On Monday, MCC will welcome National Public Radio’s Michele Norris as part of the Dr. Alice Holloway Young Power of Diversity series. Ms. Norris will discuss the Race Card Project, a remarkable initiative with humble beginnings and a huge impact. She writes:
I asked people to think about their experiences, questions, hopes, dreams, laments or observations about race and identity. Then, I asked that they take those thoughts and distill them to just one sentence that had only six words. … Dozens of those little postcards started arriving in the mail every week and bit by bit, more and more of those little six-word “essays” piled up in my inbox from all over the country, and then amazingly from all over the world.
Thanks to the work of our Diversity Council, co-chaired by Professor Craig Rand and Executive Dean Pete Otero, our College has been participating in the Race Card Project for over a year. This project aligns well with recent discussions on race in our community such as the ongoing Unite Rochester effort and the continuing work of the Facing Race: Embracing Equity groups. The goals of these initiatives are in many ways the same: to open up a space for dialogue and, more importantly, action.
Rochester faces many of what the Democrat and Chronicle’s James Lawrence recently called “community crushing” challenges. Too few of our residents have the opportunity to close the economic and social mobility gaps they face; too often, these gaps are related not just to poverty but also to race.
As our community’s college, MCC offers one pathway to closing these gaps, but to be successful at offering this opportunity, we have to be honest about the challenges our students and our community face. We know that it is not enough just to keep higher education affordable: it has to be accessible, excellent, relevant, and purposeful. And, we must be engaged with our community, partners in the broader effort to make a lasting difference in the lives of our students and the future of our neighborhoods.
MCC should be proud of its continuing commitment to innovative efforts that turn discussions about opportunity into real change. Initiatives like the Horizons Summer Enrichment Program, The Democracy Commitment, ROC the Future, and the Race Card Project doing just that. Our mission identifies the significance of MCC’s role as a catalyst for civic engagement with a vision of transforming lives and communities—it’s an inspiring role and an essential one.
What are your six words? Share them on the blog.
Anne M. Kress, Ph.D.
President's Office
02/26/2014 |