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Blackburn, Nathaniel share their experiences in Juneteenth webinar
The Black and Allied Employees hosted a webinar on June 14 to celebrate Juneteenth, the day when the last people held hostage under chattel slavery learned of their freedom — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Mary Blackburn, Ph.D., UC Cooperative Extension family and consumer sciences health and nutrition advisor in Alameda County, and Keith Nathaniel, Ed.D., 4-H youth development advisor and director of UCCE in Los Angeles County, described their educational and career journeys in agriculture and extension.
The hour-long discussion was moderated by Chandra Richards, UCCE agricultural land acquisitions academic coordinator serving San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties, and organized by the Black and Allied Employees employee resource group.
Blackburn and Nathaniel related how their experiences shape their work and how their lives connect to current patterns of inequity.
Blackburn, who grew up in the Deep South and began her career in the turbulent 1960s, recalled being fired twice when Bay Area hospital administrators realized she was Black. But she found allies and advocates along her career path. After joining UC ANR in Alameda County in 1990, Dr. B, as she is affectionately called by colleagues, built a diverse team of educators – Black, Latino and Asian – who she credits for the success UCCE has had in accessing people in jail, transitional homes and public housing to provide education.
Nathaniel, who joined UC ANR in 1994, described some of the institutional challenges he has had to overcome as a 4-H advisor to serve Black youth. In Los Angeles County, members of the public don't understand that urban children can benefit from 4-H programs, he said. Nathaniel also pointed out that racism persists in subtle as well as overt ways. On search committees, he advises colleagues to be specific rather than describing a candidate as “not a good fit.”
Learn more about Blackburn and Nathaniel's experiences by viewing a recording of the Juneteenth webinar at https://youtu.be/yJ4Oo-VkgAE.
