[GWAMIT] GW@MIT Newsletter, June 16th, 2020

Tue Jun 16 07:54:42 EDT 2020

GWAMIT Newsletter

June 16th, 2020

Special Announcement - Petition

The MIT BGSA, BSU, along with student leaders across the institute, write this petition calling on MIT leadership to be proactive in making MIT a place where Black people can exist safely and thrive. The objectives of the petition are two-fold to:

Objective 1: Establish demands for the development of a 3-year and 10-year strategic plan to address racial bias at MIT by accomplishing the remaining tasks of the 2015 BSU/BGSA recommendations AND new addendums to the recommendations

Objective 2: Make MIT safe for all students by investigating and implementing new models for public safety that reduce the scale of policing and increase safety and well-being

The full details of the petition and a form to sign-on can be found at bgsa.mit.edu/sbl2020<http://bgsa.mit.edu/sbl2020> .

Support black-owned businesses!

60+ Black-owned restaurants<https://www.boston.com/food/restaurants/2020/06/02/black-owned-restaurants-in-boston?s_campaign=bcom%3Asocialflow%3Afacebook&fbclid=IwAR2B-GeA9MhTVMffROFQPn9AD0VraX7pEfcM7TWbooFVIdezxIbhTeGHd50> to support in the Greater Boston area

Black-owned businesses in Boston<https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/2/d/1_wvyIj3w5F8XJn0leuGD5M9sAmaBKT8N2j0fEV0Df5I/htmlview?pru=AAABcsOhMxM*kObbqvU-pLeY_pvzaD8nCg#gid=778167218>

Use the app Black Nation<https://apps.apple.com/us/app/black-nation/id1440424412> to find black-owned businesses!

Support Project Drawn Together: Three MIT students (Sarah, Emily, Amber) are drawing art to help support the Black Lives Matter movement in return for donations to organizations standing against systemic racism.

If you donate to one of the following organizations or venmo @emilyhaneh, they will send you a personalized drawing of whatever you want!

•        George Floyd Memorial Fund

•        Black Lives Matter

•        Freedom Funds

Recommended donation size: $25, but donate what you can. You can send them a photo of what you want to be drawn, e.g.: a friend, a pet, a quote. Full details in the Instagram links below!

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Instagram: Sarah's instagram<https://www.instagram.com/p/CA_dA6mJK04/?igshid=kz1oloowr9aw>, Emily's instagram<https://www.instagram.com/p/CA_ewKelbic/?igshid=1utimb5ucdhpx>, Amber's instagram<https://www.instagram.com/p/CA_dwE4BYKH/?igshid=17wtgdkfmu7po>

Did you know? Here is some positive women-related news from around the world:

Ella Jones Is Elected First Black Mayor of Ferguson<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/us/politics/ella-jones-ferguson-mayor.html>

First American Woman<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/08/science/challenger-deep-kathy-sullivan-astronaut.html> to Walk in Space Reaches Deepest Spot in the Ocean

History was made this year when MIT’s undergraduate student body elected their first black <https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/mit-black-woman-student-president-trnd/index.html> female president, Danielle Geathers

The Supreme Court in a landmark ruling<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rules-existing-civil-rights-law-protects-gay-lesbian-n1231018?fbclid=IwAR1Ur-crrbG_dKelDbIWYY3ZcYxENdRsn3Ku7sCG-J00jpFzkEwdS3UbLdA> upheld anti-discrimination employment protections for LGBTQ individuals under title VII. Justice Gorsuch wrote for the court: "An employer who fired an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex." "Sex plays a necessary and undisguisable role in the decision, exactly what Title VII forbids."

COVID-19 Resources

GWAMIT has compiled a list of resources we are aware of to help graduate women in our community. If you know of a resource that isn’t listed, please let us know (gwamit-exec at mit.edu) so we can include it in the next newsletter to share with the community.
Expanded back-up child care policy: https://hr.mit.edu/worklife/backupchildcare

MIT Ombuds Office - ombudsoffice.mit.edu<http://ombuds.mit.edu/>

The Ombuds Office is available to offer support and assistance to the MIT community in navigating these challenges and exploring constructive options for success. We are available for phone or Zoom meetings and can also facilitate online sessions and group discussions to help teams function and support good communication skills during this challenging period.  To schedule a meeting via phone or Zoom email kalina_s at mit.edu or call 617-253-5921. A tips sheet from Ombuds for having difficult conversations can be found at the end of this newsletter.

Graduate student short-term emergency hardship funding: https://engage.mit.edu/submitter/form/step/1?Guid=b180ffce-c28f-41f6-908b-387637df6396
GSC DEI open letter for COVID-relief: https://mitgradstudentadvocates.weebly.com/

Stay at Home Recommendations:

Something to do…

Educate yourself! “13th”, a documentary by Ava DuVernay on racial inequality and mass incarceration in America. Available on Netflix and free on YouTube<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8>

Something to read…

Fiction: Washington Black<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38140077-washington-black> by Esi Edugya

“Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, ‘Washington Black’ is an engrossing hybrid of 19th-century adventure and contemporary subtlety, a rip-roaring tale of peril imbued with our most persistent strife. The story comes to us as a memoir written by a former slave named George Washington Black, an ironic appellation that pricks at the festering wound in American mythology.” - Ron Charles, Washington Post

Non-fiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks<http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/> by Rebecca Skoot

            A 2011 winner of the National Academies Communication Award and New York Times bestseller, this book details the story of Henrietta Lacks, the black woman whose cervical cancer cells became the keystone for unlocking modern medicine. Blending health, ethics, and race, Skoot’s work sheds light on the life of the woman behind the HeLa cell.

Looking to borrow books without leaving the house? The Minuteman library network is doing temporary online membership which can be applied for here<https://library.minlib.net/selfreg>!

Something to watch…

A Saudi woman who dared to drive<https://www.ted.com/talks/manal_al_sharif_a_saudi_woman_who_dared_to_drive?language=en>- Manal al-Sharif is a Saudi women’s rights activist who spearheaded the campaign to allow women to drive. Watch her talk to answer the question she poses- Who do you think is more difficult to face, oppressive governments or oppressive societies?

Something to listen to…

Race Traitor is a new podcast series by Heart Radio. In this episode Phoebe<https://www.theheartradio.org/race-traitor/2020/5/5/who-taught-you-to-be-white-1-of-4> learns and unpacks the surprising ways in which she is upholding white supremacy.

Something fun:

We’ll probably be wearing face masks for a while, so a shopping spree might be in order. Etsy has many great options<https://www.etsy.com/market/face_mask>, including from local businesses. Here are some recommendations by Vogue<https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/stylish-face-masks-to-shop-now>. Instructions for making your own: without sewing<https://www.thespruce.com/no-sew-mask-4801991>, with sewing<https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-sew-face-mask-4802114>, and another reusable one<https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-make-a-reusable-mask-4802172>.

Virtual Events & Opportunities

Virtual International Film Series

Join MIT Global Languages for the launch of our Virtual International Film Series! (see our site<http://mitgsl.mit.edu/virtual-international-film-series> for the full series list)

Indigenous Communities Fellowship

The MIT Solve Indigenous Communities Fellowship<https://solve.mit.edu/challenges/2020-indigenous-communities-fellowship> is entering its third year and they are seeking Indigenous-led solutions that drive social, environmental, and economic impact in Native communities across the US. Solutions can be at any stage of development, and use any business model – non-profit, for-profit, and anywhere in between.

The deadline to submit is July 7, 2020 and the Fellowship offers US$10,000 in funding support to each selected Fellow. The Fellowship provides a 9 month program of support that includes a comprehensive resource needs assessment, technical/business mentorship, and tailored connections to a global network of companies, foundations, NGOs, and more. If you guys know anyone in your communities who might be interested, please share! AISES has gotten to meet with the Fellows the last two times around and it was always so cool chatting with Native entrepreneurs and inventors from all over.

Celebrate Pride Month with LBGTQ at MIT!
Join the Rainbow Lounge for a series of virtual events for the MIT LBGTQ+ community and beyond, including:
#MITPride2020
LBGTQ+ Services is closing out Pride 2020 with a virtual self-love and celebration.  Send a photo of yourself/your family/your loved ones and a short caption on how you celebrate pride month to lmcnair at mit.edu<mailto:lmcnair at mit.edu>.  These photos from the MIT community will be put up on LBGTQ+ Services social media accounts Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/rainbow_lounge_mit/>, Twitter<https://twitter.com/lbgtMIT>, and Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/lbgt.mit/> throughout June 30th.  Please email lmcnair at mit.edu<mailto:lmcnair at mit.edy> no later than Monday, June 29th 12pm EST.
To view the full calendar, visit https://lbgtq.mit.edu/digital-content or follow LBGTQ at MIT on: Twitter: @lbgtmit<https://twitter.com/lbgtMIT>, Instagram: @rainbow_lounge_mit<https://www.instagram.com/rainbow_lounge_mit/>, Facebook: @lbgt.mit<https://www.facebook.com/lbgt.mit/>
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Postdoc/Graduate Student Opportunities at UCLA

Course 6 PhD (2014) graduate and Assistant Professor at UCLA, Dr. Clarice D. Aiello, is looking for postdocs and graduate students to join her lab. Please see the message and description below. Contact information can be found in the attached description.

“We are searching for postdoctoral candidates with AMO physics experience
as well as graduate students from a broad set of backgrounds (ex.: Phys,
EE, Chem, BioE). Our group, QuBiT, seeks to establish the extent to which quantum
mechanics accounts for biologically relevant phenomena, and can be
manipulated to technological and therapeutic advantage. I'm glad to talk to anyone who might be interested.”

[QuBiT_postdoc_ad]

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

Harriet Tubman

[Tips for Difficult Conversations - COVID 19 - FINAL PDF]

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