Dear White People - Film Screening and Q&A with the Filmmaker, Justin Simien

"Dear white people, please stop touching my hair," requests main character Sam White (played by Tessa Thompson). This is among the first of many impassioned requests she makes to her White classmates to try harder to understand the plight of Black faces in White spaces.

As the nation continues to engage in difficult conversations about modern era race relations, the theme of this year's Black Heritage Month programming is Black Bodies, Black Lives. As part of a series of films, we will screen the critically acclaimed 2014 film, Dear White People, and we are very fortunate to be able to discuss the film immediately following with its visionary writer and director, Justin Simien. Mr. Simien's two-day campus visit will also include guest lectures in various courses on Thursday, February 19.

Dear White People is social satire that follows the stories of four black students at an Ivy League college where controversy breaks out over a popular but offensive black-face party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film explores racial identity in acutely-not-post-racial America while weaving a universal story of forging one's unique path in the world.

Mr. Simien won the Special Jury Prize in the dramatic category of directing at the 2014 Sundance Awards for Dear White People, his debut film. He was also named to Variety magazines "10 Directors to Watch" list in 2013.