Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the news

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Damon J. Keith Center initiative welcomes seventh program cohort

Challenging racism is hard, painful work. Detroit, however, has a new cohort of racial equity leaders taking that challenge head-on. The Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL) recently announced its seventh cohort of Racial Equity Fellows to join its multiracial and multigenerational network of leaders dedicated to ending structural racism in Detroit. The 2022 cohort of 28 diverse fellows represent more than 10 sectors, including public policy/advocacy, human services, art, and education. “DEAL 7 is our first hybrid cohort and we are thrilled to be back in person to deliver programming and curate a physical space for connection, collaboration, and learning,” said Asandi Conner, DEAL’s director.  
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Detroit Equity Symposium pushes for more equity in corporate Detroit

Detroit-area companies and business leaders met at Wayne State University to discuss how to bring greater diversity, equity and inclusion to Detroit’s corporate community during the Detroit Equity Symposium on Sept. 27. The group discussed issues like the corporate racial wage gap and cited a recent study that showed Black Detroiters between 2010 and 2019 saw an 8% increase in median income compared to 60% for white Detroiters. In attendance at the symposium were Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, Bishop Edgar L. Vann and Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson.  
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Digital Inclusion Week will highlight digital inclusion efforts and promote digital equity across the country

Organizers of Detroit Digital Inclusion Week believe Detroit can become a national model for digital inclusion. The group is set to launch five days of events, workshops, and panel discussions aimed at getting more Detroiters connected than ever before. Some of the events, including a keynote panel discussion and academic research symposium will be hosted at Wayne State University’s Student Center Building. The events run October 3-7.  
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Brown like me: Why Disney’s The Little Mermaid is vital

As parents recorded them, big smiles, giggles and tears filled the eyes of young Black girls as they reacted to seeing Halle Bailey as Ariel in the teaser trailer of the new live action adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Bailey, a Grammy-award winning artist marks Disney’s first Black live-action princess. In Disney’s 100-year history, there has been one Black Disney princess. As some praised Disney’s bold move, there has also been criticism over Disney’s decision to cast Bailey. Lisa Doris Alexander, a professor in the African American Studies department at Wayne State University, says she believes seeing this clip of a Black Ariel shows why it’s so important for children to see representation. “You only have to look at the TikTok videos of little Black and Brown girls seeing the trailer for the first time beaming with joy to know my thoughts,” Alexander said. “That’s why representation is so important because those little children are saying ‘she looks like me,’ ‘an undersea princess looks like me’ and that brings them joy. The story of the ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a bit problematic, but we should let the little ones have their joy.”     
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Detroit’s queer advocates worry about monkeypox – and messaging

By Bryce Huffman With monkeypox cases on the rise in Michigan, some queer advocates in Detroit worry the heightened risk to gay men could create a stigma for a virus that can harmful to everyone. As of Friday, there were 17 confirmed cases of the virus in Detroit and 72 total across the state. Monkeypox is a viral infection closely related to smallpox and causes the same symptoms – flu-like fevers, headaches, backaches, muscle aches and chills. The virus is transmitted by close, personal contact, including skin-to-skin touches, kissing or other sexually intimate contact, or by touching fabrics or objects touched by someone infected. According to the CDC, over 7,510 cases have been recorded nationwide and most cases involve men who have sex with men or patients that are identifying as LGBTQ. Chris Sutton, broadcast coordinator for LGBT Detroit, worries that messaging around who is most at risk to contract monkeypox is triggering and will increase anti-gay stigma. Patricia Wren, chair of the department at Wayne State University, said the messaging around monkeypox makes people assume it is only sexually transmitted, but it’s mostly spread through long periods of close contact, not necessarily sex. “Right now, there may be more cases in men who have sex with men. These men may also be better informed about sexually transmitted diseases and, thus, more likely to see their physician if worrying symptoms appear,” Wren said. “But if the HIV/AIDS pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that viruses – including monkeypox – are transmitted by specific behaviors and not by sexual orientations or identities.” 
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Discovering your African roots through DNA testing is tracing roots back hundreds of years

By Ameera David  Black adults in the United States are more likely than any other group to see race as central to their identity. For many of those Americans, descended from enslaved Africans, the roots of their identity through ancestry remains a mystery. Some are now using DNA testing to trace roots back hundreds of years to a specific country and ethnic group. African Ancestry, which provides such testing, noted a 35% boost in test takers between 2019 and 2021. Kefentse Chike, Wayne State University assistant professor of African American studies, said the desire to learn more about one’s roots and origin has always been there, but also believes the upward trends are tied to current events. “That’s like the missing link in our heritage and it directly impacts our identity,” said Chike. “Of course, the killings of African American men and I think this kind of came to a height or a pinnacle with the death of George Floyd.”  
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Bringing Detroit’s Indigenous history to the forefront

By Ryan Patrick Hooper  The City of Detroit turned 321 years old Sunday, but its history predates the French. Karen Marrero, associate professor of history at Wayne State University and author of “Detroit’s Hidden Channels: The Power of French-Indigenous Families in the Eighteenth Century,” researches, writes and teaches early North American and Indigenous history. She says a lot of what was once here was erased by the settler presence at the turn of the century. Indigenous peoples continue to maintain their connection to the land through oral histories passed down within their nations, but physical reminders of the past are scarce. This lack of preservation is not unique to Detroit, but there are still things we can do to reinstate cultural consciousness of this land’s history. For example, the Michigan History Center is making an effort to address the lack of historical markers that would designate significant Indigenous spaces. “A lot of people don’t realize that roadways like I-94 started life as Indigenous roadways,” Marrero said. “We have a long way to go to bring back some of that history.”  

SCOTUS abortion ruling would endanger Black women

By Joe Guillen and Annalise Frank  Black women in Michigan already dealing with across-the-board health care inequities would especially suffer if Roe v. Wade is struck down, health care experts say. It's a matter of life and death. Restricted abortion access in Michigan would endanger Black women's lives because they are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women. It's not just about access to health care. Even when Black women have access, structural racism within the medical community affects the care they receive. "We're not believed, we are rendered invisible and people don't believe our pain," Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at Wayne State University, tells Axios. 
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Wayne State Law students launch ‘Lawyers Look Like Me’ campaign

Students from diverse backgrounds at Wayne State University Law School have launched the “Lawyers Look Like Me” campaign, an initiative that sends a powerful message: Lawyers can look like us, too. The campaign aims to challenge stereotypes about what lawyers “look” like, celebrate historically underrepresented law students, and highlight the importance of diversifying the legal profession. The students driving this campaign represent numerous multicultural and ally organizations. “Lawyers and judges carry people’s livelihoods and liberties in their hands. It’s so important for the profession to welcome practitioners that come from all walks of life,” said Aleanna Siacon, a third-year law student and the creator of the campaign. “There’s much work to be done to address and remove the barriers that make law school inaccessible to many. But this campaign recognizes the power of representation.” 
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Wayne State law students launch new diversity initiative ‘Lawyers Look Like Me’

By Lauren Wethington  Law students at Wayne State University have a message for aspiring legal professionals from diverse backgrounds: lawyers come in every race, gender identity and religion. That message is the inspiration behind Wayne State University Law School’s new Lawyers Look Like Me initiative, which launches formally on March 4. Created by third year law student Aleanna Siacon, who also serves as the president of the school’s Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, the campaign brings together law students from an array of ethnic and cultural backgrounds to highlight the importance of diverse voices within the legal profession. “Lawyers and judges carry people’s livelihoods and liberties in their hands,” said Siacon. “It’s so important for the profession to welcome practitioners from all walks of life.” The student-led campaign has garnered the support of Wayne State University Law School Dean Richard Bierschbach, who says that stereotypes surrounding what lawyers look like have caused real harm. “I’m proud of our students for conceiving a campaign to challenges those stereotypes head-on,” Bierschbach said. “This campaign palpably and visibly conveys that the law careers in it belong to everyone. We hope that, by seeing and wearing these shirts, current and future law students from all backgrounds and identities inspire and further the change we need to see in our profession.”  

The impact of race, religion and justice on the nation’s social consciousness

Dallas is known as a diverse city filled with people of different races, nationalities, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. In an effort the educate the community, celebrate the right attributes of its residents and help the community and nation heal from racial and political unrest, several religious organizations joined together to present the Faiths in Conversation: Religion, Race and Justice conference. The event featured R. Khari Brown, associate professor of sociology at Wayne State University and president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Brown began the discussion focusing on the connections between the Black Lives Matter movement and how race and religion have played a role in people’s views of the topic. “Like other human rights movements on this nation’s past, religious groups are also among the demonstrators,” Brown said. “For example, on June 4, 2020, people marched with hundreds of others in Detroit to demand an end to police brutality. The march began with Christian and Jewish and Muslim leaders praying for guidance. It ended with religious leaders and elected officials calling legislators to support policies aimed at reducing police violence and encouraging marchers to vote their conscience for the 2020 general election…” 
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MLK Day: New Detroit on why we need to talk about race, how to move forward

By Ken Haddad  As we commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S., it’s important to remember the issues Dr. King fought to resolve, and how problems continue to persist today. In a special video presentation from New Detroit, titled ‘Conversations on Race,’ a group of local voices discuss the way forward on race relations, and share some of their experiences with racism. Truman Hudson, Jr., lecturer and outreach and marketing specialist in the division of teacher education at Wayne State University’s College of Education, is a featured speaker. Hudson says it’s important to talk about race, and structural and institutionalized racism. “…I’m always fighting for positionality that I work with and work for. Not just Black men, but Black women, brown men and brown women, red men and red women. It’s like there’s these racially perceptions of what we can’t do, and when we show up and show out, that can’t be,” he said. “We’re the anomaly – no, there are more of us. You’re just not opening up the doors for us to participate in the conversation. And when you do open up the doors, you want us to speak a certain way, look a certain way, and have a certain tonality when we deliver our presentations. And, don’t let me come across too forceful…so I have to temper my delivery, because if I don’t temper my delivery or firm up my look, there’s a perception that I’m coming across too aggressive…So, I’m always on guard…” 
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Wayne State set to host its annual celebration in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Wayne State University will host its annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute Friday, Jan. 14, with this year’s keynote address being presented by WSU alumnus Christopher Wilson, director of experience design at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The event will be livestreamed online at wayne.edu/live. “As has been our tradition, Wayne State University once again proudly celebrates the struggles, the sacrifices and the triumphs that mark the vibrant legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said President M. Roy Wilson. “This year’s theme, ‘Looking Back to Look Ahead,’ will reflect on Dr. King’s teachings and how we live them today and into the future. As in previous years, the university will also present its Arthur L. Johnson Community Leadership Awards. Additionally, the event will feature musical performances, and alumna and Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones will receive the first Wayne State University Warrior Strong Distinguished Service Award for her 16 years of public service.  

Wayne State Latin-American Center celebrates 50 years, one of the oldest of its kind in the country

Wayne State may be best known for their great Medical and Business schools but tucked away on the 3rd floor of the administration building is a program that’s changing minds and lives and has been doing so for decades. “Very few people know in Detroit, what the Latino community is very aware of is that this center is a legacy of the Civil Rights movement and was established in 1971-72 first as a one-year training program for Latino students,” said Jose Cuello, Associate Professor Emeritus of History and Latino Studies at Wayne State University. uello says, the students at the time demanded more than just a training program at the University. “That turned into what was called the Chicano-Boricua Studies, that means Chicano is the Mexican-American part and the Boricua is the Puerto Rican those were the two strongest populations at the time,” said Cuello. From there Cuello says the center for Latin American studies was born. A program that teaches a diverse group of students not only about their history but identity. “My own personal ideal is that, you cannot just be a Latino, when people ask me who I am I don’t say well I’m a Latino, I’m Mexican, my first identity is human,” Cuello said.  https://cwdetroit.cbslocal.com/2021/10/14/wayne-state-latin-american-center-celebrates-50-years-one-of-the-oldest-of-its-kind-in-the-country/ 
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Arab women have staked out college paths for themselves, as education became essential to community identity

There is little doubt that the Arab American community in Metro Detroit has made great headways in gaining political and economic security as it grows and evolves. Much of this momentum can be attributed to a culture of professionalization and educational attainment in Arab enclaves like Dearborn and Hamtramck. So much so that this drive towards education has shaped the identity of the population over time. The community has grown outward from its working class immigrant roots to gain footings in the local and national political arena, medicine, law, the arts and more. It is no doubt Arab families, like many other American families, hold education in high regards, just as its educational achievements affirm the thriving community’s hard work in building better futures for its generations. The demands of a competitive, globalized economy have made secondary and postsecondary education a need, like in any other American community. But the data also gives a glimpse into college preferences for many Arab American students, and indeed their families. As a significantly immigrant community, the need to stay connected within the local area is a factor in deciding where to apply for college, for many students. Many students take advantage of the area’s well known universities. Reports from Dearborn schools show most of the common colleges for graduates to enroll in are within the metro area, including Wayne State University, Henry Ford College, University of Michigan-Dearborn, or campuses a little further away like University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Eastern Michigan and other state schools. 

Defining terms that refer to people of Latin American descent

As we enter Hispanic Heritage Month, there are a plethora of different terms which refer to peple of Latin American descent. These terms, including Latino, Latina, LatinX, Hispanic, and Afro-Latino, are all used with the community that is largely referred to as “Latino.” Alicia Díaz, an instructor at Wayne State University’s Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, joins host Lisa Germani in a conversation about these terms. Díaz explains how these terms are not all necessarily interchangeable or accepted by everyone in the community.

Libraries aren't neutral ground in the fight for anti-racist education

While conservative movements and bills taking aim at anti-racist approaches to education have primarily focused on schools, libraries can also be particularly vulnerable as repositories not just for books, but for information, education, and resources. As library boards can often operate with very little oversight from other branches of local government, who has control over budgets, services, and programming can have widely spanning effects on a community. In many areas, libraries function as community centers offering public access to the internet, after-school programs, citizenship classes, and assistance in applying for public benefits. Book displays centering LGBTQ+ and BIPOC stories and multilingual programming can go a long way toward making marginalized community members feel welcomed and included. And it is precisely because of the expansion of library services in recent decades that many officials want to clamp down on their reach. “I think if you look at the source of that anger, it’s about power and resources,” said Kafi Kumasi, an associate professor of library science at Wayne State University. “It’s wanting to make sure that children are fed this myth of what America is and are not exposed to the realities of racism, classism, sexism.
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WSU endowment scholarship community bolstered by alum

Out of her passion and devotion to high school and college students, Detroit philanthropist Carolyn Patrick-Wanzo is working to protect the future of social work and music through the creation of several endowment scholarships at Wayne State University with her late husband. Patrick-Wanzo, 76, became interested in the world of endowment scholarships when she and her husband, Mel Wanzo, a trombone player best known for playing in the Count Basie Orchestra decided to give back to the community. “He would say, ‘You can give your life to the music and in 10 years nobody would know you existed,’” she said of her jazz musician husband who played the trombone in the big band. “We would talk about, ‘Let’s do something sustainable,’ when we retired.” That sustainability came in the form of endowment scholarships in the music department at WSU – the first one in 2003.  
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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan to challenge 2020 census results showing population decline

The number of Black residents in Detroit fell while the hispanic, white and Asian populations grew over the last 10 years, according to U.S. Census population results for 2020 released Thursday. Detroit's overall population dropped 10.5% in the last decade, the latest results show. "Detroit has been declining in population from nearly 2 million sometime in the (19)50s and the trend became really apparent with the 1960 census and has gone down ever since then. There’ve been signs that it might be declining in recent years," said Lyke Thompson, director of Wayne State University's Center for Urban Studies. "There's a lot of people that are moving into certain parts of the city ... when does the trend of people moving in offset the trend of people moving out?" Thompson said much of the historic decline was a result of the loss of manufacturing jobs and plants, particularly a decentralization of the auto industry, shifting outside of Detroit. On top of that, white residents left the city after 1950 and moved to areas such as Oakland and Macomb counties, and the draw of new housing in the suburbs contributed to Detroit's population decline, he said. In the latest census, for example, the non-Hispanic Black population in Macomb grew. "That’s something that can be turned around if you make significant efforts to do infill housing," Thompson said. "The housing is just so in need of repair that people keep moving out of those areas, and those houses get abandoned and they have to be torn down. It's really a race between repairing older housing, building new housing and overcoming the tendency for people to move out by making more attractive spaces for people to move into."
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Wayne State establishes infectious disease research center to aid in future pandemics

Wayne State University announced Monday the opening of a new center focused on the study of infectious diseases and strategies to combat future pandemics. The Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases will enhance training and research in the field of public health. The center is not a physical building but a collection of doctors, researchers and professors at the Detroit-based university. "The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered local, state and national mindsets toward infectious disease threats, including pandemic diseases," Dr. Mark Schweitzer, dean of Wayne State's School of Medicine and vice president of health affairs for the university, said in a news release. "The pandemic revealed deep and broad gaps in our clinical and public health infrastructure that responds to pandemics. "In line with the mission of WSU to support urban communities at risk for health disparities, the center will have the expertise and capacity to support and collaborate with neighborhoods, hospitals and public health agencies to deliver state-of-the-art diagnostics, treatments and preventive strategies for the benefit of all residents in Detroit and other communities." Work done at the center will focus on vaccine development, clinical vaccine evaluational, deployment strategies for the vaccine in underserved populations and research on pandemic mitigation efforts. Directors of the new center include: Dr. Teena Chopra, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases; Dr. Paul Kilgore, associate professor of pharmacy practice; Dr. Marcus Zervos, head of infectious diseases division for Henry Ford Health System, professor of medicine and assistant dean of WSU Global Affairs. Key faculty include Dr. Phillip Levy, professor of emergency medicine and assistant vice president of translational science and clinical research at WSU, and Matthew Seeger, professor of communication.