Hawk-Lessard to present “Rez-Colored Glasses”

July’s JCLS event at Garrett College to focus on Indigenous identity

Kerry Hawk-Lessard, executive director of Native American Lifelines, will present the next lecture for the summer Joan Crawford Lecture Series on Wednesday, July 8 at 6 p.m. in the Garrett College Auditorium.

Hawk-Lessard’s presentation will discuss how Indigenous identity is too often framed by colonial expectations and assumptions rather than the lived reality of Indigenous people themselves. In addition, it will examine the ways people consider narratives surrounding Indigenous people, as they more authentically move towards a place of equity and understanding, justice and healing.

Garrett College was named a grant recipient of the American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Libraries, an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA). Made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, grant funding is being used to sponsor the summer lecture series.

Hawk-Lessard, a descendant of the Shawnee tribe, is an applied medical anthropologist working in Urban American Indian Health. As the executive director of Native American Lifelines, she and her team work to educate, support, empower and protect Native Youth.

In memory and in honor of the dynamic educator Joan R. Crawford, the Garrett College faculty created the Joan Crawford Lecture Series. Crawford, who died in 2010, served the College community for more than 30 years. She joined the staff of the fledgling community college in 1972 and worked in many capacities in the decades that followed, including serving as the head of the humanities division and director of enrollment. After her retirement, Crawford was named Professor Emerita.

The Joan Crawford Lecture Series of presentations are offered free of charge, and the public and community members are invited to attend. All presentations from the Joan Crawford Lecture Series will be available to view online through the College’s Facebook page. The lectures will be live-streamed and recordings will be posted shortly after the event.

For more information, contact Jenny Meslener at jennifer.meslener@garrettcollege.edu or 301-387-3022.