The Harry Belafonte Black Liberation Speaker Series: Valarie Kaur and Rashad Robinson, in conversation with Gina Belafonte

At the tail end of a shocking month and on the heels of a historic inauguration, the celebrated activists discuss race, justice, and the revolutionary love needed for a better tomorrow.

Valarie Kaur is a renowned Sikh activist, filmmaker, and civil rights lawyer who declares that revolutionary love—a radical, joyful practice that extends in three directions: to others, to our opponents, and to ourselves—is the call of our time. Rashad Robinson, President of Color Of Change, leads 7 million members seeking racial justice and building power for Black communities through changing Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Hollywood, Washington, and corporate board rooms, local prosecutor offices, state capitol buildings, and city halls around the country. They will speak with activist, filmmaker, and Sankofa.org Executive Director Gina Belafonte, coming together after the nation has paused to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and then paused once again to inaugurate a new president and our first female vice president of color. Kaur, Robinson, and Belafonte will take stock of the present moment, and consider how a vision for our collective future can be found in the legacies of civil rights titans such as Dr. King and Harry Belafonte.

The Harry Belafonte Black Liberation Speaker Series is made possible thanks to support from Kenneth Cole.

LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the support of Library patrons and friends, as well as by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, and the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
 Gina Belafonte is a native New Yorker who has spent her life in the arenas of entertainment and activism where her professional work thrives today. Executive Director of Sankofa.org, a social justice organization, that educates, motivates, and activates artists and allies in service of grassroots movements and equitable change. Gina works with diverse artists, activists and organizations worldwide to promote cultural and civic engagement. She has lectured and spoken at many events, rallys and marches, issues ranging from Dyslexia, Nonviolent Direct Action, Black Women's Empowerment, Mass Incarceration and a cross section of social justice issues. An Artivist, Actress, Director and Producer, Gina has been a part of many arts and activism initiatives including being the lead producer of the award-winning HBO documentary Sing Your Song that explores the life and legacy of her father Harry Belafonte. Gina is the proud producer of The Many Rivers to Cross Social Justice Music and Arts Festival that brought together over 40 artists and 50 social justice organizations for a 2 day festival centering on voting rights, mass incarceration and poverty. She has collaborated with Task Force on INTOACT!ON, with For Freedoms on the 50 State Intiatives, the reimagining of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms and the most recent For Freedoms Congress where Sankofa.org curated Town Halls, and more. Please visit www.Sankofa.org for more information.

 Valarie Kaur is a seasoned civil rights activist and celebrated prophetic voice "at the forefront of progressive change" (Center for American Progress). Valarie burst into American consciousness in the wake of the 2016 election when her Watch Night Service addres went viral with 30+ million views worldwide. Her question "Is this the darkness of the tomb – or the darkness of the womb?" reframed the political moment and became a mantra for people fighting for change. Valarie now leads the Revolutionary Love Project to reclaim love as a force for justice in America. As a lawyer, filmmaker, and innovator, she has won policy change on multiple fronts – hate crimes, racial profiling, immigration detention, solitary confinement, Internet freedom, and more. She founded Groundswell Movement, Faithful Internet, and the Yale Visual Law Project to inspire and equip new generations of advocates. Valarie has been a regular TV commentator on MSNBC and contributor to CNN, NPR, PBS, The Hill, Huffington Post, and The Washington Post. A daughter of Sikh farmers in California's heartland, Valarie earned degrees at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale Law School. She was named a "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum. Valarie's new book See No Stranger: a Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionrary Love expands on her "blockbuster" TED Talk and is available now whereever you buy books. 

Website: http://valariekaur.com
Book Page: http://SeeNoStranger.com
Facebook: https://twitter.com/valariekaur
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valariekaur/

 Rashad Robinson is the President of Color Of Change, a leading racial justice organization driven by more than 7.2 million members who are building power for Black communities. Color Of Change uses innovative strategies to bring about systemic change in industries that affect Black people's lives: Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Hollywood, Washington, corporate board rooms, local prosecutor offices, state capitol buildings and city halls around the country. Under Rashad's leadership, Color Of Change designs and implements winning strategies for racial justice, among them: forcing corporations to stop supporting Trump initiatives and white nationalists; framing net neutrality as a civil rights issue; holding local prosecutors accountable to end mass incarceration, police violence and financial exploitation across the justice system; forcing over 100 corporations to abandon ALEC, the secretive right-wing policy shop; changing representations of race and racism in Hollywood; moving Airbnb, Google and Facebook to implement anti-racist initiatives; and forcing Bill O'Reilly off the air. Rashad is widely consulted on strategies for corporate accountability, transforming the criminal justice system, media and tech reform, culture change and narrative infrastructure, and building Black political power. He is a sought-after keynote speaker at events across the country, and appears regularly as a quoted source, interview guest and opinion writer in major media, as well as a chapter author in essay collections focused on social justice. In addition to media appearances, Rashad has been profiled by The New York Times, Wired, The Root, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, PBS, BET and several other outlets. Color Of Change has been named three times in Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies list–in 2015, 2018 and 2020–and was profiled by the Stanford Innovation Review. Rashad is the proud recipient of awards from organizations as varied as ADCOLOR, the United Church of Christ, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Foundation and Demos. Rashad was a member of the inaugural cohort of Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity, and serves on the board of the Hazen Foundation. Previously, Rashad served as Senior Director of Media Programs at GLAAD.

This program will be streamed on Zoom and simulcast to YouTube. You must register with your email address in order to receive the link to participate. Please check your email shortly before the discussion to receive the link. Captions for this event will be provided. 

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Gina Belafonte © Karen Ray Photography 

Valarie Kaur © Amber Castro