Americans pride themselves on how far they’ve come from slavery, lynching, and legal segregation. We measure ourselves by incremental instead of long-term progress and how far we have to go.

Fifty years after meaningful efforts toward civil rights, the US remains overwhelmingly unjust. Our current solutions to make the world more equitable and just—from de-segregation to diversity and representation—are not enough.

Acclaimed writer Calvin Baker argues that we first need to envision a society no longer defined by the structures of race in order to create a truly equitable and just world. The only meaningful remedy full self-determination and participation of all African Americans, and all other oppressed groups, in every facet of national life. This is the deepest threat to the racial order and the real goal of civil rights. Calvin’s latest book, A More Perfect Reunion, is a profound, masterful reading of US history from the colonial era forward, and a trenchant critique of the obstacles in our current political and cultural moment. It is also a timely call to action.

Join Sherri Taylor, CIIS Assistant Professor of Somatic Psychology, for a conversation with Calvin as he reminds us that we live in a revolutionary democracy, and that we are at a crucial moment to finish the revolution.

Register here

Calvin Baker is the author of four novels, including Grace and Dominion which was a finalist for the Hurston-Wright Award. He teaches in Columbia University’s Graduate School of the Arts, and has also taught in the English Department at Yale University, the University of Leipzig, where he held the Picador Chair in American Studies, Long Island University, Graduate Department of English where he was a Distinguished Visiting Professor, Bard College, and Middlebury College. His nonfiction work has appeared in Harper’s and the New York Times Magazine. He lives in New York City.

Sherri Taylor, Psy.D. is a contemplative, scholar, consultant, and facilitator. She completed her undergraduate education in Feminist Studies at Stanford University and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. Her scholarship and research interests include the intergenerational transmission of benevolence and resilience, psycho-spiritual trauma theories, attachment theory, human development, and processes of embodiment/incarnation. Dr. Taylor is also the founder of the soulstudiolab. The soulstudiolab  offers relevant and meaningful programming for individuals, groups, and organisations that integrates innovative approaches and practices from the expressive arts and psychology, with a special focus on the psycho-spiritual importance of creativity and compassionate embodiment to inspire and enact personal growth, interpersonal understanding, and social justice.

Dr. Taylor also teaches in the clinical psychology doctoral program at The Wright Institute. She curates group trainings, play shops, and workshops for community and professional audiences in the areas of anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, cultural humility, the cultivation of joy and creativity, dream work, and spirituality. Sherri aspires each day to appreciate the fullness and complexity of the human experience.

Image credit: Black and white children attend class together in Fort Myer, Va., after desegregation. (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress)