Dialogues for Diversity Archive 2024-25

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 | 11 a.m.-12 p.m.

A panel discussion on education in the Latinx community, including the barriers and available pathways to success. Hear from DCCC alum Evelyn Lara, Victoria Hernandez, from Esperanza Academy Charter High school and Jorge Duchini, a prominent member of the Southern Chester County Latinx community and board member on several community boards. 

Wednesday, October 2, 2024 | 10:10-11:05 a.m. | Marple Campus, Academic Building, Large Auditorium | Livestream

Hear from the dynamic Erick Woods, Director of Student-Athlete Development at St. Joseph’s University, former high school and college basketball coach and Division 1 student-athlete. Based on his work with student-athletes, Woods will deliver a motivational talk on how we can push our own bounds to achieve whatever we set our minds to. His trademark motto, “Raise Your Bar” proposes five pillars for success: 

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 | 10 – 11 a.m. | Marple Campus, Academic Building, Large Auditorium | Livestream

Through a partnership between DCCC’s Dialogues for Diversity Speaker Series and the Women’s Empowerment Initiative, we’re honored to host Patrice Banks, founder and CEO of Girls Auto Clinic!

Located in Upper Darby, the Girls Auto Clinic is a growing community of women and girls who are redefining the automotive world on their own terms.

Banks’s success as an entrepreneur, mechanic, engineer, author, speaker and visionary is empowering women to have an equal voice and role in all aspects of the auto industry and beyond.

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Marple Campus, Academic Building, Large Auditorium | Livestream

Hear from DCCC professors Cahill and LaMonica, joined by W. Ronald Williams and Barry Lee, board director and director, respectively, of the Circle Legacy Center, an organization to promote and assist the Native Americans in the Southeast, Pa. region.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024 | 6 – 8 p.m. | Marple Campus, Academic Building, Large Auditorium | Livestream

This event will include an introduction by Shuja Moore, director of the documentary, and a Q&A following the documentary screening

Having a criminal record as a returning citizen can feel like a life sentence. Discriminatory practices against people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system has been a human rights issue for far too long. Help us raise awareness on Human Rights Day by joining us for the documentary “Pardon Me,” providing a comprehensive look at how a pardon can serve as a powerful legal mechanism to erase a person’s criminal past. 

Through personal narratives, “Pardon Me” highlights the broader societal implications, including the collateral consequences that affect thousands of families and communities across the United States.

Thursday, January 23, 2025 | 6-8 p.m. | Livestream 

In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Dr. Rose reflected on the courage and resilience of ordinary men and women, particularly in South Florida’s Black Freedom Struggle. Sharing insights into the legacy of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, as well as the ongoing fight against racial injustice, Dr. Rose spoke on how Dr. King’s legacy was the product of many efforts in various locations throughout the South. Since Florida has become ground zero in the cultural wars over teaching about race and U.S. history, Rose also discussed the historical context of contemporary battles over banned books and the anti-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) movement.

Join us for a lecture by Ron Tarver, acclaimed photographer and Swarthmore College associate professor of art, as he presents his new book The Long Ride Home: Black Cowboys in America.

Thursday, February 13, 2025 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | In person and Livestream 

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | In person and Livestream 

Join us for our Moon Shot Week keynote address by Dr. Antoinette Newsome, associate director/consultant for EAB’s Moon Shot for Social & Economic Mobility, a transformational initiative to eliminate equity gaps and improve student outcomes. Dr. Newsome will explore the intersection of women’s leadership and equity, highlighting the persistence of gender gaps in education and leadership.

“Desert Rose” is a husband and wife-owned and run restaurant which opened in March of 2012 on State Street in downtown Media, Pa. Since opening, Desert Rose caught the attention of Michael Klein of the Philadelphia Inquirer and has been named one the best new restaurants of 2012 by Mainline Today, “Best Bites of the Burbs” by Philly G magazine, and was named “Best Middle Eastern Restaurant Philadelphia 2013” by Philadelphia Magazine. Their Chicken Shawarma earned “Best of the Best” award in 2015 from County Lines magazine. 

Speaker: Dr. David Weinfeld is a scholar of North American Judaism and Jewish history with a focus on ideas of diversity and the intersection of religion, race, ethnicity, and culture. 

In this talk, Dr. Weinfeld will use the example of the friendship between two American philosophers, Jewish immigrant Horace Kallen (1882-1974) and African American Alain Locke (1885-1954) to explore how the two men helped develop the idea of cultural pluralism, a precursor to today’s multiculturalism. In so doing, Weinfeld would examine how the model of cultural pluralism as friendship could apply to the case of Black-Jewish relations in the United States, which has been affected by the recent war between the Israeli military and Hamas in Gaza.

Speaker: Chenlin Cai, DCCC Art Professor

Philadelphia is the mural capital of the United States. Among the more than 4,500 murals, those about Asian culture and history are underrepresented, which is inconsistent with the proportion of the Asian population. As an Asian artist, Chenlin Cai is thinking about how to increase public participation in murals with limited public resources and support, and explore using mural art as a medium to spread Asian culture and history. And to attract a new generation of Asian immigrants to express themselves more through art.