2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership award recipient. An honor established in 2009 to recognize commitment to building community, enhancing diversity and working for justice. He became a respected educator and force for change while serving as cultural liaison for the La Crosse School District. Spivey — who was a 2017 7 Rivers Alliance Rising Star Under 40 — received several glowing nominations for the MLK Leadership Award, each remarking on his tenacity and advocacy as evidenced through his myriad endeavors and his challenging of racism, heteronormativity, ableism and ageism. (La Crosse Tribune)
Where
This is an online event.Contact
Arlette Rodriguez-Miller, Executive DirectorGreater La Crosse Area Diversity Council and Waking Up White Collaborative
831-915-8604
arlette@glaxdiversitycouncil.com
Anti-Racism: The La Crosse Area Viewpoint
Join us for this urgent roundtable discussion, shaped by the perspective of local leaders: Shaundel Spivey, Rebecca Schwarz, Ricardo Acevedo, Dr. Bee Lo, Nicky Buck, and Amanda Goodenough, as they collectively react to and process the current state of racism in the here and now and ultimately explore what it would take to realize a healthier multicultural community. Don’t miss out on being part of this high-priority conversation to shift the La Crosse area toward racial justice.
Nicky Buck
My Dakota name is Anpetu Wiohiyanpata Win/ Eastern Day Woman. I am Bdewakantuwan Dakota/ Spirit of the water dwellers from Prairie Island Indian Community, a sovereign tribal nation in the State of Minnesota.
I was born and raised in the Red Wing and surrounding areas of Prairie Island and Hager City, WI.
I volunteer and work for my tribal community in the Land and Environment Department where I pursue my passions of loving and honoring the land, tending to and harvesting of our traditional medicines, community engagement, youth outreach and involvement, creating and establishing food sovereignty on Prairie Island.
2016-2018 I and my tribal community successfully fought for He MnI Can’s (Barns Bluff) right to exist to respectfully amongst the people of Red Wing and following that victory I helped plan and organize an event and ceremony uniting two communities, Red Wing and Prairie Island after 150 years of a broken relationship.
In addition to that work I received the 2018 Amos Owen Human Rights Award and then in January of 2019 I joined the Red Wing Human Rights Commission and Friends of the Bluff, a non-profit organization aimed at caring and honoring the three predominant bluffs in Red Wing.
When I’m not fighting for all living things right to exist in peace and harmony, I’m home with my three children Nacomi, Neenah and Edison and our two dogs and two cats.
Amanda Goodenough
As the Director of the UW-La Crosse Research & Resource Center for Campus Climate, Amanda (she/her/hers) and her team provide workshops, resources, and assessment to advance social justice, equity, and inclusion throughout the organizational culture. As part of her responsibilities, Amanda has provided leadership for Awareness through Performance and the Hate Response Team for over a decade, and has co-founded RISE UP (Racial & Intersecting Identity Symposium for Equitable University Progress) and the nationally-growing Hate/Bias Response Symposium. Amanda is also currently a part-time doctoral student in the UWL Student Affairs Administration and Leadership program. Operating from a cultural humility framework, Amanda constantly strives to recognize structural oppression, disrupt inequity, speak truth to power, and elevate historically marginalized voices and experiences.
Ricardo Acevedo
Involved with Social Security Administration Chicago Region – Hispanic Advisory Council since 1993 that advises Regional Commissioner on Hispanic recruitment and service to the Hispanic community. Mr. Acevedo served as Regional Chairman 1999-2001. During that term, Chicago hosted a National Conference and Mr. Acevedo was the host organizer and MC for the three-day conference.
Served as the National Hispanic Council Chair that advises the Social Security Administration Commissioner on issues of recruitment, retention of Hispanic employees and service that directly affects the Hispanic public we serve. During this term three-year term (01/2016-12/2018), Mr. Acevedo helped organized a 2-day National HAAC Conference in Anaheim, CA in 2017.
Assisted with two Joint National Social Security Administration Advisory Training Conferences in Baltimore, MD 2016 and Dallas Texas 2018.
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Past President of the Greater La Crosse Area Diversity Council
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Member of the Coulee Region Immigration Task Force
Shaundel Spivey
College Connections Manager at Western Technical College. UW-La Crosse graduate has served on numerous committees, spearheaded projects and lent his time to local organizations.
Rebecca Schwarz
Mission Impact Coordinator at YWCA La Crosse. Their mission is to "Eliminate racism, empower womxn and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all." Rebecca works to ensure that YWCA's mission is in the forefront of everything they do at YWCA La Crosse and works with community partners to help make the La Crosse area a place where everyone has what they need to succeed.
Dr. Bee Lo
Born during the Vietnam War to a Hmong family in Laos. My people, the
Hmoob, were recruited as a secret army to fight for the CIA in the Vietnam War. My
father was a captain in the secret army. After the Americans withdrew in 1975, the
Hmoob were left to be slaughtered. I escaped as a refugee at age 7 with my family to a
refugee camp in Thailand in 1975. My mother returned to Laos and my father died in
the camps, so I came to the U.S. as an orphan at the age of 11 in 1979.
I started learning the ABC’s in the US, and received my Naturopathic Medical Doctor
degree in 1997. Most people know me as Dr. Bee, and I have been practicing medicine
at The Natural Health Center in Onalaska, Wisconsin for the past 22 years. I have
served on many community boards and committees over the years, including the La
Crosse Diversity Council under former Mayor John Medinger.
Living in the US for the past 40 years – in five states and in six cities - I have been the
target of many racist acts, been called names, and bullied at school, on the roads and
treated as a second class citizen in school, at work, in the neighborhood, at restaurants,
etc. I have experienced more racism in the US than I ever did in Laos or Thailand.