Each One Reach One: The Future of Black Solidarity at HWS

Each One Reach One: The Future of Black Solidarity at HWS

19 June 2020 Each One Reach One: The Future of Black Solidarity at HWS

Hobart and William Smith Colleges will host a series of events connecting Black students and graduates for a discussion about the experiences and concerns of the Colleges Black community across generations.

Each One Reach One is sponsored though a partnership between Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and the HWS Afro Latino Alumni/ae Association to engage alums and students in shared community building.

Director of Alumni and Alumnae Relations Chevanne DeVaney 95, P21, P23, says small groups of students will meet with at least two HWS alumni and alumnae facilitators for discussions designed to produce actionable items to help shape the work of DEI.

Brian Sales 89, a social justice and cultural competency consultant in the non-profit and education sectors, will serve as a facilitator. This is driven by the students and supported by the institution as a means to express concerns and experiences. My role is to listen and facilitate, and help make connections, both to my personal experience and the larger historical context were seeing in terms of institutional racism and police brutality as well as the larger panorama of issues affecting the United States since its inception, he says.

Each One Reach One is part of a seriesof events, resources and programs at HWS that emerged in response to the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans. HWS students and alums who are interested in participating should contact DeVaney at devaney@hws.edu. Others events and resources include:

  • Teach-in Series: In June, HWS hostedthe first in a series of virtual teach-ins on racial justice, titledVoices of protest and love: Liberatory Knowledge in the Hour of George Floyd. Featuring Genevas wealth of educators, scholars and activists, the four-hour teach-in has been archived along with resources on the DEI webpage.
  • Black Community Carewebpage: DEI has posted a series of resources in recognition of what public health advocates and scholars have long described as the public health crisis that is the pervasive and lethal force of white supremacy. In the face of the double-harm of COVID-19 and institutional racism, DEI will regularly update resources for supporting the well-being and survival of Black students, faculty, staff and the wider community.
  • Anti-Racism Resources:The DEI webpage also featuresresources and links to connect HWS community members to literature and teaching material created by educators of color for teaching about race and racism.
  • Hour of Power: Organized by Fatim Cisse 23, this bi-weekly initiative supports students of color in building self-knowledge and self-love.