Healing History | bastropcountycares

January Facilitator: Jerry Hawkins, M.A.

Jerry Hawkins, M.A., is the Executive Director of Dallas Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (DTRHT), part of a national 14-city initiative by The W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Jerry was formerly the Project Director of Bachman Lake Together for The Zero To Five Funders Collaborative/The Dallas Foundation, an early childhood collective impact initiative in Dallas, and Director of Children's Services at the Wilkinson Center in East Dallas/Southeast Dallas. Jerry is also a co-founder of The Imagining Freedom Institute (The IF Institute), a thought leadership group that works with organizations and institutions to build their capacity for internal and external equity and social justice work, and a co-creator of the Race to Equity DFW conversation series. He is a recent Leadership Arts Institute Fellow graduate with the Business Council for the Arts, and sits on the Trustee-appointed Racial Equity Advisory Council for Dallas ISD. Jerry Hawkins received a Bachelors of Science degree from Southern Illinois University with a double major in Early Childhood Education and Child and Family Services, and completed his Masters of Arts degree in Education with honors at Northeastern Illinois University with a concentration in Inner City Studies. Jerry also attended The School of The Art Institute of Chicago as a Continuing Studies student and semester assistant from 1990 to 1996, where he studied and taught Studio Drawing, Figure Drawing, Photography, Film, Video, Oil Painting, Graphic Design and Computer Graphic Design. Jerry began his career at the Chicago Urban League as a Male Involvement Specialist in the Male Involvement Program, where he served for eight years. During his tenure at the Chicago Urban League, Jerry also cofounded The Boys Leadership Institute, a uniquely designed early childhood “Saturday School” at The University of Chicago Donohue Charter School for Black and Latinx kindergarten and 1st grade boys from single-mother head-of-household homes. Jerry is a past Fellow with Leadership ISD, and a former Fellow with D Academy/ D Magazine. Jerry Hawkins has served as an Advisory Board member at Children’s Medical Center for the “Beyond ABC Report: Assessing Children’s Health in Dallas County, and on Dallas ISD’s African American Student Success Task Force. Jerry has received many awards including KERA’s American Graduate Champion, Leadership ISD Alumni of the Year, 4x Semester Research Assistantship Recipient from Northeastern Illinois University, Merit Graduate Scholarship Recipient from Northeastern Illinois University, Study Abroad Research Fellowship Recipient from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 2x Semester Teaching Assistantship Recipient fromThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Art Resources in Teaching Scholarship Recipient from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Jerry is an experienced trainer, presenter and consultant of social justice and racial equity work, and has worked with and/or provided keynotes for organizations like FSG, The Carlson Family Foundation, Hope Street Group, The Real Estate Council, J.P. Morgan Chase, Richardson ISD, Dallas Theatre Center, Dallas Public Library, National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity & Chicago Public Schools. Jerry’s work centers the intersection of race, education and the history of cities. He has been trained by The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Border Crossers, Race Forward, National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, Pacific Education Group and Interaction Institute for Social Change. Jerry and his three children, aged 18, 16 and 11, live in Dallas, TX.

February Facilitator: Leonard N. Moore, Ph.D.

Leonard N. Moore, Ph.D. is the Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement and the George Littlefield Professor of American History at The University of Texas at Austin. He served as interim vice president for one year before being selected permanent vice-president after a national search in June 2018. He immediately restructured the Division around six broad themes: academic creativity and design; community engagement and economic development; global leadership and impact; inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship; community integrated health initiatives; and university culture. With more than 400 full-time team members, DDCE is the national model in both the academic and corporate space. He is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and a proud HBCU grad (Jackson State University) and he received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. From 1998-2007 he was a professor at Louisiana State University and he has been at the University of Texas at Austin since. Despite his administrative duties, Professor Moore still teaches 1,000 students in his two courses: The Black Power Movement and Race in the Age of Trump. He also has a faculty appointment in the UT Law School. Dr. Moore also directs study abroad programs in Beijing and Cape Town, and both programs have become national models for diversifying global education.
As a scholar Professor Moore is the author of three books on black politics: Carl B. Stokes and Rise of Black Political Power (2002), Black Rage in New Orleans: Police Brutality and African American Activism from World War II to Hurricane Katrina (2010) and The Defeat of Black Power: Civil Rights and the National Black Political Convention of 1972 (2018).
He is currently working on a biography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the controversial pastor, congressman, and civil rights leaders.
Dr. Moore is also active in the Austin community and currently serves as Chairman of the Board for the Austin Area Urban League. He is married to Thais Bass-Moore and they have three teenage children.

March Facilitator: Meme Styles

Meme (mee-mee) Styles, is the President and Founder of the award winning nonprofit MEASURE, a public education & advocacy organization that empowers people to use data to tell their own story. Ms. Styles created MEASURE in 2015 to build trust and measurable progress between people and institutions that serve them. MEASURE is building an ecosystem whereby advocates can share social justice research and data. The organization is also responsible for mobilizing communities to address systemic disparities in health, economics, criminalization & education.

She is a global thought leader for community engagement strategies and is responsible for the annual Big Data & Community Policing Conference + Workshop. This conference brings together activists, law enforcement, researchers and technology experts to explore community policing and evidence based policing.

Ms. Styles holds a Bachelor's of Science in Communications, completing a Masters Of Public Administration at American Military University and is certified in Performance Measurement through George Washington University College of Professional Studies.

Styles is also the creator of EarlyAware.com, a tech-solution that informs first responders about an individual communication barrier, cognitive issue or physical disability before and during an emergency.

Healing History a tribute to diversity and music in Bastrop County. This series is aimed at creating healing conversations and high-quality musical experiences to overcome the cross-cultural miscommunication that permeates our societal systems. It is through shared human experiences that we desire to create inclusive approaches to resilience and the arts. Healing History will work from a trauma-informed perspective to guide change for Bastrop County.

This 4-event series will begin in 2020 and involve the following dates and topics:

1. Jan 24th: Race-Based Trauma- From a historical context to current experiences

Facilitated by: Jerry Hawkins, Director of Dallas Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (DTRHT)

Location: Jerry Fay Wilhem Performing Arts Center

2. Feb 21st: Unconscious Bias in the Workplace (Microaggressions/implicit bias)

Facilitated by: Dr. Leonard Moore, VP of Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement at UT Austin.

Location: Smithville Rec Center

3. Mar 27th: School-Prison Pipeline/ Media Portrayals

Facilitated by: Meme Styles, President and Founder of MEASURE Austin

Location: Elgin Library Civic Center

4. Apr 24th: Bridging the Divides with Restorative Practices

Facilitated by: TBA

Location: Lost Pines Art Center

FREE TICKETS