“An Uncomfortable Conversation about Race”

“An Uncomfortable Conversation about Race,” moderated by Keisha Zollar at The Peoples’ Improv Theater December 6th

Thinkers, activists, comedians, extremists, & more will participate in this interactive no holds barred race discussion. Nervous yet?

An Uncomfortable Conversation About Race…

“Are black people more prone to violence?”

“Mexicans are taking good American jobs”

“Why is the KKK now actively recruiting?”

“White people can’t be terrorists, just rampage killers”

If any of that make you anxious, angry, uncomfortable or curious…keep reading!

Why is it so hard to have a conversation about race?  Are we afraid of looking ignorant, being invalidated, being attacked, or being called RACIST if we really have an intense conversation about race?  We want to provide a space where the audience can safely interact and have their questions and comments heard around race.

An Uncomfortable Conversation About Race…is a round table discussion that will be recorded in front of a live audience (think Real Time with Bill Maher meets The Young Turks), and explored in a documentary that extends beyond the round table discussion to focus on race and racial tensions in different parts of America.

This project will eventually be made available for digital download online.  We will hire a production company and engage foremost thinkers, activists, comedians, experts and others with nuanced views on race to have an in depth conversation about issues such as:

“How does race factor in to incidents like Ferguson?”,

“Why would some one join a hate group?”

“Is it racist to only associate with your own kind?”

And so much more.

The live event will be held in a New York City venue, where audience members can anonymously ask questions.  People interested in this campaign can also tweet questions, thoughts, and comments to potentially be read and discussed by our panel.  We will be documenting the process of creating this project and our own struggles with race and tackling racial issues in America. This journey has already made us laugh, cry, yell and feel scared.  There are many aspects to the racial tensions brewing in America and we hope to explore several of them.

We hope to learn from the people we encounter and hopefully emerge from this process with a few actionable ideas to share with the world around race and improving racial relations.

Who: Moderator Keisha Zollar, panelists (partial list, more to be confirmed) Shonali Bhowmik, Lucas Hazlett, Kate Rigg, Bill Santiago, Megan Sass, Sue Smith

What: An Uncomfortable Conversation About Race is a round table discussion that will be recorded in front of a live audience and explored in a documentary that extends beyond the round table discussion to focus on race and racial tensions in different parts of America.

When: Saturday, December 6th, 2014 at 12:00pm and 2:30pm

Where: The Peoples’ Improv Theater – 123 E 24th St. New York, NY

How: Facebook RSVP 12:00pm ticket link 2:30pm ticket link Tweet questions for the panel to @KeishaZ

Why: In realizing that the conversation about race makes people afraid of being labeled, Keisha Zollar wants to provide a space where the audience can safely interact and have their questions and comments heard around the topic of race.

An Uncomfortable Conversation About Race was made possible by a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Online: www.thepit-nyc.com/event/an-uncomfortable-conversation-about-race/