Newark Museum Of Art To Explore Racial Justice With Virtual Panel

Newark NJ

26 October, 2021

11:15 AM

Description

NEWARK, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of the Newark Museum of Art. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. The Newark Museum of Art, as part of its racial framework initiatives, will host "The Moral Pandemic: A Racial and Gender Equity Summit" from Tuesday, Oct. 26 to Thursday, Oct. 28. The virtual series will begin at 7 p.m. each evening and concludes at 8:15 p.m. It will be available to the public, at no charge, via the Zoom teleconferencing platform. Registration for each session is required and available at www.newarkmuseumart.org. "Cultural institutions have the responsibility to lead and actively participate in difficult conversations in support of the communities they serve," said Linda C. Harrison, Director and CEO of The Newark Museum of Art. "The Moral Pandemic was created to bring important racial and gender discussions to the forefront, providing an opportunity for all our audiences to listen and learn from leading regional and national experts. These important and sensitive discussions are intended to help initiate conversations that move us closer to real and lasting change and mutual understanding." The three panels are designed to discuss different social justice issues that communities have faced for decades, and which continue to be destructive in current society. The ambitious summit will include distinguished guests like U.S. Senator Cory Booker, former NAACP President Cornell Brooks, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and a host of other special thought leaders. The first panel, Public Health as a Race Issue (Tuesday, Oct. 26) focuses on the healthcare disparities faced by minority groups in America. Urban Environment and its Impact on Black and Brown Communities (Wednesday, Oct. 27) will discuss the imbalance within urban communities and inner cities nationwide, while reviewing the underlying factors and exchanging innovative ideas to improve these issues. Finally, White Supremacy vs. White Privilege: How Do They Intersect (Thursday, Oct. 28) looks at the social systems that perpetuate privilege from the perspective of panelists working in education, community building, and civil rights. "By emphasizing progressive thought leadership, becoming a deeper partner in our communities, and using our role as a cultural institution to raise up diverse voices, we are continuing to redefine how a museum can resonate with all its stakeholders," said Harrison. Individual Panel Descriptions Public Health as a Race Issue (Tuesday, 10/26) It is a well-established fact that minority groups in the United States experience far greater healthcare disparities than white populations. As the COVID-19 pandemic has raged across our country, and apprehension about the vaccine continues among certain populations, the situation is more dire than ever. This panel will explore the layers of complexity behind both the implicit and overt racism that is blocking access to the fundamental right of decent healthcare. Speakers will examine the long-standing socioeconomic factors that underpin the discrepancies around every aspect of our health system and discuss how this public reckoning can be the impetus for positive change. Moderator: Roslyn Young Daniels, President and Founder, Black Health Matters. Panelists: Andre M. Perry, Senior Fellow, Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program; Scholar-in-Residence, American University; and Columnist, Hechinger Report.Ben Garcia, CPHQ, LSSGB, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.Emily Bass, Author of To End a Plague: America's Fight to Defeat AIDS in Africa. The Urban Environment and its Impact on Black and Brown Communities (Wednesday, 10/27) American cities were not created equally, and that imbalance has grown more pervasive with each new decade. Racial segregation, unfair lending practices for potential homeowners, food deserts in underdeveloped neighborhoods, environmental pollution, and lack of investment in many urban areas have only intensified over time. This discussion will examine injustices in health, education, policing, and income for marginalized communities. Join us for an evening of thoughtful conversation from several experts coming at this subject from very different perspectives. They will share their views on the most critical issues plaguing our cities and the impact those issues have on minority residents. The panelists will also offer innovative ideas around planning for improved urban centers. Moderator: Ifeoma Ebo, Board Member, BlackSpace Urbanist Collective: Urban Design and Urban Strategy. Panelists: Erin Barnes, CEO and Co-Founder of ioby; Board Chair, Resource Media; Obama Foundation Fellow.Bryan Lee, Design Principal of Colloqate; Founding Organizer of the Design Justice Platform and the Design As Protest National Day of Action; National Design Justice Advocate.Michael Neal, Senior Research Associate, Housing Finance Policy Center, Urban Institute. White Supremacy vs. White Privilege: How Do They Intersect? (Thursday, 10/28) Throughout most of history, race has been a way to categorize and separate people. The constructs of both white supremacy and white privilege create artificial rankings, are inexorably tied together, and yet their connection is not often explored. White supremacy describes a belief that white people are superior and should dominate. Historically, it was associated with violent organizations and individuals; it has now taken on a more expansive meaning, and many would argue it should. White privilege is more than simply having power and resources – anyone who can go about a typical day without incident has experienced privilege. This panel will discuss how the intersection stems from a social system where a sense of privilege is partially rooted in an artificial sense of superiority. Moderator: John Graham, Author, Plantation Theory: The Black Professionals Struggle Between Freedom and Security. Panelists: Patience Ajoff-Foster, Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusive Culture, Drexel University.Peggy McIntosh, PhD, Former Associate Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women; Founder of the National SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Project.Dr. Nour Kteily, PhD, Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University. Cornell William Brooks, Professor of the Practice of Nonprofit Organizations and the Practice of Public Leadership and Social Justice, Harvard Kennedy School; Former President and CEO of the NAACP. The Newark Museum of Art is grateful for the organizational support of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, and for its longstanding partnership to promote public engagement with the humanities through programs such as The Moral Pandemic. It also thanks Mayor Ras Baraka and Senator Cory Booker for their engagement. For more information on this and other community programming, and the latest on the museum, visit www.newarkmuseumart.org. Don't forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page. Send local news tips and correction requests to [email protected]. Sign up for Patch email newsletters.