39. The Insurgent Origins of Critical Race Theory

Over the past year, Critical Race Theory has been increasingly misrepresented by the Right in an organized, widespread effort to stifle racial justice and gender equity, and weaken our multiracial democracy. In response to these attacks, AAPF held a 5-day Critical Race Theory Summer School in mid-August to educate participants about the origins, principles, and insights of Critical Race Theory, and to chart a path forward.

On this episode, we bring you a conversation that took place on the first day of Summer School, which features some of the leading thinkers in the field of Critical Race Theory. Together, the panelists tell the story of CRT came to be, explore what it teaches us about the world, and discuss it can now help us protect the very existence of critical thinking about race.

With:

ANTHONY COOK - Professor of Law, Georgetown; Author, The Least of These: Race, Law and Religion in American Culture

DANIEL MARTINEZ HOSANG - Associate Professor of Ethnicity, Race & Migration, Yale; Author, Racial Propositions: Ballot Initiatives

GLORIA LADSON-BILLINGS - Pedagogical theorist & educator; Author, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children

GARY PELLER - Professor of Law, Georgetown; Author, Critical Race Consciousness

ROBERT A. WILLIAMS, JR - Professor of Law, University of Arizona; Author, Savage Anxieties: The Invention of Western Civilization

Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw (@sandylocks)

Produced and edited by Julia Sharpe-Levine

Supported provided by Destiny Spruill, Ashley Julien, Rebecca Scheckman, and the African American Policy Forum

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Follow us at @intersectionalitymatters, @IMKC_podcast