BEING EQUAL: ANITA HILL AND BEVERLY GUY-SHEFTALL
The Women’s International Study Center brings legal scholars Anita Hill and Beverly Guy-Sheftall together for “Reimagining Equality,” an in-depth discussion about the contemporary state of gender equality and civil rights, with particular focus on the legacy of Title IX, at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20, at the Lensic Performing Arts Center (211 W. San Francisco St.). Hill, the University Professor of social policy, law, and women’s studies at Brandeis University, became the de facto face of sexual harassment in the workplace in 1991 when she testified in front of the United States Senate about the behavior of her former employer at the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, Clarence Thomas, who had been nominated to the Supreme Court and was undergoing confirmation hearings. In the documentary Anita: Speaking Truth to Power, it’s revealed that many senators interpreted her testimony as a criminal challenge and treated her not as a witness they had called but as a potential liar with something to gain. Hill’s testimony galvanized a generation of young women who entered the work force unwilling to accept sexual harassment as a job requirement. Her most recent book, Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home (Beacon Press), explores what it means to achieve the American dream of home ownership, as well as the symbolic need for a place to call home, for women and people of color, in the wake of the housing crisis that left many scrambling to keep a roof over their heads. Guy-Sheftall is the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies and the founding director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman College. Tickets to the event are $20 to $50; $100 includes admission to reception at 5:30 p.m. and priority seating. Call 505-988-1234 or visit www.ticketssantafe.org. — Jennifer Levin