First hour: Debby Irving, author of Waking Up White
Second hour: How to protect and preserve Lake Ontario and the Genesee River
How do Americans view the racial divide in this country? According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, 58 percent of Americans say racism is a “big problem” in society. That’s up eight percentage points since 2015. But it leads to the question, why isn’t that number higher? Debby Irving is a white woman from New England who says she didn't fully understand the racial divide in this country until her adult life. Growing up in a wealthy Massachusetts family, she says she couldn’t see outside of her privileged bubble. That all changed when she took a graduate level course about racism and explored her own bias. Now, she’s a racial justice educator and author of the book, Waking Up White. Irving is in Rochester to share her story and offer workshops, but first, she joins us on Connections. Our guests:
- Debby Irving, racial justice educator, and author of Waking Up White
- Revered Joel Miller, interim senior minister at First Unitarian Church
- Frank Staropoli, leadership coach, and organizer of Expanding Events
Then in our second hour, it may seem unusual to have conversations about preserving our water bodies after major weather events like hurricanes or the flooding on the Lake Ontario shoreline, but excessive runoff is a major source of pollution. It’s a problem in our area — one that the H2O Hero initiative hopes to combat. The program is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and this hour, we talk to the team behind it about its progress. Have the goals changed as a result of weather events? How do we prepare for future issues? And what can we do, on an individual level, to protect Lake Ontario and the Genesee River? Our guests help us understand the science and the mission. In studio:
- Todd Butler, president and CEO of Causewave Community Partners
- Dan Menelly, president and chief science officer for the Rochester Museum and Science Center
- Paul Sawkyo, coordinator for the Water Education Collaborative (WEC)
- Caroline Kilmer, WBE-certified stormwater consultant, and chair of the Water Education Collaborative (WEC)
