Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Philipstown

DEI means recognizing the intrinsic humanity in everyone, a recognition more critical today than ever.

Our Newsletter brings you updates of efforts to support

diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our town.

Vol. 1 No. 5 December 19, 2024

We wish all our friends and neighbors

peace and understanding in this holiday season.

Thanks to everyone who joined our mid-November workshop for DEI allies and advocates at the Desmond-Fish Public Library. Attending were representatives of the Garrison, Haldane, and Manitou Schools; the Desmond-Fish and Butterfield Libraries; the Cold Spring Chamber of Commerce, Boscobel, the Putnam History Museum, the Depot Theater, the Hub, and the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Each institution is dedicated to retaining a strong commitment to working for equity, inclusion, and diversity. Luis Castro led a very thoughtful discussion of finding the power in ourselves. Thanks to the Midhudson Library System for their support of this event.

News from the Desmond-Fish Public Library

The Desmond-Fish Public Library has received a $5,000 community grant from the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley. The grant's purpose is to provide services and programs to more inclusively serve our Spanish-speaking friends and neighbors. These offerings, to include Spanish informational resources and guest speakers, will be put in place over the course of 2025.

The Hudson Valley Queer Book Club meets all over the Hudson Valley fostering LGBTQ+ community with social events and monthly book discussions. On December 19 at 5 p.m., they will meet at the Desmond-Fish Public Library to discuss Octavia Butler’s Dawn. This discussion will be led by local artist and sculptor Neen Rivera, and copies of the book can be requested here and will be available at the front desk for checkout. You can also read the ebook on the libby app here.

News from the Butterfield Public Library

The Butterfield Library Book Club is open to all and meets on Monday evenings at 7 pm. On January 27, the book will be Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarscuk, described by The Guardian as "An astonishing amalgam of murder mystery, dark feminist comedy and paean to William Blake."

To sign up or ask questions, contact Jane D'Emic at jblstaff@gmail.com

News from Hudson Valley Shakespeare

Hudson Valley Shakespeare values inclusion as one of the company's core values. Artistic Director Davis McCallum reports: "Our 2024 season programming included two world premieres, and we continued our commitment to expanding the canon of classical theater as well as ensuring a diversity of voices in our theatrical repertoire. The seasonal artists, onstage and backstage, on creative teams, working at HVS reflected our ongoing commitment to advancing inclusion and representation, throughout all aspects of our organization." Read more here.

News from the Haldane Central School District

The Haldane EDI Committee of the Haldane PTA has chosen to read A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall, an American author living in Jerusalem. Visit his website here. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in 2024. The Committee will be meeting to discuss the book in early February.

All members of the Phillipstown DEI Committee and Haldane community are welcome. To join the discussion, please contact EDI@haldanepta.org.

News from the Philipstown Depot Theater

Looking ahead, the Philipstown Depot Theater Depot Docs presents Patrice: The Movie, airing on January 17 at 7:30 p.m. This is the compelling story of a disabled couple risking their livelihoods for love. Patrice Jetter is a crossing guard, artist, figure skater, disability activist and much, much more – in director Ted Passon’s warm-hearted and compassionate documentary. Tickets are on sale now.

News from the Philipstown Hub

The Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub website offers a substantial collection of resources for confronting racism and bias. There are extensive sources of support for young Black women and men, as well as for teens dealing with other challenges.

About the Philipstown DEI Committee

Our informal group was formed in response to a racist incident at a library event in 2021. Members representing the Garrison Union Free School District, the Haldane PTA EDI Committee, Butterfield Library, and the Desmond-Fish Public Library developed a community-wide survey, the results of which can be read here. The two school districts and the two public libraries have also been joined by the Manitou School and many other community organizations. All are welcome to be part of the effort. Please contact philipstowndei@gmail.com

Our Mission Statement

The mission of the Philipstown DEI Committee is to raise awareness

and foster learning and sharing opportunities that promote

community-wide engagement. By working together across institutions, we strive to ensure that all Philipstown community members are represented, acknowledged, and valued.

Future Plans

We invite you to join our Zoom meetings that are held the last Tuesday of each month at 4 p.m. Other projects we are working on include a Spanish-language Book Club, guest speakers and authors, parent workshops, a Library of Humans, and more. To obtain a link to the meetings, email japicello@gufs.org.

To sign up for the Newsletter mailing list, please visit our Website

Our goal is to share future newsletters in Spanish also; thank you for your patience.

Compartiremos futuros boletines en español; gracias por su paciencia.

La diversidad, la equidad y la inclusión son objetivos muy importantes.