Connecticut’s African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Studies – Student Summit IV
Navigating the Historical Waters of Our Unique Identities
Friday, March 28, 2025, 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Check-in starts at 8:00 a.m.
CT LEAD, 96 Bank Street, Waterbury, CT 06702
“Navigating the historical waters of our unique identities” is a powerful phrase. It’s the work that bodies of culture have had to experience like true mathematicians, always searching for and speaking different tongues to move through the world. It is our ocean of diverse experiences, perspectives, and identities that is analogous to the historical challenge and beauty of embracing what separates us while recognizing our shared humanity. To sail these waters requires curiosity as our compass and compassion as our anchor, knowing that every wave carries a story, every current a truth. In navigating and celebrating our similarities and differences, we can discover the vastness not only of the world but of ourselves.
Special Guests
Christopher Rivas
Author, “Brown Enough,”
Encino, CA
Eboné Bell
Visionary Storyteller,
SimplyLead,
Washington, D.C.
Noel Quiñones
Writer and Educator,
Chicago, IL
The speakers for Student Summit IV have been specially chosen for their powerful life experiences and impactful storytelling approaches that provide insights into their individual and our collective experiences over time. Students participating in this session will have the opportunity to broaden their worldview by engaging in reflective and analytic activities with other students taking the course. They will learn how acts of resilience have been woven throughout Black and Latino history and how it can be used to create lasting change, both within ourselves and in our communities. Historical themes of “commUNITY,” influence of ecology, standing in the gap, representation, and belief in infinite possibilities will also ripple throughout the day.
For questions regarding content, please contact Nitza M. Diaz, 860-632-1485, ext 394 or diaz@ctserc.org.
For questions regarding registration or to arrange for a language or sign language interpreter, please contact Heather Dawes, 860-632-1485, ext 263 or dawes@ctserc.org.
*Transportation stipends and permission forms will be made available upon registration.
*Lunch will be provided.
An offering by Connecticut’s African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Studies (CT PA 19-12 and PA 21-2).
THE CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IS AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.