Faculty Profile: Raygine DiAquoi

WHAT HAS YOUR PREVIOUS RESEARCH/WORK FOCUSED ON? WHY DO YOU SEE THIS AS NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT WORK?

My research focuses on the educational experiences of marginalized children, racism over the life course, and racial socialization or the way that African American parents communicate messages to their children about race. In my most recent project I analyzed the conversations that parents were having with their adolescent sons around racism. One of the major findings of my work is that the content of communications about race, between adults and children or adolescents, reflects the requirements of the current racial climate. The messages that parents recalled receiving about race were quite different from the messages that they were now sharing with their sons. My study builds on prior research that shows the differences between messages conveyed to Black adolescents growing up in three distinct periods: pre-Brown v. Board of education, protest, and post-protest. These findings highlight the way experiences of racism reflect biography and history.

I see this as necessary and important work because humans enjoy stories. Unfortunately, when certain well-worn stories take hold in society and we accept them as truth it becomes harder for us to understand and want to empathize with those who are othered. In the long run, if we are unable to see ourselves in others we are less likely to want to endorse changes that will support them. Many of our popular, or majoritarian narratives, like the myths of meritocracy and equal opportunity, reflect a particular reality, one that does not take structural inequality into account. My work is part of the larger project to create counternarratives that will aid us in better understanding the role that oppression plays in producing health disparities and developing solutions that demonstrate our awareness.

WHAT IS YOUR ROLE AT ODCI? HOW DOES YOUR WORK, AND THE WORK OF ODCI, FIT WITHIN PUBLIC HEALTH'S BROADER MISSION TO ADDRESS SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND HEALTH DISPARITIES? 

My role as the Director of the Office of Diversity, Culture, and Inclusion dovetails neatly with public health’s broader mission to address social injustice and health disparities. As Director of ODCI, I am responsible for developing a rich agenda of activities and programs that promote an understanding of historical and current inequities and the role that oppressive systems play in shaping our personal experiences, the environment at Mailman, and society. The goal of ODCI initiatives and programming is to provide people with skills necessary for analyzing the way that oppression(s) happen at the individual, interpersonal, and institutional levels so that we are equipped to interrupt practices and policies that reify these systems and design and create scholarship, interventions, processes and procedures that reflect our commitment to health equity.   Both my role and my research, which I described earlier, are examples of what public health practice can look like.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR PROJECTS THAT YOU'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON WITH ODCI? 

I am pleased to announce that the MSPH peer mentoring program, R.I.S.E, has launched this year.

I am excited about our Bias Response and Support System.  The system can be used by community members to notify me of bias related incidents and concerns. It can also be used to log experiences and interactions that are inclusive or bias-free. The system will aid our School in co-creating the inclusive community that we aspire to be by providing us with the opportunity to cultivate cultural humility and make sure that Mailman is a place that everyone can thrive.

I have expanded ODCI curriculum so that in addition to SSGA, TA Training,  the Faculty Inclusive Teaching Institute and an implicit bias workshop for hiring committees, ODCI now provides a workshop series for Staff.

Finally, I am looking forward to some of the new programming and initiatives that will take place this year, including our series on Impostor Syndrome , co-sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), The Center for Student Wellness (CSW), Mental Health Services (MHS), and the School of Nursing (SON). The first module of the series, Why Capable People Suffer from Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It, will feature a presentation by Doctor Valerie Young and a discussion moderated by Dr. Ashlee Davis.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE YOUR WORK DOES NOT PERPETUATE THE OPPRESSIVE SYSTEMS IT SEEKS TO DISMANTLE?

This is a great question that everyone should be thinking about. There are two ways that I ensure that my work does not perpetuate the oppressive systems it seeks to dismantle. First, I never guarantee that my work will not bear the mark of one or many systems of oppression. Having been socialized into many interlocking systems of oppression, like everyone else, I am acutely aware of the fact that I am a product of my environment. This means that I, like everyone else, have blind spots. What I try to do is ensure that I am facilitating in a way that allows participants room to acknowledge when they are reflecting biases that are the result of decades of socialization. Second, I pay attention to my own internalized privilege. Obviously, there are dimensions of my identity that put me at a disadvantage. Like most people, when I think about oppression I think about these aspects of my identity. Often we fail to consider the other facets of our identity that give us access to certain advantages and opportunities at the expense of some segment of the population. If we pause to reflect on our privilege it becomes easier to see where others are denied certain benefits and think of ways to act in solidarity so that those privileges become rights for all.

DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES? WHAT MIGHT YOUR STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU?

This may be the most difficult question of all because I have so many hobbies. I create Ankara fabric button earrings and cufflinks that I have sold at craft fairs and given away to friends and family as gifts. I love to sew and usually make skirts or repurpose old clothes by adding patches to them. I design the patches by having images printed on fabric. For example, I have had lines from the Haitian Declaration of Independence printed on pieces of fabric that I will then sew onto t-shirts, button down shirts or my converse sneakers.

I fancy myself a green thumb and enjoy anything having to do with plants. Right now, I am taking care of several succulents, several pothos plants, a peace lily, and cacti. I have several herbs in my kitchen as well. I use them when I am cooking.

I love to read. My favorite books include a biography of Malcolm X written by the late Manning Marable, Malcolm: A Life of Reinvention and Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns. Both books are, simultaneously, comprehensive treatments of individual lives and portraits of America.

Over the summer, I joined a Columbia softball team so I think that softball may be one of my newest hobbies. I am a proud lefty batter!

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS NEXT SCHOOL YEAR?

Everything that I’ve typed into my Outlook and Google calendars.