Thursday, February 29th
Noon | Join us via Zoom

In my book, Afropolitan Projects: Redefining Blackness, Sexualities and Culture from Houston to Accra, I examine the diverse cultural and transnational strategies through which Ghanaians position themselves as citizens of the world.

The Afropolitan is a politic, identity, and aesthetic that insists on elevating Africa’s place on a global stage. Afropolitan Projects demonstrate how a politics of race, class, gender, and sexuality shape the way an increasingly class-privileged cohort of Africans connect with others on the continent and in the diaspora.

In this presentation, I have three aims:

• First, I outline how immigration policies such as the U.S. Diversity Visa Program and African national contexts such as state failures and access to higher education have shaped the emergence of this “new” African diaspora.
• Second, focusing on the politics of return, global anti-blackness, and anti-queer movements, I illuminate some of the political contests that inform Afropolitan projects in the African diaspora.
• Third, I provide an analysis of what this context and contests offer by way of transnational connections and diasporic solidarity.

Through this analysis, I invite audiences to consider how Afropolitan Africa as a contemporary Black diasporic site presents opportunities and pitfalls in the struggle for Black liberation.

Author Bio: Anima Adjepong is the author of Afropolitan Projects: Redefining Blackness, Sexualities and Culture from Houston to Accra, founder of Silent Majority, Ghana, a nonprofit that engages indigenous Ghanaian knowledge and collective organizing to champion queer freedom in Ghana, and Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati.

Facilitated by Michaela Brown and Liz Moore

Thursday, March 9, 2023 – 12-1:30pm in Monroe Hall 207 WAGE Center Lounge

Co-sponsored by
The Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee of CAHSS
Women and Center Education (WAGE) Center & Gender, Women’s, & Sexuality Studies Program (GWSS)

All students, staff and faculty are welcome to participate in this workshop.

This workshop seeks to address the reality that white women often occupy much of the committees that lead on race equity on campus. Being an anti-racism ally takes more than good intention. Just as Harry Blackmun says “in order to get beyond racism we have to take account of race,” in order to get to allyship we have to recognize our susceptibility to collude with oppression.

Allies should consider how to better equip themselves so that they don’t cause harm to members of marginalized communities in their activism and contribute to dynamics that perpetuates the inequities they seek to dismantle. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn how white women’s experience with patriarchy can be turned into a window for them to understand how they can be more effective as an anti-racism ally.

Michaela Brown (she/her) is a deeply curious, over-thinking, heart-in-hand lover of people and history. Her background in collective impact organizing and commitment to advancing a world where everyone belongs has led her to serve in many community capacities focused on advancing individual and collective learning around diversity, equity, and inclusion (which includes her role as the Director of Community Learning for Excelerate Success, an education equity partnership, and in her roles as a race equity facilitator). Her formal education in history and leadership studies combined with her passion for multi-cultural education, identity development, and community healing has brought her to the JustLead Team ready to grow with and cheer on change makers across Washington state.

As a multi-racial woman, Michaela finds power in the ability to hold the complexities of our interconnected lives and leans on the mantra by adrienne maree brown: “Where we are born into privilege we are charged to unlearn any myth of supremacy, where we are born into struggle, we are charged with claiming or dignity, joy and liberation.” Emboldened by the brilliance of our ancestors as well as modern revolutionaries, Michaela in her wholeness seeks to cultivate learning spaces that are relational and transformative.

Liz Moore (she/her) has worked for racial justice, worker rights, and grassroots power for more than 25 years as an organizer, educator, and leader. Through her consulting practice (www.ConsultLizMoore.com), Liz works with unions and community-based organizations with a focus on organizing skills, popular education, and racial equity. In addition, Liz is the Executive Director of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (www.peacejustice.org).

Liz began her activist life with PJALS as a high school student after looking up “peace” in the phone book. The Peace and Justice Action League engages everyday people to build a just and nonviolent world through community organizing, grassroots activist education, and supporting youth as leaders. In all that she does, Liz holds fast to the belief that everyday people have the power to build a just and nonviolent world.

Dr. Deirdre Almeida and Dr. Judy Rohrer’s commentary, “EWU’s future: Will the new president restore the diversity programs that were once a vibrant calling cared of the university?” was published in the Inlander today.

EWU Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies presents for fall 2021 Contemporary Issues in Feminist Research, featuring faculty and staff presenting research in their disciplines from a feminist perspective.

Contemporary Issues in Feminist Research

All events will be held virtually via Zoom.

“Where life is precious…” Intersectional Feminism in the Time of COVID-19

Thursday, November 4th

In a pandemic webinar, Ruth Wilson Gilmore offered this simple declaration: “where life is precious, life is precious.” In the liminal time-space of COVID-19, breath and life have come into high relief. We are challenged with how to scale macro and micro questions about how we live with ourselves, our communities, our institutions, other living beings, and the environment. What sort of life truly matters? Whose lives matter? In this short paper, I use the breath and life to weave some thinking from Black and Indigenous feminist scholar-activists on the pandemic, the collapsing capitalist economy, the uprising for racial justice, and how all of this is coalescing in an historic moment.

Facts and Farce: The Art and Activism of the Guerrilla Girls

Tuesday, November 23rd

For nearly 40 years, the Guerrilla Girls have used their unique blend of wry humor, startling facts, and a bold graphic style to take on the inequities of the art world. From the early days when their work was anonymously pasted on the streets of Manhattan, to the present when their oeuvre commands retrospectives within prestigious institutions, the Guerrilla Girls have been tireless advocates for the equitable inclusion of women and artists of color in the art world. By embracing a populist approach to art and a wide array of approaches they continue to address sexism, racism and oppression. This talk will outline the history, prominent works, strategies, and impact of this groundbreaking group of activist artists.

Creating More Inclusive Classrooms by Targeting Student Employees

Tuesday, November 30th

Low degree completion and persistence rates plague our university, and students of color persist at a much lower rate than their white peers. Research has shown that a sense of belonging in college can increases persistence to graduation. The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSTEM) is working to create a sense of belonging in classrooms by targeting student employees, these include teaching assistants, tutors, and graders in Biology, Mathematics, and Chemistry. The techniques and preliminary results will be discussed.

For access accommodations, please contact Lisa Logan at llogan83@ewu.edu five business days in advance.

The Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies Program and the Women’s and Gender Education Center are the lead organizers of the Activist In Residence (AIR) program on the EWU campus.

For an eighth year, AIR will bring an activist to campus to work with EWU students, staff, faculty, and community members during winter quarter of 2021.

Meet the 2021 Activist In Residence

Jac Archer (they/them/theirs) is an activist in the Inland Northwest. Jac moved to the Spokane area in 2013 where they work as an activist, community organizer, and educator in the fields of diversity, equity, civic engagement, and sexuality. Jac has delivered lectures and training workshops throughout the community, including Whitworth University, and has previously served on panels at Eastern Washington University and Gonzaga. 

While earning their bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University, Jac served on the Multicultural Coalition from 2015-2017, where they represented the Black Student Union and Scary Feminist Club. Jac currently serves on the Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) Steering Committee, the Peace and Justice Action League (PJALS) board, Spokane Human Rights Commission (SHRC), and the Washington State LGBTQ Commission. 

Jac has a passion for organizing, institutional policy, and making difficult concepts easily accessible. They also enjoy writing, singing, performance, and podcasts.

All workshops and panels are on Wednesdays from 3:30 -5 p.m. PST

Free and Open to the Public

Virtual Attendance via Zoom

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One registration will cover all Activist in Residence events you attend virtually. Those who attend four or more workshops/panels will receive an Activist in Residence certificate.

All workshops are highly participatory and interactive, with an emphasis on active practice and story sharing.

Jan. 20

The Activism Ecosystem: Defining the Terrain of the Fight

What is activism? What makes an activist, and who is doing activism in Spokane? Learn about Spokane’s activist ecosystem, and hear from local Black leaders doing key work in the electoral sphere.

Jan. 27

Noticing Work: Finding Your Place in the Activist Ecosystem

Learn tools to discover what activist work is already being done in your community, and how to find your place in it. Add skills to your activist toolbox that will improve your approach to community work, no matter your job or professional focus.

Feb. 3

Black Activism: Our Local Ecosystem

Activism isn’t just signing petitions or holding signs in the street, but includes a broad variety of tactics and experiences for every type of movement-maker. Hear from local Black leaders who each take a slightly different approach to making change in Spokane.

Feb. 10

Planning the Fight: The Basics of an Activist Campaign

Check out the big picture and discover how petitions and protest actions in the street relate to long term change in communities and government. Explore the basics of campaign planning, what it is, and how to do it.

Feb. 17

Zooming In: Exploring Activist Campaigns in Spokane

Learn about activist campaigns in Spokane, and hear from members of the Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) steering committee as they discuss the tactics they’ve used individually and as a group to affect local policy.

Feb. 24

Campaign Tactics: How to Plan an Action

Every campaign is made up of actions. Discover the strategy, planning, and detail behind the most visible part of activism, and learn how to plan an action for yourself.

Katie Horvath, the executive director of the Spectrum LGBTQ+ Center, Judy Rohrer, the director of Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies at EWU, and Naghmana Sherazi, a board member of the Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane worked together on this Guest Opinion for the Spokesman-Review.

They remind readers that 52 community partners in and around Spokane recently set priorities around post-election outcomes: “community safety; planning a coordinated post-election response, and setting the tone by developing a simple 5-point message: We reject white nationalism. We choose and will protect inclusive democracy. We keep each other safe.  We will do our part to ensure everyone’s vote is counted. We demand the results be respected.”