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Sunday, March 30, 2014

ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT TO APPLY TO ATTEND 

THE BLAQOUT CONFERENCE!


CLICK HERE to apply online for the BlaqOUT Conference!

We encourage people to apply early, because of limited space and to give you time to arrange travel and registration fee payment. We will review applications weekly and provide rolling notification regarding your application.


How much does it cost to attend? 

  • The Regular Registration Fee is $20 per person selected to attend and a t-shirt is included.
  • The Reduced Registration Fee is $10 per person selected to attend NO t-shirt.
  • Some scholarships will be available for those unable to afford reduced registration.
  • Information on paying registration fees will be sent via email to those people selected to attend BlaqOUT.
  • For those receiving support from their campus (student government or departments), an invoice and W-9 form will be provided upon request. 

What are important deadlines?

  • Proposal submission: Sunday, March 9, 2014 (New Extended Deadline)
  • Proposal acceptance notification: by March 14
  • Online application to attend: April 1*
  • Notification of acceptance to attend: Ongoing
  • Registration payment (if accepted to attend): April 4

Saturday, March 22, 2014

INSIDE THE BLAQOUT CONFERENCE

GETTING PERSONAL WITH MEMBERS OF
THE BLAQOUT CONFERENCE
PLANNING CREW

Toi thibodeaux


Toi Thibodeaux has served as Program Coordinator for the LGBT Resource Center at UC Riverside since 2008, and is the current co-chair for the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on the Status of LGBTs. In addition, Toi has been appointed to serve as a committee member for the University of California Office of the President Task Force & Implementation Team on LGBT Climate & Inclusion.  Toi is available as a resource for all students, staff, and faculty to provide educational programming and training that contributes to student success, community-building and creating a safe, inclusive campus environment. Toi has direct responsibility for many of the center's student support programs including Allies Safe ZonePeer Connections Mentoring ProgramTuesday Talks, advises student organizations such as Queer People of Color and Gamma Rho Lambda, and is an experienced diversity trainer. Toi is a role model for queer students of color on the UCR campus, and established BlaqOUT, a discussion group for LGBT students who are black, African American, or of African descent. Toi also spends hours working with LGBT and questioning students one-on-one, and has great insight into the concerns and needs of this student population.

Toi Thibodeaux holds a B.S. in Health Care Managment and M.S. in Health Services Administration from California State University, San Bernardino.


What does the BlaqOUT Conference mean to you?
"The BlaqOUT Conference to me is all about Empowerment, Visibility, Support, Education, Advocacy, Community."



Thursday, March 20, 2014

UPDATE: Parking is FREE!!

The BlaqOUT Conference will be held on the UC Riverside campus in the Highlander Union Building (HUB). For a detailed map of the entire UCR campus, click here. For mapping directions, our campus address is 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA 92521.
Parking:
  • UPDATE:  Parking is FREE!!  Free parking in Lot 1. Please tell the parking attendant you are attending the BlaqOUT event and you will be given a free parking permit for the day.
  • Parking Reciprocity – UCR extends parking privileges to visitors owning a valid faculty or staff commuter parking permit from other UC campuses. A one-day permit can be obtained at no charge from an Information Kiosk attendant.
  • Disabled Parking – A disabled visitor may park in any disabled parking space displaying only a DMV-issued disabled parking placard.
Air Travel:
LA/Ontario International Airport (ONT)  is 17 miles from UCR, and by far the easiest airport to fly into. Also, Southwest Airlines  offers direct service between many cities and Ontario. SuperShuttle offers airport service for $39 each way between Ontario & Riverside.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

BlaqOUT Conference 2014 Ride/Room Share

Check out the BlaqOUT Conference 2014 Ride/Room Share group that was created by folks interested in attending the conference!


This page is for the purposes of connecting people seeking to attend the Inaugural BlaqOUT Conference being held on April 18-19, 2014 at the University of California, Riverside!

If you are coming from out of town this is a place to connect with others to carpool, or if you live in the area of the conference, it is a place where you can connect with people that need a place to stay.

Please keep posts and comments on topic and only post or respond if you have a need or can provide help in this area.

This is a community forum and we believe that our community members will hold principles of respect and consciousness. This community forum does not have the capacity to vet the rides or housing offered on this page – we encourage people to have transparent conversations with each other prior to agreeing or committing to housing or travel about needs and expectations.

Thank you and see you at the conference!!!!


This page is not sponsored by the BlaqOUT Conference Planning Committee it is a community forum to help get people together.


CLICK HERE:  BlaqOUT Conference 2014 Ride/Room Share

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

UCR to Host Inaugural BlaqOUT Conference on April 18-19, 2014


By  On MARCH 7, 2014
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The LGBT Resource Center at the University of California, Riverside will host the inaugural BlaqOUT Conference at the Highlander Union Building on April 18-19, 2014.
The conference is for individuals who self-identify as Black/African American or of African descent and as Same Gender Loving, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning or somewhere on the LGBT spectrum. A flyer for the event is available for download here.
“Our hope is that the BlaqOUT Conference will foster the discussion of issues relevant to members of the Black/African American and African communities on the LGBTQ spectrum,” said Toi Thibodeaux, program coordinator for the LGBT Resource Center and an organizer for the conference. “We want to unite our community and provide people with the skills and resources needed to address the issues we face.”
Applications to attend the conference must be submitted online no later than April 1, 2014. Registration fee is $20 per person with a t-shirt or $10 without the shirt. In addition to the LGBT Resource Center, sponsors include the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and VALS Clothing.
The conference will begin Friday evening with registration and a screening of the film “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” which tells the story of the struggles of Rustin, an African American gay man who was also a one-time member of the Communist party who went on to become a prominent public figure and a shaper of civil rights strategy as an adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The film, which is co-sponsored by the Associated Students Program Board, begins at 6 p.m. in HUB 302 and is free and open to the entire campus community.
On Saturday, the keynote address will be presented by alumnus Gabriel Maldonado, executive director/CEO of TruEvolution, a youth development and social justice agency in Riverside. As a national LGBT advocate, Maldonado has been an expert panelist and speaker all over the country form Los Angeles to Washington D.C. He has spoken on the disproportionate impacts of HIV/AIDS, institutional discrimination, and homophobia experienced by LGBT communities of color around the country.
“The BlaqOUT Conference is an innovative space empowering leaders to engage in dialogue, strategy, and give voice to the issues experienced by the Black LGBT community,” Maldonado said.
In addition to the keynote, the conference schedule includes workshop sessions, lunch, caucus spaces, a networking reception and spoken word performance.
“This conference continues the UCR tradition of celebrating our multiple identities and creating courageous spaces for community building,” LGBT Center Director Nancy Tubbs said.
Earlier this year, UCR and the LGBT Center hosted the inaugural Tabla Conference, thought to have been the first college conference to explore the intersections between sexuality, gender identity and expression, and cultural ties to South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
UC Riverside has a long history of groundbreaking achievements in the LGBT Community, including:
  • 1993 – Opening the first professionally-staffed LGBT resource office at a California university.
  • 1996 – UCR became first campus in California to offer an LGBT studies minor.
  • 2005 – UCR was the first public university in the nation to offer a gender-inclusive housing option to all students.



For a link to the original article click here: UCR Today: UCR to Host Inaugural BlaqOUT Conference on April 18-19, 2014


Monday, March 3, 2014

"DEADLINE EXTENDED" 
TO SUBMIT A PROGRAM PROPOSAL
NEW DEADLINE
SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014


Click Here to submit a program proposal by Sunday, March 9, 2014. You will be notified by email if your program has been accepted by March 14, 2014.

All presenters, including co-presenters, must also apply to attend BlaqOUT and self-identify as Black/African American or of African descent and on the LGBT spectrum.

Please note that all rooms will include a white board, dry erase markers, and a projector. However, you must provide your own laptop with a VGA port or adapter.  If you are using a Mac please provide your own adapter for projector use. Internet access will be available for presenters.

Presenter Responsibilities:
Lead presenter should communicate conference updates to co-presenters.
Presenters are responsible for any copying costs incurred.
Presenters are responsible for making their own travel arrangements.

We especially encourage you to propose programs that are interactive, create dialogue, or are action-oriented.

Please note your workshop proposal is not complete until you and any co-presenters also apply to attend BlaqOUT.

Deadlines:
Proposal submission: March 9 (New Extended Deadline)
Proposal acceptance notification: by March 14

Registration payment (if accepted to attend): April 4