Prominent Anti-Racist Writer and Educator Tim Wise to Speak on Campus
Jan 14, 2015 | Kristi Lynch
On Tuesday, February 3, at 5:30 p.m., internationally acclaimed anti-racist speaker Tim Wise will speak in the University of Dubuque Heritage Center’s John and Alice Butler Hall. This event, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Engagement and the Black Student Union, is free and open to the public, but tickets are required for admission and may be obtained through the Farber Box Office (563.585.SHOW).
Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. Recently named one of “25 Visionaries Who are Changing Your World,” by Utne Reader, Wise has spoken in all 50 states, on over 800 college and high school campuses, and to community groups across the nation. He has also lectured internationally in Canada and Bermuda on issues of comparative racism, race and education, racism and religion, and racism in the labor market.
Mishereen Ellis, director of multicultural services, commented “With all that’s taking place in our country, currently being experienced by Americans from all backgrounds, the time for courageous conversations about race and the cry for social justice and racial tolerance is now. Tim Wise is one of the most vocal individuals championing this cause. His talk at the University of Dubuque will allow not only our campus community, but the greater Dubuque community, to join in and have more courageous conversations for the betterment of ourselves and our community.”
“Tim Wise is one of the most brilliant, articulate, and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation. His considerable rhetorical skills, his fluid literary gifts, and his relentless search for the truth make him a critical ally in the fight against racism and a true soldier in the war for social justice. His writing and thinking constitute a bulwark of common sense, and uncommon wisdom, on the subject of race, politics and culture. He is a national treasure,” said Michael Eric Dyson, university professor at Georgetown University and best-selling author of over a dozen books, including, Race Rules, Holler if You Hear Me, and Between God and Gangsta Rap.
Wise is the author of six books, including his most recent, Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority (City Lights Books); White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son (recently updated and re-released by Soft Skull Press); Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White; Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male; Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama; and Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity.
Wise graduated from Tulane University in 1990 and received antiracism training from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, in New Orleans. Wise has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs, is a regular contributor to discussions about race on CNN, and was featured in a segment on ABC’s 20/20, in 2007.
