Series guest to speak about race

Mike Lagerquist, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·3 min read

Oct. 20—For the first few years, getting speakers for the Carol Ortman Perkins Lecture series came easily.

The series' namesake had had Kathy Najimy as a student, and the actress/activist gladly accepted her friend's invitation.

Najimy reached out to her friend, Gloria Steinem, who accepted for the second year.

And then Minnesota State University's Rick Robbins from the Good Thunder Reading Series invited Dorothy Allison, whose writing focuses on class struggles, abuse and feminism, for the third year.

Through its 15 events, the series also has brought in Lilly Ledbetter, Wilma Mankiller, Jessica Valenti, Susan Faludi, Jewel Woods, Laverne Cox and others. In some years, the crowd has overflowed its venue.

This year is no different with best-selling author Ijeoma Oluo to speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom. She is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller, "So You Want to Talk About Race," and most recently, "Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America."

Oluo uses humor and everyday examples to show that bias isn't necessarily intentional, but it can still be damaging. She notes in a constructive way that until we all recognize that, true change won't be possible.

The lectureship fulfills the mission of the MSU Women's Center and the Department of History and Gender Studies to promote feminist scholarship and activism and to encourage the exchange of ideas.

"We think of folks who are advancing feminist gender equity and antiracism," said Liz Steinborn-Gourley, Women's Center director who, with History and Gender Studies and students, helps select the speaker.

"We also try to think of folks who are recognizable. Ijeoma Oluo is a strong advocate for antiracism and feminism. Her leadership, public advocacy, and writing are powerful and accessible and a call to action."

Those goals make Ortman Perkins proud to have her name associated with the lecture.

"I think this has just been the most astonishing tribute that I've ever received," Ortman Perkins said from San Diego, where she moved to be near her grandchildren. She will be in Mankato for the Tuesday presentation.

"I love being there. I love it when they put the speakers together, and we have a wonderful presentation every year."

The series was begun in 2003 by Maria Bevacqua in honor of Ortman Perkins on her retirement, with the first lecture in 2005. For many years, the speaker was coordinated by Jessica Flatequal, late director of the Women's Center. It returns this year after a few years' absence.

If they're ever unable to get a nationally known speaker, Ortman Perkins said the history and gender studies department has successful alumni aplenty to fill the role. With this year's speaker, however, they're getting a top-notch presenter who is called a "writer, speaker and internet yeller."

In a YouTube recording where she speaks with Charles Mudede about "So You Want to Talk About Race," Oluo said that while her book likely would have been successful without it, the election of Donald Trump as president certainly put an extra focus on the role white Americans play in race relations.

"I think there's a large segment of liberal white America that really thought they had nothing to work on," she told Mudede. Instead, an outspoken president expressed daily what many in the white majority still believe. These ideas make it difficult, even 60 years after the Civil Rights Movement, for Blacks to receive equal treatment.

Ortman Perkins credits the university for its successful efforts to diversify the student body since she arrived there in 1993.

"I have admired that ever since I saw how important it was," she said of that diversification. "Some of my most memorable students were international students."

If You Go What: 15th Annual Carol Ortman Perkins Lecture featuring Ijeoma Oluo When: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday; she will sign books after the event Where: Centennial Student Union Ballroom Tickets: Free. Available in the History and Gender Studies Department (Morris Hall 109), the Women's Center (CSU 218), and at The Coffee Hag (329 N. Riverfront).