Please join us for an in-person event with Myisha Cherry to celebrate the release of Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better. For this event, Myisha will be joined in conversation by Dr. Eyo Ewara.
Please note: Pre-registration for this event is required. By pre-registering, you are verifying that you are fully vaccinated and will wear a mask throughout the entirety of the event.
Philosopher Myisha Cherry teaches us the right ways to deal with wrongdoing in our lives and the world
Sages from Cicero to Oprah have told us that forgiveness requires us to let go of negative emotions and that it has a unique power to heal our wounds. In Failures of Forgiveness, Myisha Cherry argues that these beliefs couldn't be more wrong--and that the ways we think about and use forgiveness, personally and as a society, can often do more harm than good. She presents a new and healthier understanding of forgiveness--one that will give us a better chance to recover from wrongdoing and move toward "radical repair."
Cherry began exploring forgiveness after some relatives of the victims of the mass shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, forgave what seemed unforgiveable. She was troubled that many observers appeared to be more inspired by these acts of forgiveness than they were motivated to confront the racial hatred that led to the killings. That is a big mistake, Cherry argues. Forgiveness isn't magic. We can forgive and still be angry, there can be good reasons not to forgive, and forgiving a wrong without tackling its roots solves nothing. Examining how forgiveness can go wrong in families, between friends, at work, and in the media, politics, and beyond, Cherry addresses forgiveness and race, canceling versus forgiving, self-forgiveness, and more. She takes the burden of forgiveness off those who have been wronged and offers guidance both to those deciding whether and how to forgive and those seeking forgiveness.
By showing us how to do forgiveness better, Failures of Forgiveness promises to transform how we deal with wrongdoing in our lives, opening a new path to true healing and reconciliation.
Myisha Cherry is a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, where she also directs the Emotion and Society Lab. She is the author of The Case for Rage: Why Anger Is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle and UnMuted: Conversations on Prejudice, Oppression, and Social Justice, which draws on her popular podcast UnMute. She has been widely featured in the media, including the Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, the Atlantic, BET, and the podcast Pod Save the People.
Dr. Eyo Ewara is Assistant Professor of Philosophy. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of King's College before pursing his graduate studies at the Pennsylvania State University . After completing his doctorate, he served as Assistant Professor in the department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Texas at San Antonio from 2019-2020 before joining the faculty at Loyola in Fall 2020. His research areas include 20th Century Continental Philosophy, Critical Philosophies of Race, and LGBTQ and Queer Theories. His current research projects ask about the ethical value of embracing forms of opacity in contrasts with attempts to become politically or normatively recognizable and explore the relationship between black studies and queer thought. His work involves the thought of Saidiya Hartman, Michel Foucault, Frantz Fanon, Martin Heidegger, Judith Butler, and Lee Edelman.
Accessibility: This event is hosted at the bookstore, which is a wheelchair accessible space. Masks are required. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. To request ASL interpretation for this event, please email events@womenandchildrenfirst.com by September 7th. For other questions or access needs, please email events@womenandchildrenfirst.com.
