Race Project KC Symposium 2019: Full Schedule

The Race Project KC Student Symposium is a day-long event that provides high school students with the opportunity to explore racism – it’s effects and potential solutions - using their minds, their hearts and their feet. Students from diverse schools and experiences will come together to reflect on Kansas City’s racial history, discuss racial equity and explore their own agency as they interact with local community change agents.
The 2019 event features best-selling authors:

Ta-Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me, The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power) is the distinguished writer in residence at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and winner of the 2015 National Book Award.
Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming, Harbor Me, Each Kindness, and more) is the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and winner of many awards including the 2014 National Book Award and the Coretta Scott King Award.
Tanner Colby’s book, Some of My Best Friends Are Black, The Strange Story of Integration in America was nominated for the 2013 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non-fiction. He has been working with Race Project KC since its inception and his book is an important part of the students’ education about the history of race in Kansas City, and in America, since the Civil Rights Movement.

Session Registration
Please register for sessions you would like to attend by Sunday, April 21 and avoid signing up for the same session twice in a row. If you are not registered on that date, you will be randomly assigned workshops for the day. (So pick them yourself and have way more fun!)

Photo Disclaimer: The Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center is a public building, by attending this event you agree that your image may be used for promotional purposes by Johnson County Library, Johnson County Parks and Recreation and their partners.

Johnson County Library and its board members, officers and employees may disclaim any responsibility for the content of workshops offered by third party facilitators; they are not an expression of Library policy.

8:45am CDT

Welcome

Join us for a welcoming activity that will help you meet others from different schools, and discover what you already have in common.

Thursday April 25, 2019 8:45am - 9:20am CDT
Event Space 1

Required

9:30am CDT

Believe the Hype, Now What?

Limited Capacity filling up

Here’s the description: Adults tend to marginalize the power of young people especially when they say, “You are the future.” As young people demonstrate over and over again, they have the ability to enact change right now. In this workshop, we’ll explore how young people can be a present force for good in our communities only if they are willing to organize themselves to be the change they want to see and organize others to follow their lead. This is not for the faint of spirit. Come only if you’re ready to be the change and lead the change.

Speakers

Deth Im

Rev Deth Im is Director of Training for Faith in Action, a network that supports faith-based community organizing which enables people of faith to build power to reshape their lives and their communities. Faith in Action believes in the power of people to transform systems (people... Read More →

Thursday April 25, 2019 9:30am - 10:20am CDT
Event Space 1

Take Action

10:30am CDT

Believe the Hype, Now What?

Limited Capacity full

Adults tend to marginalize the power of young people especially when they say, “You are the future.” As young people demonstrate over and over again, they have the ability to enact change right now. In this workshop, we’ll explore how young people can be a present force for good in our communities only if they are willing to organize themselves to be the change they want to see and organize others to follow their lead. This is not for the faint of spirit. Come only if you’re ready to be the change and lead the change.

Speakers

Deth Im

Thursday April 25, 2019 10:30am - 11:20am CDT
Event Space 1

Take Action

11:20am CDT

Lunch

Food and drinks with friends!
Please notify jcl-raceproject@jocogov.org if you have a dietary restriction we should know about as we place our order for lunch.

Thursday April 25, 2019 11:20am - 11:50am CDT
Event Space 1

Required

1:30pm CDT

Discuss

Limited Capacity filling up

Want to talk about what you have learned today? Share your thoughts in a small group discussion.

Thursday April 25, 2019 1:30pm - 2:00pm CDT
Event Space 1

Reflection