Critical Conversations: Black Lives Matter

Rodney Diverlus, Dana R. Fisher, Robyn Maynard and Angelyn Francis

Critical Conversations: Black Lives Matter

Rodney Diverlus, Dana R. Fisher, Robyn Maynard and Angelyn Francis

7:30pm

Saturday, October 24

30 mins

The Toronto International Festival of Authors presents writers in candid, live conversation in reflection on the topics that matter most during this unprecedented time. In this archived Festival presentation (originally aired on October 24, 2020), authors and experts weigh in on the Black Lives Matter political and social movement that dominated headlines in 2020. They discuss the incidents and the histories of anti-Black racism in North America, and today’s revived protests against police brutality, state violence and anti-Black racism.

Featuring panelists: Rodney Diverlus, Dana R. Fisher and Robyn Maynard.

Moderator: Angelyn Francis

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

This event is currently re-released as part of Harbourfront Centre’s 2023 KUUMBA Presented by TD Bank Group, Toronto’s largest Black Futures Month celebration. The video is available to watch for free throughout the month of February. Learn more here.

The Toronto International Festival of Authors presents writers in candid, live conversation in reflection on the topics that matter most during this unprecedented time. In this archived Festival presentation (originally aired on October 24, 2020), authors and experts weigh in on the Black Lives Matter political and social movement that dominated headlines in 2020. They discuss the incidents and the histories of anti-Black racism in North America, and today’s revived protests against police brutality, state violence and anti-Black racism.

Featuring panelists: Rodney Diverlus, Dana R. Fisher and Robyn Maynard.

Moderator: Angelyn Francis

English captioning is available for this video. Please click the ‘CC’ button in the video toolbar to turn it on.

This event is currently re-released as part of Harbourfront Centre’s 2023 KUUMBA Presented by TD Bank Group, Toronto’s largest Black Futures Month celebration. The video is available to watch for free throughout the month of February. Learn more here.

Featured Authors

Rodney Diverlus
Rodney Diverlus (@rodneydiverlus | He/Them) is a Haitian-Canadian movement artist who has performed internationally in dance theatre and multidisciplinary performance, and has developed his distinct movement aesthetic that brings together jazz, contemporary and Afrikanic movements. Described by the Toronto Star as "one of Toronto's fastest rising dance talents," Rodney is working on new world premieres for Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Toronto Dance Theatre and Tapestry Opera, and is the recipient of the 2019 Canadian Stage Award for Direction. He is a co-founder of Black Lives Matter—Canada and the Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism.

Read more about Rodney Diverlus

Dana R. Fisher
Dana R. Fisher is professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her books include Activism, Inc.: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots Campaigns Is Strangling Progressive Politics in America (2006).

Read more about Dana R. Fisher

Robyn Maynard
Robyn Maynard is a Toronto-based author of national bestseller Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from slavery to the present, and a PhD student and Vanier scholar at the University of Toronto.

Read more about Robyn Maynard

Angelyn Francis
Angelyn Francis is an editor at the Toronto Star focused on social and video. Francis is a journalist with a focus on storytelling across a variety of media and amplifying marginalized voices. She previously covered equity issues at the Star and was a video producer at Maclean's Magazine. She was named one of Canada's 100 most powerful women in 2021 by WXN and hosted HuffPost Canada's award-winning podcast Born and Raised.

Read more about Angelyn Francis

7:30pm

Saturday, October 24

30 mins

What to read

American Resistance: From the Women’s March to the Blue Wave by , Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present by , Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada by ,
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