May 04, 2022 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Online
The Ontario Federation of Labour and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Canada are pleased to present Building the Solidarity Dividend: A Conversation with Heather McGee.
A renowned expert on the American economy, Heather McGhee is one of the most brilliant and influential thinkers exploring inequality today. Both her viral TED talk and her instant New York Times bestseller The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together reveal the devastating true cost of racism—not just for people of colour, but for everyone. Deeply stirring, intelligent, and compassionate, McGhee’s vision offers an actionable roadmap during one of the most critical—and most troubled—periods in history.
The Sum of Us spent 10 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was longlisted for the National Book Award and Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. The New York Times called it: “The book that should change how progressives talk about race.” And the Chicago Tribune said: “Required reading to move the country forward…”. It is a Washington Post and TIME Magazine Must-Read Book of 2021.
For nearly two decades, McGhee helped build the non-partisan “think and do” tank Demos, serving four years as President. She is currently serving as a Visiting Lecturer in Urban Studies at the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies.
Read Heather McGhee’s full bio here.
RSVP to this important conversation now!
Thank you to the generous sponsors of this event: Cavalluzzo, Goldblatt Partners, and Koskie Minsky.
Accommodation Requests: If you require accommodations such as French interpretation, ASL, or closed captioning email ybdacy@ofl.ca with the subject line “Accommodation Request: May 4” by Monday, April 25 @ 11:59 p.m.
Please specify your accommodation requirements.
About the book:
Despite its position as one of the world’s most advanced economies, America has, time and time again, created policies that routinely fail its people—from the 2008 financial crisis, to crippling student debt, to the continued lack of universal health care. But there exists a common thread that links all of these problems, says public policy expert Heather McGhee: Racism. Structural racism is the driver of inequality—not just for people of colour, but for everyone.
In her award-winning book The Sum Of Us, McGhee takes readers on a journey across the United States, where she explores, with compassion, intelligence, and great care, what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm—the idea that progress for some of us, must come at the expense of others. “Now more than ever, racial division is a tool wielded by those who are the most wealthy, the most powerful, and the most self-interested,” explains McGhee. What would actually improve our lives, and everything we share in common—from our infrastructure to our education system to democracy itself—would be to come together across racial divides.