Dawn Day

Dawn Day, the director of the Dogwood Center in Princeton, NJ, is a Ph.D. sociologist and activist scholar with 30 years experience as a researcher and writer on social issues. 

Dr. Day is the author of Health Emergency 2003: The Spread of Drug-Related AIDS and Hepatitis C Among African Americans and Latinos and its predecessor reports.  Her writing in the area of needle exchange and harm reduction are part of her broader concern with social justice aspects of the war on drugs. She has brought these issues to public attention through articles, lectures, television and radio appearances. 

Dr. Day has reviewed grant proposals for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

She serves on the New Jersey HIV Prevention Community Planning Group (June 2003 to the present) and on the Addictions Committee of the Newark EMA HIV Health Services Planning Council (1999 to the present).

In her years as a Vice President at Response Analysis Corporation, Princeton, NJ, Dr. Day led the team that provided the basic statistical data on American household energy consumption to the U.S. Department of Energy. Her work on household energy consumption has also been funded by the Ford Foundation. 

Dr. Day has taught at Brooklyn College and the University of Maryland. She was a member of the Carnegie Corporation-funded team that analyzed changes in the lives of African Americans.

Dawn Day is the author or co-author of numerous articles, books and reports. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Michigan.

Articles
Dr. Day's recent articles, along with those of others from the Dogwood Center are available, under Publications from the Dogwood Center.

Presentations at Conferences and Meetings
Panel on "Harm Reduction" at the Eighth Day of Learning: Drugs, AIDS and You, sponsored by the Newark EMA HIV Health Services Planning Council and the New Jersey AIDS Education and Training Center at UMDNJ. Newark, NJ. June 20, 2003.

Panel on "HIV, Hepatitis C and Substance Abuse" at the Newark Health Renaissance Conference sponsored by the City of Newark and the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey. Newark, NJ. May 16, 2003.

"AIDS Prevention for People Who Inject Drugs – New Jersey." Annual meeting of the Passaic/Bergen County HIV Health Services Planning Council. Patterson, NJ. February 22, 2002.

"The Lifeguard at the Beach."  Ebenezer Baptist Church, New Brunswick, NJ.  February 7, 2002.  Panel discussion on the occasion of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and organized by the Chai Project.

Panel on "Public Health Impact of Drug Laws." Conference titled "U.S. Drug Laws: The New Jim Crow?" sponsored by the Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review and the Temple Law Alumni Association. Philadelphia. October 14, 2000. (Presented in absentia thanks to Scott Burris, Esq. of Temple Law School.)

Plenary session on “Harm Reduction.” Fourth International HCV Conference of the HCV Global Foundation. San Francisco. August 12, 2000.

Panel on “HCV Research and Prevention.” Fourth International HCV Conference of the HCV Global Foundation. San Francisco. August 11, 2000.

Panel on "Impact of Drug Policy on Human Rights." Conference titled "Is Our Drug Policy Effective?" sponsored by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, The New York Academy of Medicine and the New York Academy of Sciences. New York City, March 17, 2000.

"Needle Exchange Programs: Do They Work?" Nassau Presbyterian Church.  Princeton, NJ, December 12, 1999.

"The Science and Politics of Needle Exchange," New Mexico Dept. of Health Harm Reduction Conference. Albuquerque, NM. May 6, 1999.

"Social Impact of Needle Exchange Programs," NJ Medical Student Association meeting. Newark, NJ, October 27, 1998.

"Why Needle Exchange is Important to Women." Harm Reduction Coalition Conference. Cleveland, OH. October 9, 1998.

"Women and Drug-Related AIDS." Northeast Feminist Association. Stump Sprouts, MA. October 28, 1998.

"Women, Children and Drug-Related AIDS." Eighth North American Syringe Exchange Convention. Baltimore, MD. April 25, 1998.

"Faith, Ethics, Morality and Values." Harm Reduction Conference: Building Bridges to New Roads for Change. Andover, MA. April 8, 1998.

"Testimony in favor of freeholder resolutions supporting clean needle programs and pharmacy sales of syringes." Camden County Board of Freeholders. February 19, 1998. Gloucester City, NJ.

"Substance Abuse and AIDS: A Scientific Perspective." Presentation at the Newark Municipal Council Breakfast Forum. January 14, 1998. Newark, NJ.

"Health Emergency 1997." Presentation at the the Minority Task Force on AIDS staff training meeting. December 10, 1997. New York, NY.

"Testimony in favor of a freeholder resolution supporting clean needle programs." Camden County Board of Freeholders. September 18, 1997. Cherry Hill, NJ.

"Persuasion: Blending Scientific Evidence with Community Norms & Values." Seventh North American Syringe Exchange Convention. April 26, 1997. San Diego, CA.

Panel member speaking on "Health Emergency 1997" at the public forum, The Drug War: Common Sense & Human Rights. November 14, 1997. New York, New York. The main speaker for the evening was Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General. The forum was sponsored by the Partnership for Responsible Drug Information and a number of other groups.

"Criminal Justice and Drug Policy." Emergency Conference on Racism. October 26, 1996. Columbia, SC. Sponsored by the National Council of Churches, Center for Democratic Renewal, Center for Constitutional Rights, and South Carolina Local Organizing Committee.

"Women and AIDS." Northeast Feminist Conference. June 1, 1996. West Hawley, MA.

"Working in Communities of Color." Carrie Broadus and Dawn Day. Sixth North American Syringe Exchange Convention. April 25, 1996. Milwaukee, WI.

"HIV/AIDS: Prevention & Outreach." The Ninth (1995) International Conference on Drug Policy Reform. Sponsored by the Drug Policy Foundation. October 21, 1995. Santa Monica, CA. This session was part of a program for the continuing education of physicians sponsored by the Brown University School of Medicine.

"Criminal Justice Policy and Race" Founding meeting of the Southeastern Harm Reduction Coalition, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC. July 29, 1995. The conference was sponsored in part by the Southern Rainbow Education Project.

"Is Racial Discrimination Playing a Role in the Spread of HIV/AIDS Among Injecting Drug Users." Harm Reduction Conference. New York, New York. June 9, 1995.

Grant Reviewer
Grant reviewer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  HIV Prevention Projects for Community Based Organizations. March 20-24, 2000.  Atlanta, GA.

Committee Memberships
Committee on Substance Abuse. Newark EMA HIV Health Services Planning Council. 1999-2003.

New Jersey HIV Prevention Community Planning Group. 2003 - present.

Books
Adoption Agencies and the Adoption of Black Children (Lexington Books, 1979)

Protest, Politics, and Prosperity: Black Americans in White Institutions, 1940-1975 (Pantheon, 1978, co-author)

The Negro and Discrimination in Employment (University of Michigan Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, 1965)

The American Energy Consumer (Ballinger Publishing Company, 1975, co-author).