Dexter Voisin - "America the Beautiful and Violent"

"Voisin powerfully shows that the violence that Chicago’s black youth experience is rooted in the nation as a whole. He untangles these complex systems and offers clear and effective solutions. This book will be illuminating for scholars, policy makers, and practitioners alike."––Mary Pattillo, author of "Black on the Block: The Politics of Race and Class in the City"

Dexter Voisin discusses "America the Beautiful and Violent: Black Youth & Neighborhood Trauma in Chicago." A reception will follow the discussion.

Presented in partnership with the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture

About the book: Widespread media narratives portray an epidemic of neighborhood violence in urban areas—often ignoring the structural explanations advanced by community organizers fighting violence and activists such as those in the Movement for Black Lives. In this book, Dexter R. Voisin provides a compelling and social-justice-oriented analysis of current trends in neighborhood violence in light of the historical and structural factors that have reproduced entrenched patterns of racial and economic inequality.

"America the Beautiful and Violent" is built around the powerful voices and insights of black youth in Chicago and their parents and communities. Voisin interweaves their narratives with data, research findings, and historical accounts that provide context for their experiences. He highlights the broad historical, political, economic, and racial factors that shape the construction, concentration, and narratives of violence in black neighborhoods. Voisin explores these forces and the violence they produce; the behavioral health consequences of repeated exposures to neighborhood violence; and the ways youth, families, and communities cope with such traumas. "America the Beautiful and Violent" offers a set of practice and policy recommendations to address the patchwork inequality that leads to concentrated violence and to support children and adolescents struggling with the precarious conditions and threat of violence in their daily lives.

About the author: Dexter R. Voisin is dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and the Sandra Rotman Chair in Social Work at the University of Toronto. He is also a psychotherapist and social worker.

About the Co-sponsor: The Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture (CSRPC) was established by Michael C. Dawson, with a founding conference taking place in June of 1996 entitled, “Race and Voice: Challenges for the 21st Century.” From its inception, CSRPC faculty affiliates, students, and staff have been committed to establishing a new type of research institute devoted to the study of race and ethnicity, one that seeks to expand the study of race beyond the black/white paradigm while exploring social and identity cleavages within racialized communities.

Admission

Free

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