Look Who it Was Random video

Silence Will Not Save You: Mobilize Against Hateful Ignorance | Laura Renée Chandler | TEDxBrookings

3,340 views · Published 25 November 2014 · 10:24 · Indexed 5 October 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2014 · Nonprofits & Activism

Watch on YouTube

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. We all have a responsibility to create the kind of community in which we want to live. In this powerful and personal talk, history professor Laura Renée Chandler discusses how a racist and violent anonymous online attack against her forced her to reconsider her commitment to bringing African American Studies to a predominantly white university in rural South Dakota. This experience bolstered her determination to help turn her community into a space where difference is not only appreciated, but embraced. Professor Chandler outlines solutions for everyone to combat the ignorant and exclusionary ideas that prevent community growth.

Laura Renée Chandler is taking on the challenge of bringing African American Studies to South Dakota State University (SDSU), a predominantly white university in rural South Dakota.

She is a Lecturer of History at SDSU and teaches courses in African American Studies, United States history, and women’s history. Her research explores African American women’s uses of transnational activist networks in civil rights campaigns in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

In 2013-2014, Laura Renée was one of the first to hold the Dissertation Fellowship for Diversity at SDSU.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

More from this channel