White Like Me” Author, Anti-Racism Activist Speaking at UMaine April 21
Contact: Devon Storman, (207) 581-1550, George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO — Anti-racism activist and author Tim Wise will speak on campus April 21 as part of the University of Maine’s Diversity Leadership Institute program.
Wise, a prominent national speaker on racism and author of “White Like Me, Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son” and “Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White,” and many articles on racism and stereotyping, will appear April 21 at 7 p.m. in Room 100, D.P. Corbett Building. The talk is free and open to the public. The Peace Studies Program will sponsor “The Conversation Continues” on April 22 at 9 a.m. in the Coe Lounge in the Memorial Union.
Wise served as an advisor to the Fisk University Race Relations Institute from 1999 to 2003, and in the early 1990s, he was associate director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, the largest of the many groups responsible for the political defeat of neo-Nazi David Duke, according to Wise’s Web page. His work has received praise from such noted race scholars as Michael Eric Dyson, Kimberle Crenshaw, Derrick Bell, Hoe Feagin, Lani Gunier and Richard Delgado.
He received the 2002 National Youth Advocacy Coalition’s Social Justice Impact Award in recognition of his contributions to the struggle for equity, as well as the 2001 British Diversity Award for best feature column on race and diversity issues.
Wise serves as the race and ethnicity editor for LIP Magazine and his columns are distributed as part of the ZNet Commentary program, a web service that disseminates essays by prominent progressive and radical activists and educators, according to the site. Wise received a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and underwent antiracism training from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, both in New Orleans.
Several members of the university’s Diversity Leadership Institute heard Wise speak last spring at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity and were impressed with his presentation and perspectives, according to Robert White, assistant provost and dean of Lifelong Learning.
“They came back from the experience with the goal of bringing Wise to Maine,” White says. “They were not only impressed with his anti-racism message, but also report him to be one of the most engaging and enticing speakers they had ever heard.”
The UMaine Diversity Leadership Institute exists to support the University’s commitment to diversity and to provide opportunities to understand, appreciate, support, and strengthen the diversity of our community. The program seeks to create a grassroots approach to diversity and to build a solid support system of role models, staff development trainers, speakers, mentors, ambassadors and diversity planners for the campus and greater community.
The institute provides forums through which differences in gender, ethnicity, age, faith, sexual orientation, physical and intellectual abilities and talents can be better appreciated. More information can be obtained by calling the Division of Lifelong Learning at (207) 581-3113.