Over the last several months, Marin County has reported a disturbing pattern of racist and anti-Semitic incidents.
Now, the newly formed Marin County Office of Equity is taking action to address renewed calls for civil rights, social justice, inclusivity, diversity and equity in Marin County.
The office recently appointed a small group of community members to serve on its Race Equity Planning Committee, which will provide recommendations on how to build equity within the entire county.
The office is also hosting a new online series of events in collaboration with the Marin City Community Services District. The series, “Community at the Table: Leading with Anti-Racism,” opens on Monday, Jan. 25, with a one-on-one Zoom conversation between influential author and scholar Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Marin County’s Equity Director Anyania Muse.
Kendi is one of America’s foremost historians. He is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research.
He is also a National Book Award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of books like How to Be an Antiracist. In 2020, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Just this month, Netflix announced that is would be adapting Kendi’s books into three documentary projects.
For the “Community at the Table: Leading with Anti-Racism” event, Kendi offers a critical look at race as a social construct that impacts government policies and everyday life.
In talking with Marin County’s Equity Director, Kendi will also address the meaning and consequences of institutional, environmental, and systemic racism.
Marin County Board of Supervisors named its top “Four E’s” of ongoing focus; beginning with Equity and including Education, Economy and Environment.
As Marin County’s first Equity Director, Anyania Muse and the equity team are revamping the initiatives laid out in Marin County’s 2017 Racial Equity Action Plan.
“The next year is critical to our collective approach to equity work in the county,” Muse said in a recent statement. “We have a responsibility to our employees and the county at large to ensure that the equity work takes root and grows…in Marin County. Our relationships with the most marginalized populations in Marin must be healed to move this work forward in dynamic ways. That healing comes from changing the model of how we engage, support, and create connection with community.”
Join Muse and Kendi on Zoom for the first installment of the new “Community at the Table: Leading with Anti-Racism” speaker series on Monday, Jan. 25, at 5pm. Closed captions, ASL/CDI, and Spanish interpreting will be provided. Because of contractual obligations, the session will not be recorded for public viewing later. Space is limited to 1,000 participants and registration is required.
