NEBiP #CouchConversation - CASTE: The Underbelly of American Racism

COUCH CONVERSATIONS: DISCUSSING WHAT MATTERS PRESENTS

CASTE: The Underbelly of American Racism Thursday, October 22, 2020 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Zoom Webinar PROGRAM Line Opens Welcome and Introduction:

Nicole Price, NEBIP Board President

Opening Remarks:

Alandra Washington, V.P. Transformation and Organizational

Speakers:

Ms. Isabel Wilkerson, Devin and Jason McCourty

Discussion:

CASTE: The Underbelly of American Racism

Question and Answers:

Audience

Effectiveness, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Adjourn

SPEAKERS’ BIOS Isabel Wilkerson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, is the author of critically acclaimed New York Times bestsellers The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

Her new book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, was published in August 2020 to critical acclaim, with Dwight Garner of The New York Times calling it “An instant American classic” and Oprah choosing it for her monthly book club. Wilkerson’s deeply humane narrative writing while serving as Chicago Bureau Chief of The New York Times in 1994 resulted in her becoming the first Black woman in the history of American journalism to win a Pulitzer Prize and the first Black to win for individual reporting.

Regarding Wilkerson’s subsequent work in nonfiction literature, the historian Jill Lepore observed in The New Yorker: “What Wilkerson urges, isn’t argument at all; it’s compassion. Hush, and listen.” To learn more click here.

Jason & Devin McCourty are twin brothers on the New England Patriots. In 2018, they became the first ever twins to win the Super Bowl. Devin has played his entire 11 year career in New England, where he has been a team captain every year except his rookie season. Jason is a 12 year pro, spending the majority of his career as a starting cornerback and long time team captain for the Tennessee Titans.

In 2013, the McCourty Twins launched The Tackle Sickle Cell Campaign that aims to educate the public, increase blood donations and raise money and awareness for the fight against sickle cell disease. The twins host multiple events per year including Casino Night, 5k runs, bowling events, comedy shows, blood drives, and football camps. To date, they have raised over $1.75 million for families battling sickle cell disease. To learn more click here.

Today’s program was made possible by the generous support of:

DESCRIPTION After a tumultuous summer fraught with racial unrest and, most recently, the President of the United States refusing to denounce white supremacy while subsequently endorsing a terrorist hate group on a global stage, America has an extremely stark reality to face: whiteness has continued to be asserted as the tie that binds “real” Americans together. Isabel Wilkerson, author of bestselling book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, presents a stunning explanation of a caste system that bypasses mere race and class as a rigid structure of human ranking that has been present since the start of this country. The McCourty Twins – star athletes, prolific philanthropists, and community activists – continue this thread, examining the impact of the caste system in health, particularly Sickle Cell Anemia, education and social justice. Together, tonight’s speakers will lead us in an exploration of philanthropy as a means for disrupting the American caste system.

ABOUT NEW ENGLAND BLACKS IN PHILANTHROPY (NEBIP) Our mission is to inform, reform and transform philanthropic giving in the Black community. We inform by providing tangible facts about, and a deeper understanding of, Black philanthropy. We reform by offering an alternative view of the Black community and the power of Black philanthropy. We transform by assisting in and establishing philanthropic partnerships as a framework for intentional philanthropic investments in Black communities.

Most of all we thank you for joining us tonight.

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