Activism and the Activist
On Monday, February 15, 2021 the Departments of African American and African Studies and History with the Black Organization of Students hosted Activism and the Activist, a conversation about the activism and the importance of self-care for the activist with Dominique Rocker, Christina Strasburger, and Loretta Turner.
The event was a kickoff to RUN AfAm Week and as a part of Caring Community Week also featured a mindfulness exercise led by Loretta Turner, a certified leadership coach, nonprofit consultant, and yoga teacher.
Dominique Rocker (she/her/hers) is poet, writer, and first year Masters’ student in the History Department at Rutgers University - Newark. Dominique earned a BA in Print Journalism from California State University, Fullerton in 2013 and an MA in African-American Studies from UCLA in 2020. Between degrees, Dominique attended De Anza Community College in the Bay Area, where she began organizing work. At UCLA, Dominique became President of the Black Graduate Student Association and an advocate for Black students. She also worked as a Teaching Assistant for two years. In her final semester, Dominique TA’ed for Sociology of Criminology in the Spring of 2020 - the first full quarter on Zoom due to the rise of the global coronavirus pandemic and throughout the summer BLM uprisings.
Dominique’s research at UCLA examined the activism and resistance strategies of Black women in the Black Panther Party in Los Angeles, California and New Haven, Connecticut. This work focused on both the narrative and erotic resistance via oral testimony and written poetry of former Panther Ericka Huggins. Dominique used the lessons learned from her research on Huggins as strategies for centering care in resistance as an activist herself and for her students trying to navigate a new learning environment in the midst of a pandemic and social upheaval. In thinking about pleasure as a site of resistance for Black women, particularly as Black women also must negotiate a sexuality enmeshed with pain and trauma, Dominique’s interests have shifted to questions about Black women in pornography in the digital age and the potential for centuring queer pleasure as a radical resistance site.
Loretta Turner, MA, CANP, is a New Jersey-bred, San Diego-based mindfulness and leadership coach and yoga teacher with an MA in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. She is an active member of the nonprofit community, both as a seasoned professional and a devout volunteer. She has always worked within human service organizations, emphasizing mindfulness, compassion, and diversity awareness in her leadership roles. Loretta strongly believes that “it only works if you do,” and she’ll always encourage you to put the work in. Follow Loretta on Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin: @loretta.leads
