Manager of Special Projects Awarded for Work in Education, Culture and the Arts

Marian Howe-Taylor holding the Outstanding Achievement Award for Racial Equity & Social Justice.

Marian Howe-Taylor, manager of special projects for the School of Arts, Communication and Media, received the Outstanding Achievement Award for Racial Equity & Social Justice at YWCA Utah’s 2021-22 LeaderLuncehon on May 20. The LeaderLuncheon is YWCA Utah’s signature event and honors five women in Utah who have had an immense impact in their respective fields. Howe-Taylor received the award for her work in education, culture and the arts.

In attendance were President Huftalin; Provost Sanders, PhD; Juone Kadiri, PhD, vice president for Institutional Equity, Inclusion and Transformation; Richard Scott, dean of the School of Art, Communication and Media; and Howe-Taylor’s mentees, SLCC Distinguished Alumni Tashelle B. Wright, PhD, and Juan Pereira, PhD, assistant professor for Performing Arts.

Keynote speaker Angela Davis, a political activist, academic and author committed to social justice, opened the event by acknowledging the historical efforts to dismantle the racism embedded within all structures, institutions and systems. “I never like to underestimate what has changed because what has changed has largely changed as a direct consequence of mass struggle, of the work that committed activists have done over the years,” Davis said. “Historical change usually happens gradually, without our being fully aware of it.”

Left to right: Provost Sanders, Dr. Juone Kadiri, Marian Howe-Taylor and [].

In an interview with YWCA Utah, Howe-Taylor reflected on her childhood memory of sitting on a wooden pew in Twelfth Baptist Church, watching Coretta Scott King sing “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught.” The original song from the Broadway play “South Pacific” bears a message: racism is not naturally born in humans; racism manifests after they’re born. After the performance, Scott King shared poignant words with the audience: “If we can teach hate, surely we can teach love.”

The message stayed with Howe-Taylor and eventually became the driving force behind her film, “Beloved Community Project.” The short documentary was a collaborative effort between Salt Lake Community College and Brolly Arts. As described on the Beloved Community Project webpage, the film addresses “global issues with local relevance and asks what each of us can do for change.”

“Beloved Community Project” is available to watch online; no purchase is required.

To this day, Howe-Taylor believes only love can defeat hate and shares the same sentiment with her students at SLCC. “We are people, too, meaning African Americans,” Howe-Taylor said, closing her interview. “We have something to contribute that is of great worth. So, this award is so deeply gratifying for so many reasons. There aren’t enough words.”