When I retired from the presidency of Spelman College in July 2015, I did not know that I would spend the next fourteen months taking care of dying parents. Two weeks after I left my job, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and she passed away in November of that year at the age of eighty-nine, leaving behind her husband of sixty-four years, my father. Though my dad suffered from dementia, he never forgot that I was his daughter Beverly, and he often asked me, encouragingly, “Are you working on your book?” He passed away peacefully in September 2016, just a few days after his ninetieth birthday. It is with deep gratitude for the gift of such loving and supportive parents that I dedicate this book to them. I thank my siblings, Patricia Daniel Keenan, Kevin Daniel, and Eric Daniel, for their help and support during that difficult time.
To begin this book revision, I sought out feedback from faculty and students who had been using the earlier edition in their courses to see what concepts had been most useful and remained most relevant for them, in addition to other questions I had. I hired Creative Research Solutions, a research evaluation firm, to help me with that data collection. The fact that my oldest son, Travis Jonathan Tatum, and his wife, Shanesha Brooks-Tatum, lead Creative Research Solutions made that collaboration especially wonderful. Thank you, Travis J. and Shanesha, for your assistance! Thanks as well to all of those who responded to their survey and interview requests. I hope you see the positive impact of your comments in this new edition.
So much of the original version of my book was informed by my teaching career at Mount Holyoke College that it seemed only fitting to return to MHC to talk with current students taking the Psychology of Racism course I created, now being taught by Jen Daigle-Matos. Thank you, Jen, for opening up your classroom to me, and to Dr. Sandra Lawrence, for connecting me back to Jen. Thanks as well to Pat Romney and Patty Ramsey, who also shared reference materials and words of encouragement as I pushed forward on this revision. Thanks, too, to Susan Kennedy Marx, for her enthusiasm for my project and the many ways she has put my work to good use in her own antiracist teaching and consultation. Susan, your encouragement and affirmation are much appreciated!
The years I spent living in Northampton, Massachusetts, were enriched by my friendships with Five College faculty colleagues, some of whom are or have been associated with the Social Justice Education program of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Massachusetts. Thanks to Charmaine Wijeyesinghe, Maurianne Adams, and Rhonda Cobham-Sander for your insights. In particular, I want to thank Ximena Zúñiga and her Social Justice Education students: Eun Y. Lee, William Syldor-Severino, Nina Tissi-Gassoway, Amer Ahmed, Shelly Perdomo, Dave Neely, Isaiah I. Iboko, Ro N. Sigle, Carol Huban, Rachel Card, Shady Kimsey, Itza Martinez, and Molly Keehn, for sharing your feedback and providing the opportunity to observe dialogue groups in session.
Thanks to Victoria Malaney for introducing me to Kristie Ford and the Intergroup Dialogue work being done at Skidmore College. Kristie, thanks for sharing the advance copy of your book, Facilitating Change Through Intergroup Dialogue (Routledge, forthcoming). Thanks to Mana Tahaie and Shelly Tochluk for our helpful conversation at NCORE.
Whenever I returned to Northampton, my friend Joan Rasool made space in her home for this writer’s sanctuary. Our many conversations helped “prime the pump.” Joan, thanks for your feedback on the new Chapter 8, especially. To my longtime friend and cofacilitator of many Unlearning Racism workshops, Andrea Ayvazian, thanks for keeping me lifted with your prayers. To Rita McDougald-Campbell, those “Are you finished yet?” text messages certainly helped me stay on task!
At the University of Michigan, David Schoem, an Intergroup Dialogue pioneer, generously hosted my meetings with U-M students who are participating in the Michigan Community Scholars Program. Thanks, David, for your many years of using the book and your insights about today’s students. Thanks to Rebecca Christensen for sharing your dissertation on the impact of MCSP as well. Thanks, too, to Deborah Ball, former dean of the University of Michigan School of Education, for helping to identify faculty willing to share their feedback. It was invaluable!
Thanks to Basic Books publisher Lara Heimert for inviting me to do the twentieth-anniversary edition, and to my literary agent, Faith Childs, for helping me to bring this project to fruition. It was just the right opportunity for me to consider as I transitioned from the presidency at Spelman.
After the death of my father, when I needed a jump start to my writing, I spent two weeks in retreat at Rancho la Puerta in Tecate, Mexico. I wrote a tremendous amount in those two weeks and had the momentum I needed when I returned home. Thank you to the RLP staff for taking care of all of my needs during those weeks. It made all the difference!
As I put the finishing touches on the book in the spring of 2017, I had the wonderful opportunity to serve as the Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor at the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University. I want to thank the Haas Center staff for providing such a warm welcome, and the Stanford faculty, staff, and students whose conversations helped me fine-tune this project.
A special thank-you to Gaye Theresa Johnson, Imani Romney-Rosa, and Kia Darling-Hammond for your very timely feedback about inclusive language.
To my youngest son, David, thanks for your careful reading and helpful feedback on the prologue, in particular. Your millennial perspective is important! Finally, to my dear husband, Travis the elder, who reads every word I write—you are truly the labor coach for yet another “baby.” Thank you for your love and devotion. Life is so much sweeter because of you!