Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

A distinctive
feature of social and
cultural life at CMC

 

The Intersectional Body

Thu, October 26, 2023
Lunch Program
Jessica L Wilson

Jessica Wilson, MS. RD, dietitian, podcaster and author of It’s Always Been Ours: Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s Bodies connects historical records of anti-Blackness and eugenics to present day nutrition recommendations and policies and contextualizes how we view food messages, eating disorders and food apartheid today. Jessica examines the ways in which Black women’s body stories have been written by whiteness and how this shows up in our relationships, and on our bodies. She uses clinical scenarios and pop culture icons to explore and critique the contemporary individualistic solutions to having bodies that will never follow societal rules. Absurd and laughable situations of Black women in the workplace illustrate the limits to the assignment of resilience. Black women may not be able to live, love, and laugh their way to liberation but Jessica argues that Black women’s ability to weaponize joy and build community can be healing.
 

Jessica Wilson (she/her) is a clinical dietitian and is the co-creator of the Amplify Melanated Voices challenge that went viral in 2020. Jessica has worked as a clinical dietitian since 2007, specializing in eating disorders in marginalized populations. She has worked for institutions including the University of Oregon and University California, Davis. She currently works for Lyon Martin Community Health Services, a collaborative health care clinic in San Francisco serving the queer and trans community of the Bay Area.

Her experiences navigating the dietetic fields as a Black, queer dietitian have been featured in news outlets including ABC Prime Time News, New York Times, Washington Post, The CUT, HuffPo US and UK. Jessica's recently released podcast, “Making It Awkward,” follows Jessica as she creates societal change and interviews others as they do the same.
 
Wilson’s talk is co-sponsored by the Eating Disorder Task Force Team, OBSA, CMS Athletics, CMC, the CARE Center, Pitzer, Scripps, Nutrition Services and is part of Body Compassion Week.

Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

Claremont McKenna College
385 E. Eighth Street
Claremont, CA 91711

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