Four panelists will discuss their personal experiences with racism in the Chippewa Valley at an online event scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 13).
The program is the annual fall educational event sponsored by the Women’s Giving Circle (WGC) at the Eau Claire Community Foundation. It is free and open to the public. Advance registration can be completed here.
Panelists include Heather Ann Moody, a UW-Eau Claire assistant professor in the American Indian Studies program; Sandi Polzin, executive director of Hope Gospel Mission; Dale Taylor, UW-EC professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Allied Health Professions; and Pa Thao, co-founder and executive director of the Black & Brown Womyn Power Coalition.
The discussion will look back at how today’s racial environment came to be in the Chippewa Valley and at how stereotypes influence everyday life. It will also deal with ways to change the current situation, and the racial issues shared with those found in larger cities.
The mission of the Women’s Giving Circle – a fund of the Eau Claire Community Foundation – is to improve the quality of life for women and children in the greater Eau Claire area. It awards grants annually to local nonprofit organizations working toward that goal, using 50% of the donations from its members.
The other half of those donations go to the WGC endowment fund, to provide income for future grants.
Panel members
Moody, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, will discuss stereotypes during the Tuesday panel discussion. She has expertise in the area of incorporating accurate American Indian information into K-12 and college curricula and chairs the UW-EC College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee.
Polzin will bring to the discussion her experience in early childhood concerns as well as business creation and development, and leadership in the nonprofit world. As the mother of four children adopted from Haiti, she will discuss what it’s like to raise black children in a predominantly white community.
Taylor, who grew up in Topeka, KS during the era of the Brown v. Board of Education school integration case, was the first African American classroom instructor at UW-EC. His panel presentation will focus on changing the roots of racism, which he defines as those mechanisms that instill and perpetuate racist attitudes in every individual.
Thao, a community organizer and advocate for Hmong women and girls, is deeply involved in efforts to end violence against women and children. She is a co-founder of an international movement to end abusive marriages in the Hmong community and will bring expertise in program development, nonprofit management and fundraising to the panel discussion.
Sponsors for the program include Royal Credit Union, People’s Bank Midwest and Becky Schwinefus, a realtor at RE/MAX Affiliates.