What are the intersections of opportunity and discrimination in the lives of Black youth? What steps are necessary to help reshape the future of young Black Americans and American democracy?

Join us for this important conversation with award-winning scholar Cathy Cohen about her timely new book, Democracy Remixed. Plus, hear from a panel of local and national leaders working with Black youth in Chicago and nationwide.

This intergenerational conversation will launch a series of programs commemorating The Public Square’s 10 year anniversary. A reception and book-signing will follow the program.

Panelists include:
Cathy Cohen, author of Democracy Remixed and The Boundaries of Blackness
Bakari Kitwana, author of The Hip Hop Generation and Why
Biko Baker, Executive Director of the League of Young Voters
Rosa Clemente, community organizer, radio journalist, hip hop activist and a 2008 Vice-Presidential candidate with the Green Party
Dara Cooper (moderator), Chicago activist with Ella’s Daughters, Rising In Solidarity with Ayiti, and Healthy Food Hub
Kenyon Farrow, former Executive Director of Queers for Economic Justice, writer, organizer, speaker
Angie Fresco, youth organizer for Southside Together Organized for Power (STOP) and poetry coordinator for Southwest Youth Collaborative
FM Supreme, hip hop artist, educator, and talent manager for Young Chicago Authors

More about Democracy Remixed:
Utilizing the results from the Black Youth Project, a groundbreaking national survey, Cathy Cohen focuses on what young black Americans actually experience and think — and underscores the political repercussions. Featuring their stories, she reveals that black youth largely want what most Americans want — a good job, a fulfilling life, safety, respect, and equality. Through their own words, these young people provide a complex and balanced picture of the intersection of opportunity and discrimination in their lives.

More about Cathy Cohen:
Cathy Cohen is the David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science and the College at the University of Chicago. She is also the Deputy Provost for Graduate Education and the former Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago. In addition to Democracy Remixed, she is the author of The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics and the co-editor of Women Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader. She is also the principal investigator of the Black Youth Project and the Mobilization, Change and Political and Civic Engagement Project.

Sponsored by the Black Youth Project; The Public Square, a program of the Illinois Humanities Council; Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago; Gender and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and WBEZ 91.5FM.

Co-sponsored by Affinity, Chicago Freedom School, Chicago Hip Hop Civic Engagement Project, Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, Chicago Votes, Southwest Youth Collaborative, and Teachers for Social Justice.

Free and open to the public. Reservations are required. For more information, call 312.422.5580. If you need a sign interpreter or require other arrangements to fully participate, please call 312.422.5580.

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