Janie Cindric
On March 23 several members of Voices United attended the 2022 University of North Texas Equity and Diversity Conference. Joanne Woodard, Vice President of UNT’s Division of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access, had addressed our Voices United group via Zoom in January, and due to our group’s interest, extended an invitation to us to experience the conference, which had both Zoom and in-person sessions.
The keynote presentation was given by Professor Annette Gordon-Reed who is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Hemmings of Monticello. Each attendee was given a copy of her newest book, Juneteenth, which details her experience with the holiday as a native Texan. Gordon-Reed grew up in Conroe, Texas, where she was the first black student to attend the white school there. She is a marvelous speaker/author, and our group was privileged to meet her and have her sign our books. It is an experience we will long remember.