Scholar and essayist Samira Mehta will read from her book of blended memoir, cultural criticism, and theory, The Racism of People Who Love You. She will be joined in conversation by Ari Ariel.  What Kirkus Reviews describes as “Thoughtful meditations on identity” and what Simran Jeet Singh, author of The Light We Give, describes as “insightful, provocative, and revealing,” The Racism of People Who Love You takes an “…unflinching look at the challenges and misunderstandings mixed-race people face in family spaces and intimate relationships across their varying cultural backgrounds” (Beacon Press).

Samira K. Mehta is an associate professor of women and gender studies and of Jewish studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research and teaching focus on the intersections religion, culture, and gender, including the politics of family life and reproduction in the United States. Her first book, Beyond Chrismukkah: The Christian-Jewish Blended Family in America, was a National Jewish book award finalist. Mehta’s current academic book project, God Bless the Pill: Sexuality and Contraception in Tri-Faith America is forthcoming from the University of North Carolina Press. Connect with her online at samiramehta.com