What is Juneteenth?: What can it mean to me?
Guest Speaker: Dr. Bernice Bass de Martinez
The Hawaii Association of International Buddhists (HAIB) cordially invites you to join our virtual celebration of the Juneteenth, “Freedom Day”
on Sunday, June 19th, 2022 from 1:30-3:00 pm HST (4:30-6:00 pm PDT).
This day is being celebrated because it is considered to be the oldest national commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
HAIB was organized based on the philosophy of unity in diversity and the spirit of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. We offer programs for the achievement of peace and harmony and the pursuit of happiness and well-being for all humankind. One of the four objectives of HAIB is to propagate high standards of ethical and moral behavior by organizing appropriate programs and projects for the advancement of social, economic, educational, cultural and other humanitarian purposes. Therefore, we proudly present this special Juneteenth celebration.
Biography: BERNICE BASS DE MARTÍNEZ, Ph.D.
Dr. Bernice Bass de Martínez currently serves as Special Assistant to the Dean, College of Arts & Letters. Her assignment includes working on innovation initiatives, community building and collaboration, leadership development, and external funding. She also holds an appointment to the University’s Foundation Board and chairs the Board’s Governance Committee. She has worked in many capacities in the field of education. Including her years at California State University in Sacramento, she has served more than 30 years in various administrative roles in higher education including provost and vice president for academic affairs, multiple deanships, and special assistant to the president as well as chairing three departments (Department of Teacher Education, Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, School Psychology and Deaf Studies, and Department of Foreign Languages). Additionally, she has more than 14 years of faculty experience teaching at both graduate and undergraduate levels.
Her career work has been complemented with International Affairs having served projects in Latin America (Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador), Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, and Senegal) and the Caribbean (Jamaica and Haiti). She has worked in the New Mexico Department of Education and U.S. Department of Education. Her experiences also include association service (Senior Fellow at the Association of American Colleges and Universities-2005, and Interim President and CEO for Leadership America-2002, both in the Washington, DC area). In addition to instruction, she has been engaged with policy development, refinement, and implementation; staff and faculty development, selection, and evaluation; consensus building and “turn around” management; program and curricular assessment and evaluation; and resource management and development.
Her passions include a strong commitment to building bridges of collaboration and cooperation; a belief that quality education can be delivered in an equitable way; and a commitment to identification, development, education, and advancement of the disenfranchised with particular emphasis on women and persons of color. These passions influence her teaching and research as well as her administrative work and personal life. March 15, 2017, she received the Unsung Hero Award at Sac State’s Annual Women of Influence Event.
In terms of community service, Dr. Bass de Martínez currently is a member of the Education Task Force with the Coalition for Women Appointments (focused on ensuring qualified women are appointed at all levels of the Biden-Harris administration). She served on the Sacramento County Blue Ribbon Commission on the Establishment of a Sacramento County Women’s Commission (Sacramento County Supervisors officially established a Women’s Commission based on the group’s work, December 2021). She held a Governor’s appointment (2015-2020) as a public member to the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians and was elected Board Vice President three terms; a City Council appointment (2012 to 2017) to the Elk Grove Multicultural Committee; and serves on the Greater Sacramento Martin Luther King Dinner Celebration Committee. From 2000 through 2008 she served on the Board of Leadership America, chairing the Board of Directors in 2006; from 1998 to 2008 she served on the American Council on Education’s Office of Women in Higher Education’s Network Executive Board and is now an emeritus member; from 2005 to 2011 was a member of the Educational Policy Committee of the National Foundation for Women Legislators and served on the U.S. Advisory Board of the Euro-American Women’s Council from 2004 to 2009. She is the Founding Chair of the William V. S. Tubman University (Harper, Liberia) Foundation Board; an active member of the Xi Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (the oldest African American Sorority in the world with a commitment of service to all mankind).
Dr. Bass de Martínez holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Chemistry as well as a master’s degree in education both earned at the University of Northern Colorado and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida in curriculum and instruction. On May 31, 2016, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree, Honoris causa by William VS Tubman University (Harper, Maryland County, Liberia) for exemplary services in social development and outstanding commitment to humanity across the globe.
Program Agenda
1:30 Welcome --- Michael Kieran, Roshi, HAIB President
1:35 Vow of Humankind --- Rev. Hirosato Yoshida, HAIB Director of Internet Social Media
1:40 Introduction of Speaker --- Dr. Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel, HAIB Director of Community Relations
1:45 What is Juneteenth?: What can it mean to me?--- Dr. Bernice Bass de Martinez, Guest Speaker
2:30 Small Group discussion in zoom breakout rooms to discuss each of these questions
As a Buddhist, what can Juneteenth mean to me?
What did Texans gain by delaying this announcement?
Why would a state not liberate enslaved peoples?
What responsibility do I have to share this information with others?
What other events come to mind that might be related to Juneteenth?
2:50 Report from Small Groups
3:00 Closing with reading of Metta Sutta ---Rev. Jiko Nakade, HAIB Vice President
Note: During the zoom event, we had a breakout room section that we were not able to record due to the nature of Zoom service. Please skip between the timeframe 1:00:00 to 1:20:00 in the video.