Our Bodies, Our Minds, Our Communities: Physical, Emotional, and Environmental Impacts of Racism

About This Event

This is the fourth annual Project 400 Conference, titled Our Bodies, Our Minds, Our Communities: Physical, Emotional, and Environmental Impacts of Racism. Project 400 began in 2019 as a year-long observation of when the first Africans were brought to the British Colonies in North America in 1619. This two-day conference will further examine the contemporary challenges African Americans face, highlighting the obstacles that have been overcome while identifying those that remain. 

The hybrid virtual and in-person conference will take place Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25th from 10:00am to 2:30pm. Friday’s sessions will focus on the physical and mental effects of racism. Saturday’s sessions will focus on the impacts of environmental racism on health. 

Please join the Diversity Institute and member organizations of the Project 400 Collaborative for our fourth annual conference which is part of our ongoing calendar of activities. Participants will gain a unique opportunity to connect to the ongoing conversation about race as the foundation of systemic inequities and ways in which we might address them.

Plenary Speakers

Dr. David Williams; Norman Professor of Public Health and Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Claire McFarland, JD; Councilwoman, Founder and Managing Partner of Claire McFarland Law, Member of City of Evanston, IL Reparations Committee
 

Panelists

Jazmin Long; Chief Executive Officer, Birthing Beautiful Communities

Colette Ngana; Board Chair, Preterm

Dr. Tawanda Greer Medley; Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology and Associate Director of The Diversity Institute, Cleveland State University

Charles S. Modlin, Jr., M.D., MBA, FACS; Staff Urologist; Medical Director, Equity, Inclusion, Diversity; Urologist, MetroHealth

Lionel Lewis; Broker, New Era Real Estate Group LLC; Member, Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors

John Corlett; President and Executive Director, Centers for Community Solutions

Frank Ford; Senior Policy Advisor, Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research

Yvonka Hall; Executive Director, Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition

SeMia Bray; Co-Director, Black Environmental Leaders

Kimberly Foreman; Executive Director, Environmental Health Watch

Dr. Hugh Turner; Clinical Psychologist

Prester Pickett, Africana Studies, Cleveland State University

Jenny Spencer, Ward 15 Council Member, City of Cleveland 
 

Moderators

Marlene Harris-Taylor; Director of Engaged Journalism, Ideastream Public Media

Dr. Randy Vince; Assistant Professor, Director of Minority Men’s Health, University Hospitals

Roz Campbell; Member Engagement & DEI Representative, Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors

Dr. Roderick Harris; Commissioner, Cuyahoga County Board of Health
 

Performing Artists

Tiranay Campbell; Violinist, CSU Student

Samone Cummings; Spoken Word Artist, John Hay Student

Kwanza Brewer; Spoken Word Artist, CSU Alumna
 

Sponsors

GOLD SPONSOR

SUPPORTING SPONSORS