Our Path Forward

Upcoming Our Path Forward Events Check back soon for details about our fall 
Our Path Forward events.
Previous Our Path Forward Events
An Evening with Daina Ramey-Berry Thursday, June 29, 6:30 PM | Main Library, Lecture Hall Dr. Ramey-Berry is an Associate Professor, Department of History in African History & African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her book, The Price for Their Pound of Flesh explores the economic value of enslaved people through every phase of their lives – including from before birth to after death – in the American domestic slave trades.
An Evening with Chuck Collins Thursday, July 13, 6:30 PM | Main Library, Lecture Hall Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and directs IPS's Program on Inequality and the Common Good. He is an expert on U.S. inequality and author of several books, including Economic Apartheid in America: A Primer on Economic Inequality and Insecurity, co-authored with Felice Yeskel. (New Press, 2005). He co-authored with Bill Gates Sr. Wealth and Our Commonwealth, (Beacon Press, 2003), a case for taxing inherited fortunes. His most recent book is Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good.
An Evening with Michelle Kuo Thursday, July 20, 6:30 PM | Main Library, Lecture Hall After graduating from Harvard University, Michelle Kuo joined Teach for America and found herself in the Mississippi Delta town of Helena, Arkansas. There she met Patrick, a student she connects with and who shows tremendous potential. Three years later Kuo hears the news that Patrick is in prison for murder and she goes back to the Delta to spend seven months reading classic novels with him. Changed by her experience, she ponders questions of what it is we owe each other, what it is to live a good life, and how deeply racism has penetrated our institutions in her book, Reading with Patrick.

Photo Credit: Kathy Huang

Democracy Day: A Public Reading and Celebration of the Constitution Saturday, May 20, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM | Main Library, Joan Lorentz Park
Come join us in celebrating our Constitution! There will be a live, participatory public reading of the Constitution, plus performances, activities and more! Families welcome. Picnics encouraged. Supported by The Friends of the Cambridge Public Library. 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM – Public reading of the Constitution 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM – Story Time with our children’s librarians on the lawn 12:00 - 1:00 PM – Performance by social justice improv group, True Story Theater Children’s activities and book check-out on the lawn throughout the day.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to speak on Saturday Saturday, May 20, 1:15 PM | Main Library, Lecture Hall

We are excited to announce late-breaking news that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will speak as part of the Library’s Democracy Day activities. He is scheduled to speak at 1:15 PM in the Main Library, Lecture Hall, including time for questions

Watch the video here.
Fake News: A Media Literacy Workshop Wednesday, May 17, 6:30 - 8:00 PM | Main Library, Community Room This workshop will teach you the basics of media literacy to help you navigate the information landscape and avoid spreading fake news.
View the PPT here.
NICHOLAS BURNS The Trump Administration's Foreign Policy Challenges Wednesday, April 19, 7:00 PM | Main Library, Lecture Hall Introduction by Drew Griffin, Senior Librarian
As a foreign policy expert, Professor Burns will discuss the challenges facing the Trump Administration in foreign affairs, followed by a Q&A. Nicholas Burns is the Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is Director of the Future of Diplomacy Project and Faculty Chair for the Programs on the Middle East and on India and South Asia. Professor Burns served in the United States government for twenty-seven years. As a career Foreign Service Officer, he was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2008; the State Department’s third-ranking official when he led negotiations on the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement; a long-term military assistance agreement with Israel; and was the lead U.S. negotiator on Iran’s nuclear program.
Watch the video here.

This event is the first in an Our Path Forward series presented by the Library to affirm its commitment to public discourse and democracy during a period of change and uncertainty. Structured as a panel of leading voices and experts from the community, conversation will touch on topics such as immigration, civil rights, journalism and mass incarceration.

 

The program will consist of a panel discussion, as well as opportunities for comments and questions from the audience. Confirmed speakers include:

Claire Messud, American novelist and literature and creative writing professor, currently a Senior Lecturer at Harvard. Best known as the author of the novels The Emperor’s Children and The Woman Upstairs.

Ron Sullivan, Jr., a leading theorist in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, trial practice and techniques, legal ethics, and race theory. He is the faculty director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute and the Harvard Trial Advocacy Workshop.

Miguel de Icaza, distinguished Engineer at Microsoft focusing on mobile developer tools. He co-founded Xamarin in 2011 and Ximian in 1999, both with Nat Friedman. Miguel co-founded the GNOME project in 1997, and has directed the Mono project since its creation in 2001, including multiple Mono releases at Novell. Miguel has received the Free Software Foundation 1999 Free Software Award, the MIT Technology Review Innovator of the Year Award in 1999, and was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 innovators for the new century in September 2000. In 1997, he was interviewed by Microsoft for a position but lacked the university degree to obtain a work H1-B Visa. Today he is one of the most respected voices in Open Source. Born in Mexico, de Icaza became a US Citizen in 2015.

Susan Church, chair of the American Immigration Lawyers of New England and a partner at the law firm of Demissie & Church. She is a trial and appellate attorney focusing on the intersection of criminal defense and immigration. With the assistance of the ACLU and Mintz Levin law firm, she recently successfully sued President Donald Trump over his travel ban directed against Muslims. Church was one of the early lawyers at Logan Airport the day of the EO by POTUS Trump.

Peter Kadzis, @Kadzis WGBH News, Senior Editor, contributes political analysis, and is part of the trio that produces the Scrum Podcast. He has spent years inside daily newspapers and national magazines before joining the now-defunct Boston Phoenix, where he worked for 25 years—primarily as editor or executive editor. A thoughtful voice on journalism and this political moment in time.

Watch the panel here.