Organised by Intelligence Squared
Lewis Gordon is a leading Afro-Jewish philosopher who believes that intellectual thought matters as much as political activism in the struggle to achieve racial justice. And on January 13 he comes to Intelligence Squared to discuss the themes of his groundbreaking new book Fear of Black Consciousness. He will explain how the process of racialisation – and its absence – affects not only how individuals and society perceive Black people but also how Black people perceive themselves. Delving into history, art and politics, he will reference ancient African languages, musical developments such as the blues, jazz, reggae and hip hop, as well as the contemporary films Get Out, Sorry To Bother You, and Black Panther. And he will argue that despite the ways in which the lived experience of Black people has been rendered invisible in the Western world, their creative responses have positioned them as agents of history and social change.
Gordon will be joined in conversation by Paul Gilroy, one of the world’s foremost theorists of race and racism, whose scholarship has highlighted how the African diaspora has challenged conceptions of country, community and identity and breathed new life into the humanist tradition.