Community Conversations

Facing History and Ourselves and The Allstate Foundation present a series of community-wide dialogues across the US. Prominent scholars, authors, filmmakers, and policy leaders will speak and participate in discussions about civic engagement, individual and collective responsibility and tolerance.

Upcoming Events

Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, well-known author and consultant on The Cosby Show, is Director of the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children's Center in Boston.  He is also a Professor of Psychiatry and Faculty Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School. He is an expert on race relations in America, the dynamics of prejudice, and issues of diversity. Dr. Poussaint is co-author of Raising Black Children and Lay My Burden Down. His most recent book, co-written with Dr. Bill Cosby, is Come on, People: On the Path From Victims to Victors.  In this book, Dr. Poussaint shares his vision for strengthening America and stresses the importance of family, education, hard work, mentoring, and civic participation while maintaining one's personal dignity and self-respect.
Memphis, TN, October 6, 2009

Highlights from Past Events

Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund
The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small: Examining ways to create a safer world for children

Marco Williams
Director of Banished

Mona Golabek
Author of Children of Willesden Lane and concert pianist

Film as a Catalyst for Social Change
Edward Zwick and Diane Weyermann discuss how filmmakers can make a difference

Don Cheadle and John Prendergast
Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond

Azar Nafisi
Literature and History

Romeo Dallaire
Taking an Active Role in African Affairs

Terrence Roberts, Judith Vecchione, and Sandra Robbie
Lessons of the Civil Rights Movement and Today

Marco Williams and Whitney Dow
I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education

Paul Rusesabagina
Courage and Rescue During the Rwandan Genocide

Justice Albie Sachs and Vanessa September
Transformation in a Time of Democratic Fever

Francis Bok
Escape from Slavery

James Fallows
National Correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly

Jerry Mitchell
The Role of Media in a Democracy

Carl Wilkens
Responsibility and Choice in our Global Community