The Perspective: Engaging with Black History Month

A Local Resource To Area Businesses

"The Perspective" is a monthly publication of the Chamber's Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Task Force, comprised of approximately 30 representatives with a passion for sharing information and learning best practices about diversity, inclusion and minority business development to improve our workforce.

Goal Statement from the Chamber Business Plan:

• Leverage members’ combined experience and knowledge to advance diversity and inclusion programs and practices throughout professions.
• Provide business members with access to information, individuals and ideas that will help them build more economically and socially inclusive organizations.
• Become a forum to discuss new diversity and inclusion ideas and initiatives.

Task Force Chair: Wesley Escondo, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Wisconsin
Staff Liaison: Kaylynn Stahlbusch, Workforce and Program Director

---

Chamber Updates

Diversity Equity & Inclusion in the Workforce Survey

The Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Taskforce is measuring the current business climate for DEI in the area.  We’d like to know what you are thinking and doing in an effort to identify regional best practices and areas of need.  Your response is very valuable, even if you don’t have formal policies regarding DEI.  Your answers will help to determine priorities in serving Chamber investors in this topic area. Responses are needed by Thursday, February 18, 2021.

Definition of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI):
Diversity in the workforce means respecting and appreciating differences in, for example, race, culture, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, people with a disability, religion, veteran status, class, and education. Equity is the quality to be fair and impartial. Inclusion is about focusing on the needs of every individual and ensuring the right conditions are in place for each person to achieve his/her/them full potential.

Access the Survey

Thank you!
-- Your Chamber Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Taskforce

The Chamber shares testimony with Task Force on Racial Disparities

On January 25, UW-Eau Claire hosted the Education and Economic Development Subcommittee of the Wisconsin Speaker’s Task Force on Racial Disparities, with COVID-19 mitigation protocols in place for all campus visitors. While WisEye.org—the state public affairs network—was not able to attend and broadcast the hearing, UW-Eau Claire’s Event Production Crew and Learning & Technology Services teams were able to record and edit a hearing video for WisEye to rebroadcast.
 
The full subcommittee hearing video is now available on WisEye.org. Note: You may be asked to create a free account in order to view this recording.
 
The subcommittee heard testimony from Wesley Escondo, the Chamber’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair, and Kaylynn Stahlbusch the Vice President of Workforce Initiatives. Testimony included an evolution of the Chamber’s Taskforce which started in 2017. Chair Escondo took time to detail the Taskforce structure, initiatives and upcoming plans for the subcommittee to learn and share best practices in the Chippewa Valley.
 
A complete list of participating organizations were:

• University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
• Rural school and science of reading advocates;
• the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce EDI Task Force;
• the Hmong American Leadership and Economic Development organization;
• El Centro de Conexión de Chippewa Valley; and
• the Chippewa Valley Housing Task Force.

---

Equity, Diversity, AND Inclusion Coordinator

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to serve the community and drive change in two governmental organizations? Join us! We are currently accepting applications for an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Coordinator! This is a newly funded City position, but is shared 50% of the time with Eau Claire County performing similar services. This position is responsible for: developing, overseeing, and implementing a comprehensive equity, diversity, and inclusion plan that aligns with the City and County strategic objectives and goals; developing and implementing diversity initiatives and strategies to attract, hire, and maintain a diverse workplace; promoting a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse community; adding value to other factors that ensure our organizations are an Employer of Choice, and more!
 
The ideal candidate must have: a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources or related field; a minimum of five years of Human Resources or related experience; a minimum of five years of professional work experience in workplace diversity, equity, inclusion, and culture; have the ability to manage and build relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, internally and externally; have strong analytical skills and the ability to translate metrics, research, and trends into strategy; excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, project management, and organizational skills; and knowledge of EEOC, Affirmative Action and Compliance. A Master’s Degree and SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP is preferred.
 
The city of Eau Claire (pop. 68,000), is a university community in west central Wisconsin, located about 90 miles east of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. The City operates under the Council-Manager form of government. Although our community economy was once dominated by the lumber trade, Eau Claire is now a regional center for education, medical services, business, and cultural/musical events.
 
Salary range is $75,135.22 to $87,513.09 annually, plus excellent fringe benefits. Application Deadline: Open until filled, with the first review of applications on March 1, 2021. Online application, position profile, and full job description available at www.eauclairewi.gov/jobs. Equal Opportunity Employer.

Brochure

---

Kelly Leadership Group: "I care, just not as much as you..."

Critical Thinking Exercise: It takes two Generations to forget and three to not care. Explicit to Black History Month, asking 'what has your experience been' will result in a much different answer to an inquiry rooted in 'my understanding of'. We are so focused on our own sense of ownership, guilt, and accountability that we ignore the obvious. Just because YOU are not responsible for something does not mean everyone in your space can say the same.

---

Local Organizations

21 Week Equity Challenge - United Way

The 21 Week Equity Challenge is an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of how inequity and racism affect our lives and communities.

• Participants will receive an email at the beginning of each week from Monday, February 1st through Monday, June 21st. 
• Weekly topics take participants through a journey that starts with understanding internalized racism and explores how racism permeates person-to-person interactions, institutions and social structures.
• The experience is intended to deepen understanding, suggest ways to take action, and help launch what we hope will be a lifelong commitment to improving equity and inclusion in our communities.

Individuals are encouraged to take on the challenge themselves, or form groups for discussion and reflection.

Take the Challenge

Chippewa Valley Equality Initiative

Our mission is to connect resources and organizations in the Chippewa Valley that support the cause of equality for all. To provide resources that are easy to find for the community to get involved, or to seek assistance.

Chippewa Valley Equality Initiative

Joining Our Neighbors Advancing Hope

​Joining Our Neighbors Advancing Hope is a non-partisan organization using grassroots organizing to bring people in the Chippewa Valley together around social injustice and inequity to empower them to build a more just and healthy community for all.

JONAH

Uniting Bridges

​Uniting Bridges combines the forces of many local organizations advocating on behalf of under-represented groups in the Chippewa Valley.

Uniting Bridges

---

​UW-Eau Claire to celebrate Black History Month throughout February

Black/Multicultural Hair and Skin-Care Drive
Feb. 1-29
Office of Multicultural Affairs, Centennial Hall 1108, 7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m.The Black Student Alliance and the African Student Association will conduct a monthlong donation drive to collect black/multicultural hair and skin products. Meeting the culturally specific hair and skin needs for adopted or foster youth in the area is important and these items will help families and caregivers to access necessary products and resources. Only new and unopened products can be accepted.

Black Organization Showcase
Feb. 7, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 
Centennial Hall 1931 The Office of Multicultural Affairs invites you to the Black Organization Showcase, a program highlighting UW-Eau Claire's black student-serving organizations. Come out to learn about exciting programs the groups are planning, as well as ways to get involved.

Black History Month Trivia
Feb. 10, 7 p.m. 
Centennial Hall 1931 Come by to test your knowledge of achievements and historic moments in black history, culture and traditions. 

Barbershop Talk
Feb. 11, noon-3 p.m.
Centennial Hall 1931This afternoon of free haircuts and important conversation over societal issues, politics, values and life morals will rejuvenate and empower. Sponsored by the Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Student Affairs and of the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Blugold Dialogue: Conversation Around Race in Predominantly White Institutions
Feb. 13, 4 p.m.
Centennial Hall 1704This dialogue aims to unpack how institutional conversations and inaction within predominantly white institutions of higher  education perpetuate the actual silence of racial dialogues they purport to advance. This discussion is intended to move institutional actors from notions of tacit verbalism to stentorian motives of praxis.

Film: 'Black Girl in Suburbia'
Feb. 17, 6 p.m.
Woodland Theater, Davies Center This documentary film examines the experiences of black girls growing up in predominantly white communities. For many black girls raised in the suburbs, the experiences of going to school, playing on the playground and living day-to-day life can be uniquely alienating. “Black Girl in Suburbia” looks at the suburbs of America from the perspective of women of color. Director Melissa Lowery is a mother of two young girls in the Portland, Oregon, area, and currently serves as the director for diversity and inclusion at Jesuit High School in Portland. 

Harambee (Black History Month Celebration)
Feb. 20, 5 p.m. 
Ojibwe Ballroom, Davies Center Join us for a dynamic program to celebrate Black History Month, which will include musical performances and recognition of special contributions and accomplishments of students, faculty and staff. Dinner and event program sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the African Student Association and the Black Student Alliance. 

All Black Everything (Wear all black in solidarity with the Black Student Alliance)
Leaders Igniting Transformation: the Future is Young, Black, Brown and Lit
Feb. 24, 7 p.m.
Centennial Hall 1931 Join us to learn about black history within the UW System and the power of black thought leaders in the state. 

Special Forum Event: Ibram X. Kendi: 'How to be an Antiracist'
Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m. 
Schofield AuditoriumKendi is one of America’s foremost historians and leading antiracist voices. His deeply personal and empowering lecture, "How to Be an Antiracist," aims to help audiences actively trying to understand racism in new ways, with open minds and from new perspectives. Kendi offers concrete ways for individuals and institutions to create an antiracist community. Tickets available online and at the Service Center. View related story.
The official sponsors of UW-Eau Claire's Black History Month are the Division for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Student Affairs, the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Black Student Alliance.

---

Podcasts

Noir Histoir | Celebrating Black History 366 Days a Year

​Get inspired. Get motivated. Get stories of Black history made and in the making. Noire Histoir features Black history facts, literature, and motivational stories from across the Black diaspora. Join Natasha McEachron as she celebrates Black pride, excellence, and power all 366 days of the year.

---

The Nod

The Nod tells the stories of Black life that don't get told anywhere else, from an explanation of how purple drink became associated with Black culture to the story of how an interracial drag troupe traveled the nation in the 1940s. We celebrate the genius, the innovation, and the resilience that is so particular to being Black in America, and around the world.

---

Everyday Black History | Afro Appreciation

Welcome to Everyday Black History, where they highlight the contributions of Black Men and Women both Past and present. The podcast is all about Black History and featuring how people of the African Diaspora that has changed their way of life. Institutions that were created for the benefit of people of the African Diaspora are honored as well. Tune in more updates on the African Diaspora.

---

Black History Buff

Each episode of the 'Black History Buff' Podcast will take you on a thrilling journey through a chapter of Black History. Covering the full historical tapestry of the African Diaspora, you'll hear tales covering everything from African Samurai's to pistol-wielding poets. So take a seat, kick back relax and enjoy the show.

---

---

​Books

Becoming
By: Michelle Obama

​In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

Between the World and Me
​By: Ta-Nehisi Coates

​In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
 
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

Citizen: An American Lyric
By Claudia Rankine

​Claudia Rankine's bold new book recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intentional offensives in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams and the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV-everywhere, all the time. The accumulative stresses come to bear on a person's ability to speak, perform, and stay alive. Our addressability is tied to the state of our belonging, Rankine argues, as are our assumptions and expectations of citizenship. In essay, image, and poetry, Citizen is a powerful testament to the individual and collective effects of racism in our contemporary, often named "post-race" society.

Homegoing
By: Yaa Gyasi

​A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.

Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia's descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.

Generation after generation, Yaa Gyasi's magisterial first novel sets the fate of the individual against the obliterating movements of time, delivering unforgettable characters whose lives were shaped by historical forces beyond their control. Homegoing is a tremendous reading experience, not to be missed, by an astonishingly gifted young writer.

The Underground Railroad
By: Colson Whitehead

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned—Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

In Whitehead’s ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor—engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar’s first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But the city’s placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

Like the protagonist of Gulliver’s Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey—hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre–Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman’s ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

---

UW-Eau Claire pianist to perform two recitals featuring underrepresented composers

A University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire pianist who often includes pieces written by underrepresented composers is playing two virtual recitals in the coming weeks that celebrate equity, diversity and inclusion.

Dr. Nicholas Phillips, professor of music-piano, is playing a February recital that honors Black History Month and another in March in celebration of Women’s History Month.

“Playing these recitals during months that tie into Black History Month and Women’s History Month is a way that I can contribute to an awareness of the great piano music that exists by women and African American composers,” Phillips says.
​
In his February recital as a guest artist at the University of Nebraska Omaha, Phillips is featuring works by African American composer Florence Price, including her miniatures, a suite and her Sonata.

Read Full Story

---

Celebrate Virtually

OBSIDIAN EXPERIENCE

When: All of February 
Price: Free

The Black Artists + Designers Guild is thrilled to unveil the OBSIDIAN EXPERIENCE, a month-long exploration with the Obsidian Virtual Concept House, and live discussions designed to invite conversations about home as a place of thriving for one million Black families. Throughout February, the virtual concept house will evolve to shine a light on how space forms the foundation for physical, social, emotional, and creative well-being. Guided by the belief that Black futures are equitable, sustainable, and liberatory, we have created virtual spaces that manifest our collective imaginations.

Click to Learn More

Black Jeopardy 

When: February 26 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST
Price: Free

Test your knowledge and have some fun at Game Night with host Alex TreBlack (aka Professor Clyde Ledbetter) as we explore Black history and popular culture facts presented in a Jeopardy style format. Hosted by 1 Resource Service Corporation.

Register

Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon: Black History Month Edition

When: February 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST
Price: Free

​Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum in honoring Black History Month with a Wikipedia edit-a-thon. Learn how to edit and create new Wikipedia articles highlighting the breadth and depth of artworks and the lives of Black artists in America. All levels of technological proficiency welcome.

Register