San Rafael, CA – Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, mentioned by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, will speak about how to build an anti-racist community in a special public online session from 5-6 p.m. Monday, January 25.
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (Photo by Stephen Voss)The
Marin County Office of Equity and the
Marin City Community Services District are co-sponsoring the event, the first installment of the new
Community at the Table: Leading with Anti-Racism Speaker Series.
Register for this free event before all 1,000 Zoom invitations are booked. Because of contractual obligations, the session will not be recorded for public viewing later. Closed captions, ASL/CDI, and Spanish interpreting will be provided.
The County’s Equity Director, Anyania Muse, will engage in a one-on-one conversation with Kendi as they take a critical look at race as a complex social construct which impacts not only identity but government policies, access to resources, and everyday life. They plan to address the meaning and consequences of institutional, environmental, and systemic racism.
The session also will touch on other material authored by Kendi such as: How to Be an Antiracist; Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky. Kendi’s books are being adapted into a series of movies that will stream on Netflix later this year.
The County’s Office of Equity is establishing momentum both for its employee workforce and Marin at large in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and historical waves of social unrest. Muse, who works out of the County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as well as the County Administrator’s Office, has been actively working with Marin stakeholders to create a more welcoming community.
The County recently appointed a small group of community members to serve on its new Race Equity Planning Committee, which will revise the community-facing elements of the 2017 Racial Equity Action Plan. The diverse committee will provide recommendations to the County on how to build an anti-racist organization while advancing equity within the entire county. The committee will recommend updates to the Racial Equity Action Plan in light of urgent calls for civil rights, social justice, inclusivity, diversity, and equity in Marin.
Equity is one of the Board of Supervisors’ top-priority “Four E’s” of ongoing focus: Equity, Education, Economy, and Environment. The County’s 5 Year Business Plan focused on equity and inclusion, and the Board adopted a resolution in 2016 that affirmed those priorities and took a stand against all forms of discrimination and intolerance.
For more data about equity measures in Marin, check the County’s Equity Dashboard.