Presented with Marin County Office of Equity and Dominican University of CA
Tues., August 24, 2021 • 5:00pm PT • Live • Online
In conversation with Professor Walter Turner
john a. powell is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute, a University of California Berkeley research institute that brings together scholars, organizers, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society, to create transformative change toward a more equitable nation. powell spells his name in lowercase based on the idea that we should be “part of the universe, not over it, as capitals signify.”
powell has written extensively on several issues including structural racism, racial justice, concentrated poverty, opportunity-based housing, voting rights, affirmative action in the United States, South Africa, and Brazil, racial and ethnic identity, spirituality and social justice, and the needs of citizens in a democratic society. He is the author of several books, including his most recent work, Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.
The College of Marin Umoja Equity Program Director Professor Walter Turner will have a one-on-one conversation with powell on how to move beyond equity and diversity statements to authentic empowering actions for Marin communities and institutions. Turner shares that this conversation is timely and as a community we can thoughtfully address topics such as what the legacies of systemic racism are, “othering,” redlining, and how do we develop programs and shared goals that are the foundations of social justice and genuine anti-racism. Turner was born in Marin City and has been a professor of African and African American studies at the College of Marin for more than 20 years.
Equity is one of the Marin County Board of Supervisors’ top priorities. The Office of Equity has a vision of dismantling inequities and transforming systems that we have inherited through centuries of racial, social, and political injustices. Learn more online about equity measures at the County of Marin.