Race, Education, and Democracy: A Simmons College / Beacon Press Lecture and
Book Series
In the spring of 2006, Beacon Press and Simmons College inaugurated a lecture
and book series that we hope will reinvigorate a crucial national public conversation
on race, education, and democracy. Each year, the series will bring to Boston
prominent public figures to deliver a series of lectures that will become the
basis of a new trade book published by Beacon.
Frederick Douglass, who famously lectured in Boston around the time Beacon
Press was founded, called education the “pathway from slavery to freedom.”
This new series aims to reestablish in the public imagination that historically
felt connection between public education and the possibility of a robust democracy,
against the backdrop of the realities of race today in America. We are delighted
to have Beverly Daniel Tatum launch the series. We look forward to publishing
many equally important books in the seasons to come. —Helene Atwan,
director of Beacon Press
2013 Lectures: "Standing Up For Justice/Creating Opportunity: From the Birmingham Children’s Crusade to Creating Excellence in Math, Science and Technology."
Series Lecturer: Dr. Freeman Hrabowski
Dr. Freeman Hrabowski is president of University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a position he has held since 1992. He is an expert on the institutional and instructional changes necessary to educate all students, particularly students of color, for high achievement in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines. He was selected by President Barack Obama to chair the newly created President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans in 2012.
Dr. Hrabowski serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health, National Academies and to universities and school systems nationally. He chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the recent report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. In 2009, TIME magazine named Dr. Hrabowski as one of America’s 10 Best College Presidents.
In 2012, Dr. Hrabowski was selected by the Kennedy School of Government as one of the “Top American Leaders” and named by TIME Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Dr. Hrabowski has been featured on “60 Minutes.” and in Spike Lee’s documentary, Four Little Girls. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from over 20 institutions, including Harvard, Princeton, Duke and Georgetown universities and Haverford College.
Dr. Hrabowski is the co-author of Overcoming the Odds and Beating the Odds. His numerous articles focus on parenting and high-achieving African American males and females in science.
March 30 : Standing Up for Justice--My Life as a Child Activist in the Birmingham Children’s Crusade
10:00 am-12:00 pm, Simmons College, Linda K. Paresky Conference Center, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA
March 30: The Making of An Educational Leader--Educating Black Youth for Achievement in Math, Science and Technology--Essential Elements, Outcomes and Transferability
1:00-3:00 pm, Simmons College, Linda K. Paresky Conference Center, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA
April 04: Raising a Generation of Achievers in Math, Science and Technology--It Takes a Village
4:30-6:30 pm, Simmons College, Kotzen Center,300 The Fenway, Boston, MA / via SKYPE
All lectures will take place at Simmons College and are free and open to the public. The lectures are funded in part by the Lowell Institute. Please note that the first two lectures will be held on Saturday, March 30, 2013. The last lecture will be held on Thursday, April 04, 2013 in the Kotzen Center.
For Directions to the College via car and public transportation, please click
here.
Another Kind of Public Education: Race, Schools,
the Media, and Democratic Possibilities by Patricia Hill Collins
One of America's most distinguished scholars of race shows us how public
education needs to be seen in the light of the influence of "color-blind
racism as a system of power." Drawing examples from schools, media,
and the workplace, Collins gives us a book of social analysis that is
also an energizing handbook for change.
"In Another Kind of Public Education, Patricia Hill Collins
skillfully melds high theory with everyday practice. . . . This book is
both a treat and a treasure."
—Gloria Ladson-Billings, author of The Dreamkeepers: Successful
Teachers of African American Children (More)
Can We Talk About Race?: And Other Conversations in
an Era of School Resegregation by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.
Beverly Daniel Tatum emerged as a major commentator on race in America in 1997 with "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?," a book that changed the way many people think about racial identity and about the conversation about race in schools. Can We Talk About Race? is an accessible and engaging analysis of some of the most resonant issues in American education and race relations.
"Another thoughtful, personal and provocative book that will encourage
discussion about many of the difficult issues still surrounding race in
America-in and out of the classroom." —Marian Wright Edelman,
president, Children's Defense Fund (More)
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