What Does an Antiracist Community Look Like?
A Conversation with Rev. Kamoa Smith and Julie Lythcott-Haims
Join the Palo Alto City Library and the Bill Lane Center for the American West are hosting a conversation between Rev. Kaloma Smith and author Julie Lythcott-Haims as they discuss antiracism in a community context. What does an antiracist community look like? How can we work together to achieve an antiracist community?
Julie Lythcott-Haims believes in humans and is deeply interested in what gets in our way. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the anti-helicopter parenting manifesto How to Raise an Adult which gave rise to a TED Talk that has more than 5 million views. Her second book is the critically-acclaimed and award-winning prose poetry memoir Real American, which illustrates her experience as a Black and biracial person in white spaces and which the poet Ishmael Reed termed, “like a machete.” A third book, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult, is out now. Julie is a former corporate lawyer and Stanford dean, and she holds a BA from Stanford, a JD from Harvard, and an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. She serves on the board of Common Sense Media, and on the advisory board of LeanIn.Org, and she is a former board member at Foundation for a College Education, Global Citizen Year, The Writers Grotto, and Challenge Success. She volunteers with the hospital program No One Dies Alone.
Kaloma Smith is a committed pastor driven to see the church transform the community. Born in Jamaica and reared in Mt. Vernon, New York, Pastor Smith developed a genuine heart for people while serving in several ministerial positions. At Greater Centennial Church in Mt. Vernon, he led the young adult, family life, men, and communications ministries. He also served as Westchester District Chairperson for Young Adults in Christian Ministry, was instrumental in church growth at Foster AME Zion Church, and built vital facilities for Dixon AME Zion Church.
While actively involved in ministry, Pastor Smith enjoyed award winning success as the Senior Managing Director of Home Theatre of Long Island. At the apex of a promising corporate career anchored by bold, innovative leadership and marked with a track record of excellence, his spiritual father, Bishop W. Darin Moore, handpicked him to lead the nearly one hundred year old University African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Palo Alto, California. Ordained in the summer of 2013, Pastor Smith embarked on a journey to use his God given gifts to build a healthy, energized church community.
Pastor Smith’s welcoming, non-traditional approach is connecting people of all backgrounds to authentically experience the rich and sophisticated message of God. He currently lives in Palo Alto, CA with his wife, Larin Smith.