While studies of contemporary Black American life proliferate, Watkins notes that most leave out the voices of people living in poor communities. Arguing that this is a dangerous misrepresentation, Watkins, editor-at-large for Salon and author of the memoirs The Cook Up and The Beast Side, offers a new framework for discussing the issues of race and inequality by drawing on his own experiences growing up amid poverty and violence in Baltimore. As he charts his journey from the hood to academia and professional writing, he gives a powerful depiction of the challenges of life in low-income communities as well as examining various crucial activist movements and asking what it means to be a model activist in today's world.
Watkins will be in conversation with Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer-winning national correspondent for The Washington Post, on-air contributor for CNN, and author of They Can't Kill Us All.
