HCC to Host ‘Phenomenal Black Women’s Panel’ on Feb. 28

HOLYOKE — As Black History Month draws to a close, Holyoke Community College (HCC) will welcome a panel of notable Black women from Western Mass. to talk about their lives and experiences.

The “Phenomenal Black Women’s Panel” on Wednesday, Feb. 28 runs from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Room 224 of the HCC Campus Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Julissa Colón, director of HCC’s El Centro program, will moderate. Panelists include Jada Waters, director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Middletown, Conn. public schools (and a former HCC staff member); Erika Slocumb, a Black-history scholar and director of interpretation and visitor experience at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, Conn.; Kandice Jones, a counselor from the Springfield-based Center for Human Development; and Qua’Nae Golston-Thomas, a student activist at Holyoke High School and host of the “Let’s Talk With Qua’Nae” podcast on Holyoke Media.

“With this panel, we are creating an opportunity for our students to see their reflections mirrored, learning from the participants’ insights about what it means to aspire to our dreams and what it takes to live them,” Colón said.