Learn about the essential contributions of BLOOM and Possible Futures to the New Haven community. Find out more about these inspiring spaces at https://www.gatheratbloom.com/ and https://www.possiblefuturesbooks.com/.

• Tess Marchant-Shapiro, professor of political science
• Andy Marchant-Shapiro, attorney at law
• Julie Edstrom, vice-president of enrollment management
• Diane Ariza, vice-president of diversity, equity and inclusion

Dr. June Parks is a licensed clinical psychologist, consultant, keynote speaker, and youth empowerment specialist who shows young people, and the professionals who provide services to them, how to obtain mental well-being and resilience. You can learn more about her and her work at https://juneparksphd.com/.

David Garza has been a leader in the nonprofit sector for over 20 years, with expertise in fundraising, management and strategy. He joined Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America as the organization’s national Executive Director in July 2022. David is committed to student leaders from underserved communities, as their backgrounds, dreams, and paths mirror his own. Born and raised on the U.S.-Mexico border, David graduated from Princeton University in 1998 as a first-generation college student. Learn more about David and LEDA.

Follow Dr. Schalk on Twitter @DrSamiSchalk, on IG @fierceblackfemme or check out her website http://samischalk.com/.

Link to free open access copy of Black Disability Politics: https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/3091/Black-Disability-Politics.

Dr. Flowers is the assistant dean for anti-racism, equity, and inclusion at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Education, Health and Human Behavior.

Dr. Kelvin Rutledge is the Associate VP for Institutional Inclusive Strategies & Change Management at Southern Connecticut State University.

If you haven't listened to our episode with Justin and Antija, we recommend heading back to Season 4, Episode 8 and listening to that one first!

Today's conversation features:

• Mary Boudreaux, Associate Professor & Program Director for Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
• Marian Evans, Associate Professor of Public Health and a second-time podcast guest.
• Steven Hoffler, Associate Professor of Social Work and Co-Chair of the DEI Advisory Council
• Brandon Hutchinson, Professor of English and Co-Chair of the DEI Advisory Council

Bridget J. Crawford is University Distinguished Professor at Pace University School of Law and the co-editor of Feminist Judgements: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court (CUP, 2016), Feminist Judgements: Rewritten Tax Opinions (CUP 2017), and is the co-author of Menstruation Matters (forthcoming, NYU). Emily Gold Waldman is Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Operations and Professor of Law at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. 

If readers have any interest, here is some additional reading: 

Bridget J. Crawford & Emily Gold Waldman, Period Poverty in the United States: What the Law Should Do, Gender Policy Report (2022

Bridget J. Crawford & Emily Gold Waldman, Tampons and Pads Should Be Allowed at the Bar Exam, N.Y.L.J. (July 22, 2020), [https://perma.cc/XMF5-93LN]  

There is a great collection of accessible, short law-related essays about menstruation published in Vol. 41 No. 1 (2021) of the Columbia Journal of Gender & Law, here: https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjgl/issue/view/795  

In her work, Denise addresses both maternity care and primary health care needs of women and people with uteruses throughout life, including care-provided pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period. She has her PhD in Nursing from Marquette University, and currently works for UW Hospitals and Clinics in Madison, Wisconsin. 

Lilie Chouliaraki is Professor of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, where she also serves as the department’s Doctoral Program Director. She is the author of several books, including The Spectatorship of Suffering and The Ironic Spectator, Solidarity in the Age of Post-Humanitarianism and co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Humanitarian Communication. 

Myria Georgiou is Professor of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, where she also serves as Research Director. She is the author, editor, and co-editor of five books, including Diaspora, Identity and the Media; Media and the City: Cosmopolitanism and Difference; and the Sage Handbook of Media and Migration. 

Dru is currently the director of DEI for the National LGBTQ+ Bar, and previously directed Lambda Legal's Transgender Rights Project for ten years. He has served as counsel in landmark impact litigation cases and amicus briefs in federal courts, including the Supreme Court, and is a national and international spokesperson who has appeared in dozens of media outlets. Tony is the Director of Health Care Advocates International’s Youth and Family Program, a long-time life coach, trainer, speaker, and facilitator of youth and family support groups. Tony is the subject of the award-winning documentary “A Self-Made Man” and the author of the book series Artistic Expressions of Transgender Youth.

Check them out here! https://linktr.ee/notokbookproject

You can listen to/read some of Aura's work here: The Illusive Men (https://youtube.com/channel/UCEqnBYms--G9c5uXPQdPItg), Recusant’s Sigil (https://youtube.com/channel/UCjMoinzM5Eoo0G2loLA5Vyw), and Forever Intertwined (https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Intertwined-Aura-Fortier-ebook/dp/B08HQZZG6P/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=9781098322496&qid=1601916276&sr=8-1)

Let us know what you think of this episode on Instagram and Twitter @realtalkscsu. #realtalkscsu

Dr. Abigail Adams received her PhD from the University of New Mexico and is a medical anthropologist who focuses on human rights, global health, the LGBTQAI community, indigenous epistemologies, borderlands, food justice, and feminist ethnography. Her geographical specializations are Latin America, the U.S. Southwest, and Appalachia. She is an associate professor of anthropology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she is also the director of the Global Health Program, the LGBTQ Program, and the Chair of the Native American Awareness Council.

In this episode, Abbie refers us to:  

Kaiser Family Foundation  

Guttmacher Institute 

Planned Parenthood 

Lilith Fund 

Appointed as the university's 12th president in July 2016, President Joe Bertolino oversees an institution of about 10,000 students, 440 full-time faculty, and 1,100 staff. His first day at Southern was Aug. 22, 2016.

President Joe has been a social justice educator for 25 years, and is passionate about student success and access to higher education.

During his short time at the helm of Southern, he has outlined the following priorities: raising the University’s profile, expanding community outreach and partnerships; strategic enrollment recruitment and retention; and streamlining students’ path to earning a degree.

Early initiatives include a new marketing program that is reintroducing the University to the region and beyond; the University’s first comprehensive enrollment plan; and new community partnerships at multiple levels to establish Southern as a good neighbor.

Dr. Tony Rosso received degrees in English from Ohio State University, San Francisco State, and the University of Maryland. He's been teaching at Southern since 1987 and has been a long-time member of the AAUP, serving as Academic Freedom officer for many years.

Gabriela Vazquez is a first-generation student-turned-graduate and graduate intern for Southern's Office of University Access Programs. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Gabriela's outstanding athletic and academic performance landed her at Southern, where she earned her undergraduate degree. She is currently pursuing a M.B.A. in Finance.

Camryn Arpino-Brown is also a first-generation student-turned-graduate and AmeriCorps VISTA for Southern's Office of University Access Programs. As an undergraduate, Camryn served as an Orientation Ambassador, Orientation Coordinator, Resident advisor, and Diversity Coordinator. She was also involved in OLAS, N.A.A.C.P., SGA, and S.I.S.T.A.S. In her final fall semester, she co-hosted the university's Black Lives Matter March. In May of 2021, she received her bachelor's in psychology, also earning the prestigious Henry Barnard Distinguished Student Award, the Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa Service Award, the University Leadership Award, and the Diversity Scholar Excellence Award.

                                                              - Dr. Steven Covey

If you’ve wondered how to wade into the current social justice conversations but aren’t sure where to insert your voice, the answer just might be: don’t. Yet. In this episode, we talk with Ala Ochumare, youth program director of the New Haven Pride Center, and Dr. Cassi Meyerhoffer, professor of sociology, about what it means to become an ally to your peers and contribute to the causes you believe in.

Cassi Meyerhoffer received her Ph.D. from The State University of New York at Buffalo. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of systemic racism, racial residential segregation, and the role of race in American policing. She is currently working on her book: American Racism: Law Enforcement, Residential Segregation, and Public Education. Dr. Meyerhoffer’s recent work has been published in Journal of Urban Affairs, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and Sociological Forum.

Ala (she/her) has spent that past thirteen years working for a variety of organizations and advocating for various minority communities and systematically oppressed groups.

Ala is one of the founding members of #BlackLivesMatter New Haven and one of the facilitators of the Marsha P. Johnson Summer Camp for LGBTQ+ Black and Brown Youth organized by a group of community organizations including City Wide Youth Coalition. In addition to her work at the New Haven Pride Center, Ala works as a Community Recovery Assistant in Crisis and Respite and Long-Term Services programs for Continuum of Care INC. in New Haven. Ala recently completed a year-long fellowship for community organizers through CEIO, is a CT Core Organize Now! New Haven Chapter leader, and was recently accepted to the Yale University and Southern Connecticut State University CARE New Haven Health Leader program.

Let us know your thoughts and questions for this season at RealTalk@SouthernCT.edu and @realtalkscsu on Instagram .

Here to discuss the significance of this new law, signed into effect in December 2020, is Carlos Torre, professor of curriculum and learning and former president of the Board of Education for New Haven Public Schools.

Torre earned a master's in education, a certificate in advanced study, and a doctorate of education from Harvard University. He is also an elected member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Puerto Rico, which awarded him the Academy’s Medal of the Academician.

Yes. We're pulling from our good friend Inigo Montoya to help us spell out the "T" in LGBTQIA+, because some of the misconceptions we're hearing today are truly inconceivable...

As the transgender community continues to fight for public space, at least 28 state legislatures are weighing measures that would bar transgender youth from participating in sports or receiving medical treatment. Our guests help break down the political context, possible implications of passage, and some of the myths that are reinforced about trans identity in these conversations.

Karleigh Chardonnay Webb is a journalist and contributor to Outsports, a trans organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a competitive cyclist, runner, and multi-sport athlete, and a staff operator for Trans Lifeline.

Eliot Olson is a queer and trans New Haven-based organizer currently attending Columbia University virtually while working at the New Haven Pride Center as the Transgender, non-binary, and intersex program officer and serving as the Waterbury, CT based non-profit Life In My Days Director of Development and Communications.

D Howden (they/them)

D is a queer, gender non-conforming autistic human who supports victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. They have been doing this work for about five years, and part of their role is around PREA, the Prison Rape Elimination Act. They also actively participate in mutual aid and community care to uproot white supremacy in themselves and in their community. They live in Oregon, and yes, they love the outdoors and flannel.

Mentioned in today's show: Adrienne Marie Brown: We Will Not Cancel Us

Dr. Carmen Coury is an Assistant Professor of Latin American History at Southern Connecticut State University where she teaches courses on Colonial and Modern Latin American history.

Dr. Coury has employed archival research and oral histories to uncover the histories of individuals at the margins of state power (and beyond the nation’s borders) who often elaborate alternative visions of the nation, which are often rooted in local and regional experiences and which often serve to break open univocal and linear official national stories.

She is in the early stages of researching her second monograph, which will examine the historical origins of Costa Rica's whiteness mythology and its more contemporary consequences, especially, for the nation's Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean citizens.

Esteban Garcia serves as the co-chair of the Dreamers Action Alliance at SCSU and is on the board of directors for Connecticut Students for a Dream. Esteban has helped SCSU respond to the needs of students by identifying and breaking down barriers faced by undocumented students and their families; engaging the campus community in conversations about immigration issues, and educating the community about the realities of being an immigrant in the United States; and advocating for policies that support students at the campus, state, and national levels.

Dr. Loida Reyes is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Southern Connecticut State University. Before joining the university in 2018, she worked as a program manager for the state of Connecticut's Department of Children and Families for 25 years.

Learn more about Southern's commitment to supporting undocumented students.

You can see more of Jaye's work on her personal website and the JKX Comics page. Learn more about JKX's forthcoming comics anthology Gaining Steam: Illuminating Research through Art here!

Meet your hosts:

KC Councilor

Jamil Harp

Dr. Randolph Brooks is the Multicultural Programming and Outreach Coordinator in the Counseling Center at Southern Connecticut State University. His research focuses on increasing marginalized and underrepresented students’ utilization of mental and physical health care services.

Professor Frank Harris, III, joins us this week to discuss how this criticism is affecting conversations on diversity, and the ability of news media to be seen as arbiters of objective truth. We'll also explore the role of higher education at this intersection and to best serve our students.

Professor Harris' Websites:

The n-Word in America

2019: The 400th

A Southern alumna and CT's deputy commissioner of housing, Shante Hanks is a thought leader, educator, community advocate, political strategist and author. Her grassroots approach allows her to connect the dots between policy and the pulse of the community. Ms. Hanks has a Bachelor of Science in History and Secondary Education, Master of Science in Elementary Education, Sixth-Year Degree in Educational Foundations with a focus in Urban Studies & Curriculum, and is currently a doctoral student.