Wednesday, March 27, 12:00pm - 1:30pm
The Halton Room in J. Murrey Atkins Library and online
Free Hybrid Event - Registration Required:
Registration Form
The School of Social Work will provide 1.5 contact hours. Certificates will be sent after the event.
*A light lunch will be served for in-person attendees*
Dr. Javier E. García León (he/him) is an interdisciplinary scholar and educator. He holds a PhD in Spanish from the University of Ottawa in Canada and MA in Linguistics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics at the Department of Languages and Culture Studies at UNC Charlotte, where he conducts interdisciplinary research in language, power, and representation. His research agenda includes projects on language policies in Colombia as well as on the cultural and media representation of Latin American LGBTQI+ people. In particular, he has examined the representation of transgender women in Latin American newspapers, audiovisual journalism, and cinema of the last decades. Javier also collaborates in other intersectional projects that explore the representation of disability in Spanish speaking news outlets. His work has been published in journals such as the Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Latin American Research Review, and the Journal of Language and Sexuality, among many others. At Charlotte, he is the co-organizer of the annual Heritage Language Learning Symposium, an initiative to better serve the Hispanic population on campus and the region by increasing understanding of and knowledge about Spanish heritage speakers in the USA. Javier enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, playing pickleball, listening to reggaeton, and drinking coffee.
https://pages.charlotte.edu/connections/people/jgarci53/
https://www.peterlang.com/document/1111547
Rev. Debra J. Hopkins (she/her/hers) is a native New Yorker and a proud Trans Woman of Color. As a licensed non-denominational minister who continues to remain actively involved in ministry through pastoral care, writing, and community activism. Her theology continues to focus on social, political, and economic oppression, spiritual renewal and wholeness in a fragmented world. Debra is the Founder & CEO of There's Still Hope Charlotte Inc, a non-profit organization that provides a Transitional Housing Program in the Charlotte area for Trans and Nonbinary Adults living homeless. Through it all, she continues to spend time traveling around the country advocating for the marginalized people of her LGBTQIA community. As an inspirational-motivational speaker and teacher, facilitating educational workshops on Advocacy, Housing and Inclusion. As an activist, Debra believes “words have POWER” and she believes we can all be a real “Voice for Change” through action, activism, and community involvement that will help put an end to the social and economic discrimination that's ever present in our country. Serving the Charlotte area for the past 13 years. Reverend Hopkins, now resides in Hartsville, SC, but continues to remain active in and around Mecklenburg County. She’s earned several degrees, and profiles in the LGBT Religious Archives Network Gallery, and has been presented with several prestigious awards for her work. Debra is also the proud parent of three adult children and eight beautiful grandchildren and the author of Not Until You Have Walked In My Shoes and has written three anthologies.
https://www.amazon.com/Not-Until-Have-Walked-Shoes/dp/1082012149
https://www.tshcharlotte3.org/
Rev. Melissa McQueen-Simmons (she/her/hers) is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, and a first-generation college graduate. She is a mother to a fun and creative child Camdyn McQueen-Simmons, and the spouse to the beautiful and graceful Vondalyn McQueen-Simmons. She is a creative, an empath, an author, mystic, and Iraqi-Veteran. Melissa was born into Generation X, the demographic cohort between Baby Boomers and Millennials. She earned her Master of Divinity (M.Div.) with an emphasis in Pastoral Care at Howard University School of Divinity. Melissa is the Spiritual Director/virtual pastor for Wholy Ground Spiritual Center. Melissa is ordained in the United Church of Christ and is currently pulpit supply for the Southern Conference, co-leader for the Racial Justice and Equity team, and member of the worship committee at Holy Covenant UCC. She is also a facilitator for Our Whole Lives: Lifespan Sexuality Education, which fosters informed, responsible, and values-based decisions about sexual health and behavior. She is intentional about healthy relationships with self, others, and the Divine of our understanding. She is committed to relationship-building within the community. Melissa also leads the LGBTQ committee for the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice. Her goal is to work with the oppressed and advocate for restorative justice in both church and community with the intention of enforcing God’s inclusive love for all of creation.
https://wholyground.org/our-team/rev-melissa-mcqueen-simmons/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissamcqueensimmons/
Thomas Garvin (They/he), better known as Tommy Allgood, is a Registered Nurse turned Community Care Director doing work with community + capacity building and organizational development. Tommy is from and of Charlotte, NC; land stolen from the Sugaree, Catawba, Cheraw, and Waxhaw people. They/He have a passion for helping people navigate mental, emotional, and spiritual roadblocks by developing grounding practices centered in self and community that foster co-creation and resiliency in the face of adversity and resistance. Tommy works with organizations to facilitate cultural shifts that are people-centered and compassion-oriented, breaking down what it means to be in authentic service of self and communities.
Tommy's current work includes educating and transforming organizational visions + missions to meet the modern-day challenges of diversity, inclusion, equity, and anti-racism principles and practices; Spiritual care rooted in personal + collective discovery utilizing tools that center a holistic perspective + embodied self; Knowledge sharing and strategy building with organizations so that they foster healthy people and healthy environments; Exploring + Advancing Bodily Liberation at the intersections of the Black and Queer experience.
The UNC Charlotte Race and Social Equity Academy (RASE) Spring Forum is hosted in collaboration with the School of Social Work Practicum Education Office, J. Murrey Atkins Library, Gerontology Program, and BSW Club. The forum will focus on advancing inclusive policy and advocacy practices for racialized LGBTQ+ populations across the lifespan. The forum will feature a moderated panel of dynamic speakers sharing best practices for inclusion and advocacy from an intersectional lens.
The Race and Social Equity Academy (RASE) fosters the scholarship of practice and research focused on advancing racial and social parities within the community. Along with empirical scholarship, race dialogue will be supported through intellectual discourse, bringing together thought leaders in our community representing a variety of perspectives on race and social equity matters.
