The Culture We Speak
The Culture We Speak is a podcast examining the intersection of culture, language, and education. On this platform we decenter mainstream gaze and offer resources to improve educator effectiveness in serving global majority populations (www.theculturewespeak.com).
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Meet the Host: Dr. Dionna Latimer-Hearn
Dionna Latimer-Hearn is originally from Middletown, OH and received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in French Studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Following the completion of her degree she worked for the French Embassy as an English Language Instructor in Montargis, France. She completed her Master of Arts Degree in Speech-Language Pathology at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has served as a multilingual speech-language pathologist and educational consultant since 2002, holding positions in Illinois, Japan, Maryland and Texas. She currently works as an educational consultant and continuing education provider in support of a number of organizations in the US and abroad.
Dr. Latimer-Hearn received her Doctor of Philosophy Degree with distinction in Instructional Leadership for Changing Populations at Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore, MD. She is the inaugural recipient of the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH) Clinician of the Year Award. Dr. Latimer-Hearn is also a recipient of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Minority Dissertation Fellowship Award, the World Education Research Association (WERA) Innovative Poster Award and the CREATE Doctoral Scholarship. She has presented her research on African American English at more than a dozen conferences including: the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, World Education Research Association World Congress, and American Educational Research Association Conference. Dr. Latimer-Hearn is the author of the book Unexpected Places, and is the founder and director of the REACT Initiative, a Christian nonprofit organization that promotes equity in education for historically marginalized populations. She is the founder and administrator of RespectTheDialect a Facebook group and website promoting awareness and understanding of the African American English dialect. She is also the founder and administrator of The Culture We Speak online community which provides a space to discuss podcast topics and related content.
For more information about her work, visit www.dlhearn.net
Episodes
Monday Jul 25, 2022
Monday Jul 25, 2022
In this episode, Ms. Ruskamp and I explore issues pertaining to language diversity and social activism. She shares some insight into her experiences attending school in Oakland, CA during the Ebonics Controversy.
Ms. Simone Akila Ruskamp (she/her) is a Black woman who loves Black people. She is a co-founder of Juneteenth Santa Barbara as well as Healing Justice Santa Barbara. She has led successful campaigns to center de-escalation and affirmation of life in Santa Barbara police use of force policies, secure monies for mental health positions instead of additional funding for law enforcement, establish city and county institutional support for Black cultural events, and to designate sites of Black Santa Barbara history as historical landmarks to protect them from gentrification. She currently is one of the driving forces behind the forming police oversight commission in Santa Barbara, an organizing effort spanning over four years.
Simone is a Masters of Social Work student at Howard University where she is a John E. & Barbara S. Jacob Social Justice Fellow and ambassador for the HBCU Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health. She studies Afrocentric approaches to healing and therapy. Simone is the former Vice President of Howard University's School of Social Work Student Council Association and is currently a student representative to the DC Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers.
Healing Justice Santa Barbara website: https://www.hjsb.org/
Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/simoneakila
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
Tuesday Jul 05, 2022
In this episode, Dr. Karen Davis and I discuss microaggressions in communication sciences and disorders and our experiences at the 2022 National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing Convention.
Dr. Karen Davis is an associate professor at Middle Tennessee State University who has worked over 15 years as a school speech-language pathologist. Her research interests are centered in the domain of language and literacy for struggling learners. Dr. Davis’s research interests include language and literacy disorder in culturally and linguistically diverse populations, reading comprehension intervention, interprofessional education/practice (IPE/IPP), and cultural responsiveness in CSD education.
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Monday Jun 20, 2022
In this episode, Ms. Yalanda Ludtke and I discuss deficit mindsets and incorporating familial and societal considerations into service delivery.
Ms. Yalanda Ludtke is speech-language pathologist who currently serves as the Collaborative Partnerships Director for Higher Expectations for Racine County. She is a leader, relationship builder, and equity advocate who works toward systemic change in favor of Black and brown families in Wisconsin.
Connect with Ms. Ludtke:
yalanda.ludtke@career2cradle.org
https://www.higherexpectationsracinecounty.org/
https://www.strivetogether.org/
Facebook
Tuesday May 31, 2022
Tuesday May 31, 2022
In this episode, Dr. Lakeisha Johnson and I discuss multicultural education.
Dr. Lakeisha Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Science and Disorders program at Florida State University and a certified speech-language pathologist. She is also the director of The Village, the community outreach and engagement division of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Her primary research interests include language, literacy, dialect, and executive function development in African American children. Dr. Johnson believes in building and leveraging research-practice partnerships to ensure children from vulnerable and underserved populations obtain strong language and literacy skills. She has a passion for diverse children's books and runs a website, Maya's Book Nook, to help caregivers and educators use these books to promote language and literacy foundations.
Connect with Dr. Johnson:
https://twitter.com/mayasbooknook
https://twitter.com/DrJ_SLP
https://www.instagram.com/mayasbooknook/
https://www.facebook.com/mayasbooknook