Yesterday, members of the Asian and Pacific Islander Staff Resource Group led Year Up’s 6th annual Lunar New Year Celebration. Watch the recording here.
Categories
Category: Monthly Celebrations
Categories
Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month
- Help us celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 14) this year by learning from a curated degreed pathway. There, you can explore the history of Hispanic Heritage Month, learn about our cultures and geographies, and check out the events we plan to attend, along with book recommendations. The Latinx SRG is available to all staff who identify as Latinx, allies, and advocates. Several local Latinx SRGs around the network are dedicated to supporting Latinx identities; check locally for those. Don’t hesitate to reach out to co-chairs Paola Garcia or Fred Rosario to have conversations and learn more about who we are!
Categories
Happy Pride!!
Dear Year Up,
We wish all of our young adults and colleagues a very Happy Pride!!
We hope you have been finding ways this Pride month to celebrate our LGBTQ+ community members and the rich layers of their different stories and journeys.
We believe that acknowledging, honoring, and inviting our LGBTQIA community members to bring their full authentic selves into our Year Up community every day, is a way of being that we want to uphold all year through, and we hope that Pride inspires each of us to educate ourselves about our LGBTQ+ history and continued struggles for basic human rights.
We are excited to share with you this video that Dr. Onllwyn Dixon created to reflect upon and honor Pride.
We’ve also provided just a couple of ways that you can stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ community (there are many!!):
- Go here to learn more about anti-trans legislation across the country, and search #transweekofaction on Instagram to be directed to ways to take action and get involved.
- In the spirit of centering the most historically and presently marginalized voices, we encourage all of our community members to spend time listening and learning from Trans stories and stories across the LGBTQIA umbrella. Check out Translash Media and It Gets Better Project’s Blog Moments of Joy.
Wishing you all a very Happy Pride,
Year Up’s DEIB Team
Dr. Onllwyn Dixon (he/him/his or they/them/their), Megan Doherty-Baker (she/her/hers), Val Gomez (she/her/hers), Jaynell Bryant (she/her/hers), and Ronda Harris Thompson (she/her/hers)
May marks the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) Heritage month which originated in 1978 when a joint congressional resolution established Asian American/Pacific Island Week. The first 10 days of May aimed to commemorate two key milestones in Asian/Pacific Islander history: 1) the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants (May 7, 1843) and 2) acknowledge the contributions of Chinese workers in building the transcontinental railroad which was completed on May 10, 1869. Congress expanded the observance from a week to a month in 1992.
Asians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders comprise a wide array of people and cultures across the Asian continent and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Each of which is filled with beauty and wonder within their rich cultures, customs and people. I encourage you to take time to learn more about API communities and the ways in which you can stand in solidarity with API colleagues and friends.
The hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge with alarming frequency and, in 2021 we’ve seen some of the most violent and horrific crimes impact our communities. We also want to acknowledge the tragic intensity of the pandemic in India and the effect that it has on our South Asian colleagues and community members. We stand in support and unity during this difficult time.
The API SRG has also done tremendous work this past year to create spaces for learning more about our API colleagues and their communities, uplifting API voices while standing in solidarity with our BIPOC brothers and sisters. Some examples of this work include:
· Inviting allies to take action: see their call to action slide from this year’s Lunar New Year celebration
· Creating brave spaces: organized the first org-wide API reflection/processing space to address API hate and violence; 135+ staff, students and alumni attended
· Sharing resources and learnings: curated and shared a newsletter for last year’s API Heritage month comprised of key Asian historical figures and facts, food spotlights, and book and movie recommendations
· API Lunch & Learn for Students (Chicago): facilitated discussion with Chicago L&D students around API identity, model minority myth, and Black/API solidarity. You can access the deck here
· Be on the lookout for our first episode of the API SRG Podcast this month!
· Other API resources to consider:
o PBS Series, “Asian Americans”: Five episodes that speak about immigration
o https://www.immigranthistory.org (API History focused)
o Raising Our Kids to be Better than Us
o Podcasts:
Ø Self-Evident: Asian American Stories
Ø At the Moment: Asian American News
For me personally, this year has been, and continues to be, one of deep reflection and learning – internally and externally – and recognizing the ways in which I can continue to share my voice and when and how to amplify the voices of others. This month, I’m committed to learning about Asian-American activists who fought in solidarity with others for the rights of marginalized people; folks like Grace Lee Boggs, Yuri Kochiyama, and Philip Vera Cruz.
As a proud Filipina-Chinese-American, I’ve been encouraged by the ways in which Year Up is actively working towards building inclusive brave spaces for our colleagues to show up authentically. Moreover, I’ve experienced what it’s been like when staff have felt seen and heard and how powerful these experience can be. I hope that we’ll continue to walk alongside of one another through this journey and to continue to find ways to check in and support one another throughout the way.
Best regards,
Catherine Ang
Dear Year Up, March marks the start of Women’s History Month. In 1981, Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first “Women’s History Week.” In 1987, the National Women’s History Project petitioned Congress to expand the celebration to the entire month of March. To this day, Women’s History Month has been celebrated every March to honor the incredible contributions from women of all backgrounds and ethnicities. From Amelia Earhart, to Abigail Adams to Susan B. Anthony to Rosa Parks, we have witnessed thousands of trailblazing and strong women empower us with their strength and courage. As part of Women’s History month, March 8th of every year has been named International Women’s Day. The day is dedicated to honoring and celebrating the achievements of women throughout history from across the globe. It is a day where women of all backgrounds and cultures band together to empower one another and fight for gender parity and women’s rights.
White women won the right to vote in America in 1920 but BIPOC women were not granted the right to vote for decades longer and we know the fight for the right to vote continues. Women’s political leadership had a transformative role in the upheaval of 2020, with legends like Stacey Abrams and others mobilizing millions of Americans to participate in the fight for racial equity and a more just future for all Americans. Watching our first female Vice President elected into office was a highlight in a year with so many lows. Kamala Harris became the first woman, the first woman of color, the first Black woman, and the first South Asian woman to hold the highest level of an elected official. So many firsts, so many years overdue. I blocked off my calendar to watch her inauguration with my infant twins, looking forward to when I can tell them about the history that occurred in their first year of life.
As we sit in the year 2021, it is remarkable to both see how women have continued to make history by leading and creating worldwide. The last year presented incredible challenges for women but also showcased the resiliency, empathy, and efficacy of women leaders worldwide. The recession caused by the pandemic has been described as a shecession as women, particularly women of color, are disproportionately impacted by the economic fallout of the pandemic. In December 2019, American women held more payroll jobs than men for the first time in history. Decades of gains in women’s employment were wiped out in the last year. While these are sobering statistics, I’m inspired by the leadership demonstrated by women in this crisis and hopeful that the future will be filled many more firsts for women. From the female heads of state who more effectively led their countries in the pandemic to the female leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, women are making history in countless large and small ways in this tumultuous period that will change the course of history.
As a mother to 3 biracial daughters, a female leader, a descendant of strong women who inspired me with their progress in each generation, I think a great deal about the spaces, platforms and roles that are still not equally occupied by all women. I am hopeful for a future that celebrates the accomplishments and talents of all women. As Malala Yousafzai said, “I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. … We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” So many incredible women throughout our history have established their stories and now it is our turn to pave the way to empower others until all women are treated as equals to men.
I am proud to be a part of the Year Up movement for a more equitable future for all and look forward to continuing to learn from the many brilliant women in our movement.
Susan
Below are a few links to check out in celebration of Women’s History Month. Please share your favorites on Slack!
– https://www.pbs.org/articles/2020/02/iconic-women-to-celebrate-this-womens-history-month/
– https://www.oprahmag.com/life/g26513857/women-who-changed-the-world/
– https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/us/forgotten-womens-history.html
– https://yourdream.liveyourdream.org/2020/02/15-ways-to-celebrate-womens-history-month/
– https://www.fond.co/blog/celebrate-womens-history-month-2020/
Susan M. MurrayNational
Director of Development
Year Up
Dear Year Up,
Today marks the beginning of Black History Month 2021, but Black History Month’s story began in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. September of that same year, the Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent. The group sponsored a national Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations, establish history clubs, and host performances and lectures. By the late 1960s, thanks in part to the Civil Rights movement and a growing awareness of Black identity, Negro History Week had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses. In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized Black History Month, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
This year, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) presented its theme for Black History Month as The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. “The Black family has been a topic of study in many disciplines—history, literature, the visual arts, and film studies, sociology, anthropology, and social policy. Its representation, identity, and diversity have been reverenced, stereotyped, and vilified from the days of slavery to our own time.” As we continue to explore Black History throughout the African Diaspora, it’s crucial to understand and acknowledge the Black Family’s role in all its forms in establishing the deep cultural roots that have carried on for thousands of years, and hundreds of generations.
The Black family continues to be the community’s strength. We’ve seen families rally to support one another during the traumatic times within the Black community, including during the senseless racial violence against Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and countless others over the past year. The Black Family’s identity shows that the definition of what family means has always been expansive. The family is where strength, wisdom, love, support, and energy exist. The Black family experienced so much in 2020, and it helped to shine a light on the intersectionality and impact a strong family can have on everyone during tumultuous and unforgettable times. Throughout the 400+ years of oppression and racial violence, the Black Family was, and remains, a unifying symbol for many within the community.
As I reflect on this year’s theme for Black History Month, I think of my own family and how it has shaped who I am and who I strive to be as a leader. My family, like many Black families, was anchored by strong matriarchs. Despite growing up in Jim Crow Georgia and in segregated Washington, DC, while enduring all that came along with being Black and female, my grandmothers were women of great faith. They didn’t let the circumstances of the environments they grew up in define them. Instead they were defined by a strong sense of family identify that was rooted in love; and they instilled that me. To me family is love, togetherness, big hugs, and laughter. It’s supporting one another through hard times and celebrating one another’s wins. It’s about standing up for what is right and telling the truth even when it’s unpopular. It’s about being a part of something that is bigger than any one person. It’s where I find my strength and what grounds me.
As we continue our DEI learning journeys, it’s vital for each of us, regardless of race, to understand the narratives that we have heard over the years that have negatively portrayed the Black Family. We need to continue to explore and expand our perceptions to help us a create a more accurate depiction of the Black Family, and what it means not only to the members within the African Diaspora, but also to the broader world that has truly benefited from its greatness. Although each of our learning journeys are different, and some may take longer than others, it is important that we recognize the true meaning of Black History, and how it has shaped the world we live in today. February is not only a month where we recognize the years of slavery and mistreatment of Black people, but it is the reminder that Black people, Black history, Black families, and Black culture are worth celebrating today and every day.
I would like to close by sharing that in celebration of Black History, Year Up will be adding Juneteenth as an official org-wide holiday going forward (we will observe on Friday, June 18 -more information coming soon). I hope that you and your families will gather to celebrate the importance of this day in US history. I am humbled to be serving as your Interim Chief Diversity Officer and look forward to supporting Year Up as we strive to become a truly anti-racist organization.
All my best,
Ronda
As part of our celebrations of Black History Month, we’ll be hosting a social media campaign on Year Up’s Instagram (@yearup), featuring staff and students sharing what Black History Month means to them, as well as spotlighting less-discussed leaders from Black History.
Grads of Life will also be participating in Black History Month celebrations, via Twitter/LinkedIn @gradsoflife), by highlighting less-known leaders who particularly inspire those to drive economic mobility and opportunity for Black Americans.
We hope you’ll join us and Grads of Life in our celebration by engaging with and sharing our posts, and using #YUCelebratesBlackHistory & #GOLCelebratesBHM to share your own perspective.
Dear Year Up,
Before we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, we want to take the time to acknowledge that last week was Transgender Awareness Week (11/13-11/19) and that this past Friday (11/20) was Transgender Day of Remembrance. Although the official week and day have passed, we believe that every day is an opportunity to build understanding and awareness and stand in solidarity with our Transgender community.
Transgender awareness week’s goal is to raise visibility about Transgender people and address issues that members of our Trans and Gender Expansive community face. Transgender Day of Remembrance honors Transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of violence that year. We honor Rita Hester’s memory. She was murdered in Boston in 1998, her murder is still unsolved, and her death ignited vigils that prompted the first Transgender Day of Remembrance in 1999. Violence against Trans and Gender Diverse people is a global epidemic. In 2020, more violence against Trans people has been recorded than ever before. In the United States, the majority of Trans people who were murdered were Black and Brown, a stacking of intersectional oppressions and violence.
We want the violence to stop and know that raising awareness of the multiple systemic injustices that our Trans community faces is the first step toward change. We have to require a society (present and future) where the lives of Transgender and Gender Diverse people are honored, valued, and respected. Therefore, we foster spaces at Year Up, where our Trans and Gender Diverse young adults are not only welcome but can thrive. MLK Jr. reminds us that: “None of us is free until we are all free.”
We honor our Trans staff and young adults and appreciate you for all you contribute to Year Up. We encourage you to take time to say the names and honor the memories of those who were taken from us in 2020, whose names are included below.
Potential Links
• https://transequality.org/blog/murders-of-transgender-people-in-2020-surpasses-total-for-last-year-in-just-seven-months
• https://time.com/5914256/transgender-day-of-remembrance-2020/
Best,
Antoine & Megan
Categories
PRIDE MONTH
Hello Year Up,
We are looking forward to honoring and celebrating Juneteenth this Friday, June 19th, as a Day of Recognition for our Year Up community. This is the first time in our 20‐year history as an organization that we are pausing operations to give our students in L&D and all staff the opportunity to disconnect from work to connect with the meaning of this important day in our nation’s history.
We invite you to learn, participate, reflect & rejuvenate. Included hereis a set of curated resources about Juneteenth, antiracism, our American history, and ways to take action on Friday and throughout the weekend. Please leverage the resources that will be most helpful to supporting your learning goals and wherever you are in your current learning journey.
We also invite you to share what you learn and how you celebrate via Google’s Jamboard platform.
• Please add to this Jamboard: photos of your Juneteenth celebrations, sticky notes with themes that came up for you about your reflections and learning, images of quotes, people, or other visuals that connect to your Juneteenth experience, drawings using the sketch tools, or a Google doc of poetry, your reflections, etc. Please note: You don’t have to have a Google account to use the Jamboard, and only 50 people max can be in a Jamboard at the same time.
We are also providing messaging to Site and Regional Directors to share these resources with L&D students and interns today. We will encourage students and interns to learn about Juneteenth and engage with the learning materials. Depending on the corporate partner, many interns may still be working on Juneteenth, but we will guide them to use the day and weekend, in their own ways, to reflect and engage with Juneteenth learning.
Note on Timesheets: This day will remain as “hours worked” in your timecard. If your standard schedule is prepopulated in eTIME, no action needed. If you update and record your hours worked each day, please record the hours that you’d normally work on Friday, 6/19 to ensure you are paid per usual. If your site leadership has already provided guidance about how to code your timesheet because you already had planned action for Friday, June 19th, please defer to the timesheet guidance your site leadership provided.
Thank you to Marshaun Hymon for supporting us to curate these resources! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Wishing you a Happy Juneteenth,
Megan Doherty‐Baker & Antoine Andrews
Categories
Happy PRIDE Month!!!
Dear Year Up,
Happy Pride month!!!
We write today to recognize the month of June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. We celebrate the presence and contributions of our LGBTQ+ community at Year Up, including our young adults and colleagues.
We are especially elated to be able to share that a decision made by the Supreme Court today ushers in a new era in the fight for equal rights for LGBT people. In a 6-3 decision, the justices ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 upholds protections against discriminating against LGBTQ+ people in the workplace. This has been a long and hard-fought victory and deserves celebration.
We lift up and honor the legacies of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, beloved legends and pivotal leaders who were at the forefront of the LGBTQ+ movement. They tirelessly advocated for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, Trans people who were incarcerated, and those affected by HIV/AIDS. After years of dealing with police raids, targeting, harassment, brutality and unsolved murders of their Trans community, they fought back during the Stonewall Riots. Their courage and commitment to justice paved the way for the first ever Pride March, which took place one year after the riots and50 years ago this year. We remember now more than ever what these leaders reminded us then, “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”
That continued fight for and commitment to liberation is alive, well and active in this moment. It is important for our LGBTQ+ community to show up for the Black Lives Matter Movement,a movement that stands in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, and is co-founded and led by two Black Queer women, Patrice Cullors-Brignac and Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi a Nigerian-American woman and LGBTQ+ ally.
While we are proud to see many LGBTQ+ organizations demonstrate their commitment to recommitting their 2020 Pride focus to center the movement for systemic racial justice, we also acknowledge that there is still much work to do to fight against white supremacy and racism within the LGBTQ+ community, ourselves. There is still an immense amount of work to do to keep our Black Trans siblings safe from violence and transphobic policies. We honor the lives of Riah Milton, Dominique Rem’mie Fells, Tony McDade, Layla Pelaez Sanchez, and Nina Pop, and too many more transgender and gender non-conforming people who were killed by violent means this year. They should be alive.
We continue to seek liberation and to find ways to build connection and celebrate those who came before us whose lives were taken too soon. We know that creating space for community to come together to share stories and recognize those who have inspired and opened doors for us matters. With that in mind, we have created a virtual gathering place for our LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies to share memories, 2020 Pride plans, and reflections about Pride. If you are inspired, please contribute your own tributes to the link provided in celebration of our LGBTQ+ colleagues and young adults. We will keep the link open through the month of June, and we invite you to share ways in which you plan to celebrate Pride with your communities this year and ways in which you are showing up for Black Lives Matter in the process, which includes, but is not limited to, engaging in resistance, protest, and dancing.
Feel free to use the following prompts as a guide:
- What Pride means to me
- A favorite Pride memory
- What I would say now to my younger self about Pride and being LGBTQ+
- What acts of allyship look like to me
- Who inspires you from your LGBTQ+ community?
We wish you all a safe, healthy, joyful, intersectional, resistant, empowering, rejuvenating and healing Pride.
Happy Pride,