Burlington Library To Host Social Justice Speaker Series

BURLINGTON, MA — Burlington Public Library will host a social justice speaker series beginning Wednesday, the library announced Friday.

The series was created in partnership with Burlington high School and several other area libraries. Three events have been planned already, focused on social justice, systemic racism and racial equity. They will be hosted via webinar.

Future events will focus on topics including diversity in literature, human rights, criminal justice reform and environmental justice.

The program was developed with the high school to align with the school curriculum. Assistant Director Marnie Smith coordinated adult programming, while Young Adult Librarian Nicole Monk worked with school leaders on student-led programming.

"We are excited about the opportunity to bring these engaging and informative speakers together with our patrons," Library Director Michael Wick said in a statement. "They each bring a unique perspective on core issues that our country has long been trying to confront, and I'm grateful for Marnie and Nicole for helping make this series a reality."

"Providing students with opportunities to engage in critical conversations about topics important to them is one of the English Department’s highest priorities," Burlington High School English Department Chair Shannon Janovitz said. "We are thrilled to participate in this programming and grateful for the Burlington Public Library’s work to help Burlington students explore these topics."

The first three events are the following:

Exploring Systemic Racism
When: On Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m.

What: Dr. Brandon Crowley, Devon Crawford and Rev. Alicia Johnson will lead a program that dives into the ways racism has become embedded in American society. They will highlight how racism is present in nearly every facet of American life, including the criminal justice system, employment, housing, healthcare, politics and education.

The trio will also help identify the insidiousness of systemic racism and highlight ways it can be recognized and addressed.

Crowley is a scholar in ecclesiology and theology. He serves as the Senior Pastor of the historic Myrtle Baptist Church of West Newton and as an adjunct instructor of Theological Meaning Making for Harvard Divinity School.

Crawford is the Director of the William Monroe Trotter Collaborative for Social Justice at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Devon brings academic and organizing rigor to a career focused on catalyzing systemic social change. A licensed minister and non-violent activist, Crawford provided public leadership in the cases of Troy Davis, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown.

Johnson serves as the Assistant Pastor at Myrtle Baptist Church of West Newton. She is committed to finding sustainable, creative, and meaningful ways to build strong and healthy individuals and communities. In addition to her ministry work, she works in the field of educational neuroscience, serving as the Assistant Director of the MIT/Wellesley Upward Bound Program.

The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Burlington Public Library. To register for the webinar, click here.

I'm a Good Person! Isn't that Enough? with Debby Irving
When: Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m.

What: Debby Irving, a racial justice educator and writer of "Waking Up White", will examine how how white-skewed belief system helped guide her interpretation of the world. That examination will look at how she -- like many others -- spent much of her life silently reaffirming harmful racial patterns rather than confronting the racial disparities and tensions she could see and feel.

Following Irving's presentation, she will lead a panel discussion with invited guests.

This event is part of a series, Libraries Working Toward Social Justice, which is offered in collaboration with seven other Merrimack Valley libraries and was spearheaded by the Memorial Hall Library in Andover. To register, click here.

Voter Suppression with David Daley
When: Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m.

What: Dave Daley, a senior fellow at FairVote and author of "Unrigged," will explore the history of voter suppression from the Jim Crow era to today. Daley will examine the new barriers to voting that have been erected over more than a century, and how those barriers disproportionately disenfranchise racial minorities.

To register, click here.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.