BLACK LIVES MATTER In 2013, #BlackLivesMatter was created as a Black-centered movement in response to the senseless murder of Trayvon Martin and the trial that resulted in his murderer’s acquittal. Its founders–Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi–envisioned the movement as “an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.” With the deaths of Black women, especially Black trans women, and the lack of resources geared toward their protection, this movement centers those most vulnerable and marginalized. #BlackLivesMatter also serves as an affirmation of all Black humanity, their contributions, and resilience. The movement has grown over the years to a global network of over 40 chapters. The MultiCultural Center (MCC) respects, affirms and supports the mission and founding principles of #BlackLivesMatter. Over 30 years ago, the MCC was founded through the leadership of Black students and their subsequent protests to combat institutional racism and provide a welcoming space for marginalized students. Through educational programming, student engagement, and community outreach, we are committed to work that will uplift and center the Black community and other marginalized community members, across intersecting categories of difference. We are here to listen, take action, and collaborate with Black students, staff, and faculty at UCSB, as well as those people and institutions invested in doing anti-racist work. As our political climate continuously shifts, so too will our approaches as advocates and as agents of change. We will always ground our approaches in the ongoing struggle to transform the cultural and social life of the university and within our larger communities. Racism and other forms of oppression against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color have no place anywhere. Combatting systems of oppression requires a collective effort. We have to understand our worlds and our struggles as interconnected. We recognize that each one of us holds different privileges and different relationships to power. We also can cause harm. By understanding this, we can build effective, long-term transformational solidarity. All Black lives matter, and we offer our resolute support in affirming Black experiences and the right to justice and liberation, which will ultimately lead to liberation for all. Photo Credit: Peter Hartman UCSB MULTICULTURAL CENTER MCC MISSION In 1987, UCSB students of color, who were then severely underrepresented at the University, demanded the creation of a hospitable and safe space for their use. Such a space was intended to facilitate the retention and recruitment of students of color and to combat institutional racism and ethnocentrism. These aims were to be realized in part through educational programming, which would promote changes in attitudes and behaviors throughout the campus community. Out of this initial impulse and the ensuing dialogues among students and allied faculty and staff, the MultiCultural Center was born. Students of color joined with international students to share a space, which, it was hoped, would realize these initial demands, and increase communication among people of different cultures. In time, recognizing the need to be inclusive of diverse value orientations, the MCC mission was broadened to include combating racism, sexism, and heterosexism. UCSB struggles today with the same problems which necessitated the formation of the MCC. The MCC and concerned students, faculty, and staff continue to resist and confront these persistent forms of group oppression. In addition to continuing to provide a safe space for students of color, international students, and gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, the MCC serves as a bridge to the entire campus community. To that end, the MCC offers a broad spectrum of events including lectures, panel discussions, films and videos, musical, dance, and dramatic performances, and poetry readings, which are all open to the general public. It is vital that the MCC always remain an autonomous site under the direct control of the MCC Board, composed of students, staff, and faculty. The MCC strives to support student activism and maintain a mutually supportive relationship with its student users, as they work together in pursuit of a more just society. —The MultiCultural Center Board, April 20, 1995 www.mcc.sa.ucsb.edu @UCSBMCC A NOTE ON THE LAND WE OCCUPY The MCC wishes to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this place and all land upon which the University is located, and pay our respects to the Chumash Elders past, present, and future, for they hold the memories, the traditions, and the culture of this area, which has become a place of learning for people from all over the world. MCC WINTER 2021 EVENTS at a glance MCC CALENDAR Cup of Culture RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ: BROKEN SILENCE WED 1/13 6 pm PST • Film Screening/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/92939106309 Spoken Word RECLAMATION AND RESISTANCE: AN EVENING OF POETRY WITH DENICE FROHMAN THU 1/14 7:30 pm PST • Spoken Word/Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/85911002658 Conscious Conversations Series BUILD MANY WORLDS – CULTIVATING OUR ABOLITION TECHNOLOGIES TUE 1/19 CESIA DOMÍNGUEZ LÓPEZ 6 pm PST • Panel Discussion/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/85776035353 Race and Religion ORIENTALISM FOR (ALL) THE ORIENTALS! STUDYING ASIAN RELIGIONS THU 1/21 IN THE ERA OF NEOLIBERAL MULTICULTURALISM MARKO GESLANI 6 pm PST • Lecture/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/82059519157 JANUARY Youth Program DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR WITH MISS ANGEL PART 1 ANGEL D’MON FRI 1/22 5 pm PST • Storytime/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/87645542775 Cup of Culture HOW TO MAKE A RAINBOW WED 1/27 6 pm PST • Film Screening and Q&A/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/92939106309 Performance FEATURED POETRY SET WITH JADE PHOENIX MARTINEZ FRI 1/29 7:30 pm PST • Performance/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/81498309431 Cup of Culture A LOVE SONG FOR LATASHA WED 2/3 6 pm PST • Film Screening and Q&A/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/92939106309 Race Matters Series KILLING THE BLACK BODY DR. DOROTHY ROBERTS THU 2/4 6 pm PST • Lecture/Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/84781319461 Cup of Culture SEE YOU YESTERDAY WED 2/10 6 pm PST • Film Screening and Q&A/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/92939106309 Resilient Love Series BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER: A CONVERSATION WITH THU 2/11 CECE MCDONALD AND ELLE HEARNS 6 pm PST • Lecture/Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/81876474133 Performance AN EVENING OF MUSIC WITH FAWN WOOD FRI 2/12 7:30 pm PST • Performance/Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/88192768435 Conscious Conversations Series UNDERSTANDING THE SACRED: TUE 2/16 LISTENING TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND LAND 6 pm PST • Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/83558133832 FEBRUARY Diversity Lecture BLACK LIVES, INDIGENOUS LIVES: FROM MATTERING TO THRIVING THU 2/18 ANDREW JOLIVETTE 6 pm PST • Lecture/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/85904771567 Conscious Conversations Series THE MOVEMENT FOR BLACK LIVES, FIGHTING FOR BLACK FUTURES TUE 2/23 BLM PANELISTS, FACILITATED BY DR. TERRANCE WOOTEN 6 pm PST • Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/83558133832 Cup of Culture MULAN WED 3/3 6 pm PST • Film Screening and Q&A/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/92939106309 Race Matters Series JOY THROUGH RADICAL SEX POSITIVITY, AN EVENING WITH ERICKA HART THU 3/4 6 pm PST • Lecture/Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/81338303346 FRI 3/5 Youth Program DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR WITH MISS ANGEL PT 2 ANGEL D’MON MARCH 5 pm PST • Storytime/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/83692518018 MULTICULTURAL CENTER UCSB winter 2021 events To ensure maximum safety for everyone, the MCC would like to note that all our events will be held virtually through Zoom (links included). For more information or links, visit our website and social media platforms. For any technical support or inquiries, contract Chawn Lemons at [email protected]. ALL EVENTS ARE OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY; ALL EVENTS ARE FREE UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE. *CONTACT THE A.S. TICKET OFFICE AT 805-893-2064 OR BUY ONLINE AT TICKETS.AS.UCSB.EDU (EXTRA FEES APPLY). CONTACT THE MULTICULTURAL CENTER AT 805-893-8411. FOLLOW US @UCSBMCC MCC winter 2021 events Cup of Culture RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ: BROKEN SILENCE Wednesday January 13, 6 pm PST Film Screening/Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/92939106309 “The celebration of Columbus is for us an insult,” says Rigoberta Menchú, a fierce advocate of indigenous peoples rights. This short film presents a profile of this extraordinary woman, whose life has become a symbol of resilience and power, not only of her own Mayan Quiché people, but of all the indigenous people of the Americas. It is a moving portrait of a self-taught woman who dreams of two things: a Guatemalan Congress integrating indigenous and nonindigenous men and women—and having a child “so I can plant my own seed, for better or worse.” 25 min, 1992 Spoken Word RECLAMATION AND RESISTANCE: AN EVENING OF POETRY WITH DENICE FROHMAN Thursday January 14, 7:30 pm PST Spoken Word/Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/85911002658 Denice Frohman is a poet, performer, and educator from New York City. A CantoMundo Fellow, she’s received residencies and awards from the National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures, Leeway Foundation, Blue Mountain Center, and Millay Colony. Her work has appeared in Nepantla: An Anthology for Queer Poets of Color, What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump, ESPNW, and elsewhere. A former Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, she’s performed on national and international stages from The White House to The Apollo, and over 200 colleges and universities.