African American Policy Forum to host 4th Annual Critical Race Theory Summer School

Leading scholars and advocates will convene in five-day hybrid event series to discuss the state of racism in America and strategies to promote racial justice in a time of growing censorship and suppression

NEW YORK, July 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — On July 30, the African American Policy Forum will kick off its fourth annual Critical Race Theory (CRT) Summer School, convening some of the nation’s leading scholars on race and racism to discuss the growing threats of book bans, censorship of Black history and attacks on critical tools for racial justice, like Affirmative Action, by an illiberal Supreme Court.

As part of the Freedom to Learn campaign, this year’s CRT Summer School comes at an essential time in the public discourse on racial justice and democracy. Just last week, Florida announced new educational standards that would reshape the way K-12 students are able to learn about slavery in an attempt to whitewash America’s racial past and obstruct a multiracial democratic future. Now more than ever, allies of democracy and racial justice require an immersion in the ideas, arguments and strategies of experts on the frontlines of these existential battles for public education, the freedom of knowledge and the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“CRT Summer School is a critical experience for anyone who wants to elevate their understanding of the contours of the contemporary fight for multiracial democracy, to learn the key frameworks being banned across the country by racist demagogues, and to embrace the best practices for building a diverse, inclusive and intersectional movement for racial justice,” said AAPF co-founder, Professor Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. “When the instruction of Black history itself is at stake, we need to be activated and energized in order to preserve our truth and advocate for our future.”

Participants may register for more than a dozen virtual sessions across five days to help inspire, energize and activate themselves and others. Featured speakers include: President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Janai Nelson, American Civil Liberties Union President Deborah Archer, new Rainbow/PUSH president Rev. Dr. Frederick Haynes, Host of United Shades of America W. Kamau Bell, President of the National Women’s Studies Association Kaye Wise Whitehead, and many of America’s preeminent academics, including Cathy Cohen (UChicago), Khalil Muhammad (Harvard), Cheryl Harris (UCLA), Sandy Darity (Duke), Jason Stanley (Yale), Robin D.G. Kelley (UCLA) and more.

This year, CRT Summer School will open with an in-person panel event on Sunday, July 30 at 4 PM ET at Union Chapel on Martha’s Vineyard, moderated by Professor Crenshaw and exploring how so-called “anti-woke” laws being pursued across the country are an assault on civil rights and democracy.

Find out more about the schedule of events and full roster of speakers at https://www.aapf.org/crtsummerschool

About the African American Policy Forum: Founded in 1996 by Professors Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw and Luke Charles Harris, the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) is a think tank that connects academics, activists and policymakers to promote efforts to identify and confront the structural inequalities hindering multiracial democracy. Utilizing new ideas and innovative perspectives to transform the public discourse on racial justice, AAPF promotes frameworks and strategies that center the intersectional barriers that disempower those who are marginalized in society. AAPF is dedicated to advancing and expanding racial justice, gender equality, and the indivisibility of all human rights.

SOURCE African American Policy Forum