From Germanna Community College:
Where do we start when we need to have productive conversations about race, diversity, and bias?
In the next installment of its Germanna Community Conversations series, GCC hosts Peabody award-winning journalist and Washington Post columnist Michele Norris at 7 p.m. on Oct. 20. The topic of the online discussion will be “How Do We Talk About Our Differences?” It’s free and open to the public but requires registration at germanna.edu/conversations.
As host of National Public Radio’s longest-running program, “All Things Considered”, Norris engaged audiences nationwide while earning some of journalism’s highest honors. As a Washington Post Opinions columnist, Norris breaks down commonly held beliefs and attitudes on race through important dialogue on current events and social issues.
Norris has said that she’s tried hard not to be pigeonholed as someone who’s always talking about race, but thinks the topic is one people should be able to discuss without anxiety.
She has said she realized the door needed to be opened tp difficult conversations when she was covering the 2008 presidential race.
Her efforts to promote conversation about race have resulted in her critically acclaimed book, The Grace of Silence: A Memoir. She received accolades for a Peabody Award-winning initiative, “The Race Card Project,” which fosters conversation among individuals about their differences. Norris was previously the director of “The Bridge”—the Aspen Institute’s program on race, cultural identity and inclusion—which addresses some of America’s most complex issues by encouraging people to explore and engage with differing perspectives.
Germanna Community Conversations are moderated by Dr. Scott Ackerman, Coordinator for Teaching and Learning at GCC.
