What you learn and do in dance class is a reflection of and shapes your life. And the first thing you need to know is that “you can’t say you can’t!”

My Zumba Strip Cardio instructor in Peurto Vallarta was hardcore. But everything she said made sense. The mind and the body are one, so whatever the mind knows it can do, the body does. And she stuck with this principle throughout each routine. If you didn’t do a move right, she’d glare right at you and make you do it until you got it right!

The high intensity workout consisted of Salsa, Samba, Jazz, Bellydance, Tango, Hip-Hop, and sexy cabaret using a chair. I absolutely LOVED it! She taught a move on the floor where you stick your butt in the air (very Velina-esque) and she said “you learn this move and your boyfriend or husband will buy you jewelry!” She was being tongue-and-cheek but we all had a good laugh as we awkwardly tried to make it look as smooth as her. I discovered new moves and interpretations of music and was having so much fun I forgot I was working out – even with what felt like gallons of sweat pouring out of me!

The class was small, with one middle-aged, Spanish-speaking woman and what appeared to be a mother and her 20-something-year-old daughter. Near the end of the class, the teacher told us to work with our chairs and dance “whatever we...

When I think back on my favorite teachers, I realize they all share one trait in common – they listen. Summer Institute featured lecturer Cathy Cohen has made listening a radical methodology for studying sexual attitudes and behaviors, so know doubt she will be a great teacher who you won’t want to miss this summer at the Summer Institute on Race, Gender, and Sexuality! Dr. Cohen is perhaps most famous for her books The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics and Women Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader, but her research illustrates that she will be an excellent teacher because she listens, and most importantly she listens to youth and young adults of color.

Dissatisfied with popular perceptions of Black youth and concerned by they way those perceptions were employed in outreach programs, Dr. Cohen tried something radical. She started the Black Youth Project and set out to listen to young adults, allowing them to express their own opinions. She wanted to understand young adults’ attitudes, their experiences, and learn how they understand the world around them.  By asking youtn of multiple racial identities about their beliefs she shattered myths about Black youth and empowered young adult voices to drown out the stereotypes.