All Events
Race Matters Series
Fighting for the Planet We Choose: Science, Advocacy, and Liberatory Futures
Professor Timnit Kefela
MCC Theater
In this lecture, Professor Timnit Kefela (Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management at CSU Channel Islands) will share her experience at the UN Environment Programme headquarters in Geneva. She will present her insights into how scientific evidence is translated into global environmental policies. She will discuss how different UN delegations have clashed over environmental policymaking and how these conflicts have affected marginalized communities. Learn how Dr. Kefela’s research and advocacy aim to design liberatory and community-driven solutions for waste management and pollution. A Q&A will follow Dr. Kefela’s lecture.
Resilient Love
Building Accountable Communities with Creativity IRL
Richie Reseda and JJ’88
MCC Theater and Lounge
Private Film Screening + Discussion Circles + Performance
The MultiCultural Center presents an exclusive private screening for the campus community. Watch SONGS FROM THE HOLE, the Netflix Original award-winning visual album-documentary composed in prison. Enjoy live music by the film’s writer, music artist, and main character, JJ’88. Then join discussion circles hosted by Richie Reseda and JJ ‘88, where they will discuss practicing real-life tools to build self-accountability and accountable communities, without relying on shame or punishment. Richie Reseda practices transformative justice in his relationships and daily life. He is a formerly-incarcerated music and film producer, content creator, organizer, and creative director. He produced the feature film, SONGS FROM THE HOLE, following just having co-created and co-hosted the Spotify original podcast Abolition X. While in prison, he started the worker-owned media collective Question Culture, and co-founded Success Stories, the feminist-accountability program chronicled in the CNN documentary, “The Feminist on Cell Block Y.” By way of North Long Beach, JJ ‘88 purposed his original music and life story as the focal point of the multi-award-winning visual album-documentary SONGS FROM THE HOLE, which he wrote and co-produced from prison.
Creative Community Care
Saiyare Refaei
MCC Lounge
Saiyare Refaei (they/she) is a Chinese Iranian artist based in Tacoma, WA (Puyallup land). Working across murals, printmaking, digital art, and poetry, they use art to build community, education, and healing.
A member of Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, Saiyare has contributed to We Need a Reckoning and illustrated the workbook for Let This Radicalize You. Their work centers collaboration and uplifting community stories.
See more: justseeds.org/artist/saiyarerefaei/
Instagram: @saikick
“Freeing” Academic Freedom
Dr. Ingrid Banks
MCC Theater
The Common Cause for Student Affairs and Academic Affairs
In January 2024, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (VCSA) launched the Faculty in Residence (FIR) program, a formal collaboration between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, with the explicit goal of supporting academic engagement and a better campus climate. Named in honor of former AVC of Student Affairs and Emerita Professor in Black Studies, Dr. Claudine Michel, the FIR models her pioneering efforts in supporting the outstanding work that the Division of Student Affairs engages in on campus. One of the FIR duties is to host the annual Lupe Navarro-Garcia Lecture in honor of another AVC in Student Affairs dedicated to faculty and staff collaboration.
Dr. Ingrid Banks is currently serving as the Inaugural Claudine Michel FIR and has been leading the program’s development. In this year’s annual Lupe Navarro-Garcia Lecture, titled: “’Freeing’ Academic Freedom: The Common Cause for Student Affairs and Academic Affairs.” Dr. Banks will share highlights from her year with Student Affairs and the importance of faculty partnership for student success, both inside and outside the classroom.
