Ibram X. Kendi to Speak on ‘How to Be an Antiracist’

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AMHERST, Mass.—Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award winner and a leading scholar of racism and discriminatory policy in America, will speak on “How to Be an Antiracist” on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. in the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center Concert Hall.

 “Many people are craving a concise message on how to be an antiracist at this time, in this very moment,” Kendi says. “People are searching for candid directions about how to pour their passion into building an antiracist society.”

The  lecture is based in part on Kendi’s forthcoming book “How to Be an Antiracist.”

His talk, the inaugural Stand United, Fight Hate Lecture, is free to the public, but tickets are required. Attendees may reserve their free tickets online here;by phone at 413/545-2511; in person at the Fine Arts Center Box Office; or by calling Five Colleges at 413/542-4000. Any remaining tickets will be available, first-come, first-served, on the night of the lecture.

Kendi is a professor of history and international relations and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. He is an ideas columnist for The Atlantic and has been a frequent contributor to publications such as Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, The Root, Salon, The New York Times, Time, The Huffington Post and The Washington Post. 

At age 34, Kendi became the youngest person to win the National Book Award for Nonfiction for “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.”  Reviewers have called the book “required reading,” with Forbes stating it “should be on every young leader’s bookshelf.” “Stamped From the Beginning” will be available for purchase and a book signing will follow Kendi’s talk.

The New York Times bestselling author also wrote “The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965–1972,” a groundbreaking and award-winning work illustrating the impact of African-American student activism on college and university campuses.

As a part of his visit to UMass Amherst, Kendi will meet with students to revisit the black campus movement and its relevance for ongoing racial struggles impacting campuses across the country today.

This event is sponsored by the UMass Amherst Office of Equity and Inclusion and Five Colleges Inc.