Under the baobab: Krishnankutty award kicks off Women’s History Month
Happy Women’s History Month. Women’s history is all our history, which makes it even more tragic that the fundamental rights of women are under attack. Many of my mentors growing up were men. But like most people on the planet I have been blessed, birthed and nurtured by loving and brilliant women all my life. From my teenage mother who gave up her own dreams of becoming an artist in order to raise me, to my best friend, wife and partner for over 50 years.
Congratulations to Nalini Krishnankutty, the 2024 recipient of the Mimi Barash Coppersmith Women in Leadership Award, presented annually by the Centre Foundation. Krishnankutty moved from Mumbai, India to State College in 1987 to attend graduate school at Penn State. She earned her master’s degree and doctorate in chemical engineering while teaching women’s studies courses. She is now the diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) program manager in Penn State’s Office of Human Resources and a writer, speaker educator and DEIB advocate. She serves on the Mid-State Literacy Council board of directors and the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. She helped found the local PanAPIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans) Circle.
Krishankutty is vice chair of the Centre Region Council of Governments Finance Committee. She was a member of the ad-hoc committee that helped establish State College’s Community Oversight Board. The following year she was elected the board’s first chair. She is currently the only woman and one of two APIDA members who serve on the State College Borough Council.
When State College became the first city in Pennsylvania to pass a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israeli/Palestine War, she was one of its leading advocates.
In a news release Krishnankutty said, “I am inspired to continue my advocacy and efforts to work toward removing barriers to increase the participation of women, especially women from underrepresented groups, in all our endeavors and leadership positions.”
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Penn State University Press is publishing a new journal, the Palestine/Israel Review, an open access journal providing a platform for exchanging knowledge, scholarship and ideas among scholars who share the relational, integrative and wholistic approach to the study of Palestine/Israel. The journal will include studies in the humanities and the social sciences that emphasize the social, cultural, economic and political dynamics between the Arab and Jewish communities in Palestine/Israel from the 19th century until the present.
The Journal was introduced at a public forum, “Palestinians and Israelis What Does the Future Hold,” sponsored by the Penn State History Department, the State College Borough Council and the Penn State University Press in a packed auditorium last week in the State College Municipal Building. Clinical professor of accounting Sajay Samuel introduced the editors, Sonia Boulos, a professor at Universidad Antonio de Nebrija in Madrid and Tamir Sorek, a Penn State professor of history. Professor emerita Joan Landes moderated the panel.
Topics such as: the origin of the Israel-Hamas war, the role of the United Nations and America, the distinction between civilians and combatants, what defines a state, what happened on Oct. 7, the role of the media, human rights and colonialism were discussed. The scholars also responded to written questions from the audience.
Boulos, a Palestinian/Israeli, said it’s important to keep the public informed about the “wars happening around the globe… Without significant international pressure, — nothing would change.” Sorek, a Jewish/Israeli shared his experience growing up in what was described as a “war zone,” in Israel near Gaza.
There is a major humanitarian crisis in Gaza with a critical shortage of food, water, medicines and other necessities. The United States joined with Jordan in a food relief air drop. President Biden is hoping that cease-fire deal will be reached by the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins March 10.
Inshallah
Charles Dumas is a lifetime political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Congress in 2012. He was the 2022 Lion’s Paw Awardee and Living Legend honoree of the National Black Theatre Festival. He lives with his partner and wife of 50 years in State College.
