april 2021 - ahrc nassau

April 2021

A Message from the Diversity Newsletter Committee

The first quarter of 2021 was a busy one for our Diversity Initiative. We celebrated Martin Luther King’s

birthday in January with our virtual video on “Disparities in Society: A Call For Understanding and

Action”; Black History Month in February with a Black History Jeopardy Contest, and Women’s History

Month in March. In addition, the schools engaged in a wide variety of activities related to these

observances.

In March, the Diversity Committee hosted its two-part program on “Understanding and Eradiating the

Roots of Systemic Racism.” Over 100 staff attended Part 1 and over 65 staff attended Part 2. A summary

of the program is found in this newsletter. We would like to thank everyone who participated in either

or both parts. Your support of our efforts is truly appreciated.

In addition, we would like to thank the following staff who worked for the past few months to put this

program together:

Diversity Committee: Bridget Cariello, Dalton George, Hassan Abdulhaqq, Jerri Walker, Linda Rosen,

Michelle Dressler, Nikki Katz, Shaun Weathers

Clinicians: Blair Flynn, Christine Schulte, Elinor Tenenbaum, Lauren Jaquay, Talia Abreu

Community Resources: Jennifer Apelian, Mary Kate Dunphy, Monica Montoya

IT: Tony Daniels

We would also like to thank Executive Director Stanfort Perry whose leadership and support of the

diversity initiative makes all of these activities possible.

Along with the positive often comes the negative. The recent hate crimes again Asian-Americans cannot

be tolerated. We support all efforts to protect the rights and safety of all Americans.

We hope you will enjoy this issue of the Diversity Newsletter and find the contents to be informative.

Please remember that this is your newsletter and we would like to include items of interest and

importance to you. Please forward any ideas, recipes, news about events you may have held, and/or

suggestions for future editions to [email protected].

The Diversity Newsletter Committee- Linda Rosen, Paula DeVita, Shaun Weathers, Taneisha Christie

Diversity Newsletter April 2021 P a g e | 2

The Month of April Marks…

Celebrate Diversity Month

April is Celebrate Diversity Month, started in 2004 to recognize and

honor the diversity surrounding us all. By celebrating differences

and similarities during this month, organizers hope that people will

get a deeper understanding of each other.

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month, established to raise

awareness about the developmental disorder that affects an

individual's normal development of social and communication

skills.

April 2021 Diversity Calendar

April 1: Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), the Christian holiday commemorating the Last

Supper, at which Jesus and the Apostles were together for the last time before the Crucifixion. It

is celebrated on the Thursday before Easter.

April 2: Good Friday, a day celebrated by Christians to commemorate the execution of Jesus by

crucifixion. It is recognized on the Friday before Easter.

April 2: World Autism Awareness Day, created to raise awareness of the developmental

disorder around the globe.

April 4: Easter, a holiday celebrated by Christians to recognize Jesus’ return from death after the

Crucifixion.

April 7-8: Yom HaShoah, Israel’s day of remembrance for the approximately 6 million Jews

who perished in the Holocaust.

April 12-May 11 (sundown to sundown): Ramadan, an Islamic holiday marked by fasting,

praise, prayer and devotion to Islam.


April 12: Hindu New Year.

April 13: Equal Pay Day, an attempt to raise awareness about the raw wage gap, the figure that

shows that women, on average, earn about 80 cents for every dollar men earn. The date moves

earlier each year as the wage gap closes. Equal Pay Day began in 1996 by the National

Committee on Pay Equity as a public awareness event to illustrate the gender pay gap.

April 14: Vaisakhi (also known as Baisakhi), the celebration of the founding of the Sikh

community as the Khalsa (community of the initiated) and the birth of the Khalsa.

April 16-17 (sundown to sundown): Yom Ha’Atzmaut, national Independence Day in Israel.

April 20-May 1: The Festival of Ridvan, a holiday celebrated by those of the Bahá’í faith,

commemorating the 12 days when Bahá'u'lláh, the prophet-founder, resided in a garden called

Ridvan (paradise) and publicly proclaimed his mission as God’s messenger for this age.

April 21: Ram Navami, a Hindu day of worship and celebration of the seventh avatar of Vishnu

(Lord Rama). Devotees typically wear red and place extravagant flowers on the shrine of the

God.

April 22: Earth Day promotes world peace and sustainability of the planet. Events are held

globally to show support of environmental protection of the Earth.

April 23: St. George’s Day, the feast day of St. George celebrated by various Christian churches.

April 23: The Day of Silence, during which students take a daylong vow of silence to protest the

actual silencing of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students and their straight

allies due to bias and harassment.

April 24: Lazarus Saturday, a day celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental

Orthodoxy to commemorate the raising of Lazarus of Bethany.

April 24: Armenian Martyrs’ Day recognizes the genocide of approximately 1.5 million

Armenians between 1915 and 1923 in Turkey.

April 25: Mahavir Jayanti, a holiday celebrated by the Jains commemorating the birth of Lord

Mahavira. It is one of the most important religious festivals for Jains.

April 28: Ninth Day of Ridvan, a festival of joy and unity in the Bahá’í faith to commemorate

the reunification of Bahá'u'lláh’s family, and by extension the unity of the entire human family

the Bahá’í faith calls for. It permeates the symbolic meaning of the Ninth Day of Ridvan.

April 29-30 (sundown to sundown): Lag BaOmer, a Jewish holiday marking the day of hillula

of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.


Thoughts from our Staff:

What woman- past or present – would you like to have dinner with and why? What would you discuss? Oprah Winfrey to discuss the keys to success – Stanfort Perry Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg would be the woman I would like to have dinner with. I saw an exhibit on her two years ago and was so impressed by what she had accomplished in her life and what she represented. She was a ground breaker as one of the first women in the field of law (Harvard Law School and Kent Scholar at Columbia Law School). When her husband was sick, she not only continued her own work but audited his classes and typed notes for him so he would not fall behind in his studies. She was a staunch advocate for women’s rights. She was able to juggle her impressive career while raising a family and battling serious illnesses. I would like to know how she got the strength, courage and determination to accomplish all that she did – Michelle Dressler I would like to have dinner with Oprah Winfrey because I find her fascinating. She is so knowledgeable in a vast variety of subjects and is an advocate for what she believes in. I would like to discuss with her some of the interviews she has done over the years and find out which ones were the most surprising ones to her – Sue Limiti My paternal grandmother. She had a family of three (one being my father at age 2) and suddenly left them. Recently, through 23 & Me, my father was connected to a second family she produced after she left. She had three daughters and then she left them. They hoped he had answers and he hoped the same from him. No one knows what happened to her. I would love to have dinner with her and find out why she felt the need to leave. Not in a judgmental way, but did she feel overwhelmed as a mother? Did she feel she wasn’t meeting expectations? Did she reach out to supports? Were there supports then for women? - Jerri Walker I would choose Mother Teresa because of all she accomplished and the charity she created now helps many countries help those living in poverty. I would like to discuss with her what made her decide to dedicate her life helping the poor and what challenges she faced doing what she deemed to be “God’s work”. She was completely selfless and admired by the world and is praised for being a Saint - Leondra Buscemi, MSEd, SBL I would have loved to have dinner and conversation with Frida Kahlo. Born on July 6, 1907, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico, Frida Kahlo has been an inspiration to me in many ways. She was considered one of Mexico's greatest artists. She was born with polio, and started painting (mostly self-portraits) after she was severely injured in a bus accident. I would ask her how she was able to channel her pain and suffering into such amazing works of art. After attending the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum a few years ago, I was struck by her artistic talent. Not only did she paint, she created art out of her discarded body casts that she had to wear to keep immobilized since her bad accident. Frida was married to artist Diego Rivera; they became politically active and lived in Mexico and California. They divorced and remarried and had affairs in between. They traveled in intellectual circles and knew many artists (e.g. Piscasso!) , scholars and activists throughout the years. I would love to hear about those exciting times as well as her entire life! Frida Kahlo is to me the ultimate champion of women’s female creativity. She passed on July 13, 1954, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico – Nikki Katz I would like to have dinner with Barbara Corcoran and hear how she took a $1,000 loan and turned it into a very successful real estate business. As an investor on Shark Tank, she has helped many fledging businesses became outstanding successes. I am sure she has many interesting and inspiring stories to share – Linda Rosen


UNDERSTANDING AND ERADICATING THE ROOTS OF

SYSTEMIC RACISM

On March 9 and March 17, the Diversity Committee presented a two-part program on “Understanding

and Eradicating the Roots of Systemic Racism.”

Part 1 on March 9 was attended by over 105 staff and featured the following panelists: Alonzo Kelly,

motivational speaker and strategist; Fredrick Brewington, Civil rights attorney and Board member of

Erase Racism; Cornell Craig, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Hofstra University; and V. Elaine Gross,

Founder and President of Erase Racism.

Some of the main points made by the panelists were:

Alonzo Kelly – “Understanding and Recognizing Systemic Racism and Its Lasting Impact”

“It takes 2 generations to forget and 3 generations not to care”

Focused on the generational understanding of racism and how not having personal experiences with that of previous generations impacts current perspectives

Systemic racism is not being defined in the same way across multiple generations

We should further explore the terms civil, civilization, civil disobedience, and civil discourse

Fred K. Brewington, Esq.: Understanding our Basic Civil Rights in the WorkPlace

In the workplace, people should be free of discrimination, retaliation, and hostility

Human resources/agency policies should detail rights of people and the expectations in the workplace

‘Gen X’ers’ have different perceptions when it comes to mistreatment as compared to ‘Baby Boomers’

Healthy workplace conversations involve conversations in which there is no finger pointing and include clearly defined terms to increase people’s comfort level when discussing racism in the workplace

Cornell Craig: Embracing Diversity in the Workplace and Creating Inclusive

Environments

Implicit bias is an unconscious preference for, or an aversion to, a person or group of people

Intentions do not protect us from acting on bias or from reinforcing social inequalities- “good people” have biases too

Generally, we hold implicit biases that favor our own in-group (groups of people that have relatable identities to our own)

Risk factors for making implicit biases may be our current emotional states, ambiguity, pressure, or distraction. These are times we are more likely to take “short cuts” and use implicit biases


Elaine Gross: Combatting Systemic Racism in the Long Island Community

There are still segregated school districts on Long Island and unfair housing practices in the community

There are remote learning disparities; many students never got devices to be used for remote learning and never had the opportunity to engage in remote learning during the Covid pandemic

She described racial isolation on Long Island and encouraged enhancing exposure to other groups of people and other communities

A recording of the panel discussion is available on Relias. The above summary of the key points made by

the panelists is posted on Connect under Documents/DiversityInitiative and can be accessed by clicking

on this link:

Click Here For Summary

Part 2 on March 17 was attended by over 65 staff who continued the discussion of systemic racism.

After a recap of the points above, staff were randomly assigned to breakout rooms where they

discussed the issues raised in Part 1. When the breakout groups ended, a facilitator from each group

summarized the major takeaways from his/her group. . It was agreed that although these conversations

are a good first step, we need to continue the discussion with all staff in a “psychologically safe place”

where everyone feels comfortable sharing their feelings and experiences.

Using feedback from the post-event surveys, the Diversity Committee will be planning more “launch

and learns” in the future as well as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion conference for spring 2022.

http://connect.ahrc.org/depts/AHRC/Documents/Diversity%20Initiative/Understanding%20and%20Eradicating%20the%20Roots%20of%20Systemic%20Racism%20-%20%20notes.docx


More Diversity Happenings around the agencies…

Barbara C. Wilson: February – Each staff member received a chocolate rose for Valentine’s Day– “Stronger Together.” March – The Diversity Committee worked closely with our nurses to find/create informational posters regarding COVID-19 Vaccines – we wanted staff to have accurate information and facts on how to protect themselves and others. We created a bulletin board for Women’s History Month.


In an effort to highlight our similarities and differences in positive ways and to experience a community of diverse learners working together, we will be creating a bulletin board entitled “Together We Make The Perfect Blend.”

Marcus Avenue: Marcus Ave staff and students recognized National Disabilities Awareness month with this bulletin board created by our students!

Every year, on March 21, people all around the world come together to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day by wearing brightly colored, mismatched socks. March 21 is symbolic because people with Down syndrome have 3 copies of their 21st chromosome. Socks were chosen because the karyotype of DS

chromosomes actually looks like mismatched socks! This year World Down Syndrome Day was on Sunday, March 21, 2021. So BCCS Marcus Avenue “Rocked Our

Socks” on Friday, March 19, 2021 to show support to our friends and families.


Ed Center: February

The Ed Center incorporated many activities throughout the month of February to recognize and celebrate Black History Month. The diversity bulletin board, which was labeled “Getting to the heart of Black History Month”, displayed work from each classroom which included a picture and a short narrative about a black history hero of their choosing. This was a great activity as it allowed staff and students input in choosing the heroes displayed. It was wonderful to see some of the independent work that a few of our students in the program were able to do. Next to this bulletin board, a book cart was set up for teachers to borrow books along this theme as well. An assortment of books about different Black History heroes as well as books about diversity and acceptance were displayed. Many of our teachers incorporated the books into the curriculum and followed up with varied learning experiences. Along with the bulletin board activity and book cart, paper plate peace signs were given to all of the classrooms to be decorated by the students. The teachers came up with very creative ways of decorating them, including spin art, and shared many photos of the students holding their sign of “peace”. Our students holding the signs of peace was posted on our Brookville Center Facebook and Instagram page.


March

In the month of March, we recognized Disability

Awareness Month with a bulletin board that was filled

with all the wonderful abilities our students have.

Each student was given a hand to write something

they can do, focusing on the word “Able”, the

student’s abilities, rather than any of their disabilities.

Bringing light to the abilities our students have is

something to celebrate and can help bring awareness

to those who may have stereotypes and mental biases

that impede their ability to raise higher expectations

of our students. We also recognized and celebrated

National Down Syndrome’s Day by inviting the staff

and students to wear crazy socks in a “Rock your Socks

Day” on the Friday before March 21st. Socks are worn

this day because the karyotype of the DS

chromosomes actually looks like mismatched socks.


Video – Disparities in Society: A Call for Understanding and Action. This video highlighted the disparities that still exist in various segments of our society including the workplace, healthcare, education and criminal justice. It is also contains a call for action to do what we can to eliminate these disparities. The video can be viewed on Relias and on the AHRC Nassau, Citizens and BCCS websites.

Black History Month Jeopardy Contest: All staff were invited to participate in a jeopardy contest testing their knowledge of famous Black Americans in the following fields: history, sports, science, politics and entertainment. The following staff had perfect scores: Leondra Buscemi, Samantha Rodonis, Suprena Joseph, Diane Makowski, Patti Edwards, Meredith Pitts, Todd Borom and Kierstin Berwick. The winners of the raffles for a Dunkin Gift Care were:; Raffle for all participants: Leondra Buscemi - BCCS – Marcus Avenue Raffle for a perfect score: Kierstin Berwick – BCCS- Ed Center Thanks again to everyone who participated.


Special Dance Performance:

Lord Shiva is the King of all classical dance and theater arts in South Asian aesthetics and culture.

In recognition of Maha Shivarati, the Hindu festival celebrated each year to honor Lord Shiva, AHRC’s own Bhawna Sudhir did a special prayer ritual classical dance for our staff. It was a very moving experience and we appreciate Bhawna taking the time to educate and entertain us.


Food For Thought…

EASTER BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

Ingredients

1 pound bacon

¼ cup diced onion

¼ cup diced green bell pepper

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

8 eggs

2 cups milk

1 (16 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 7x11 inch casserole dish.

Step 2

Fry the bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10

minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble.

Step 3

In a large bowl beat together eggs and milk. Mix in cheese, bacon, onion and green pepper. Stir

in the thawed hash browns. Pour mixture into prepared casserole.

Step 4

Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for

another 30 minutes until eggs have set.


More Food For Thought…

SPRINGTIME SPAGHETTI

Ingredients

8 ounces spaghetti

2 tablespoons butter

1 large zucchini, julienned

3 large carrots, julienned

2 teaspoons minced garlic

¾ cup heavy cream

¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Directions

Step 1

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, cook spaghetti for 8 to 10 minutes, until al

dente, and drain.

Step 2

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and saute the zucchini, carrots, and garlic until

tender. Stir in the heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and dill. Cook and stir until thickened. Mix

with the cooked spaghetti to serve.


HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO

ALL OF OUR FELLOW

EMPLOYEES FROM:

THE AHRC/CITIZENS DIVERSITY COMMITTEE

THE BCCS DIVERSITY COMMITTEE

THE DIVERSITY NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE

THE DIVERSITY EXPLORATORY SUBCOMMITTEE