Lilian Thuram, born in Guadeloupe in 1972, had a prestigious international career in football (or soccer in the United States) for the French national team - World Cup champion in 1998, European champion in 2000, World Cup finalist in 2006 - and played for elite European clubs such as Juventus and Barcelona.  It is no exaggeration to say that Thuram is one of the all time great soccer players.   In 2008, he created the Lilian Thuram Foundation for Education to educate against racism, and he has become a high profile activist himself providing workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and engaging in debates.  He is the author of various non-fiction books.

+. Name, title, dept, of moderator.

Regine Jean-Charles, Director of Africana Studies, Dean's Professor of Culture and Social Justice, & Professor of Africana Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 
 

+. What we hope to highlight in the workshop.

Thuram will identify some of the major points he makes in his book, White Thinking - Behind the Mask of Racial Identity.  His book holds great relevance for those engaged in anti-racism work in the United States.  He observes in his Conclusion: "Racism is an illusion.  It shatters solidarities in order that the few might exploit the many, regardless of the color of our skin.  Because, in this system, White people are exploited too: an enemy, the non-White person, is offered up to them in order to avoid them turning against those who are truly exploiting