The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hosts its fifth annual Womxn of Color Symposium Friday, March 31, in Thompson Student Union Ingman Room.
The Womxn of Color Symposium is a professional development opportunity designed to expand skills, increase knowledge and enhance networks to promote a more inclusive and supportive working and learning environment at The University of Toledo. The event will include presentations by UToledo faculty, staff and students and community leaders, with breakout sessions in Thompson Student Union Rooms 2582, 2584 and 2591.
The event runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and is open to all members of the UToledo community and Toledo-area residents.
The symposium’s keynote speaker is Christina Brown, a 27-year-old queer Black woman from Long Beach, California, who creates educational and satirical content and commentary on social media platforms with a focus on intersectionality, anti-blackness, misogynoir, queerphobia among other social issues. Brown recently received a master’s in international relations and diplomacy from the American Graduate School in Paris.
“As has become an intention of Womxn of Color Symposium planning committee members, over the last five years, we try to attract artists at the early stages of their careers to participate. We want all who are involved in this event to learn and grow through the process,” said Malaika Bell, director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The theme of Brown’s keynote speech is “There’s Nothing Respectable about Respectability Politics.”
“It’s a talk about navigating a world of respectability politics and the silencing that takes place against women of color,” Bell said, “and will be a reminder of how to confidently and unapologetically use one’s voice in spaces that try to actively diminish our power.”
The Womxn of Color Symposium will include a healthy lunch, crystal sound baths and a gratitude walk, which will create a piece, viewable by all who pass by the Thompson Student Union steps.
Registration at the Womxn of Color Symposium webpage is required.
