LYNN — Yusef Salaam, one of the Central Park Five, is one of many national speakers headlining the White Privilege Symposium at North Shore Community College this weekend.
“White privilege doesn’t mean you necessarily had every advantage,” said Laurie Carlson, NSCC English professor and chair of the school’s Forums on Tolerance. ‘It doesn’t mean you haven’t suffered, you haven’t been poor, or you haven’t been through hardships. It just means those hardships were not based on the color of your skin.”
The event, “Power, Privilege, and Progress: Awareness to Action: A White Privilege Symposium,“ is produced and hosted by The Privilege Institute, the American Association of University Women-North Shore Area Branch, and NSCC’s Forum on Tolerance. The goal is to provide an engaging learning experience that creates dialogue on the issues of privilege and power in the history of the United States.
Salaam was one of five teenagers sentenced to prison on a wrongful rape conviction in 1990. After six years and eight months of incarceration, he was finally exonerated in 2002. Now he spends his time speaking out on social justice. He is one of many national speakers to headline the two-day symposium.
Jacqueline Battalora, author of Birth of a White Nation and Barbara J. Love, Professor Emerita of Social Justice Education at UMass Amherst, are also keynote speakers.
NSCC began the Forums on Tolerance in 1996 as an outgrowth of the Holocaust studies. Carlson, who has been chair for almost five years, said the forums grew to include all aspects of diversity and tolerance. They are held every semester on a much smaller scale, usually free and without pre-registration requirement.
The symposium is the first time the campus has held a forum on tolerance on such a large scale and in collaboration with other institutions and organizations. Carlson said the forums discuss many types of intolerance to people deemed as “others,” such as women, members of the LGBTQ community, or any person considered to be part of a minority group.
Day one, Friday, Oct. 19, is free but requires registration from anyone wanting to attend and features Salaam discussing how he turned tragedy into triumph. Day two is free for NSCC students, $75 for the general public, $50 for outside students and features keynote speakers Battalora and Love as well as 24 workshop presenters.
The distinguished presenters for Saturday are Claudia Fox Tree, from the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness, Eddie Moore, Jr., executive director of the Privilege Institute and author and editor of The Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys, Debby Irving, author of Waking up White, and Chuck Collins, author of Born on Third Base.
If people are unable to pay and contact [email protected] beforehand, they will not be turned away.
Carlson said she has received emails from students showing major interest in the symposium, with most of them excited to listen to the words of a member of the Central Park Five. Lynn is a place with a very diverse community and it is important for everyone to investigate their own privilege in order to be a more tolerant society that overcomes racism and intolerance, she said.
“There will always be people who will say white privilege doesn’t exist, which is another reason to have the symposium,” she said. “I’m excited to have this conversation at North Shore Community College. Our keynote speakers are fabulous and I hope people come and engage in this dialogue.”
