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Towards a New Reconstruction: Land, Racism, and Economic Emancipation
October 27, 2018 @ 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
We are pleased to announce the 38th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures with speakers Leah Penniman and Ed Whitfield. The theme of this year’s event is “Towards a New Reconstruction: Land, Racism, and Economic Emancipation.” The talks will take place on Saturday, October 27th from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
The 38th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of W. E. B. Du Bois, born in Great Barrington on February 23, 1868. Du Bois would become a figure of international importance—the first black man to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University, a tireless advocate for the rights of marginalized people everywhere, a founder of the Niagara Movement and the NAACP, and the author of countless influential works of scholarship.
Du Bois believed that racial justice was inseparable from economic justice and that economic inequality was the engine and not simply the consequence of a deeper social inequality. Speakers Leah Penniman and Ed Whitfield are doing work that builds on the legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois— his commitment to black economic development, cooperative structures, and fair access to land.
Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, is working to end racism in the food system. The title of Penniman’s talk is “Farming While Black: A Legacy of Innovation and Resistance.”
Whitfield, co-founder and co-managing director of the Fund for Democratic Communities, has written and spoken extensively on non-extractive finance, reparations, and building investment structures that support community self-determination.
Tickets for the 38th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures are on sale now for $25 and may be purchased online here or through the “buy tickets” button below. If you wish to purchase tickets by cash, check, or BerkShares local currency, please contact the Schumacher Center directly at (413) 528-1737 or send payment to:
Schumacher Center for a New Economics
140 Jug End Road,
Great Barrington, MA 01230