Authentic Dialogues
Why Race Matters
An online workshop
The objective of this session is to start a conversation on why race matters in Maine’s museum and archive community. Representation matters, and too often, diverse stories and voices are not represented in Maine, due to the false belief that Maine is a “white state.”
Representation within Maine’s archive and museum community starts with the recognition that this community is primarily white, and too often, that whiteness influences representation. Or lack of representation, or a white washing of history.
Our dialogue will focus on discussing why creating diverse racial representation requires a willingness for white people to talk with other white people about race, and to avoid the pitfalls of falling into white saviorism. This 90-minute session is a mixture of lecture and small-group work, which will allow participants to deepen their knowledge of racism, while practicing starting conversations on race with other participants.
This session is an introduction to discussing race that is not a reaction to America’s larger racial reckoning, but about creating spaces that reflect and honor Maine’s racially diverse history.
Your Presenter
Shay Stewart-Bouley is founder of Black Girl in Maine Media and a graduate of both DePaul University and Antioch University New England. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Community Change Inc., a 49-year-old civil rights organization in Boston, MA, that has been educating and organizing for racial equality since 1968 with a specific focus on the white problem. She earned the New England Press Association Award in 2011 for her work writing on diversity issues in the Portland Phoenix, Journal Tribune, DigPortland, and Portland Press Herald, among other publications. Her writing also has been featured in a variety of Maine and national publications as well as several anthologies.
Attending an Online Workshop
To participate in this online workshop you will need access to a computer or mobile device with an internet connection. We will be using Zoom to host this workshop as an online videoconference. Once you register, you will immediately be sent instructions for logging in via automatically sent email.
If you do not have access to a computer or mobile device with an internet connection, you will still be able to call in on a telephone, but you will unfortunately not be able to see any of the participants or visuals.
Online registration will be open through December 9. Attendance is limited to 50 people; register soon to save your spot!
The fee for members is $30. Non-members pay $45.
Members of MAM enjoy discounted registration (MAM members please log in first). If you're not a MAM member, join today!
Funding has been provided by The Maine Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act economic stabilization plan of 2020.
