The Portable Humanist

Kesha Ram and Delma Jackson: What Does Race Have to Do With It?

"I don't want it to take a predator in the White House and a Black man having to die on national television for nine minutes and 28 seconds for us to get to this point," says Vermont State Senator Kesha Ram. The day after the verdict in the George Floyd murder trial was announced, the Center for Whole Communities in Burlington hosted a discussion between Senator Ram and Delma Jackson, the co-host of the Dive-In-Justice podcast. In this episode, they read Langston Hughes, ponder the Floyd murder trial, talk about the work of W.E.B. DuBois, consider the Kake Walk tradition at UVM, and discuss the work to be done to remove barriers for BIPOC Vermonters. Photo of Kesha Ram by Ben DeFlorio

Meg Mott on “The Glorious Occupation” of Citizenship

We speak with Meg Mott—political theory professor, constitutional scholar, and the moderator at Putney’s town meeting—about the ongoing threats to Vermont's town meeting tradition. We featured a much shorter interview with Meg in the "A Town Solves a Problem [https://www.beforeyourtime.org/a-town-solves-a-problem/]" episode of Before Your Time [https://www.beforeyourtime.org/], our podcast with the Vermont Historical Society. Since we could only use a few minutes of our conversation in that piece, we’d like to share more of our discussion here.

Let’s Talk Antiracism

Dr. Laura Jiménez joins Vermont State Librarian Jason Broughton to examine ways to lead effective discussions centered on diversity and antiracism. Jiménez and Broughton use our Vermont Reads 2020 choice, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas [https://www.vermonthumanities.org/vermont-reads/vermont-reads-2020/], as a catalyst for the conversation. The free event was co-sponsored by the Vermont Library Association. Dr. Laura Jiménez is Department Chair for Language & Literacy Education at Boston University. She studies literature and literacy through a social justice lens, and focuses on the ways teachers understand the systems of inequity and privilege at play in education, and their own roles within those systems.

Author Tim Wise on “Our Nation’s Blinkered History of Itself”

Tim Wise, one of the leading anti-racist writers and educators in the country, gave a stirring keynote presentation at the St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Burlington for a ceremony remembering the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Wise is the author of books such as White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son and Dear White America, Letter to a New Minority. The event was sponsored by the Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center and was supported by Vermont Humanities as part of the Vermont Civics Collaborative [https://www.vermonthumanities.org/programs/public-programs/civics-collaborative/].

Pulitzer Winner David Moats on Marriage Equality and Reporting in Vermont

Author and longtime Vermont journalist Yvonne Daley interviews David Moats, her former colleague from the Rutland Herald, about Moats’ series of Pulitzer Prize-winning editorials on the divisive issues arising from civil unions for same-sex couples, and about the importance of research and depth in journalism.  Their conversation is part of our Democracy 20/20 Fall Conference. View all of the recorded conference sessions for free at www.vermonthumanities.org/democracy. [https://www.vermonthumanities.org/programs/public-programs/annual-fall-conference/fall-conference-2020/]