Although race and racism are at the top of Americans’ public discussions, it turns out that most white parents in the US don’t talk about those issues with their kids. Research on how white parents discuss race with their children is sparse. However, past research has shown that conversations about race, much less racism, are rare, even when ...

We can’t have an honest reckoning about race until we start to recognize all the ways in which privilege and prejudice creep into our lives, says author and digital strategist Luvvie Ajayi. There comes a time in every upwardly mobile Black person’s life when they encounter someone who tells them how “well-spoken” and “articulate” they are. It i...

Germany's 7-1 victory over host country Brazil in the World Cup semi-finals this week followed the injury of Brazilian soccer star Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, whose collision with Colombian player Juan Camilo Zúñiga during the quarter-final game led to a hail of racist epithets aimed at Zúñiga. Ready to go beyond the headlines? 5 primary sour...

In April 2018, I flew to Vancouver, Canada, for my first TED Conference. As a TED Fellow, I had the opportunity to give both a talk and a cello performance. As I packed my artifacts and artwork, which included three of my custom Ku Klux Klan robes made from various fabrics, the one that most stood out to me then -- and still stands out to me now...

"When police officers, acting in their duty as government officials and the enforcers of our laws, when they kill someone, that’s the death penalty." There has been a lot of heated rhetoric around the decisions of two separate American grand juries not to indict white police officers responsible for the deaths of unarmed black men. But in descr...

Here's a list of specific steps you can take, as recommended by members of the TED community. Educate Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's New York Times bestseller How to Be an Antiracist is one of the most important books I've ever read. (Watch Dr. Kendi speak on "how to build an antiracist world" here.) He provides an empowering lens and language to unders...

In response to the historic moment of mourning and anger over the ongoing violence inflicted on Black communities by police in the United States, four leaders in the movement for civil rights -- Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff, CEO of Center for Policing Equity; Rashad Robinson, president of Color Of Change; Dr. Bernice Albertine King, CEO of the King Ce...

Paul Rucker’s eye-opening work forces people to look at the bias and bigotry that have been sewn into the fabric of America. The silhouette of a KKK robe is unmistakable, with its ominous, hooded outline. It's a stark reminder of one of the ugliest parts of America’s past -- a past that has been bubbling to the surface again in recent years. Th...

Beyond policy reform, what can ordinary people do to combat systemic racism? Diversity advocate Vernā Myers thinks it starts with confronting our own acknowledged and subconscious prejudices. In your work, you encourage people to talk to young black men, to get out of one's comfort zone. Who are you speaking to in particular? Who is your audien...

Musician, ethnomusicologist, author, and social media maven -- Kyra Gaunt (see her TEDxChisinau talk here) won’t limit herself to one way of thinking. Using a variety of media, she works nonstop to help humanity see our own remarkable unity in diversity. Your work encompasses scholarship, musical performance, educational theory, race, gender,...

When it comes to equality across race, class and gender: "None of us has time to sleep -- we need to be woke as hell," says Mia Birdsong, host of Session 3 of TEDWomen 2016. In an emotional, pointed session, seven speakers and one performer explored the painful realities of the present and offered hopeful views of the future. "I'm not pas...

Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls out Feminism Lite -- "a hollow, appeasing and bankrupt idea." A few years ago, Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received a letter from a childhood friend and new mother, asking her how she could raise her baby girl to be a feminist. Adichie’s new book, Dear Iljeawele, is her response, and it contain...

Michelle Cusseaux. Aura Rosser. Tanisha Anderson. Mya Hall. Natasha McKenna. These are the names of but a few African-American women who were victims of police brutality in the past two years. Why are most people unfamiliar with these names? Activist and law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw urges us to ask this question. Through her theory of inter...

African American writer Rich Benjamin spent two years living in -- and writing about -- America's whitest neighborhoods. The response to his book (and TED Talk) was honest, raw -- and sometimes misunderstood his purpose. Here, he responds to the response. In 2007, I embarked on a two-year, 27,000-mile trip. My destination? The fastest-growing a...

For week 3 of TED2020, global leaders in technology, vulnerability research and activism gathered for urgent conversations on how to foster connection, channel energy into concrete social action and work to end systemic racism in the United States. Below, a recap of their insights. Audrey Tang, Taiwan's digital minister for social innovat...

As usual, the TED community has been very busy over the past week. Below, a few newsy highlights. Overlooked treasures. A bed, a watch, a shoe: all mundane items unappreciated in the moment. But through history’s eyes, they gain new meaning. In this beautiful “Portraits in Creativity” documentary, Maira Kalman talks about curating the exhib...

Abandoned school turned maker space. Theaster Gates turns Chicago’s abandoned buildings into thriving hubs for art and education. His next project? Turning an old elementary school into a maker space. Gates heads Place Lab, a think tank that fuses the brainpower of urban planners, architects, artists and other diverse professionals to create...

The theme of TED2019 is "Bigger than us," and day 1 did not disappoint. Even though it had just three sessions, they were chock full of compelling ideas and calls for action. Here are seven takeaways:  We're shining light into some really dark places. Sheperd Doeleman, head of the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, takes us inside the...

The stage is set for TEDWomen 2019: Bold + Brilliant! In the opening session, we heard from an extraordinary lineup of truth tellers. Six speakers and two performers shined a light on issues ranging from immigration to leadership and inclusion -- and how we can shatter the glass ceiling once and for all -- sharing new ways to look at old pro...

There’s a lot of news to share from the TEDizens of the world in the past month. Just a few highlights: Monica Lewinsky inspires Caitlyn Jenner. As Caitlyn Jenner introduces herself to the world, and navigates the media frenzy surrounding her new life, she has Monica Lewinsky’s TED Talk in the back of her mind. In Vanity Fair’s much-discussed p...

Our hosts for this session, Jean Oelwang and Chris Waddell, are life partners who've both had to overcome their inclination to be a solo superhero -- to be the best at business, school, sports. Jean spent her career climbing the corporate ladder, being tough, making her way to the top alone. Meanwhile, Chris was a skiier who, early in his ow...

Some ideas simmer below the surface. This session is dedicated to speakers who bubble them up, from a surprising management thinker to an Ebola researcher who found new inspiration in a song. Short recaps of the talks in this session... Work, the ultimate social experience. Margaret Heffernan is here to flip our thinking on what makes ...

On Monday on the TED Fellows stage, Safwat Saleem made the crowd roar and squirm with his art – satirical and profane posters and animated shorts skewering racism, the absurdity of politics, petty dishonesty and general stupidity. In a word, bullshit. Here at TED2013, he's launching a new project, called "Pardon Me, but WTF?" – a call to the...

It’s Halloween — and the only thing scarier than Ebola this week is Ebola paranoia. Should you panic in bowling alleys? How justified is your fear of hospitals? Are mandatory quarantines even legal in the U.S., anyway? 3 ideas behind the news. Source: "Thomas Eric Duncan and Craig Spencer: Race, nationality and rhetoric of Ebola patients," Slat...

A surprise superquick talk from wordnik Erin McKean, who reads from her magic notebook the top 10 words of this TED. The full list follows; here are four highlights: tokamak, a doughnut-shaped fusion reactor whose name comes from a transliteration of the Russian токамак. rockism, which Mark Ronson describes as "like racism, but for roc...

“How can I come from a nation? How can a human being come from a concept?” With these questions the majestic Taiye Selasi, author of Ghana Must Go, closes talks for Day 1 of TEDGlobal 2014. Having just come back from a tour, Selasi is irked and perplexed by the consistently inconsistent way she was introduced at each event: by a biography...

Photo: James Duncan Davidson Awele Makeba is here not simply to tell us a story. She's here to act one. Her story takes place in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 2, 1955, and her hero is the courageous teenager Claudette Colvin, who stayed seated on a segregated bus even when instructed by the driver to make room for white people. "It's my c...

In the program guide for Session 4 of TED2019, “Audacity,” a group of eight mysterious figures stands silhouetted in black. That’s because the speakers in this session were a total surprise -- to those in TED audience and to those tuning in via Twitter Live from around the world. These eight speakers all have big, bold ideas for global chang...

Nick Hanauer lays out the epic failure of the Republican party to serve its voters, prompting the popular surge in support for Donald Trump. The Republican Party is coming apart, and Donald Trump is leading the charge. The GOP establishment, now aware of the existential crisis they face, is in full panic mode. Media elites and most of the pundi...

TED has traveled to Tanzania, to Canada and to India. We’ve been to Germany, to Qatar and to assorted places throughout the United Kingdom and the state of California in the United States. But in a few weeks, we are headed for the first time to South America. TEDGlobal 2014 kicks off on Monday, October 6, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  So wh...