Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
Dispatch
SPECIAL EDITION
July 12, 2024
If you have announcements to pass onto the DEI Committee, please email it to dei@lwvtucson.com. The next issue of The DEI Dispatch will be August 18, 2024.
LWVGT DEI Policy - adopted November 6, 2021
League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson (LWVGT) is fully committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in principle and in practice. LWVGT aims to build a participant base that is representative of all dimensions that make each individual unique. Our aim is to be inclusive, affirming, and welcoming of all identities. We intend to ensure that each individual has access to the same opportunities to grow, contribute, and develop within the organization. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to the organization's current and future success in engaging all individuals, households, communities, and policymakers in creating a more perfect democracy.
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National Day of Commemoration
and
Action Honoring John R Lewis
Wednesday, July 17
4 to 5 PM
Social with food from Ken's Hardwood Barbecue
5 to 6 PM
Program
Tucson Main Library
101 N. Stone
Tucson
No Cost
July 17 marks the 4th anniversary of the death of the late Congressman John Lewis. On that day, we will come together in events across the country to commemorate his death and more importantly his life work to secure voting rights for all people.
Sponsored by
League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson
Tucson Branch NAACP
| Help Plan for DEI in 2024-2025
NOTE DATE CHANGE
Thursday, July 18
4 PM
Via Zoom
In 2024-2025:
Where should DEI focus?
What activities should we support?
What topics should we learn about?
Where else can we put our energy?
Please attend the meeting
to share your thoughts and indicate where you are willing/able to provide energy.
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DEI Book Discussion Group
Next meeting
Thursday, August 1
6 PM
The DEI Book Discussion Group will meet on Thursday, August 1 to discuss The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race (2016) Ward, Jesmyn, editor. This group will meet on the first Thursday of even-numbered months. There will be a discussion host for each meeting who will provide discussion questions. For more information email dei@lwvtucson.com
Scheduled books and dates for the remainder of 2024:
- Oct. 3 Shange, Ntozake. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide (1997).
- Dec. 5 TBD. Four-way tie between (1) Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time (1963; Vintage reissue, 1992); (2) Brown, Adrienne Maree, and Walidah Imarisha, editors. Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements (2015); (3) Greenhouse, Linda. Justice on the Brink: The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and Twelve Months That Transformed the Supreme Court (2021); and (4) Stewart, Katherine. The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism (2022).
| | 2025 National Day of Racial Healing
Planning Meeting
Saturday, August 10
1 PM
LWVGT Office
800 N. Swan, Suite 126, Tucson
The National Day of Racial Healing takes place annually on the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The observance grows every year as people across the country work to create connections and share a sense of belonging. The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson and the YWCA of Southern Arizona are again partnering on an event to celebrate NDRH. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2025. The NDRH planning committee met on June 2 to discuss the event and volunteers are needed for all event activities including Educational Panel Discussion ~ Cultural Performances ~ Essay Contest ~ Food and Hospitality and Youth Activities. Volunteers are also needed to help with Fund Raising and Publicity. Our next committee meeting will be held on Saturday, July 13, 2024, at the League office at 800 N. Swan Rd., Suite 126, at 11 am. If you missed the event last year you can view a video recording on the League website at Members/You Tube Library/click videos and it is the first two videos in the fourth row down. View NDRH 2024
Please join us on July 13 and help make the NDRH event an opportunity to gather children, teens, neighbors, and community members together to develop and grow relationships built on trust and mutual respect.
| | The DEI Outreach Committee
| Next DEI Meeting
Wednesday, September 11
6 PM
Zoom
Meeting notes from
DEI Meeting
April 10, 2024
are available at
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A History and Overview of DEI in LWVGT
At the LWVAZ Council on May 17 Nancy Norton, Victor Bowleg, and Judy Wood presented the history and overview of LWVGT's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion activities. To view the presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H09XOFNIrxc | A Conversation with the Author
Stacie Shannon Denetsosie
Stacie Shannon Denetsosie, a member of the Navajo Nation, met with us to discuss her recent book The Missing Morningstar and Other Stories. The book is a collection of nine short stories about life in the Navajo Nation.
| SAVE THE DATE
Fresh Start Breakfast
Friday, August 23
8-10 AM
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
7650 N Paseo Del Norte, Tucson
For more information or if you are interested in attending email
| SAVE THE DATE
NAACP Freedom Fund Luncheon
Saturday, October 5
11 AM
Casino Del Sol
For more information or if you are interested in attending email
| SAVE THE DATE
African American Museum of Southern Arizona
Tea
Saturday, October 12
Amethyst Room, PCC Downton Campus
For more information or if you are interested in attending email
| You receive this email as a member of the LWVGT DEI Committee. If you no longer wish to receive the DEI Dispatch email dei@lwvtucson.com | |