Winona LaDuke among keynote speakers for racial equity symposium Fri.-Sat. at La Crosse Center

Winona LaDuke is a keynote speaker at a two-day event on racial equity this weekend at the La Crosse Center.

It’s called A Vision for Racial Equity: History, Truth and a Call for Action.

It runs from 5-9 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

LaDuke, who will speak at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, is an internationally recognized activist, speaker on Indigenous rights, environmental justice and sustainability for tribal economies, renewable energy and food systems. The Harvard and Antioch graduate lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota.

A virtual portion of Friday’s event, including keynote speaker Debby Irving, will be free virtually on Friday, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

At 8:30 a.m. Saturday, JasiriX will be the featured keynote speaker.

Along with those speaking sessions, there are multiple workshops and other engagements throughout the day Saturday.

The event is put on by LaX Waking Up White Collaborative. The group aims to help the community “learn that there is a white, racial viewpoint that is narrow and limited, and that others do not share,” according to the website.

The group hopes to educate community members in “a collective understanding of how white supremacy, white privilege and other forms of oppression operate in general,” in particularly the La Crosse region.