National Book Award winner Dr. Ibram X. Kendi joins 2018 Virginia Festival of the Book lineup

The Virginia Festival of the Book announces that Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, will give a keynote lecture as part of the 2018 Festival in March.

The lecture is sponsored by the Center for Race and Public Education in the South and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, in partnership with the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at UVA; Congregate Charlottesville; Jefferson School African American Heritage Center; Power, Violence & Inequality Collective at UVA; Project on Religion and Its Publics at UVA; Restoration Village Arts; the UVA Department of History; and the UVA Department of Politics.

Racist Ideas in America: From Slavery to Black Lives Matter

• Date & Time: Friday, March 23, 2018, 2:00-3:30 PM
• Location: UVa Ruth Caplin Theatre, 109 Culbreth Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903
• Tickets: FREE to attend but reserved tickets are required; VaBook.org/program/racist-ideas-in-america

As one of the nation’s most prolific and accomplished young professors of race, writing and speaking to both scholarly and general audiences, Kendi will deliver a lecture that builds on his firm belief that in order to understand racism in America today, we must confront the history of anti-Black ideas. Kendi traces this history of racist ideas; beginning in 15th century Europe when racist ideas were used to legitimize slave trade, up until modern day American when unarmed human beings were being killed at the hands of law enforcement officials and #BlackLivesMatter was born. In shedding light on the history of racist ideas, he gives his audience the tools to expose them and reason to hope for the future.

Signed books will be available for sale after the keynote. The program is free to attend, but reserved tickets are required. To learn more and reserve free tickets, visit VaBook.org/program/racist-ideas-in-america.

About the author: Ibram X. Kendi, author of Stamped from the Beginning, is professor of History and International Relations and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University. He received the 2016 National Book Award for Stamped from the Beginning and, at 34 years old was the youngest ever winner of that award.