MAVRC Book Club discussion
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Stories from the front
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Virtual Event: Author Talk and MST Discussion with Lisa Carrington Firmin 4/2/2024
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Time: 12:00PM CDT
Location: Virtual via Zoom
REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/author-t...
On Tuesday, April 2nd, as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Military and Veteran Resource Center will be hosting a virtual discussion on Military Sexual Trauma (MST), and the destruction this act of violence causes to the lives of servicemembers and communities. Guest speaker Colonel Lisa Carrington Firmin (Ret., USAF), the award-winning author of Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield, will be joining the Military and Veteran Resource Center to discuss how MST transforms the lives of servicemembers, how she found the courage to write about experiences of trauma including her own.
Colonel Carrington Firmin is a combat veteran, writer, and poet, writing about MST, PTSD, trauma, leadership, and advocacy. Her articles and opinion editorials were featured in Latina Style Magazine, San Antonio Express News, and Military Times. She has shared her books and poems at the Military Women’s Memorial, Library of Congress, British Embassy, and Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. In 2023, the VA shared her poem, “Invisible Veteran” at their announcement ceremony of a new more inclusive mission statement. In 2024, furthering her own journey to remain visible she was photographed as part of the VA’s national “I Am Not Invisible” campaign.
In addition to Stories from the Front, Colonel Carrington Firmin released a unique autobiography, Latina Warrior, in October 2023, which features an anthology of poems, prose, and art that chronicles her life as a Latina woman and combat veteran.
Colonel Carrington Firmin was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for her efforts in the Sunni Triangle of Iraq and retired from the United States Air Force as its most senior ranking Latina officer. Following her military career, Colonel Carrington Firmin worked in higher education for over a decade, is the founder of the Veteran and Military Affairs department and the Top Scholar program at the University of Texas at San Antonio. As CEO/Founder of Carrington Firmin LLC, she works as a consultant, writer, and speaker. She serves on several committees, including the Department of Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, the Department of Veteran Affairs Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans, and the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance.
Trigger warning: This event will be discussing matters pertaining to sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and discrimination.
The event is free and open to the public and will be hosted virtually via Zoom. Participants will be given a free copy of Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal, and Resilience on the MST Battlefield while supplies last. To request a free copy of the book, please contact the Military and Veteran Resource Center at 618-650-5425 / veteranservices@siue.edu.
Due to the sensitive nature of the discussion, this event will not be recorded.