Ibram X. Kendi at the Madam Walker Theater

617 Indiana Avenue,Indianapolis IN 46202

19 October, 2021

Description

Leading racism scholar and best-selling author Ibram X. Kendi speaks on "How to Live as an Antiracist" at the Madam Walker Legacy Center. IUPUI Diversity Speaker Series presents: Ibram X. Kendi: How to Live as an AntiracistOct. 19, 2021, at 6 p.m. Doors 4 p.m. Madam Walker Legacy Center Keep in mind we're a community centering Black people and antiracism; please be kind and respectful of each other and honor the history of our venue. MASKS REQUIRED. Free tickets required for entry. Hard copy or digital accepted. Open to the public. Limited general-admission seating available. First come first served. No reserve seating. ASL interpreters provided. Email [email protected] if you need ADA accommodations. Additional security measures will be in place. Bags are subject to search. No public book signing or meet and greet. Brought to you by IUPUI Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; IU School of Nursing; IU School of Medicine; Steward Speaker Series; and the IUPUI Division of Finance & Administration Free parking available in the lots west of the Walker Theater, marked in the map below as lots A - D. Lot 92 is an overflow lot for additional parking once the Walker lots are full. Handicap accessible parking available in lot A. About Ibram X. KendiAs a youth, Ibram X. Kendi, wanted nothing more than to go out for the NBA and make it up to the big leagues. And while his hoop dreams were dashed when he failed to make the JV basketball team in high school, he did go on to score big with another NBA — the National Book Award, wining for Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. At age 34, that makes him the youngest winner ever for non-fiction. But it wasn’t straight from the bench to books, albeit fairly close. Aspiring to a career in sports journalism, Kendi freelanced for several sports sections while studying at Florida A&M University; however, he was eventually drawn to racial justice work and picked up a second major in African American studies. Upon graduation, Kendi worked in journalism, but grew disillusioned with media and left to pursue his doctoral degree in African American studies at Temple University. As he began teaching, publishing, and receiving awards and fellowships, his work on the history of racism began to spread.“People would ask me, in a very concrete way, how to be antiracist,” Kendi said in an interview. “Eventually I realized that it was a question that I could answer. It was a question that I should answer.” The question prompted Kendi to write How to be Antiracist — a veritable slam dunk in the academic and diversity world alike. And following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Kendi’s book became a mainstay in the resulting deluge of antiracist reading groups, including the one IUPUI hosted last year as part of the White Racial Literacy Project. Kendi currently serves as Andrew W. Mellon endowed professor in the humanities, which is pretty much the MVP of professorships, and as the inaugural director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. How’s that for the big leagues?