My book talk at Menlo College

This past Friday October 25, 2024, I delivered a lecture at Menlo College about my recently published book, Refiguring Race and Risk: Counternarratives of Care in the US Security State. I was invited to come to campus by Dr. Melissa Eriko Poulsen, an Assistant Professor of English at Menlo College and fellow scholar of critical mixed race studies and Asian American literary studies with whom I have collaborated at research conferences in the past. My lecture was delivered as part of Menlo College's 2024-25 Common Book program, in which first-year students have been reading, discussing, and reflecting on Isabel Wilkerson's 2020 book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. My book's argument that US security practices are rooted in a longstanding history of protecting white lives at the expense of communities of color is well supported by Wilkerson's groundbreaking analysis of the racial caste system that has dictated US sociopolitical structures since nation formation.
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After I delivered my talk to a full auditorium of Menlo College students, faculty, and staff, Dr. Poulsen facilitated a stimulating Q&A. During the ensuing conversation, I acknowledged the limitations and possibilities of using care as a mode of resistance against the harm of the security state, shared a recommended reading list for students who want to learn more about how to engage care as a response to risk, and discussed how we might be able to advocate for social justice despite a polarized political climate that makes it risky to speak up (for fear of being doxxed, canceled, etc.). I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to share about my research with the Menlo College community and hope to visit again soon.