[SEMCO] Woods Hole Black History Month Committee Plans Juneteenth Celebration June 19

[Pat Harcourt]

*Woods Hole Black History Month Committee Plans Juneteenth Celebration with
Lecture, Award, and Panel on Civil Rights June 19 *



​Juneteenth keynote speaker Waldo E. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D, MSW.

Courtesy: The University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.



Civil rights in education and the opportunity to participate in science are
among the topics to be discussed at the 2014 Woods Hole Juneteenth
celebration, sponsored by the Woods Hole Black History Month Committee and
the Woods Hole Diversity Initiative. The events are free and open to the
public, and will be held in Speck Auditorium, Rowe Laboratory, at 10 MBL
Street in Woods Hole beginning at noon on June 19.



The celebration begins with a keynote presentation at noon by Waldo E.
Johnson, Jr., Ph.D., MSW of The University of Chicago School of Social
Service Administration. Dr. Johnson, an associate professor, focuses his
research on examining male roles within African American families,
especially young African American males and nonresident African American
fathers within impoverished urban families, their access and engagement in
medical and behavioral health services, and linking their physical,
economic, and psychological well-being to social and family roles
functioning. Dr. Johnson has had extensive experience examining masculinity
and the physical, psychological, and social wellbeing of African American
males, and issues related to fatherhood, family, and child welfare.



Dr. Johnson received his B.A. degree in sociology and English in 1977 from
Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and his MSW in community practice and
administration from the School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, in 1979. He earned his Ph.D. in social welfare policy from The
University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration in 1993
before serving in several postdoctoral fellowship positions involving
research and training programs on poverty, the underclass, and public
policy at the University of Michigan.



He is an invited member of the Working Group on Health Disparities in Men
and Boys, Public Interest Directorate of the American Psychological
Association, and an invited member of the African American Males Advisory
Group of the Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare, Center for Study
of Social Policy in Washington, DC. Dr. Johnson is also a member of the
Illinois African American Family Commission, and serves as co-chair of the
Illinois Juvenile Justice Research and Information Consortium, Network for
Black Male Masculinity, Mathematica Policy Research Parent and Children
Together (PACT) Qualitative Research Evaluation Team for the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services Responsible Fatherhood Study. He is
also a research consultant for *Fathers in America*, a PBS/South Carolina
Education TV series scheduled to air in 2016. The series of six one-hour
program segments examines the historical context of contemporary American
fatherhood.



During the celebration longtime MBL employee Lionel Hall will receive the
2014 John K. Bullard Diversity Award, given every other year to an
individual in the Woods Hole community who plays a significant role in
making the community more inclusive and more welcoming of people of all
backgrounds. The award was first presented in 2012 to its namesake, former
Sea Education Association president John Bullard.

A panel discussion will conclude the afternoon events. Panelists include
Bradford Brown, a NOAA scientist now retired with a lifelong interest in
civil rights, both personal and professional; Jacqueline Fields, a trustee
at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and former faculty member at
Wellesley College; Chinonye “Chi Chi” Nnakwe, Director of Graduate
Diversity Recruitment in the Office of the Provost, University of Chicago;
and Ben Gutierrez, a research scientist in the Coastal and Marine Geology
Program at the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole and program course
coordinator for the Woods Hole Partnership Education Program. Dr. Harold
Bibb, Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences and Associate Dean Emeritus
of the Graduate School at the University of Rhode Island, will serve as
moderator.

The panelists will discuss civil rights from a variety of perspectives,
including their own experiences in their lives and careers and efforts to
promote diversity and inclusion as the nation marks the 50th anniversary of
the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the 60th anniversary of Brown vs.
Board of Education in 2014.



Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of
slavery in the United States, dating back to its origin in Galveston,
Texas, when Union soldiers enforced the Emancipation Proclamation and freed
all remaining slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865. Celebrations today focus on
African American freedom and emphasize education and achievement.



The Woods Hole Black History Month Committee comprises members from the six
scientific institutions in Woods Hole: Marine Biological Laboratory, NOAA’s
National Marine Fisheries Service, Sea Education Association, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Research Center, and USGS Science
Center for Coastal and Marine Geology. The committee organizes special
events during February for Black History Month and throughout the year to
promote diversity in the institutions and in the local community.



The Juneteenth celebration is also supported by the Woods Hole Diversity
Initiative. In 2004 the leaders of six Woods Hole science institutions
signed a memorandum committing their institutions to work together to
attract and retain a more diverse workforce. That memorandum established
the Woods Hole Scientific Community Diversity Initiative. The Diversity
Initiative in turn established an advisory committee to make
recommendations as to how the institutions can make the village a more
diverse, more inclusive community.


 For more information contact: Shelley Dawicki 508-495-2378
shelley.dawicki at noaa.gov



*Related links: *

Woods Hole Black History Month Committee:
http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/outreach/WHBHMC/

Woods Hole Diversity Initiative:
http://www.woodsholediversity.org/Memorandum.html

Woods Hole Diversity Advisory Committee: http://www.woodsholediversity.org/


2014 Bullard Diversity Award Presented to Lionel Hall:
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/pr2014/news/nr1407/

John K. Bullard Diversity Award:
http://www.woodsholediversity.org/event1213.htm

History of Juneteenth: http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm

-- 
Pat Harcourt
pharcourt at gmail.com
508 215-9641
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