Talking About Race Now: Second Event in an OSI-Baltimore Yearlong Series

What: Second in the series "Talking About Race," with journalist Gwen Ifill of PBS's Washington Week and The NewsHour; and author and civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn A. Ifill
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, June 4
Where: Enoch Pratt Free Library
Wheeler Auditorium
400 Cathedral St., Baltimore
 
BALTIMORE—Journalist Gwen Ifill of PBS's Washington Week and The NewsHour and noted civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn A. Ifill will engage Baltimore in a frank discussion, "Talking About Race Now: How to Build Success Without Forgetting the Struggle," at the central branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
 
The free, open-to-the-public discussion is the second event in OSI-Baltimore's yearlong series "Talking About Race," addressing how we talk (or do not talk) about race from different perspectives, and why it is important to discuss the topic openly and intelligently. The event and series are co-sponsored by the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
 
Since the historic election of the nation's first African-American president, individuals, groups and even officials at the highest levels are engaging the subject of race more often than ever before. But in Baltimore, race is rarely easily discussed.
 
But OSI-Baltimore is boldly beginning that conversation, adding "race" to its agenda of important topics to tackle by sponsoring the series, which kicked off in April.
 
"Now is the perfect time to begin a too-often ignored discussion about race," said Diana Morris, director of OSI-Baltimore. "Especially in a city with a majority African-American population, how we talk about race - or why we don't talk about it - is as important and relevant as any other social issue with which we wrestle. Many of the areas of reform on which we focus have been shaped by race and discrimination.  The more we all become skilled and comfortable talking about race, the better able we will be to address the practices and policies that perpetuate inequity and undercut the region's prosperity."
 
Journalist Ifill is moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. She has covered six presidential campaigns and also moderated the vice-presidential debates during the presidential elections in 2004 and 2008. Ifill recently released the book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, with analysis the Washington Post called both "unargumentative" and "refreshingly skeptical."
 
Sherrilyn Ifill is a law professor at The University of Maryland School of Law and author of the book, "On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century." She is an OSI board member.
 
The two women are cousins.
 
"We're pleased and excited to have such exceptional leaders spend time with us here in Baltimore, in an effort to begin an important discussion about race," Morris said. "Their collective expertise and unique perspectives are sure to spark a necessary dialogue and inform future conversations in our yearlong series."
 
The evening discussion, on June 4, will be held at the central branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the co-sponsor of the occasional series of conversations.
 
OSI-Baltimore started the yearlong series in April with a screening of The Black List: Volume Two, a provocative HBO documentary film profiling an eclectic group of prominent and influential African Americans. Held at the Brown Center of the Maryland Institute College of Art--with feature appearances by filmmakers Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, a renowned portrait photographer, and Elvis Mitchell, an award-winning journalist and former New York Times film critic--the screening drew more than 300 people and garnered great praise from the public.

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Founded by philanthropist George Soros, OSI-Baltimore is a private operating foundation that supports a grantmaking, educational and capacity-building program to expand justice and opportunity for Baltimore residents. With support from a range of investors, its current work focuses on helping Baltimore's youth succeed, reducing the social and economic costs of incarceration, tackling drug addiction, and building a corps of Community Fellows to bring innovative ideas to Baltimore's underserved communities.