In honor of Black History Month, we will be learning more about Black and African American people who have made tremendous contributions to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM). SEAONC SE3 invites you to participate by completing one (or all!) of the options below:

• Read/watch Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon (NMAAHC and Museum of the African Diaspora in SF): hardcover book or YouTube video (could read/watch with your kids)
  
• Read about 50 Black Women in STEM You Should Know About (What did you learn? Most surprising? Who’s missing?)
  
• Read about fifteen Black Men in Science: A Black History Book for Kids
  
• Learn about ASCE’s list of Notable Black Engineers in History
  

Don’t have enough time to participate in this book club meeting? We challenge you to consider donating STEAM books centered on Black and African Americans to local underserved K-12 schools or community centers. Oftentimes, Black students do not have access to books with Black and African Americans portrayed as scientists, engineers, artists, and more. Here are other links with suggested books for young K-12 readers:

• #BlackinSTEM: 17 Nonfiction Books That Spotlight Black Scientists, Thinkers, and Inventors | School Library Journal 
  
• Ignite Their Curiosity: STEM Books Featuring African American Girls 
  

And check out Oakland’s African American Read-In 2022 Recommended Book List with the Read-In Week happening January 31st to February 4th! 

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California residents have experienced many intense wildfires in recent years. These wildfires have caused devastating destruction, displacing many people living in close proximity to forests or dry vegetation. The current drought and global warming are perfect ingredients to generate more wildfires. As structural engineers, we are also being challenged to design buildings and structures in wildfire-prone areas. Government officials are now looking at prescribed burns as a tool for wildfire management, similar to those done by Native tribes before Western settlers arrived. In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, which is in November, join SEAONC SE3’s book club to learn about Indigenous traditions in tending to the land and discuss how they can be incorporated into our changing ideas of wildfire management. Other discussion points will cover how we as structural engineers can harden our buildings and provide defensible space. 

We recommend checking out a few of the following articles and videos as background information prior to the discussion:

• Learn more about the history of cultural burning by reading or watching one or both of these resources
  • How Native Americans Used Fire to Protect and Cultivate Land (7 min. read)
  • KCET Video - Tending the Wild: Cultural Burning (18 min. watch)
• Learn about how California is implementing a long-known Native American practice of controlled burns to fight devastating wildfires 
  • Native American Burning And California's Wildfire Strategy (4 min. listen)
  • A new wildfire strategy for California | Stanford News (7 min. read)
• Skim this series of guides on how to assess and mitigate wildfire risk for homes
  • Building in Wildfire-Prone Areas, specifically the Builder’s Wildfire Mitigation Guide

We would also like to share a series of lectures from the University of British Columbia about engineering, decolonization, and Indigenous design principles. These lectures go well beyond the scope of this book club, but we felt it was relevant to share if participants are interested in learning more.

Book Club Goals:

• Generate awareness and individual learning on topics of racial equity,
• Facilitate discussions with the wider SEAONC community, and
• Create a safe space for discussion for everyone.

 
Note: We would like to emphasize that everyone is welcome to come share their opinions and experiences, even if they differ from the resources provided. While the resources provided are a launching point for discussion, SEAONC SE3 does not specifically endorse the material or the author.
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The affordable housing crisis has been at the forefront of discussion this year highlighted by skyrocketing home prices and eviction moratorium expirations. A host of solutions are being discussed and pursued to solve this seemingly intractable problem, including rezoning single family lots for greater density, promoting accessory dwelling units, offsite modular construction, and housing reparations. Join us on September 9th to discuss what role structural engineers can play in creating an equitable built environment specifically related to access to quality housing.
In preparation for this discussion please review the following materials:

• Take a moment to review the redlining history of your home city to personalize the discussion (https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/).
• Skim through the Introduction and The Legacy of Redlining section of the “Crisis, Response, and Recovery: The Federal Government and the Black/White Homeownership Gap” report from the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley to understand the enduring impact of redlining.
• Listen to or read one or both of these resources to connect the dots of our exclusionary housing history to the current discussion on equitable access to housing.
  • “Chapter 7: Living Apart” of The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee.
  • “Location! Location! Location!” Code Switch Podcast

We will be discussing the New York Times Best Seller The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee. While racism is typically discussed as a force that negatively affects people of color, in this book, Heather McGhee takes us to different corners of the USA to dive into how racism and the zero-sum game mentality negatively affects everyone. The author showcases several examples throughout American history of how racist policies and practices have negatively affected BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and, indirectly, white people too. McGhee also discusses how the Solidarity Dividend, which is a gain resulting from people joining forces across racial lines, can help us achieve a common goal as a collective rather than failing to do so individually. More specifically, we will be discussing the following chapters:

• Chapter 2: Racism Drained the Pool
• Chapter 9: The Hidden Wound
• Chapter 10: The Solidarity Dividend

Here’s a preview of the book in an interview with Heather McGhee on NPR’s Fresh Air:
'Sum Of Us' Examines The Hidden Cost Of Racism — For Everyone
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Additional references for discussion:

• Page 4 of the NCSEA SE3 Discrimination and Harassment Topic Brief, summarizes how discrimination/harassment affects the career satisfaction of those who experience it:
• The article How Diversity Makes Us Smarter  argues that working and collaborating with others across race, gender, national origin, etc. leads to innovative and creative solutions.

Tune into this month’s book club, in which we will be discussing the concept, history, and construct of whiteness, different views of racism and unconscious bias, and their impact on how we interact with each other. As a group, we’ll discuss some of the narratives in the video, our response to the podcast, and our awareness and comfort level in talking about race and racism. We will reflect on our personal experiences in living in primarily white environments, expectations of people of color “acting white”, and the ways in which we can move past just talking.

Estimated Preparation time: Less than 1 hour

• Video | “Debunking The Most Common Myths White People Tell About Race”  | DiAngelo  3.5 minutes
• Video | “Why Are We Still Talking About Racism?” | DiAngelo  4.5 minutes
• Podcast | Scene on Radio: Seeing White | Biewen: Excerpt of Part 1 (7.5 minutes) and Part 2 (29 minutes)
• Article | Understanding My White Privilege | David Phillips - 5 minute read

This will be a casual discussion open to all and no registration is needed; just join via the Zoom Link provided. Please email se3@seaonc.org with any questions.