criminalization. Join the conversation on Monday, May 1st at 7 p.m.
On Monday, May 8th, at 7 p.m., we’ll be discussing the legacy of musician activists, the cultural appropriation of music, racism in the industry, music’s place in opposing gender stereotypes and the accessibility of music education. Guest speakers will be announced soon!
During our last week of our Racial Justice Challenge, on Monday, May 15th, from 7 – 8 p.m. our conversation will focus on how psychology has been used as a tool of marginalization. We’ll also talk about access to mental healthcare and discrimination’s impact on mental health outcomes.
Guest speakers will be announced soon!
Explore our previous conversations listed below.
We’re collaborating with the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice on a 2-part discussion of reparations, focusing on the harm resulting from slavery in the United States.Reparations are the act or process of making amends for a wrong. According to the United Nations: Adequate, effective, and prompt reparation is intended to promote justice by redressing gross violations of international human rights law or serious violations of international humanitarian law.
• Logan Herring, Chief Executive Officer at The WRK Group
• Dr. Marlene Saunders, Social Worker (Former Executive Director at National Association of Social Workers, Delaware Chapter and Former Chair, Department of Social Work, Delaware State University)
• Lee Baker, Recipient of Reparations Paid to the Descendants of Slaves Sold on Behalf of Georgetown University
Part 1: includes our pre-recorded session featuring Eugene Young, former Executive Director of the Metropolitan Urban League of Wilmington, Javonne Rich, ACLU-DE Policy and Advocacy Director, and Logan Herring, CEO of the WRK Group (a collective of three non-profits revitalizing the Riverside and Northeast Wilmington neighborhoods).
Let’s Talk Building Racial Equity in the Arts
The Arts are important to the communication of social equity and justice issues, but access to the arts is often inequitable. Less access to tools and resources to create art, to experiences of the various forms of art and to places to present their own art means less opportunity to engage in art. Making it in the arts is hard work, and adding the barrier of race makes it even more challenging. Music, dancing, poetry, and painting are just a few of the topics we will touch on during this conversation.
• Jea Street, Jr. – Singer-Songwriter, Artivist Musician, and Certified Youth Advocate
• Eunice LaFate, MS – LaFate Gallery Owner and Award-winning Folk Artist
• Kim Graham, MA – Trauma Academy Coordinator, Delaware State University and former Education Director of Christina Cultural Arts Center
Watch Now – Let’s Talk The Shades of Race Between Black and White
Monday, July 25th, 7 – 8:15 p.m. via Zoom
Join us as we discuss the importance of going beyond thinking in Black and white. Together we’ll explore the complexities of race in the United States and the importance of sharing Asian and Indigenous perspectives.
Guest Speakers:
• Nena Todd, Historic Sites Supervisor, Old State House Museum
• Pei-Jen Hickey, Coordinator of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, YMCA of Delaware
• Iz Balleto, Community Engagement Specialist, Delaware Art Museum
Let’s Talk Gender
What is gender? What determines it? How can someone’s sex at birth, their anatomy, be different from their gender identity? What are gender pronouns, and why do they matter? Join us for an in-depth conversation on the social constructs of gender, how gender influences people’s experiences, and how we can tackle inequalities and injustice by viewing experiences through an intersectional lens.
• El Clauss, Winterthur Museum Interpreter, Lead Guide
• Julissa Coriano, specializing in Sexuality therapy in the Latinx community
• Noah Duckett, LCSW, centered on Gender Affirming care
Watch Now – Let’s Talk A Living Wage
Join us for a conversation on defining a living wage, how a living wage differs from the minimum wage, and why a living wage matters. Guest speakers will discuss the living wage calculator (LWC), Delaware’s movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, how systemic racism is deep-seated in tipping practices, and what’s needed to close the racial and gender equity gap.
Guest Speakers:
• Melanie Ross Levin, MPA – Director of the Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy (OWAA)
• June Crockett – YWCA Delaware’s Workforce Readiness Program Coordinator/Entrepreneur and Career-Readiness Programs
Watch Now – Let’s Talk Inclusive American History
“Won’t it be wonderful when Black History and Native American History and Jewish History and all of U.S. history is taught from one book? Just U.S. history.” — Maya Angelou
YWCA Delaware believes every student deserves equitable access to a truthful accounting of our country’s history. The term critical race theory is being used as a dog whistle. Last year, the State of Delaware passed HB189, requiring Black History to be taught in school from grades K through 12. Right now, laws requiring Black History to be taught are essential, and there is no denying that. We believe it’s time to talk about inclusive American History and what that could look like. Join us as we team up with The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice to offer a provocative and informative discussion on how American History is shaped, defined, and taught in today’s world.
Guest Speakers:
• Cliffvon Howell, MS – Equity & Diversity Coordinator for Caesar Rodney School District
• Bebe Coker, Coordinator Black Heritage Educational Theater Group
• Closing remarks from Charlotte King, Founder of SDARJ
Watch Now – Let’s Talk Racism & Representation in
Film, Media, and Theater
We internalize much of what we take in just in the physical appearance and perpetuation of bias and stereotypes on an unconscious level. What are the ways we can and have addressed these issues and who can we hold accountable when they continue? Join us for a panel conversation on both the history and current role film, media, and theater plays in a failure of accurate representation.
Guest Speakers:
• Akima A. Brown, MAT, MFA – Founder of Reel Families for Change, Filmmaker, and Community Advocate
• Michael Feely, Executive Editor of DelawareOnline/The News Journal
• David Stradley, Producing Artistic Director of Delaware Shakespeare
Join the Social Equity Championship
Join Delaware Libraries and YWCA Delaware to enhance your social justice knowledge and earn the badges of a Social Justice Champion in 2022!
register now
Join the Stand Against Racism Challenge
Participation helps us to discover how racial injustice and social injustice impact our community, to connect with one another, and to identify ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination. Click below to accept the challenge and #StandAgainstRacism now!