At a special gathering on Martha’s Vineyard, feminist thought leaders will explore citizenship, belonging, birthright citizenship and the meaning of family at a pivotal moment in the nation’s history.
On Wednesday, Aug. 19, Ms. will bring together two of the country’s leading legal scholars and feminist thinkers—Michele Goodwin and Dorothy Roberts—for a special Ms. Talks conversation on Martha’s Vineyard: “America at 250: The Right to Love & Family,” moderated by Nourbese Flint (president of All* Above All) and Mia Herndon (interim executive director of Black Feminist Future).
The reception and book talk will take place from 12 to 1:30 p.m. at 9 Craft Kitchen, 9 Main Street in Vineyard Haven, Mass.
Martha’s Vineyard has a documented history in the maritime Underground Railroad, including the 1743 escape of Esther from a ship docked in Edgartown Harbor—a site recognized by the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom. Against that historic backdrop, the group will examine what it means to be a citizen, and who is permitted to belong to the American family.
The U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary amid profound debates over national identity and belonging. Birthright citizenship, civil rights and civil liberties are facing renewed political challenges. How is a growing politics of “non-belonging” reshaping the country? What does that rhetoric mean for families, democracy and the future of the United States?
The discussion will also draw on Roberts’ latest book, The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family. The memoir grew out of a project begun decades earlier by her father, anthropologist Robert Roberts, who spent much of his life researching interracial marriage but died in 2002 before completing his book. He left behind 25 boxes of interviews and research materials. Years later, Roberts began examining that archive herself, uncovering not only the story behind her father’s unfinished work but new insights into her own family history. The result is a deeply personal exploration of race, intimacy, marriage and belonging in America.
The event is part of Ms. Talks and is presented in collaboration with All* Above All, Black Feminist Future, the Black Reproductive Justice Summit and Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.
Register through Eventbrite: America at 250: The Right to Love & Family.
I think Daddy didn’t want to end his mixed marriage project, a project that had become synonymous with his life and my family’s life together.
Dorothy Roberts in ‘The Mixed Marriage Project’
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