2Leaf Press is pleased to announce that racial justice educator and activist, Debby Irving, will be writing the introduction to the forthcoming book, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE WHITE IN AMERICA, edited by Gabrielle David and Sean Frederick Forbes, slated for publication, April 2016.
Irving brings to racial justice the perspective of working as a community organizer and classroom teacher for 25 years without understanding racism as a systemic issue or her own whiteness as an obstacle to grappling with it. As general manager of Boston’s Dance Umbrella and First Night, and later as a classroom teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she struggled to make sense of tensions she could feel but not explain in racially mixed settings. In 2009, a graduate school course, Racial and Cultural Identities, gave her the answers she’d been looking for and launched her on a journey of discovery. Debby now devotes herself to working with white people exploring the impact white skin can have on perception, problem solving, and engaging in racial justice work. A graduate of the Winsor School in Boston, she holds a BA from Kenyon College and an MBA from Simmons College. Her first book, Waking Up White, tells the story of how she went from well-meaning to well-doing.
What drew editors Gabrielle David and Sean Frederick Forbes to Irving was her award-winning book Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race, and her honest, unflinching exploration of race and personal identity. “We knew the concept of WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE WHITE IN AMERICA in itself, would be controversial,” explains Forbes, “but we also wanted someone white to write the Introduction who knows what it’s like to share their insight into race that’s neither preachy nor mission driven, and comes from the heart. Debby not only achieved this in her book, but she’s such a great human being that really wants to do good in the world, which made her a perfect fit. So when she agrees to write the introduction, as well as provide some honest input, Gabrielle and I were thrilled.” To find out more about Irving, read more and visit her website about her projects and speaking engagements.
“I’m a white woman, raised in Winchester, Massachusetts during the socially turbulent 1960s and ‘70s. After a blissfully sheltered, upper-middle-class suburban childhood, I found myself simultaneously intrigued and horrified by the racial divide I observed in Boston. From 1984 to 2009 my work in urban neighborhoods and schools left me feeling helpless. Why did people live so differently along racial lines? Why were student outcomes so divergent? Why did I get so jumpy when talking to a person of color? Where did the fear of saying something stupid or offensive come from, and why couldn’t I make it go away? The more I tried to understand racial dynamics, the more confused I became. I knew there was an elephant in the room, I just didn’t know it was me!” >>READ MORE
