A Conversation with Jelani Cobb: The Half-Life of Freedom, Race and Justice in America Today

Jelani Cobb’s riveting, hopeful keynotes are up-to-the-moment meditations and breakdowns of the complex dynamics of race and racism in America. Whether speaking on Black Lives Matter and activism, the battle zones of Ferguson or Baltimore, the legacy of a black presidency, or the implications of the Trump era — or, more generally, on the history of civil rights, violence, and inequality in employment, housing, or incarceration in the US — Cobb speaks with the surety and articulate passion of only our best journalists. His keynotes inspire us to work, tirelessly, toward achieving an ongoing dream of equity — of genuine democracy. They remind us that the only obstacle holding us back is the comforting illusion that we’ve already achieved our goals. And they show us that not only are the levers of justice in our hands, but we can move them in the direction we see fit.

Admission is free. A reception will follow.

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the Department of Media and Communication Studies; the Department of Political Science; the Institute of Politics; the Department of English; and the School of Public Policy.