Good Trouble Conversations on Race and Justice
Join us for moderated, open and free discussions about current race and justice topics and how we can effect positive change. For more information about the Good Trouble Conversations series, contact the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence at diverse@regis.edu.
Fall 2023 Conversations
Imaginemos Cosas Chingonas! Finding our identities and elevating our voices as an HSI through radical love
Date: Friday, Sept. 15
Time: Noon-1:30 p.m.
Location: Claver Hall, 328
Description: The recent HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) designation for Regis University invites us to reflect on our identity and rethink how we serve our students and communities. As we become more familiarized with the term HSI, Regis University has an opportunity to elevate the voices, ideas, theories, and experiences of the communities that intersect with the term Hispanic. By centering our conversation on radical love as proposed in Monsenor Romero's work, this conversation focuses on how we can learn from the ideas and efforts of the Central American people, with whom Regis has had strong connections since the 1980s. By reflecting on the histories and views of the Central American people and connecting them to the activism and social work of our community at Regis, we can find a path to reimagine ourselves as an HSI.
La reciente designación de HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) para Regis University abre un nuevo espacio para reflexionar sobre nuestra identidad y repensar cómo servimos a nuestros estudiantes y comunidades. A medida que nos familiarizamos más con el término HSI, Regis University encuentra con una oportunidad para elevar las voces, ideas, teorías y experiencias de las comunidades que se intersectan con el término hispano. Al presentar la idea de amor radical en la obra de Monseñor Romero, esta conversación se centra en cómo podemos aprender de las ideas y esfuerzos del pueblo centroamericano, con quien Regis ha estado caminando desde la década de 1980. Al reflexionar sobre las historias y puntos de vista del pueblo centroamericano y conectarlos con el activismo y el trabajo social de nuestra comunidad en Regis, podemos encontrar un camino para reinventarnos a nosotros mismos como HSI e imaginar cosas chingonas.
Speaker Bio: Heider Tun Tun (Firm Rock in Yucatec Maya) is an assistant professor of History in the Department of History, Politics, and Political Economy. He is a first-generation Mayan scholar from Tahmek (the "place of the big hug"), Mexico. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and his postdoctoral studies at the University of California, Irvine. He is currently finishing a book on testimonios with the first human rights organization from El Salvador called Co-Madres, which captures the voices of activism, faith, hope, love, and resistance of the Salvadoran women who responded to the violence of the armed conflict in their country (1980-1992). In addition, his recent co-authored article "Numeric Practices of Coloniality in the Transatlantic World, "published in the Journal of Mathematics and Culture, shows Heider's interest in Indigenous ways of knowing and epistemologies. Heider's recent presentations include the talk titled "Cultural Appropriation of Indigenous Legacies: The Bloody Battle of Quipocamayos in San Pedro de Chorrillos (Lima, Peru) 1778" and the workshop called "The Practice of the Kipus" that were featured in the Andere Kulturtechniken (Other Cultural Techniques) series sponsored by the Department of History and Theory of Cultural Techniques at Bauhaus University in Weimar Germany.
Heider Tun Tun (Roca Firme en maya yucateco) es profesor asistente de Historia en el Departamento de Historia, Política y Economía Política. Heider es un intelectual maya y el primero en su familiar en estudiar mas alla del sexto grado y es originario de Tahmek (el "lugar del gran abrazo"), México. Heider completó su doctorado en la Universidad de Minnesota, Twin Cities, y sus estudios postdoctorales en la Universidad de California, Irvine. Actualmente está terminando un libro sobre testimonios con la primera organización ferminista de derechos humanos de El Salvador llamada Co-Madres. Este proyecto captura las voces del activismo, la fe, la esperanza, el amor y la resistencia de las mujeres salvadoreñas que respondieron a la violencia del conflicto armado en su país (1980-1992). Además, su reciente artículo en caoautoria titulado "Numeric Practices of Coloniality in the Transatlantic World", publicado en el Journal of Mathematics and Culture, muestra el interés de Heider por las formas de conocimiento y las epistemologías indígenas. Entre sus presentaciones recientes se incluyen la presentacion titulada: "Apropiación cultural de los legados indígenas: La sangrienta batalla de Quipocamayos en San Pedro de Chorrillos (Lima, Perú) 1778" y el taller denominado "La práctica del Kipus" que se presentaron como parte de las platicas de la serie Andere Kulturtechniken (Otros Técnicas Culturales) patrocinadas y organizadas por el Departamento de Historia y Teoría de las Técnicas Culturales de la Universidad Bauhaus en Weimar, Alemania
From Coping to Hoping: Teaching to Thrive through Social Trauma
Date: Thursday, Sept. 28
Time: Noon-1 p.m.
Location: Claver Hall, 328
Description: This presentation will juxtapose research in the health sciences with critical pedagogy to inform a new paradigm for thinking about pedagogy, social traumas, and education. This framework will consider how the socially toxic stress often disrupting learning can be more effectively remedied. This type of pedagogical approach can facilitate critical hope and, in turn, be transformative because it allows students to imagine ways they can thrive through socially toxic stress.
Speaker Bio: In collaboration with the Division of Education, we will welcome Dr. Patrick Camangin, professor of Teacher Education at the University of San Francisco. Patrick’s interdisciplinary research on humanizing education intersects critical and culturally relevant pedagogy, critical literacy, and health science research. Patrick pursues these areas of research to improve teacher quality, capacity, and retention, as well as to inform policies and practices impacting urban schools and communities.
¡Haciendo Lío!: A University Ministry and ODEIE Debrief of the ¡El Futuro is Here! Conference from Dominican University
Date: Friday, Oct. 27
Time: 1-2 p.m.
Location: St. John Francis Regis Chapel
Description: Join the University Ministry and ODEIE Team as they share some of the things they learned from the “¡El Futuro is Here!” Conference at Dominican University. They will talk about the importance of community, faith, and ministry work for Latine students as Regis continues the work towards the servingness of our HSI designation.
One Book, One Regis: Solito Juntos
Date: Friday, Nov. 17
Time: noon-1 p.m.
Location: Mountain View Room, Claver Hall and via Livestream
Description: Join the First Year Experience Office and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence as we welcome Javier Zamora. This conversation will circulate around Javier Zomora’s book, Solito, as well as cultural and historical significance of a broken immigration system in America.
Speaker Bio: Javier Zamora was born in La Herradura, El Salvador in 1990. When he was a year old, his father fled El Salvador due to the US-funded Salvadoran Civil War (1980-1992). His mother followed her husband’s footsteps in 1995 when Javier was about to turn five. Zamora was left at the care of his grandparents who helped raise him until he migrated to the US when he was nine. His first poetry collection, Unaccompanied (Copper Canyon Press, September 2017), explores some of these themes.
In his debut New York Times bestselling memoir, Solito (Hogarth, September 2022), Javier retells his nine-week odyssey across Guatemala, Mexico, and eventually through the Sonoran Desert. He traveled unaccompanied by boat, bus and foot. After a coyote abandoned his group in Oaxaca, Javier managed to make it to Arizona with the aid of other migrants.
Zamora was a 2018-2019 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and holds fellowships from CantoMundo, Colgate University (Olive B. O'Connor), MacDowell, Macondo, the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation (Ruth Lilly), Stanford University (Stegner), and Yaddo. He is the recipient of a 2017 Lannan Literary Fellowship, the 2017 Narrative Prize, and the 2016 Barnes & Noble Writer for Writers Award for his work in the Undocupoets Campaign.
Javier lives in Tucson, AZ.
These conversations are inspired by the late Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis, who passed away in 2020. Lewis, who was beaten by police during the "Bloody Sunday" civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, called on people to "get in good trouble, necessary trouble and redeem the soul of America." He urged young people to speak out, be persistent, and be non-violent in demanding transformational societal change.
"You must find a way to get in the way and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. You have a moral obligation, a mission and a mandate, when you leave here, to go out and seek justice for all. You can do it. You must do it."
-John Lewis, speech to college graduates, 2016
Community Forum on Race and Justice
We've been here many times before, but this moment feels different. The scale of protests; the intensity of pain being shared by the Black community; the expressions of support and allyship from other historically marginalized communities and white citizens; and the tenor of the calls for justice from public figures, faith leaders, and educational institutions—these give me hope. These forces are pushing us all to reckon with America's original sin of racism and its institutions, policies, and attitudes.
As an American historian, I look to the past to make sense of the present and to hope for the future. Our history is filled with moments of opportunity that we squandered. Moments when we had the chance to prioritize the promises of our founding documents and we didn't. Moments when justice-minded folks almost found unity, but then didn't. Moments when we created programs for change, but then forgot to listen to those most affected by them. My hope is that we seize this moment and come together in the long, hard work of justice and resist the forces that try to divide us. My hope is that we all use our privilege to amplify voices that are all-too-often silenced or ignored in the flurry of activity and emotions of moments like this.
Thank you to all who contributed their words of wisdom and strength here. Making our voices heard collectively is the first step in this movement. Please take a moment to read the messages from our diverse community, then explore our collection of resources to learn about these issues for yourself. I encourage you to reflect on and discern how we can make, seek, and achieve justice together.
Nicki Gonzales, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion
Associate Professor of History, Regis College
Hear Prof. Gonzales discuss historic monuments on Colorado Public Radio
"A New Racial Profile," monotype/silkscreen by Professor Tony Ortega
Get Involved
Voices
Reflections and calls to action from Regis University students, faculty and staff.
Amadia Al-Amin: Feeling unsafe doing ordinary things
Asian Student Alliance: The model minority myth
Asian Student Alliance: We plead for recognition
Barbara J. Wilcots: Do you see me?
Black Student Alliance: Here we are again. And again. And again.
Christopher Pramuk: Elijah McClain, Pray for Us
Fr. Fernando Álvarez-Lara, S.J.: We are asking for breath
Message from then-President Fitzgibbons: Stand against anti-Asian hate
Message from then-President Fitzgibbons: Regis University stands with you
Nicki Gonzales: We can't afford to fail this time
Patrick I. Romero-Aldaz: As an institution, we must live our mission
Regis University Student Government Association (RUSGA): This racism did not begin with the virus
Regis University Student Government Association (RUSGA): Through dialogue we affect positive change
The Regis community, led by RUSGA officers, demonstrated for the Black Lives Matter movement at the Colorado statehouse in June. Then-President Rev. John P. Fitzgibbons, S.J., and other Jesuit priests joined the protest and led prayers. (Photos by Bear Gutierrez)
Elijah McClain, 25 February 1996 – 30 August 2019– posted by my friend, the artist and iconographer, William Hart McNichols. My own meditation on his painting follows.