CURTO Conversations CURTO Conversations

Faculty Director of the Black and Latino/a Ecosystem and Support Transition (BLEST) Hub Dr. Gabriel Velez is joined by CEO of the African American Leadership Alliance Walter Lanier, BLEST Hub Assistant Director Troy Washington, and Marquette Students Michael Vasquez and Kendall Watts to discuss the current state of black and brown students in Milwaukee. They provide updates on the work of the BLEST Hub in 2022-2023, focusing on dual enrollment and the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. The conversation coincides with the release of the 2023 State of the Ecosystem report (linked below).

 

The report can be found by following this link: https://www.marquette.edu/urban-research-teaching-outreach/documents/blesthub-state-of-the-ecosystem-2023.pdf



Ronald Johnson, AKA as ChocoGeek, provided music for this podcast on Soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/chocogeek

Intro music, Arkham Talent Show

The outro music, One More Time Around The Loop (Irascible Funk)

The conversation identifies the data, equity gap, and support for our low-income students and students of color who continue to navigate Dual Enrollment programs in Wisconsin and beyond. Research Assistant of the Black and Latino/a Ecosystem and Support Transition (BLEST) Hub Michael Vazquez hosts Vicki Bott, Karin Smith, and Dr. Jason Taylor in a discussion of their work with Dual Enrollment. For further information regarding the BLEST Hub initiative and work related to dual enrollment, check out the following link: https://www.marquette.edu/urban-research-teaching-outreach/dual-enrollment-hub.php 



Ronald Johnson, AKA as ChocoGeek, provided music for this podcast on Soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/chocogeek

Intro music, Arkham Talent Show

The outro music, One More Time Around The Loop (Irascible Funk)

Faculty Director of the Black and Latino/a Ecosystem and Support Transition (BLEST) Hub Dr. Gabriel Velez is joined by Walter Lanier, Alberto J. Maldonado, Saúl López, and Max Harteen to discuss their work with black and brown students in Milwaukee. The conversation touches on challenges and opportunities in the Milwaukee area and is timed to coincide with the release of the  2022 State of the Ecosystem report.

The report can be found by following this link: https://www.marquette.edu/urban-research-teaching-outreach/documents/blesthub-state-of-the-ecosystem-2022.pdf  



Ronald Johnson, AKA as ChocoGeek, provided music for this podcast on Soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/chocogeek

Intro music, Arkham Talent Show

The outro music, One More Time Around The Loop (Irascible Funk)

During the Spring Semester, Ibtisam Abujad (Ph.D. Candidate, English) hosted a virtual event in her class that explored how cultural activism in the form of music, poetry, filmmaking, and storytelling can produce local and global shifts that cure social ills and promote justice. This panel featured award-winning and influential filmmakers:

Queen Muhammad Ali: Director, Producer, & Visual Anthropologist

Hakeem Khaaliq: Directory, Producer, & Visual Anthropologist

Khaula Malik: Director, Producer, & Filmaker

Ibtisam and the panelists graciously agreed to let us share a recording of part of this conversation.

Center Director Dr. Robert Smith has a conversation with three graduate students who participated in a nine-day Civil Rights Pilgrimage facilitated by Marquette University's Center for Peacemaking.

Participants include:

A Milwaukee native, Serina Jamison is a MA candidate in the English department at Marquette University. Her background is in Education, and her interests include Black studies and literature, African American Rhetoric(s), curriculum, and pedagogy.

Saúl López was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up on the Southside of Milwaukee. Saúl is a current Ph.D. student at Marquette University, where he studies Educational Policy and Leadership. Saúl's current research interests include Latinx Student Experience, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Jesuit Institutions of Higher Education. You can follow him on Twitter @Saulescribe

A native Kentuckian, Benjamin Linzy is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Marquette University. He serves as the Senior Graduate Researcher at CURTO and is the Program Coordinator for Humanities Without Walls. You can follow him on Twitter @Bendangerously 

Ronald Johnson, AKA as ChocoGeek, provided music for this podcast. You can find him on Soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/chocogeek 

Intro music, Arkham Talent Show

The outro music, One More Time Around The Loop (Irascible Funk)

Black and Latino/a students in Milwaukee face many obstacles in higher education and career success, and it is no secret that their outcomes in these areas are starkly different than their White counterparts. Still, there are also numerous organizations, initiatives, activists, and other actors working to bolster Black and Latino/a students’ success.  In this podcast, a CURTO team of faculty, graduate students, and community college partner discuss their work in this area with the Black and Latino/a Ecosystem and Support Transition (BLEST) Hub.  The conversation touches on challenges and opportunities in the Milwaukee area, as well as their emerging work and efforts to build a visual map of the ecosystem.

Featuring:

Dr. Gabriel Velez

Walter Lanier 

Verónica Mancheno 

Saúl López

For more information about BLEST Hub, you can visit our website at https://www.marquette.edu/urban-research-teaching-outreach/dual-enrollment-hub.php

Music for this podcast was provided by Ronald Johnson, AKA as ChocoGeek on Soundcloud. https://soundcloud.com/chocogeek

Intro music, Arkham Talent Show

The outro music, One More Time Around The Loop (Irascible Funk)