So I know that in my last post I talked about going to the Conference on Racism and Antisemitism at the Hannah Arendt Center, but I didn’t really elaborate on it. I learned so much  and heard a lot of interesting people speak, and I want to share with you in more detail. There were a lot of recurring themes, the presentation given by author and historian Ibram X. Kendi titled “How to be an Antiracist” was  particularly interesting. One issue that Ibram Kendi raised and people talked about was the idea that in situations that involve racism instead of perpetrators and intent as the focus, we should focus on victims and outcomes. This way we can help the victims of the situation and make sure it doesn’t happen again. This connects to another concept brought up by Ibram Kendi, which was that the police officers that say on the news that they feared for their life and that is why they shot a Black person,  are faulty due to ignorance. Because the fear they refer to is based on racist stereotypes of someone who is Black as being automatically more dangerous because of their color. These were just some of the thought provoking ideas people raised and talked about. I learned about many powerful and new ways to approach situations.Ibram X. Kendi’s book is called “How to be an Antiracist” and he also has an article in the New York Times entitled “An Antiracist Reading List”. I would really recommend everyone go to this conference if you can, it’s held every Fall at Bard University, and it’s truly amazing.