Austin Channing Brown & Lecrae | I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
Austin Channing Brown will be in conversation with Lecrae at The Carter Presidential Library & Museum on July 19th at 7 p.m. to discuss her new book I’M STILL HERE: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. In a time when nearly all institutions claim to value "diversity" in their mission statements, I'm Still Here is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words. Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice, in stories that bear witness to the complexity of America's social fabric--from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations. I'm Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God's ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness--if we let it--can save us all.
AUSTIN CHANNING BROWN is a writer, speaker, and practitioner who helps schools, nonprofits, and religious organizations practice genuine inclusion. Her writing has appeared in outlets like Christianity Today, Relevant, Sojourners, and The Christian Century. She is the author of I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness.
Lecrae is a Grammy award winning hip-hop artist whose 2014 album, Anomaly, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, Rap, Digital, Christian, Gospel, and Independent charts. His seven studio albums and mixtapes have sold more than 1.5 million copies. Lecrae has been nominated for five Grammy Awards, including a win in 2013 for Best Gospel Album and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song in 2015, as well as won seven Dove Awards, secured one Billboard Music Award nomination, won two Soul Train Music Awards and a BET Hip Hop Awards nomination. Lecrae resides in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and three children. He is the author of Unashamed.
This event is free and open to the public.
If you cannot attend, you may pre-order a signed copy of the book using the button below:
ABOUT THE BOOK
From a powerful new voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America.
Austin Channing Brown's first encounter with a racialized America came at age 7, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools, organizations, and churches, Austin writes, "I had to learn what it means to love blackness," a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America's racial divide as a writer, speaker and expert who helps organizations practice genuine inclusion.
In a time when nearly all institutions (schools, churches, universities, businesses) claim to value "diversity" in their mission statements, I'm Still Here is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words. Austin writes in breathtaking detail about her journey to self-worth and the pitfalls that kill our attempts at racial justice, in stories that bear witness to the complexity of America's social fabric--from Black Cleveland neighborhoods to private schools in the middle-class suburbs, from prison walls to the boardrooms at majority-white organizations.
For readers who have engaged with America's legacy on race through the writing of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Michael Eric Dyson, I'm Still Here is an illuminating look at how white, middle-class, Evangelicalism has participated in an era of rising racial hostility, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God's ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness--if we let it--can save us all.
