Examining Bias and Increasing Mindfulness with Dr. Stevenson

Parker was honored to welcome Dr. Howard C. Stevenson as the second D’Rita and Robbie Robinson Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Speaker. He is the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, Professor of Africana Studies, in the Human Development & Quantitative Methods Division of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania; the executive director of the Racial Empowerment Collaborative (REC) at Penn, designed to promote racial literacy in education, health, community and justice institutions; and co-director of Forward Promise, a national philanthropic office that promotes a culture of health for boys and young men of color to help them heal from the trauma of historical and present-day dehumanization, discrimination and colonization.

Before he met with the wider community at his nighttime lecture, Stevenson met with all of Parker’s faculty for a special presentation to his fellow educators. Later, he spoke in the Heller Auditorium about the need for improvements in everyone’s emotional and racial literacy, especially in today’s rocky social and political climate, where some may judge a person of color almost instantaneously and provoke potentially horrific outcomes,. He discussed his work in increasing awareness and mindfulness around our perceptions and stereotypes and offered some effective intervention programs his organizations have created to confront and heal racial trauma. Armed with this program, he worked with the audience to analyze a situation that might have benefited from his program. Stevenson ended his time on stage by answering myriad questions from the enthralled audience.

After his speech, the audience had the opportunity to meet Stevenson at a book signing for his bestseller Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools: Differences That Make a Difference. This book further discusses his programs that aim to reduce racial threat reactions in face-to-face encounters.

Parker is extremely grateful to D’Rita and Robbie Robinson for endowing this lecture series, which provides opportunities to share insightful perspectives on vital issues facing our democratic society and global world. Stevenson’s educational, informative and deeply personal lecture continued this lecture series perfectly in its second year.

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