Attendees will examine the stages of securing freedom, defending it against constant incursion, and ultimately the flourishing of individual persons and dreams along America’s river of dreams. Presented by Bill Jeffway, Executive Director of the Dutchess County Historical Society.
Book discussion of Juneteenth, Ralph Ellison’s second novel published posthumously in 1999, created by Ellison’s friend and biographer John Callahan from more than 2,000 pages written by him over a period of 40 years. Callahan edited the novel in the way he believed that Ellison would have wanted it to be written. RSVP HERE
In the 18th and 19th centuries, African American people in the Mid-Hudson Valley faced enslavement, racism, and other barriers to full participation in the social and political milieus of New York. The Hudson River – both actual and as metaphor – offers a centerpiece for understanding those barriers and the fight for freedom. Join Peter Bunten at the East Gate Plaza in Poughkeepsie on Sunday, July 16 from 1-2 p.m. for this interesting historical lecture.
Peter Bunten is Executive Director of the Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project, with which he has been affiliated for 13 years. He is the current Vice President of the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State and serves as a Trustee of the Dutchess County Historical Society. Through MHAHP he also is affiliated with Celebrating the African Spirit in Poughkeepsie and serves on the steering committee of the Northern Slavery Collective. Before his retirement in 2018, Mr. Bunten was the Education Manger for Historic Hudson Valley. He has a Master’s degree in Historical Studies, with an emphasis on Public History, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is a native of Poughkeepsie and attended local schools here.
Arlington Parters Against Racism is group of action-oriented anti-racist community members and parents in the Arlington Central School District dedicated to equity and institutional diversity. We amplify the voices, experiences, and needs of marginalized groups to ensure they are represented, understood, and responded to. Our focus is on race and racism. We intentionally center and support District members from marginalized racial groups. As we stand in solidarity with other groups organizing to support communities experiencing marginalization and oppression, we affirm our collective commitment to creating and maintaining a district in which all members can thrive.
Project or Position Title: Program Support
Project or Position Description:
The last two decades, racial diversity has significantly increased in the Arlington Central School District, the K-12 school district in which Vassar sits. Despite the district’s demographic changes, its policies, practices, and culture have for the most part remained stagnant. Moreover, recent interviews with district members, and studies of the district’s policies, practices, and culture, reveal persisting and deeply-embedded racism, bias, discrimination, and inequality that jeopardize institutional well-being, and the emotional, physical, and mental health of students, and their ability to thrive and strive for excellence. Arlington has been cited by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) for disproportionately disciplining Black and Latino/a/x students. Students of color are frequent victims of racist physical and mental violence and speech, and administrators and educators of color are vulnerable to disciplinary action including dismissal.
ArlingtON PAR intends to offer educational and community engaged learning experiences for Vassar students to engage with ACSD’s students, faculty, administrators, initiatives, and entities, the Board of Education, a decision- and policy-making body that has enormous power and long lasting impact over the lives and futures of students. We join with the college and faculty to encourage, support, and facilitate Vassar students’ engagement outside of the classroom and college space. We hope to build a culture at Vassar where students are interested, invested, and committed in being more relational with local community members and to working on projects that benefit the local community. Students will have an opportunity to develop important skills and learn concrete tools that will serve them well. Not only will students be positioned to gain knowledge about the local K-12 district, but they will be supported in doing something about the issues they recognize.
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Specific Skills/Experience Required for the Project:
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Please join the Race Unity Circle as we relive the emotion, and revisit the man, the philosopher, the prophet through a study of some of his lesser-known works.
How do you feel about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr? Who was he? What is his true legacy? We all have answers to these questions, some handed to us in grade school, others perhaps formulated through a study of his work and deep contemplation. Still, much of Dr. King’s work remains generally under-appreciated and is often trivialized. 53 years later, we still struggle to appreciate the many facets of this beloved, and hated, American jewel.
