Hello Friends,

Our next ADORE meeting will be held on Sunday, June 28th, 11:30am – 1:30 pm via zoom. The link for logging in will be provided to you during the week leading up to the meeting.

Anthropologist Jacquelyn A. Lewis-Harris, Ph.D. will be speaking to us about her most current project in helping the community of Ferguson, Missouri to heal since Michael Brown, Jr.  was shot and killed. Following is Jacquelyn’s description of her presentation:

The demonstrations, fear and social separation that occurred in Ferguson region after the 2014 death of Michael Brown, Jr. triggered many people to examine their roles in the community. The more recent demonstrations around the the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmad Arbery, as well as the Covid-19 crisis have illuminated social justice issues that rose to the forefront in 2014 but still have not been fully addressed. This discussion will cover the role of communication and civic education in community healing and how we are fostering empathy and critical thinking in community rebuilding. 

Following is Jacquelyn A. Lewis-Harris’s Bio:

Dr. Lewis-Harris is the former Director of the Connecting Human Origin and Cultural Diversity Program and presently holds the title of Associate Professor in both the Department of Anthropology and the College of Education at University of Missouri-St. Louis.  Lewis-Harris has her Doctorate and Master’s in Anthropology from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. She was the 2016 Arts and Education awardee for Community Collaboration as well as the 2016 UMSL Trailblazer Award.

In her former position as Assistant Curator at the St. Louis Art Museum, Lewis-Harris curated several exhibits including “Art of Papua New Guinea,” “Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series,” “Masterpieces of Central Africa,” and the installation of the museum’s Pacific galleries. As Director for the Connecting Human Origin and Cultural Diversity Program, she integrated her past roles of educator, writer, artist, anthropologist and curator to address the important issues of cultural diversity, social segregation and the presentation of minority cultures. She was part of a faculty team that designed and taught the first graduate level community history and social justice class at UMSL. Her present activities revolve around Ferguson community-building programs: community policing, racial and ethnic awareness activities and civic education through several Ferguson-based nonprofit organizations. 

Allison and I look forward to seeing you via zoom at the June 28th meeting!

Aloha,

Jill

Co-facilitator, ADORE, First Unitarian Church of Honolulu