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Racial Equity

ESTHER: Celebrating 20 Years!

Justice, Hope and Action


Events we're highlighting as part of our twentieth anniversary

Oh, No! Not Critical Race Theory!!

Watch Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings, University of Wisconsin-Madison, speak on the distortions and misinformation currently being spread about Critical Race Theory and how to challenge and undo these. See her presentation, available on YouTube here, or click on the image below.

Professor Ladson-Billings’ talk was hosted by The Creating Beloved Community team of Taking a Faithful Stand for Equity on November 14, 2023.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

Date: 
Monday, January 15, 2024 - 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: 
Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 706 E College Ave, Appleton

33rd Fox Cities Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration

33rd Fox Cities Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

Hosted by Lawrence University in Memorial Chapel. 

Hear from:

Come for “Makin’ Cake,” Come Back for “Truth Evolution”

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Come for “Makin’ Cake,” Come Back for “Truth Evolution”

Dasha with cake onlyThrough a special partnership with the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, the LWV Appleton-FoxCities has two great opportunities for members and communities to delve into race, culture and bias issues in creative and engaging ways.

Both are the work of writer, performance artist, curator and facilitator Dasha Kelly Hamilton. She also is a former Artist of the Year and Wisconsin Poet Laureate, so she packs plenty of energy into the presentations — and brings the audience into the creative process along with her.

  • The first presentation, “Makin’ Cake” (February 27), is part of the PAC’s Spotlight Series and requires ticket purchases.
  • The second program, “Truth Evolution” (February 28) is made possible through a collaboration between the PAC and the League, with support from Community First Credit Union. While attendance at “Makin’ Cake” is not required to participate in “Truth Evolution” it is recommended. There is no cost to attend “Truth Evolution,” altthough registration is requested.
  • Both presentations will take place in the Kimberly-Clark Theater at the PAC.

More information, including links for ticket purchase and registration “below the fold.”

Join us for the Black Experience

Date: 
Saturday, March 16, 2024 - 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: 
201 E Birch St Black Creek, WI 54106

The Black Exerience FlierCome experience a preview of our African Immersion, planned and led by ESTHER’s new organizer, Miracle Wheeler.

A fun-filled educational day with authentic African American Food, African Drumming lessons, African dance tutorials, crafts for the kids, face painting, a powerful movie clip on Black History, Q&A session, hair-braiding experience and much more.

Register Here

Free Admission. Donations Accepted. Proceeds fund ESTHER’s African Immersion.

The Black Experience: Family

Date: 
Saturday, June 1, 2024 - 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: 
116 E Wisconsin Ave, Appleton

The Black Experience: Family

Save the Date!

NOTE THE NEW LOCATION - this event has been moved to Appleton

Learn about some of the strong traditions and characteristics of some Black families. Although no one family is identical to any other, there are similarities.

Free Admission • Donations Accepted

Juneteenth 2024

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Date: 
Sunday, June 9, 2024 - 12:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: 
Jones Park, 301 W Lawrence St, Appleton

Help spread the word: download and share the attached flier!

Book Note: Redeeming Justice

Redeeming Justice: From Defendant to Defender: My Fight for Equity on Both Sides of a Broken System, by Jarrett Adams

Keith Findley, the keynote speaker at ESTHER’s 20th Anniversary Banquet on November 16, is a key figure in this 2021 book by Jarrett Adams. Adams introduced Findley at the banquet and gave moving testimony about the new life Findley’s Innocence Project gave him.

Adams was seventeen when an all-white jury  in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, sentenced him to twenty-eight years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. In this unforgettable memoir, Jarrett recalls the journey that led to his exoneration—and inspired him to devote his life to fighting the many injustices in our legal system. With time running out for him to file his appeal, the Wisconsin Innocence Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School offered to represent him, both in drafting his appeal and representing him in court.

Fox Cities MLK Celebration

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Date: 
Monday, January 20, 2025 - 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: 
Lawrence University Memorial Chapel, 510 E College Ave, Appleton

34th Annual Community-Wide MLK Celebration

Keynote speaker: Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly, Associate Professor of African American Studies at Wayne State University. Dr. Burden-Stelly is a Black studies scholar and author focused on political theory, political economy, intellectual history, and political and historical sociology. She has given multiple talks regarding the life and legacy of MLK, including at Penn State University, Georgetown, and Western Carolina University.

Musical performances by:

  • NOIR | Lawrence University student group
  • Preston Parker ft. The Omoladé Academy
  • The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Community Choir

Also featuring the presentation of Jane LaChapelle McCarty Unity in Diversity Awards: MLK Community Leader and MLK Educator.

Thank you to our committee members and co-sponsors!

  • Appleton Area School District
  • The Boldt Company
  • Boys & Girls Club of the Fox Valley
  • City of Appleton
  • Fox Cities Community Foundation
  • People of Progression
  • ThedaCare
  • United Way Fox Cities
 

 

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