- This event has passed.
The San Antonio Book Festival, in partnership with Alamo Colleges District, Texas Public Radio, and the Carver Community Cultural Center, proudly presents one of America’s most trusted voices in journalism—MICHELE NORRIS—with her new book, OUR HIDDEN CONVERSATIONS: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity, at the Carver Community Cultural Center. Dr. Eric Castillo, Associate Vice Chancellor for Arts, Culture, and Community Impact with Alamo Community Colleges District, will moderate the conversation.
Author signing to follow with book sales provided by Nowhere Bookshop. This event is free and open to the public. No registration required.
To commemorate this event, we are asking San Antonians to participate in a version of The Race Card Project, which inspired Norris’ book. Share your thoughts on race with us at this link. All responses are anonymous and will be displayed at the live event on February 26.
Event Details
- 7PM Presentation
- 8PM Book sales and signing
“The brilliant Michele Norris has spent 14 years getting people to open up about race — starting with six words. The result of her noble project is this beautiful and inspiring book. It can help us all cultivate communities of bridge builders so that we can talk about race with both candor and love.”
—Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of The Code Breaker and Elon Musk
ABOUT THE BOOK
Many entries go further than just 6-words, enriched by backstories, photographs, and heirlooms. Beautifully designed and illustrated throughout, OUR HIDDEN CONVERSATIONS is a unique collection of stories, richly reported essays based on Norris’s in-depth investigations, and photographs—all providing a window into America during a tumultuous era. This powerful book offers an honest, if sometimes uncomfortable, conversation about race and identity, permitting us to eavesdrop on deep-seated thoughts, private discussions, and long submerged memories. The breadth of this work came as a surprise to Norris. For most of the 12 years she has collected these stories, many were submitted by white respondents. This unexpected panorama provides a rare 360-degree view of how Americans see themselves and one another.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michele Norris has earned several honors over a long career, including Peabody, Emmy, Dupont, and Goldsmith awards. She is a columnist for The Washington Post Opinion Section and from 2002 to 2012 she was a cohost of NPR’s All Things Considered. Norris is also the founding director of The Race Card Project, a Peabody Award–winning narrative archive where people around the world share their reflections on identity—in just 6-words. Her first book, The Grace of Silence, was named one of the best books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Kansas City Star. Before joining NPR, Norris spent almost ten years as a reporter for ABC News covering politics, policy, and the dynamics of social change. Early in her career, she also worked as a staff writer for The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times.
Photo credit: Eli Turner Photography
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Dr. Eric Castillo (he/him/él) is a second-generation Xicano from Yanaguana/San Antonio, Tejas, a social justice practitioner, and a scholar helping to create a just, compassionate, and liberated world. He serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Arts, Culture, and Community Impact with the Alamo Community Colleges District.
