May 9, 2012 (New York, NY) - A leader in the racial justice movement, the Applied Research Center (ARC) today announced a schedule of upcoming webinars and speaker line-up for its Facing Race national conference, with a new promotional video presented by ARC Executive Director Rinku Sen, including testimonials from Melissa Harris Perry, Maria Teresa Kumar, Van Jones, and Ai-jen Poo. Facing Race will be held in Baltimore, MD, from November 15-17, with Junot Díaz keynoting. Registration and information is available at facingraceconference.org.

With a mission to popularize racial justice, ARC programs are inclusive and interactive, bringing people together in online community, webinars, and in-person conferences. ARC is thrilled to present webinars covering a wide range of topics throughout the year that will help people to advance racial justice in their own spheres, leading up to Facing Race -- the largest national, multi-racial gathering of leaders, educators, journalists, artists, and activists on racial justice.

ARC is holding two free informational webinars: “Millennials, Activism & Race” (May 24 - registration open at arc.org/webinars) and “Building Healthy Communities: Good Food and Good Jobs” (June 21). ARC will also be offering skill-building webinars over the course of the year, including: "Challenging Racism Systematically" (July 19), "Racial Justice Impact Assessment" (Aug 23), and two sessions in the fall on Voting Rights and Reproductive Rights.

Celebrating 30 years in the racial justice movement, ARC has a multi-racial and multi-generational staff with extensive expertise and experience. As publisher of Colorlines.com, ARC works through the news cycle to investigate and explicitly confront racism, challenging concepts like “colorblindness” and “post-racial,” and working on solutions that move beyond “diversity” and toward equity.

Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and 2012 Facing Race keynote speaker, commented on the so-called “post-race” state of the nation saying that “....events like ARC Facing Race Conference are of paramount importance.  Not only for the important activism and theorizing that they engender but because it is in these spaces of deliberations that we come in contact with the promise of a just anti-racist future.”

The Facing Race conference will be co-emceed by comedian W. Kamau Bell and social media maven Deanna Zandt, with plenaries on “Elections, Governance & Policy,” “Race, Gender and the 21st Century,” and “Arts, Media, Culture.” Presenters include Judith Browne Dianis, Jeff Chang, Negin Farsad, Maria Hinojosa, Sally Kohn, Janet Mock, and Michael Omi. Facing Race will be held in Baltimore, MD from Nov 15-17, 2012. Registration available at arc.org/facingrace.

In addition to other programs, the Applied Research Center offers an array of consultation services, including training, curriculum design, public presentations, evaluation, webinars, and strategic coaching.

ABOUT ARC – The Applied Research Center (ARC) is a 30-year-old racial justice think tank that uses media, research and activism to promote solutions. ARC’s mission is to popularize racial justice and prepare people to achieve it. ARC also serves as the publisher of Colorlines.com, a daily news site offering award-winning reporting, analysis, and solutions to today’s racial justice issues. For more information on ARC’s work, please visit www.arc.org.

For press passes or media inquiries, please contact [email protected].

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