A filmmaker and CEO will visit Indiana State University Tuesday to talk about the importance of going beyond “being a good person” in the ongoing fight for racial equity.
Shakti Butler will present “Getting Beyond ‘But I'm a Good Person’: Introduction to the System of Racial Inequity” in the Cunningham Memorial Library events area from 7-8:30 p. m. The event is open to campus and the Terre Haute community.
Butler, a multi-racial African American woman, is a dynamic educator in the field of diversity and racial equity, and often uses clips from her films to illustrate her message. These films--The Way Home, Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible, and Light in the Shadows—along with her workshops and the impact she has created in her community earned her the Jefferson Award. Her latest film Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity uses story, theater and music to illuminate the larger frame of structural and systemic racial inequity.
Butler will present the film “Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity” to social work faculty and students from 2-4 p. m. with an accompanying dialog and address a key audience of student leaders from 4:30-6:30 p. m. with “From impotence to impact: Understanding the power of student leaders.”
“I am excited about Dr. Butler’s visit because we can build on the momentum for change that has been growing on our campus,” said Rhonda Impink, associate professor of social work. “I tell my students that we are on a lifelong journey to become more culturally sensitive. I believe that Dr. Butler will help us on that journey, and that more of our students will grow as leaders who are open to change and can see that we are all members of one global community.”
The day of diversity is sponsored by the College of Health and Human Services, the department of social work, American Democracy Project and Cunningham Memorial Library.
Butler holds a doctorate from the California Institute of Integral Studies in the School of Transformative Learning and change, and a Master of Arts in guidance and counseling from Bank Street College of New York after graduating magna cum laude from City College of New York.
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Contact: Rhonda Impink, associate professor of social work, College of Health and Human Services, Rhonda.Impink@indstate.edu
Writer: Kristen Kilker, media relations assistant, Office of Communications and Marketing, 812-237-3773 or kkilker1@sycamores.indstate.edu