One Who Dared
M E D I A
Remembering Harvy Blanks When Harvy Blanks was a child in Chicago, a teacher took a group of neighborhood children to a performance of “Aida” starring Leontyne Price, and Blanks was smitten. He could see himself on the stage. His journey detoured through the UW and college football. He was a star Husky running back during the ’67 and ’68 seasons. He was well known for his speed as well as his resistance to racism within the football program. He didn’t hesitate to speak out about how African American players were treated. In 1969, he and three other Black players were suspended from
D E NVE R P OST
the team after they refused to pledge unconditional loyalty to Coach Jim Owens, the team and the University. Carver Gayton, an assistant coach and former player, resigned in protest of the suspension. While the three other players were later reinstated to the team, Blanks, who had suffered a broken foot and was likely the most outspoken, was not. After completing his studies at the UW, he enrolled at Cornell University to earn a master’s degree before going into acting, directing and writing plays. A gifted actor who performed in a wide range of theater works include plays by Shakespeare and Tennessee Williams, he kept the works of August Wilson at the core of his performances. He spent 25 years of his career at the Denver Center Theater Company. In 2017 he made his Broadway debut performing in “Jitney,” the only Wilson play that hadn't, until then, been performed in the nation’s theatrical center. In 2021, Blanks and the three other former players who stood up to the UW coach and Gayton were inducted into the UW Sports Hall of Fame as “The Five Who Dared.” Blanks died in Denver on Feb. 6 at age 74.
Undocu Graduation Celebration May 26 Kelly ECC
Filipino Graduation June 4
— Intellectual House
Lavender Graduation Celebration EM I L E P I T RE
June 4, Virtual
La Raza Graduation Celebration
Celebrations and Graduations Many of the special ceremonies for students, families and their UW communities are returning to campus after having to move online during the pandemic. These multicultural and multilingual events are designed especially to celebrate students from underrepresented groups as well as their families who sacrificed and supported them through college. For some events, times are still to be determined.
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V I E W P O I N T : : U Wa l u m .c o m / v i ew p o i n t
June 8 – 5-6:30pm — Intellectual House
Black Graduation Celebration June 9, 8 p.m. Meany Hall
Pasifik Graduation June 9
— Intellectual House
Native Graduation June 10
— Intellectual House
A Drum in One Hand, A Sockeye in the Other By Charlotte Coté, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies University of Washington Press, 2022 Tapping into her scholarly expertise as well as her experience as a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth community of Tseshaht on Vancouver Island, Charlotte Coté tells stories of Indigenous food sovereignty. She brings forward stories of family members maintaining their sacred food practices and taking steps to move away from unhealthy contemporary foods and Western diets. As she explores food sovereignty, Coté also examines how the return to traditional and healthy practices like eating salmon and berries and community gardening, can repair relationships with the natural world. The 1990s saw a start of a movement among Indigenous peoples in the U.S. and Canada to use food sovereignty to strengthen community bonds, support healthy decision-making, and assert cultural and political autonomy. Here Coté looks at how Indigenous people today continue to face food insecurity but are finding ways to wellness through food and family. The Town of Babylon By Alejandro Varela, ’06 Astra House, 2022 In his debut novel, Alejandro Varela tells the story of Andres, a public health professor who, in the wake of his husband’s infidelity, returns home to see his ailing father. While in the suburban town of his childhood, he reconnects with old friends and his first love. And he attends his 20-year high school reunion. The novel explores queer, racial and class identity as well as the role of community in one’s own health. Varela, a School of Public Health alum, often draws from his interest in the health of individuals and community in his writing. Besides this novel, he has had stories published in magazines including Harper’s Magazine and The New Republic.
