The annual report tracking the events, projects, and overall achievements of the Humanities Truck in the 2022-2023 grant year and alongside the work over the truck since it first started running.
Audrey Barnett interviews Amelie Zurn. Their conversation begins with Amelie discussing how she donated a large number of her papers from OUT! (Oppression Under Target) to the American University Archive. She then explains how she got involved with OUT! after volunteering with organizations such as Whitman Walker, National Organization for Women, and the Rape Crisis Hotline. Amelie talks more about her time with OUT!, including actions, other members, organizing tactics, and partnerships with other groups. Audrey also asks for more details about Amelie's work at and the evolution of Whitman Walker clinic. The interview then transitions to a discussion about feminist health practices and activism within AIDS organizing.
Audrey Barnett completes part 2 of her interview with Amelie Zurn. Their conversation picks up with Amelie continuing to discuss working with Whitman Walker. She identifies challenges in building support for and acknowledging the affects of grief on people involved in the movement. Audrey then asks Amelie about how her previous work with OUT! and Whitman Walker inform her present-day work and life.
Dr. Bouie is a Black artist currently living in Washington, D.C. She previously worked as a teacher and spent several years creating educational programing for inner city schools. She discusses her life from childhood, early education, later experiences in college and graduate school. Then, she talks about her experiences as a Black educator serving inner city students and her transition into being an artist. Finally, she shares her thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement and the role of art and spirituality in sustaining social movements. The interview was conducted remotely through the podcasting program Zencastr and we experienced some technical difficulties.
In this interview, Arren Mills discusses many aspects of her life, including her family life, her career, and her hopes for the future. She touches on her personal history, her expanding career in birth photography and as a doula, and her social activism. She describes her experience at protests over the summer of 2020, her fears and hopes for the social justice movement going forward, and her desires for her two young girls. With honesty and poise, Arren Mills provides perspective on protesting, activism, and motherhood in this interview.
The interview with Austin Arminio discusses his participation in the American University (AU) Staff Union Strike in August 2022. In the interview he discusses his understanding of labor movements coming from a labor sympathetic family before participating in one. He also discusses his education and career in history as a processing archivist at American. Finally, he mentions his role during the strike, as well as an overwhelming feeling of community support during the movement. Austin also references the larger collection of AU Staff Union Strike ephemera in the American University Archives and Special Collections and materials he intends to submit to be included.
This interview is part of a documentation of the experience of the artists who contributed to the Black Lives Matter mural in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Deonna Craig, one of the eighteen artists, is a professional artist and a teacher of after-school programs for elementary students. In this interview, Deonna discusses her realization of her calling as an artist, her painting of the letter “V” in “Lives”, and what the mural means to the community today.
This interview is part of a documentation of the experience of the artists who contributed to the Black Lives Matter mural in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Gary Gee, one of the eighteen artists, is a full-time professional artist. In this interview, Gary discusses his long path to becoming a professional artist, his painting of the letter “I” in “Lives”, and the history of racism in the Indianapolis community.
The virtual interview, conducted over TheirStory, starts with Jess Dawson recounting her experiences growing up as a first-generation immigrant in the United States. She discusses her childhood growing up in Canada and New Jersey, her experiences trying to integrate into U.S. school systems, and her relationship with her family. Ms. Dawson also describes her journey to realize her interest in the medical field and how her time spent as an undergraduate at American University helped her to recognize that interest. She also discusses her time as a medical student at the University of Washington in detail, specifically focusing on how being a woman of color and first-generation immigrant affected those experiences. She discusses her efforts to incorporate her passion for social justice into her work as a medical student and first year residency. The interview then turns to Ms. Dawson’s time as a first-year resident working in a Los Angeles hospital during Covid-19 and the effect of that period on her personally and professionally. The interview concludes with a discussion of racial health disparities in the U.S., Ms. Dawson experience in working through those disparities with her patients, and her perspective on how those disparities can be addressed in the future.
This interview is part of a documentation of the experience of the artists who contributed to the Black Lives Matter mural in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Rebecca Robinson, one of the eighteen artists, is a professional artist whose other past projects include other murals, fashion design, and other art pieces. In this interview, Rebecca discusses how she came to be involved in the mural project, her painting of the letter “L” in “Black”, and the community of the self-titled “The Eighteen” artists.
Sheena Styles works at a public school in Washington DC teaching 4th grade math and science. In this interview we discuss her early experiences with education, how she became a teacher. She discusses the significance of teaching demographics and how systemic shifts in DCPS have increased the amount of white women in teaching and reduced the number of teacher of color. She also discusses the kind of impact the national Black Lives Matter protests had within her classroom and the importance of anti-racist teaching practices. She tells her story of how the Covid-19 virus shut down her school, how the school addressed issues with equity, and the ways she has had adapt to teaching virtually. She shares her thoughts on teacher and student safety in the face of Covid-19 and the importance of teaching as a profession and the significant work teachers do within society.