This post is about the Diversity Luncheon on Wednesday, June 24th with a keynote from Dr. Shakti Butler entitled “How Did We Get Where We Are? The System of Racial Inequity.” Register for Summit here.
The Diversity Luncheon has become a focal point at Cloud Foundry Summits–a place for anyone and everyone to sidle up to a table, meet new folks, and engage with ideas that are inspiring, enlightening and challenging. The room transforms from a conference hall into a safe and welcoming space for the community to confront major themes in tech, including ethics, gender equity, digital accessibility, and much more. For some attendees, it’s a reflection of their own experience. For others, it’s an introduction to new concepts around unconscious bias and an opportunity to bear witness to their peers’ experiences. For everyone, it’s an opportunity to learn.
This year, Cloud Foundry NA Summit is virtual. That means we’ll have to forego the luncheon part of the Diversity Luncheon–though we invite you to indulge in a snack at home–and it means we’ll miss out on the candid in-person discussions that make this event so memorable.
But skipping the Diversity Luncheon is not an option for us.
In fact, it’s imperative that we show up and continue the conversation right now. As support for Black Lives Matter surges across the country, we recognize this as a moment of true awakening about the racial inequity faced by so many Americans. Keeping silent on this topic amounts to complicity in the systemic oppression of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), and so we urge our community to participate in this conversation within the supportive platform of the Diversity Luncheon.
Dr. Shakti Butler will keynote this year’s Cloud Foundry Summit Diversity Luncheon on the topic of racial inequity. Building on the history of global colonialism and the rise of capitalism, Dr. Butler will explore intersecting systems of oppression and speak to the processes of racial justice, accountability and healing. Dr. Butler is a filmmaker and visionary educator in the field of social and racial equity, and the president and founder of World Trust Educational Services, an organization that produces films, curricula, workshops and programs to promote racial justice and institutional, structural and cultural change. She has produced five documentaries and her transformative educational tools have been distributed across the nation.
This talk is for everybody.
We invite you to attend this talk regardless of your prior experience with the concept of racial justice. Whether this is a lived experience for you, whether you’ve never had a conversation about race, whether you’re unfamiliar with the concept of racial inequity, whether you’re an activist and advocate for social justice — this talk is meant for the entire community. It is our hope that you leave the Diversity Luncheon inspired and with a call to action, whether it’s a workshop to take, a conversation to have, a book to read, a practice to implement, or a question to ask.
The work of dismantling institutionalized racism involves everyone. We hope you’ll join us.
Visit the World Trust Educational Services website to learn how to donate, take a workshop, watch a documentary, or get involved.
