This is a presentation I gave at the Conference for Global Transformation in San Francisco May 2008. It is an idea developed with my students in a hip-hop class in 2005.

1. Without racism, I wonder if we would have known Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. - Tolstoy Soundtrack: “Luqman,” Me’shell Ndegeocello Presents The Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of The Infidel

2. “ Agree to be Offended”™ Curious Connections in Conversations of Race Assoc. Professor Kyra D. Gaunt, Ph.D. Cultural Anthropologist/Ethnomusicologist http://kyraocity.com © 2008 This workshop was first presented at 2008 Conference for Global Transformation, San Francisco, May 18, 2008 with 53 participants from U.S., Canada and Europe. Second highest rating of any conference session (4.71 out of 5.00).

4. This is what we think a “racist” looks like. But this is about you and the racism in your life.

5. Once Upon a Time, I Was Offended… The “Black Ring” in Pretty Pretty Princess If you get the black ring, you can play but you can never win. … While visiting a fellow student of color, I played Pretty, Pretty Princess with a 5 and 7 year-old black girl and boy, respectively. Would you believe… It was around 1992 and I was in grad school at U of Michigan. I was on a minority student fellowship…

7. We Say “Don’t Take Things Personally” but in reality we are…

10. You ARE NOT racist (like an object) In Javanese, the word “is” does not exist unlike in English. Without this verb, you can only speak of someone being racist. That allows us explore how we are being, doing or having racial or racist thoughts, feelings, and actions without being objectified.

15. When we remove “race”, we find out that humans are just plain afraid of each other. 1972 NYC Subway Experiment (M. Luo, NYTimes 9.14.04) Experiment: “Excuse me, may I have your seat?” Most researchers got sick before they asked. If they did ask, the answer was always…Yes!

24. THANK YOU! This workshop was made possible by… My participation in Landmark Education, the Wisdom Division, the Discourse Calls, the Conference for Global Transformation, and esp. my fellow graduates Laurie and Emil Rufolo and Debbie Baker. My students (over 700) esp. the 2005 summer hip-hop course at NYU and my colleagues at the Univ. of Michigan, Univ. of Virginia, NYU, and Baruch College-CUNY. Thanks to Chrysalis Interactive, too. Students and teachers cannot create what’s possible for the world without one another. Kyra D. Gaunt, Ph.D. PLEASE RATE THIS & COMMENT BELOW