Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 2/13/2023
EASTHAMPTON — The Easthampton High School (EHS) Diversity Inclusion Center is coordinating “The Black Heroes Panel” on Feb. 17 to celebrate Black History Month.
According to Sindy Mojica, the diversity inclusion liaison for EHS, the panel will be conducted at the City Council chambers on 50 Payson Ave. and feature a range of Black heroes from a wide spectrum of professions.
“The BIPOC community in the school doesn’t have that representation in the school, so this panel helps them see themselves beyond those walls and as professionals,” said Mojica, in an interview with Reminder Publishing. “Our panelists are very diverse, and we have different branches of economic and social status, as well as professionals too.”
According to Mojica, around 20 students from the Diversity Inclusion club will submit a question for the panelists. The staff at the Diversity Inclusion Center will then vote for the top five questions selected, and then the students will ask those questions to the group of panelists for discussion.
The panel will feature a combination of local and statewide leaders including state Rep. Bud Williams, Easthampton police officer Quintin Jeffers, Ophthalmologist Lynnette Watkins, former EHS student and serial entrepreneur Kenny Lumpkin, Kirdeyjah Fraser, a senior assurance associate at PwC and Senior Consultant Renika Montgomery-Tamakloe.
According to Mojica, Fraser is also a former EHS student and the senior assurance associate at a major accounting agency in Boston. Watkins, meanwhile, is the current CEO at Cooley-Dickinson Health Care, while Montgomery-Tamakloe has spent the last 10 years managing projects on numerous assignments across various divisions within the Epidemiology and Life Sciences industries.
“Students will see the diverse dreaming within this panel,” said Mojica. “This will actually create that relationship with [the panelists].”
The Diversity Inclusion Center has conducted similar panels in the past, particularly during its Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. According to Mojica, this is the first one they have spearheaded for Black History Month.
“The Hispanic local panel was actually very impactful,” she said. “Students were very emotional…we’re bringing these professionals to students so they can get inspired and look beyond the expectation of others that they have on themselves.”
For the Hispanic Heritage Month Local Heroes Panel, Mojica said students asked questions like, what obstacles the panelists faced while pursuing their dream, did they suffer any discrimination, and how were their experiences when they attended high school.
According to Mojica, the panel will occur from 5 to 7 p.m. Panelists are expected to arrive at 5:15 p.m. so students can interact with them before the actual discussion begins. Light appetizers will be available during the event, and the panel discussion will last about 45 minutes.
Anyone from the general public is welcome to attend.