What: An Evening with Debby Irving, author of “Waking Up White”
When: Wednesday, March 23, 2016, 7-9 pm; Doors open at 6 pm
Where: Old West Church, 131 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114
Cost: FREE
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1669268826631389/
Join us for a community conversation on racial inequality and white privilege with author Debbie Irving on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at the Old West Church, 131 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114.
Debby Irving brings to racial justice the perspective of working as a community organizer and classroom teacher for 25 years without understanding racism as a systemic issue or her own whiteness as an obstacle to grappling with it. Debby Irving shares her insight into to the everyday perpetuation of racial inequality by well-intentioned white people. As general manager of Boston’s Dance Umbrella and First Night, and later as a classroom teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she struggled to make sense of tensions she could feel but not explain in racially mixed settings. In 2009, a graduate school course, Racial and Cultural Identities, gave her the answers she’d been looking for and launched her on a journey of discovery. Debby now devotes herself to working with white people exploring the impact white skin can have on perception, problem solving, and engaging in racial justice work. Her first book, Waking Up White, tells the story of how she went from well-meaning to well-doing.
The event is free to attend. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/1669268826631389/. There is a Vespers Service at 6:30 pm and the community discussion with author Debby Irving, is from 7- 9 pm. Free parking is available at the underground lot 185 Cambridge Street between Au Bon Pain and ProOptical. Bring green parking ticket for validation. For more information about Debby Irving’s work www.debbieirving.com For more information on Old West Church, contact Reverend Sara Garrard at 706.575.0820 (cell) pastor@oldwestchurch.org or visit Old West Church www.oldwestchurch.org