Filmmaker Shakti Butler Shows Holy Cross "The Way Home"

WORCESTER, Mass. – On Monday, Oct. 20 from 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. in the Rehm Library at Holy Cross, filmmaker Shakti Butler will present an interactive video presentation on her groundbreaking documentary The Way Home. The presentation is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

The Way Home, a collection of personal stories revealing the social oppression of more than 20 cultures, includes interviews with 64 women of various ethnic backgrounds. The women talk candidly about issues of sexuality, race, class, and gender. Their stories are rich, engaging, and powerful, and will prompt self-reflection and thought from the audience.

Butler will use the documentary in an effort to get the Holy Cross community talking about issues like racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia, and how they affect the College community.

According to Butler the purpose of the video is to produce dialogue. "No matter what (cultural) seat you're in, there's something to be learned."

Butler is an African-American woman of multiracial heritage, (African, West Indian, and Russian-Jewish). She serves as the executive director of World Trust, a nonprofit educational organization she co-founded in 1987 to help communities address issues of race and culture. Butler is an inspirational facilitator, trainer and lecturer. She holds a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Integral Studies in the School of Transformative Learning and Change.

A pre-lecture on "Race, Class and Gender" will be presented by Professor Mary Hobgood, of the religious studies department, during the Diversity 101 Luncheon from 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. in Hogan, Suite A for Holy Cross students. The discussion will be facilitated from a feminist perspective and will address how race, class, and sexual orientation are viewed at Holy Cross. Hobgood will use Butler's film as the background for her presentation.

This program is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Education, the Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Latin American Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Africana Studies.