Filmmaker Dr. Shakti Butler to Speak at Cerro Coso

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Cerro Coso Community College invites the community to an evening with educator, filmmaker, speaker, social justice activist, and healer Dr. Shakti Butler and her work "Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity" on Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 7 p.m. in the College Lecture Center.

Dr. Butler is a multiracial African-American woman (African, Arawak Indian, and Russian-Jewish) whose work as a creative and visionary bridge builder has challenged and inspired learning for over two decades.

She is the producer and director of the groundbreaking documentaries, "The Way Home," "Light in the Shadows," and "Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible." Her newest film, "Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity" examines the causes and consequences of systemic inequity in the United States and features some two dozen racial justice leaders from across the country.

In 1994, as Executive Director of World Trust Educational Services, Dr. Butler designed and launched HEART-TO-HEART CONVERSATIONS, a national program of public dialogue designed to help people to learn together and share deep feelings about race and culture. This program has gained recognition and has been reviewed by both local and national television.

A warm and compassionate person, Dr. Butler uses her ability to listen deeply while asking critical questions that support self-directed learning in others. Her speaking and teaching styles enrich people's ability to move toward expanded capacities for building community. Her videos and conversation programs stimulate the kind of new questions, which enhance any efforts toward deep learning and change.

Dr. Butler received her doctorate from the California Institute of Integral Studies in the School of Transformative Learning and Change. She holds an MA in Guidance and Counseling from Bank Street College of New York and graduated magna cum laude from City College of New York.

A screening of Dr. Butler's film Cracking the Codes will be held on Wednesday, February 5, 2014 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. followed by the lecture on Thursday, February 6, 2014 from 7 to 9 p.m. Both activities will be held in the College Lecture Center.

For more information contact the Student Activities Office at the College at 760-384-6353.

This event is funded by the Cerro Coso Student Development fund and is open to the public.