June 10, 2020
In this episode, Wendy speaks with law professor and civil rights expert john a. powell about his work at the intersection of social justice and spirituality. This conversation was recorded during the 2019 Summer Research Institute. They discuss a wide range of topics, including:
- the problem of othering;
- the roots of whiteness;
- recent changes in the world and how we react to them;
- how our minds create mental schemas;
- implicit bias and how to change it;
- the importance of narrative and bridging stories, and the role of leadership;
- the self as a construction;
- spirituality and interconnection;
- the roles of science and religion in society;
- identity politics, and more.
john a. powell is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties and a wide range of issues including race, structural racism, ethnicity, housing, poverty, and democracy. He is Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute and Professor of Law, African American, and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He was previously the Executive Director at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University, and prior to that, the founder and director of the Institute for Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. john formerly served as the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He is a co-founder of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the boards of several national and international organizations. john led the development of an “opportunity-based” model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and is well-known for his work developing the frameworks of “targeted universalism” and “othering and belonging” to effect equity-based interventions. john has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University. His latest book is Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.
Resources
Website: Othering and Belonging Institute
Twitter: @oandbinstitute; @profjohnapowell
Book: Racing to Justice: Transforming Our Conceptions of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society
Op-Ed: We’re in a moment of collective trauma. But there are glimmers of hope. June 2, 2020 (and listen to john’s perspective on this podcast from the Othering and Belonging Institute)