June 8, 2001

Conversations About Race

"If you've never had a conversation about race with a person of another race, then you are part of the problem."
- Former Senator Bill Bradley

NEW YORK, NY June 8, 2001- As citizens of the most ethnically diverse nation, in the most multi-cultural city in the world, we have interactions with people from different backgrounds all the time. Some of them are even our best friends. But how often do we explore these differences? Are we afraid of being politically incorrect? Unintentionally insensitive? Or is it just to emotional to talk about? If you could ask anything about race, anything, what would it be?

Developed by Corey Kupfer, lawyer and activist, and sponsored by Pop Sustainability, Conversations About Race is literally a dialogue that takes place between two people of a different race about race, however, at the heart of it this is a conversation about what it is to be a human being. We all have our own private thoughts about people of different races that become so transparent we don't even realize our private conversations, or "filters", are not the truth and yet we interact with them as if they are. Conversations About Race provides a powerful context for people to step beyond their comfort zones and actually talk about all of the things we think but don't say. This kind of authentic dialogue has the power to transform. As we move beyond our own self-censorship, we actually begin to see something about ourselves and about other people that we did not know before.

Pop Sustainability is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has created a global youth culture campaign to promote a more humane, ecologically sound and economically just society through the arts, Internet and live events. To elevate the individual experience of Conversations About Race to a community level, Pop Sustainability is hosting five community events around the globe. The series of conversations are happening in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Dominica, and Durban South Africa over the next six months. The first of these five events will take place on June 10th at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in Fort Green and will begin at 4 pm.

The June Conversation About Race begins with a spoken word performance, and will then move into an example of a "Conversation About Race" between Rha Goddess, international performance/recording artist and activist, and Corey Kupfer, founder of the project. The most important part of our June event is the conversations that will take place between participants. We will then lead an interactive conversation that is challenging, provocative and respectful.

For more information about Conversations about Race, please contact Zoe Gamble at 646-638-3122.

© 2002 POP SUSTAINABILITY