Natasha singh
Open letter to chss COMMUNITY:
Dear CHHS Community:
We are graduate students in the Human Sexuality Program who are writing in the aftermath of our Summer 2020 class. While what happened in our class has already been detailed in the letter of solidarity we sent to our class and in a recent open letter of support written by Black faculty/BIPOC alum, we recognize that our experience is just one of MANY examples of racial illiteracy that people have experienced in the program. We know that there are countless untold stories of white aggression, misguided allyship, and facilitator inaction/ineptitude related to race from CHSS' long history, and we invite other BIPOC students/alumni/faculty to share their stories with us to amplify the volume of our calls to action.
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As CHHS now embarks on work to address racial illiteracy and the concomitant harm it has produced in the program, it must ask itself serious ethical questions about not only what kind of training faculty will be receiving to navigate and facilitate conversations about race, but also what will be done to develop racial, cultural, and transnational competency among future sex educators, social workers, and sex therapists before dispatching them to our communities. Given our own experiences of harm and the experiences named and alluded to in the faculty open letter, it matters to us that practices and protocols are created to repair harm when it occurs and that all members of our community are given opportunities to cultivate the resilience and practice required to navigate courageous conversations. Given the small size of our community, we ask that CHHS explore reparative models that can better support us in inhabiting the same spaces with greater safety, accountability, and trust.
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We would like to call your attention to a key factor that underpins the issues outlined above, namely that the “Human” in Human Sexuality is a misnomer. So long as our classes continue to privilege white epistemologies and American perspectives, we remain active or unwitting participants in a racist and imperialist effort that seeks to universalize white and American experience. Nonwhite people around the world have long had their own taxonomies for gender, sexuality, and relationships, yet these taxonomies are given scant if any attention in the Human Sexuality classroom at Widener. Considering that the US is comprised of many cultures, worldviews, and cosmologies, which invariably make their way into our classrooms, practices, and workplaces, a greater plurality of voices is required not only in this field, but also in whom and what we choose to center in our classes. Our course content needs to shift such that it centers rather than marginalizes BIPOC epistemologies and epistemologies of the Global South.
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The composition of our faculty matters to us and must be a part of this effort. Considering the recent resignation of a Black faculty member from our program and the glaring lack of representation by faculty of color overall, we look forward to hearing what your plans are not only to recruit new BIPOC faculty, but also to retain the invaluable and beloved Black faculty and faculty of color who are already here. We would also like to know what you will be doing to recruit and retain faculty who have transnational perspectives and are committed to decoloniality as a core tenet of their praxis.
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We know the desire to see equity, justice, and change throughout CHSS is felt not only by BIPOC students. Clearly there are CHSS faculty and alum that feel as we do. Indeed, we stand in gratitude and in solidarity with their open letter. In light of the recent letters of support from faculty, CHHS, and private communications with others in our community, we are heartened to know that there are allies among us in the classroom, administration, and the field who recognize that a hard look at systemic and institutional failures to address racism is urgently needed and long overdue.
If you stand in support with our calls to action, please cosign this letter by adding your name in the comments section below or replying to this e-mail with IN SOLIDARITY in the subject line, and we will gladly add your name.
*If you are a BIPOC CHSS student and want to get involved in our BIPOC STUDENT ACTION GROUP, please send any of us a private message.
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We look forward to working together towards a new vision of CHSS that holds at its center the values and practice of justice and equity.
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In solidarity,
Angelica Thorne, Natasha Singh, Denise Williams-Braswell
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Alysha Rooks
Jaxson Benjamin
Robert J. Kreisinger Denk
Leah J. Dirkse
Rennee D Willett
Naomi Berner
Tyler G Burns
Hilary Wermers
Sara Rodberg
Brooke N Madden
Darlene White
Lauren Akin-Smith
Dr. Dyson
Sarah A Rammos
Nicole Rosenthal
Ashley Di
Tamar Beck
Rachael Jennings
Cassie Wolf
Kelley Sisson
Laura Rathsmill
Sarah Brezinski
Dani W-b
Elicia Gonzales
Kelly Burns
Ceclina Wigle
Lyndsay Mercier
Lei R. Cort
Nicole Porter
Kagen Gray
Katelyn Regan
Courtney Weaver
Kelly J Quinn
Jo FørrÄ—st-Stuart
Kristen O’Guin
Melody Leonor
Andi Koch
Rachel Simon
Nicole Rosenthal
Melissa Bryson
Timaree Leigh
Drew Burdick
Shanna Katz Kattari
Norah E Langweiler
Denise Renye
Hillary Grumbine
Meghan Dunleavy
Jessica L. Studer
Dr. Brent Satterly
Margo Kelly
Natasha Mack
Sarah Joy Hoover
Dave Schwartz
Victoria Panna
Marina Klier
Michaela Colleen
Sarah Hoffert
Jaclyn Jacobs
Leslie Massicotte
Kate Butler Sutton
RJ Jamison
Cassie Lange
Molly Wolf
Topher Bryant
Samantha Morris
Sarah Hoffert
Shanna Williams
Megan Speir
Courtney Watson
Jennifer Litner
Tatyannah King
Emily L. Depasse
Arial Moore
Jamila Dawson
Lisha Amin
Kayla Rivera
Li Lock
Jessica Sanchez
Amy jay
Krista Niederjohn
Mallory Michel
Sukrita Kala Dabral
Lindsay Michelle
Melanie Swain-Knapp
Kierson Romero
Alison McKee
Elizabeth Shroeder
Angie Foster-Lawson
Kat Pheysey
Jamie J. LeClaire
Nicole Green
Cristen Kennedy
Athalie Paynting
Dani W-b
Elliot Ruggles
Kim Fuller
L’Oreal McCollum
Laura Ross
Kasey Mairs
Julianne Cridlin
Janah Boccio
Sarah Diamond
Kaci Mial
Damiene Denner
Laura Hyde
Ericka Hart
Edward Angelini-Cooke
Marlene Pray
Emily Yantis-Houser
Lore Olvera
Rebecca Bunten
Emily Linnea
Sarah Simon
Connie Bonillas
Stacie Courtney-Mustaphi
Emily Shown
Lo Fitzgibbons
Marti Stany
Ana G. Santoy
Victoria Hummel
Landi Turner
Melanie Davis
Ryan W. McKee
Rachel Lee Nigsch
Stephanie Chando
Darcie Toone
Monique Howard
Brandon Pace
Shannon Criniti
Meredith Kramer Leach
Jenna Emerson
Kelly Conroy
Trisha Hicks
Jenn DiBartolomeo
Alice Holland
Latoya Brooks
Sarah Elizabeth Rose
Isabel Kaufman
Hope Spector
Kelli Wosick
Alexa Cortez
Ren Grabert
Mara Pliskin
David Schwartz LCSW
Stephen J Milburn
Laura C Hyde
Alicia Ricketts
Sarah Gannon
Joli Lenuso
Kat Ann
Katelin McNally
Chelsea Varnum
Christopher White
David Schwartz
Jacob D Glickman
Assyli Lynn
Jennifer Pollitt
Amy Kellogg
Karla Diaz
Becky Anthony
Shanna Dusablon
Renee Roy
Sarah Cyr-Mutty
Mia Barrett
Mauricio P. Yabar
Jessica Duggan
Eli R Green
Lisa Schulze
Neek Queen
Libby Diamon
Erika Karpman
Erica Smith
Soraiya Papaya
Malika O’Neill
Jennifer Goldberg
Tessa Eve FoxyKula
Megan R. Healy
Katelyn R Regan
Jasmine McLean
Ashton Higgins
Amy Pedigo Carmichael
Jennie Pless
Jenn Hinds
Cindy Lee Alves
Isobel Connors
Mara A Cash
Carly Goodkin
Mary Tierney
Diane Richards
Alice Holland
Elizabeth R. Anderson
Alexa Kaczmarski
Shannon Lawton-O'Boyle
Hanna Lynch
Sonalee Rashatwar
Liz Mallers
Tifphane Riley
Donna Oriowo
Connie Bowes
Sebastian Sprague
Kristine Seitz
Cristina Valcarcel Mikijanic
Kristin Chapman Anderson
Paige Fegan
Lynn Andrews
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