Blogger to Present Diversity Dialogue on Racism

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will feature a guest speaker at its Diversity Dialogue presentation.

UMPI's Inclusion and Civility Task Force, in conjunction with Aroostook Acts Against Hate, will present Shay Stewart-Bouley as the guest speaker for its Diversity Dialogue presentation on Tuesday, March 26 at 12:30 p.m. in the Campus Center. Stewart-Bouley is the author of the blog Black Girl in Maine and Executive Director of Community Change, Inc. This event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

Stewart-Bouley will lead an interactive session designed to look critically at racism in our communities and our nation by examining the roots of white supremacy and how the past impacts our present. The session is a mixture of lecture and small-group work, which will allow participants to deepen their knowledge of racism in the current landscape of America, examine their own biases, and learn techniques for starting conversations on racism.

Stewart-Bouley has been blogging since 2008, frequently on matters of social justice and systemic racism, through her Black Girl In Maine website. In 2011, she won a New England Press Association Award for her writing on race and diversity. Her writing also has been featured in a variety of Maine and national publications as well as several anthologies. Stewart-Bouley lives in Boston, but is indeed still a Black Girl in Maine, where she resides.

UMPI’s Inclusion and Civility Task Force was established in Fall 2016 to focus on efforts connected with diversity, understanding, campus safety, and civil discourse. Since its creation, the Task Force has worked to host campus conversations on topics that impact the student body and campus as a whole.

For more information about Stewart-Bouley, visit her website https://blackgirlinmaine.com. For more information about this Diversity Dialogue, contact Gayla Shaw at 207-768-9452 or email umpi@maine.edu. To learn more about the work of UMPI’s Inclusion and Civility Task Force is doing on campus, visit www.umpi.edu/owlstandbyyou.