Christopher Lebron is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University, where he specializes in political philosophy, social theory, the philosophy of race and democratic ethics. He is the author of award-winning book The Color of Our Shame: Race and Justice in Our Time (2013). His second book, The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of an Idea (2017) offers an intellectual history of the Black Lives Matter social movement. He is also an active public intellectual, writing for The New York Times, The Stone, Boston Review, The Nation, and The Atlantic.
In his lecture, Lebron claimed that all political societies rely on the idea of hope: the idea that although the future is uncertain, one can hold on to the possibility that things will eventually improve. He argued that under many circumstances, hope is a rational and reasonable attitude for people to embrace. Yet, the persistence of racism and injustice in America make hope an especially burdened attitude for Black Americans, who, despite all of this, cannot afford to give up on hope.
His lecture was held on October 11, 2018.