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Ballroom has Something to Say About Being Human, and the Struggle for Freedom, in the Face of Catastrophe – 3 Part Series

Wednesday, June 9, 2021
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Jennifer Lee and Icon, Hall of Famer, Michael Roberson for a 3 part series: Ballroom has Something to Say About Being Human, and the Struggle for Freedom, in the Face of Catastrophe

Part I: Between Two Pandemics: A Ballroom Protocol of Becoming, A Hegemony in Resistance Discourse, A Kairos Moment of Reckoning

Objectives:

  1. Describe the history of the house and ballroom community
  2. Describe the history of HIV organizing in NYC at the intersection of COVID-19 and anti-Blackness
  3. Discuss lessons learned at the intersection 40th anniversary of HIV/AIDS and COVID-19

Resources to be shared:

 

Jennifer E. Lee
Jennifer E. Lee

Jennifer E. Lee

Jennifer E. Lee, MPH, PhD is dedicated to making an impact on the world by addressing health inequities and health injustices in diverse communities. Through the lens of resiliency, community empowerment, advocacy/social justice movements, human rights, community-based participatory research, and a strengths-based approach, her research and work provide unique pathways for individuals and communities to make changes through explicit aims at social and political change. While addressing the root causes of social, cultural, political and economic determinants that underpin health, she also seeks to build partnerships with other sectors in finding innovative solutions to the most vexing public health issues. She created the #HouseLivesMatter initiative in 2015 and serves on several advocacy/coalition groups and as a board member (Life 4 All & In Our Own Voices), where she is a liaison, advocate, and voice for those communities she serves and is actively part of. Dr. Lee has advanced her journey as a leader, community advocate, cultural provocateur, and social justice/human rights pioneer in the field of public health with an MPH and PhD from the CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy. Dr. Lee is also the first recipient of the Dr. Adwele Troutman Health Equity and Social Justice Scholars Award, demonstrating her commitment and dedication to the principles of health equity, social justice, human rights, community activism, and national and global health. She is a NASTAD Minority Leadership Fellow of the 2018-2019 cohort, a space rooted in social justice for health department staff of color to engage in critical conversations regarding intersectional systems of oppression, structural processes, and intersectional causes of health inequities impacting sexual/gender expansive people and communities of color. In 2020, she was inducted into the first class of CUNY School of Public Health’s Delta Omega, Epsilon Chi Public Health Honorary Society Chapter.

 

Michael Roberson
Michael Roberson

Michael Roberson

Michael Roberson is a public health practitioner, advocate, activist, artist, curator, and leader within the LGBTQ community. He is the co-creator of the nation’s only Black Gay Research group and National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition, as well as an Adjunct Professor at The New School University/Lang College NYC, and Union Theological Seminary NYC. He is an international art and politics consultant and a member of the international sound art collective entitled “Ultra-red.” Michael scholar in residence for the Center for Race, Religion, and Economic Democracy, as well as recent TED Media Resident, where he performed a global TED talk about the underground Black/Latinx House/ball ballroom community, entitled “The enduring legacy of ballroom” (https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_roberson_the_enduring_legacy_of_ballroom) For Black History Month 2021, Michael co-authored an article in Time Magazine titled “Why Voguing and the Ballroom Scene Matter Now More than Ever.” (https://time.com/5941822/ballroom-voguing-queer-black-culture-renaissance/ ) Michael also serves as a cultural consultant for the Pose FX television show. Additionally, he is a public health advisor and community engagement specialist for the NYC COVID-19 contract tracing initiative.

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