Embracing Our Roots: Adebisi Wilson in conversation with Alexs D. Pate

After the uprisings for George Floyd and Daunte Wright, sharing knowledge inter-generationally is more important than ever. Join us for monthly conversations where young arts leaders will join our elders and culture bearers in conversation about their histories of significant milestones in Minnesota’s Black literary history.

On Wednesday, December 8, 2021, attorney Adebisi Wilson will join author, businessman and arts leader, Alexs Pate in a conversation about the seven books Alexs has published including West of Rehoboth which was selected as “Honor Fiction Book” for 2002 by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. They will also discuss the Givens Foundation for African American Literature’s Nommo Series in which Alexs hosted nationally and internationally renowned poets and writers such as Lucille Clifton, Amiri Baraka Sonja Sanchez, Ntozake Shange and John Edgar Wideman, to name a few. In addition, they will discuss Alexs’s business, Innocent Technologies and his Innocent Classroom program, where Adebisi served as Vice President.

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88499237353?pwd=cXlCUUZLaGxIb1BnSXkxdDJEM3Bxdz09

Alexs D. Pate is the author of five novels including the New York Times Bestseller Amistad, commissioned by Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks/SKG and based on the screenplay by David Franzoni. Other novels include Losing Absalom, Finding Makeba, The Multicultiboho Sideshow, and West of Rehoboth, and a nonfiction book, In the Heart of the Beat: The Poetry of Rap, and poetry collection, Innocent. Alexs is the editor of Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota. His novel, West of Rehoboth was selected as “Honor Fiction Book” for 2002 by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. His program, The Innocent Classroom, trains K-12 teachers to improve their relationship with students of color and is now in cities all across the country, including the Twin Cities, Omaha, Racine, San Jose, Chicago and Houston. His book, The Innocent Classroom: Dismantling Racial Bias to Support Students of Color was published in September 2020. He hosted the Givens Foundation for African American Literature’s Nommo series which brought nationally and internationally known Black authors to the Twin Cities. In 2021, Alexs won the Mn Book Awards Kay Sexton Award for his significant contributions to and leadership in Minnesota’s literary community.

Adebisi Wilson is a dedicated advocate whose legal practice specializes in family law, investigations, and diversity and inclusion consulting. Adebisi is from North Minneapolis and holds a law degree from New York Law School. She began her career in HR consulting, supporting companies in their affirmative action reporting and designing and executing diversity training. As a young lawyer, Adebisi guided her clients through complex litigation and investigated complaints of harassment and discrimination. She also has experience in the space of innovation, helping a company more than double in size by growing locally, expanding nationally, and becoming more effective and efficient, both internally and as a service provider. Adebisi is a visionary leader, who has a passion for education and her community. She is a 2020 Minnesota Young American Leaders Fellow. Adebisi sits on the Board of Trustees for Blake School as well as the Board of Directors of the Children’s Theatre Company where she chairs the Diversity, Inclusion, and Human Capital Committee.

Embracing Our Roots is a partnership with More Than a Single Story, Black Table Arts, and In Black Ink.