The West Windsor Racial Literacy Series will be held this month at the West Windsor Branch of the Mercer County Library.
“At this time of increasing division in our country, it is really important to model the values we wish to uphold,” said Kani Ilangovan, an organizer of the event, which is being sponsored by Not In Our Town: Princeton. “Let’s embrace racial, ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic diversity. Listening to one another’s stories and perspectives enriches our compassion, wisdom and knowledge of the world.”
The panel discussion on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6:30 p.m., will feature: Ayesha Hamilton, attorney and West Windsor council member; David Campbell, staff psychologist at Princeton University; Jasmine Ueng-Hale, psychologist; Iffeth Hussain, professor and linguist; Amman Seehra, attorney and founder of One Project, which is a coalition of faith and community leaders looking to unite people to work together to better the community; Jordana Skurka, psychologist; Wanda Ruiz, adult high school counselor; Dr. Roberto Schiraldi, therapist; and Ilangovan, a psychiatrist.
The night will also feature a screening of excerpts from the PBS series, Race: The Power of an Illusion.
The panel discussion on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 6:30 p.m. will feature: Hamilton; Tennille Haynes, director of the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding at Princeton University; Beth Pandolpho, High School North language arts teacher; Joyce Williams, a licensed professional counselor; Hussain; Kiran Gill, chief executive of PARS, an environmental consulting firm; Jocelyn Jimenez, Princeton Public Library youth librarian; Schiraldi; and Ilangovan.
The night will also feature a screening of excerpts of Dr. Ruha Benjamin’s talk, “Racial Literacy for the 21st Century.” Benjamin is an assistant professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.
The panel discussion are free to attend. Anyone who cannot make it to the series can view the videos at niotprinceton.org/racial-literacy. Phone: (609) 529-2573.
