Panel: Humanism, Racial Justice, and the 2016 Election

New movements for racial justice have dominated the headlines throughout America in 2016, and for good reason. Across this country and beyond, communities are becoming increasingly aware of the suffering caused by systemic racism, with many of us asking: what can I do? What can we do? And will the 2016 election mark the beginning of real progress for racial justice in American politics, or will it further divide us and pit us against one another? Meanwhile, one of the largest and fastest growing communities in America today is that of the nonreligious: atheists, agnostics and humanists make up a huge percentage of the young people who are rallying to the cause of racial justice, but we often lack the sense of connectedness to one another in community that can allow churches, synagogues, mosques and other congregations to influence elections and make a difference around the issues they care about. In this panel we will bring together one of the most distinguished and renowned groups of experts on race, privilege, and community building ever to speak to an audience of the nonreligious and allies. Featuring:

Thandeka is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister and congregational consultant, an Emmy award-winning television producer, and founder of affect theology, which studies religious experience from the standpoint of emotions. She is the author of Learning to be White: Money, Race and God in America. Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. is the Founder/Program Director for the White Privilege Conference, President of not-for-profit The Privilege Institute, and a nationally known consultant as America & Moore, LLC. Dr. Moore is co-founder of the online journal Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, co-editor of Everyday White People Confront Racial and Social Injustice: 15 Stories and the forthcoming online workbook, A Guide for White Women Teaching Black Boys.

Professor Cheryl Giles is the Francis Greenwood Peabody Senior Lecturer on Pastoral Care and Counseling at Harvard Divinity School and a licensed clinical psychologist. Her primary research interests are identifying the role of risk and resilience in developing healthy adolescents, exploring the impact of contemplative care for the dying, and increasing awareness of healthcare disparities of African-Americans.

Debby Irving brings to racial justice the perspective of working as an organizer and teacher for 25 years without understanding her own whiteness. Author of the award-winning book, Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, she now devotes herself to working with white people grappling with the impact white skin can have on perception, problem solving, and engaging in racial justice work.

Greg Epstein is the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard, author of Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe and the forthcoming The Godless Congregation, and the Humanist Hub Executive Director.