Topic.com and Northside recently launched a monthly series of events called “Topic Talks,” bringing together influential members of the community to engage in discussions around a different theme every month.

On February 21st, we’ll be hosting the event in Brooklyn and exploring a theme of “Identity Checks,” with stories and talks around the way you define yourself and the way the world perceives you. The night will involve interesting talks and discussions, experiential stations, drinks, and bites provided by Mr. Bing and Empanada Papa.

Join us Wednesday, Feb 21 at the Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont St., Brooklyn)
Reception at 6pm, Talks from 7pm - 8:30pm

Program:

+ Screening of The Loving Generation Episode 1 and panel discussion with Lacey Schwartz, director and producer, Rebecca Carroll (WNYC), Mat Johnson (author of Loving Day, Pym, Incognegro), and hosted by Amy Choi. Intro by Anna Holmes (TOPIC)

The 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia overturned all laws forbidding interracial marriage. The Loving Generation tells the story of how a generation of Americans born to one black and one white parent experience race and identity in a divided United States.

+ Talk and Performance: This is What an Artist Looks Like with Shantell Martin, the British-born visual powerhouse.

+ A presentation by Nick Kulish, writer and correspondent for The New York Times and author of The Eternal Nazi.

+ A panel discussion: Loving with Lacey Schwartz, Rebecca Carol, Mat Johnson, Anna Holmes, hosted by Amy Choi

More about our speakers/performers:

Shantell Martin: Below the surface of Shantell Martin’s characteristic black and white compositions is an artists’ inquiry into the role of artist and viewer. In Martin’s world, a work of art is inseparable from its creator and its audience, and art is more than an object of admiration disconnected from the process of its inception. Rather, she sees her work as a vehicle to forge new connections between education, design, philosophy and technology -- the glue in an increasingly interdisciplinary world. Martin’s methodical practice of bringing her audience and surroundings into her drawings is her own reflection on ever changing time and space. Her work is imbued with a sense of duty; the call of an artist to make the connections often invisible to those working within their respective areas of expertise.

Martin’s work with institutions such as the MIT Media Lab, Autodesk and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts denote her ongoing inquiry into new models and technologies that are transforming the way art is made and consumed. Eschewing traditional art world norms, Martin’s work purposefully bridges fine art, performance art, technology and commercial work. Her artwork has appeared in the Brooklyn Museum, Museum of the Contemporary African Diaspora, Bata Show Museum and she is preparing for a 2017 solo show at the prestigious Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, New York.

Nicholas Kulish has worked for The New York Times since 2007, including as Berlin Bureau Chief and Nairobi correspondent. He is the author of the novel "Last One In" and co-author of the nonfiction book "The Eternal Nazi." He wrote a first-person piece about trying out for the Denver Nuggets for ESPN The Magazine and about German basketball for Grantland.

Lacey Schwartz and her producing partner Mehret Mandefro are co-founders of Truth Aid, a multimedia production company that specializes in fiction and nonfiction stories about telling truths that are hard to talk about. Lacey is a Harvard trained lawyer and community outreach specialist who uses her interdisciplinary training as the foundation to approach social issues she has chosen to tackle as an artist and filmmaker. As women and people of color, Lacey and Mehret’s experiences at the so-called margins inform the narratives they tell and shape the aesthetic approach they bring to their craft. Their goal is to create art that engages the public in a deeper conversation about cultural change and challenges audiences to rethink the way we see the world. Lacey directed, produced and co-wrote the critically acclaimed documentary Little White Lie which was the top-rated broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens during the 2014-2015 season. She also executive produced the narrative film Difret which was the first film to win audience awards at both the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals. Lacey has a BA from Georgetown University and a JD from Harvard University. She is a member of the New York State bar.

Mat Johnson is the author of the novels Loving Day, Pym, Drop, and Hunting in Harlem, the nonfiction novella The Great Negro Plot, and the comic books Incognegro and Dark Rain. He is a recipient of the American Book Award, the United States Artist James Baldwin Fellowship, The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature. Mat is a Professor at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program.

Rebecca Carroll is Editor of Special Projects at WNYC New York Public Radio, where she develops, produces and hosts a broad array of multi-platform content. Rebecca is also a critic at large for the Los Angeles Times, a regular columnist at Shondaland.com, and the author of several interview-based books about race in America. Her essays, reviews and opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Guardian and The New Republic among numerous other publications.

Anna Holmes is an award-winning writer and editor who has worked with numerous publications, including The Washington Post, The New Yorker online and New York Times, where she is a regular contributor to the Sunday Book Review. In 2007, in response to her work for magazines like Glamour and Cosmopolitan, she created the popular website Jezebel.com, which helped to revolutionize popular discussions around the intersections of gender, race and culture. In 2016 she became SVP of Editorial at First Look Media, where she is spearheading the launch of Topic.com, the consumer-facing arm of Topic, the company’s film, TV and digital studio. She lives in New York.

Amy S. Choi is the Co-founder and Editorial Director of The Mash-Up Americans, an independent media company that explores race, culture, and identity in America. She has worked for 15 years as a journalist and editor in New York. Her work has appeared in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Women’s Wear Daily, Inc., TED and Salon, among other publications. She specializes in getting people to tell stories they never expected to share. You can find her in Brooklyn and follow her @awesomechoi.

RSVP is Invite Only. Entry is first come, first served. Must be 21+ to attend.

Topic Talks Series: Identity Checks