Each month the Penn's Village Inclusiveness and Diversity Committee recommends several resources to help our members and friends to be more informed and aware, and perhaps even inspired to action, concerning the racial biases in each of us and in our society and the resulting inequities, past and present. These resources, assembled by Lori Dumas and Mike Pulsifer, will represent different mediums, different perspectives and experiences, and diverse authors.
July, 2021
Book:They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
Bridging women’s history, the history of the South, and African American history, this book makes a bold argument about the role of white women in American slavery. Historian Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers draws on a variety of sources to show that slave-owning women actively participated in the slave market, profited from it, and used it for economic and social empowerment.
YouTube Webinar:A Blueprint to End Racism Focusing on Health Equity
This is a panel of local, city, and state health experts discussing the ongoing work in the Philadelphia region to achieve equity in health. The panel describes the results of systematic racism in our health system and what we all need to do to further health equity in our community and our society. To view this virtual round table event please click on this link: https://mailchi.mp/cb162dcd265d/save-the-date-for-a-blueprint-to-end-racism-5355446?e=c2de82ec97
Essay: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
In her ground-breaking essay, Dr. McIntosh explains that racism in America is much more than individual acts of meanness. It also consists of invisible systems conferring power and privilege on a group of people. This article describes the daily effects of this privilege and power. It also contends that the first step to reforming America’s current social structure is to be aware of its daily unseen, devastating effects. To read this essay please click on this link: https://precollege-summer.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/264/2018/07/McIntosh_WhitePrivilegeKnap
Film:Fight the Power: The Movements that Changed America
This History Channel presentation narrated by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar examines the movements and leaders of some of America’s pivotal public protests. This documentary reminds us how civil disobedience from the Boston Tea Party to women’s suffrage marches, the civil rights demonstrations, and the Stonewall Inn uprising in New York City have shaped our society and laws. You can access this 62-minute History Channel film first shown on June 19, 2021 on your DVR.
A Recommended Outing:The Philadelphia Museum of Art
Now that it is safer to be out and about for those who are vaccinated, the renovated and expanded Philadelphia Museum of Art is a must see. The now revealed vaulted ceilings and the new cantilevered staircase are stunning. And, appropriate to Penn’s Village focus on Inclusiveness and Diversity, the New Early American Galleries clearly recognize the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and Latin American artists to the development of American art, as well as to the birth and growth of our country. The inaugural exhibit in the Dietrich Galleries features the works of contemporary Philadelphia artists. There also is a special exhibit by the Black artist, Senga-Nengudi, through July 25th. Click on these two links for a preview of what awaits you: https://www.philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/new-early-american-galleriesand https://www.philamuseum.org/calendar/exhibition/senga-nengudi-topologies