Social Justice & Civic Engagement
Defining Social Justice & Civic Engagement:
Social Justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.
Civic Engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern.
Defining Civic Engagement & Social Justice at BCC:
At Bronx Community College, Civic engagement involves working to make a difference in the civic life of one’s community and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes. Civic engagement includes forms of political activism, environmentalism, and community and national service.
We provide rewarding and meaningful civic engagement opportunities to the student body and support student leaders in their effort to attain academic, personal and professional growth to become active and engaged citizens.
Social Justice & Civic Engagement Committees/Working Groups/Organizations
The Association of Latino Faculty and Staff serves as an advocacy and support organization for the Latino faculty, staff and students at Bronx Community College.
Justice@BCC strives to advance knowledge, awareness, and advocacy about social justice for our justice-impacted campus members and the Bronx community.
The LGBTQI + Resource Room at Bronx Community College works to foster an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for students, faculty, and staff of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.
M.E.N. is part of CUNY’s BMI (Black Male Initiative). As a university-wide initiative, CUNY BMI’s mission is to encourage, increase and support the inclusion and educational success of students from groups that are severely underrepresented in higher education, in particular African, African-American/Black, Caribbean and Latino/Hispanic males.
The Social Justice Network (SJN) is a volunteer collective of staff, faculty, administrators and students at Bronx Community College who began meeting and organizing in the summer of 2020.
SJN worked together to develop the co-curricular programming we believe our communities needed in response to anti-Black racism in the US criminal justice system, health care, & education in addition to anti-Latinx/a/o policies and xenophobia.
Student Government Association (SGA) is the representative governing body of the student population. We enable students to voice their opinions through campus committees and public Senate meetings.
Womxn Up! is a welcoming, safe, supportive and inclusive space to that serves the needs of womxn in the BCC Community. We are a home for connection, community, reflection, relaxation and sisterhood (not just cisterhood).
Upcoming Events
April:
- 4/12/22 12-2PM Re-Entry Resource Fair – Resources for anyone impacted by legal system.
- TO REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElde-trjgoHda9Wq_XM1JTkwpM4kA17Miv
- BCC COLLABORATORS: Justice@BCC, OSL
- 4/29/22 Faculty Day: Roundtable Discussion: Why are you laboring in the way that you are? Zoom Information will be shared via BCCBroadcast Email.
- 4/30/22 2-4PM Conversation with Author of When We Make It Elisabet Velazquez- for her book or more info visit: https://www.elisabetvelasquez.com/
- TO REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArd-qhrzksG91hJyOSJoPrm3FfDojwKE5e
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- BCC COLLABORATORS: THESIS, ALFS, SJN, OSL, WomXn Up!
May:
- 5/5/22 4-5:30PM LOS GRADUADOS: Screening of the Graduate – PBS documentary is an Independent Lens offering that follows six Latinx students and shows the issues in the American education system that affect them. Following three male and three female students, the documentary dives into the problems, from avoiding falling in with the wrong crowd to dealing with obstacles around undocumented status and cultural issues facing LGBTQ+ Latinx teens.
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- TO REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUod-2orzgrHtbjeNbvRVUFvxK23J6Dxlw8
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- BCC COLLABORATORS: WomXn Up!, ALFS, SJN, OSL
- 5/13/22 2-4 PM Association of Latino Faculty & Staff Award Ceremony (Hyflex)
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- Link To Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8513710423
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Past Events
February:
- 2/15/22 Social Justice Movie Day
- 12 – 1:30PM Screening of Awakenings (1954–1956). Dir. Vecchione, Judith. Prod. Judith Vecchione, and Blackside (Production company). Public Broadcasting Service, 1986. Individual acts of courage inspire black Southerners to fight for their rights: Mose Wright testifies against the white men who murdered young Emmett Till, and Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.
- 6:30 – 8PM Screening of Ain’t Scared of Your Jails (1960–1961). Dir. Bagwell, Orlando. Prod. Orlando Bagwell, and Blackside (Production company). Public Broadcasting Service, 1986. Black college students take a leadership role in the civil rights movement as lunch counter sit-ins spread across the South. “Freedom Riders” also try to desegregate interstate buses, but they are brutally attacked as they travel.
- BCC COLLABORATORS: OSL, ALFS, SJN, WomXn Up!, Library
- 2/17/22 – 5/5/22 Lifting As We Climb Writing Group: Virtual Writing Space for BIPOC BCC Faculty
- BCC COLLABORATORS: SJN, WomXn Up!
- 2/22/22 6 – 8PM A Tribute To African American Leaders In The Criminal Justice Profession
- BCC COLLABORATORS: CRJ, SJN
- 2/23-24/22 at 7PM “The Bluest Eye: A virtual Public Reading with panelists Angela Davis, Edwidge Daticat, Glory Edim, Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, Jacqueline Woodson, Jesmyn Ward, Kimberle Crenshaw, Leila Mottley, Mahogany L. Browne, Nikole Hannah-Jones, & Tayari Jones.
- BCC COLLABORATORS: WomXn Up!, ALFS, SJN
March:
- 3/8/22 12 – 1:30PM Self Care, Wellness and You: Discussion on the Importance of Self-Care in Black and Brown Communities.
- BCC COLLABORATORS: OSL, WomXn Up!, ALFS, SJN
- 3/10/22 12PM – 2PM Her Story/ Her journey: Highlighting Latina Womxn Faculty at BCC.
- Panelists:
- Dr. Melissa Coss-Aquino – THESIS, English
- Dr. Barbara Flores-Caballero – Education & Reading
- Dr. Marjorie Garrido – Psychology
- Dr. Marjaline Vizcarrondo – Criminal Justice
- Panelists:
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- BCC COLLABORATORS: WomXn Up!, ALFS, SJN, OSL
- 3/11/22 12:00-2:00PM Miss Representation – Screening
- Trailer: https://youtu.be/a8SfHcf_pvM
- Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Miss Representation exposes how mainstream media and culture contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America.
- Discussion Questions: http://influencefilmclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Miss-Representation-DG.pdf
- 3/11/22 2:30-3:30PM Self Care through Movement and Breath.
- BCC COLLABORATORS: OSL, WomXn Up!, ALFS, SJN
- 3/15/22 Tuesday Meditations with Prof. Kelvin Cooper and Friends.
- BCC COLLABORATORS: WomXn Up!, ALFS, SJN
- 3/16/22 12:00-2:00PM My Name is Pauli Murray – Screening
- Resources:
- Civil Rights Leader & Trailblazer
- Pauli Murray GLBT History
- The Pauli Murray Website
- Exercise – Letters to Pauli Murray
- Resources:
- 3/24/22 12 – 2 PM Domestic Violence Awareness & Prevention Workshop with Dr. Gadsden.
- BCC COLLABORATORS: CRJ, SJN
- 3/25/22 12 – 1:15PM LatinX Mental Health Discussion with Dr. Frances Melendez – Clinical Psychologist & Alexis Francisco – LCSW
- BCC COLLABORATORS: WomXn Up!, ALFS, SJN
- 3/30/22 4-6PM Social Emotional Training with Author, Dr. Barbara Flores-Caballero. Topic: “Applying Social Emotional Intelligence in our Professional Practice”
- BCC COLLABORATORS: WomXn Up!, ALFS, SJN, OSL
- 3/31/22 12-2PM WomXn Up! Resource Center Womxn History Month Closing Celebration.
- BCC COLLABORATORS: WomXn Up!
Library Resources
Documentaries, along with a multitude of other educational films, can be accessed at Academic Video Online (Alexander Street).
*To access the films users will need their CUNY login credentials: Username= firstname.lastname##@login.cuny.edu; Password = your CUNY login password.
