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Crystal Fleming      

Critical Race Theory Scholar, Author, Professor of Sociology & Africana Studies

Crystal Marie Fleming is a Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies and an integral part of the Department of Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies at SUNY Stony Brook. In addition to her academic roles, she is a renowned author, public intellectual, and recognized expert on global racism and white supremacy.

Holding a Ph.D. and a master's degree in sociology from Harvard University and graduating with honors in sociology and French from Wellesley College, Fleming has made significant contributions to academic literature. Her work has been featured in journals such as The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Poetics, and Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race and Mindfulness. Her scholarly efforts have earned her the honour of the Georges Lavau Dissertation Award from the American Political Science Association and the Zora Neale Hurston Award from the American Sociological Association.

Her research delves into the complex issues of racism and anti-racism across different national contexts, resulting in empirical projects in the United States, France, Brazil, and Israel. Among her notable works are four books addressing race and white supremacy, including "Resurrecting Slavery: Racial Legacies and White Supremacy in France" and "How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy and the Racial Divide." These publications not only challenge but also reproduce the racial order, offering a fresh, critical perspective on race theory.

As a public intellectual known for her frank talk and insouciant humor, Fleming engages a broad spectrum of scholarly and personal topics. Her essays and op-eds are frequently featured in popular venues like Newsweek, Vox, The Root, Everyday Feminism, Black Agenda Report, Black Perspectives, and Huffington Post. She is a sought-after guest on various television and radio programs, where she eloquently discusses topics related to race and social justice.

Fleming is not just a seasoned academic but also a powerful speaker and workshop facilitator. Her influential presence extends to social media, where she maintains a bold voice on Twitter with almost 70,000 followers and millions of readers. She is actively engaged in public speaking, delivering lectures and engaging in discussions on essential topics such as racism, social justice, and intersectionality.

Speech Topics

MINDFUL ACTIVISM: MEDITATIONS ON POWER, SPIRITUALITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

What can mindfulness bring to social justice movements? And how can knowledge about inequality and power deepen our spiritual practice? In this deeply personal talk, Crystal shares critical reflections from her years of meditation and spiritual exploration of Christian mysticism, Buddhism and Hinduism. She recounts how meditation and conscious awareness of the present moment can help us see our ego, collective identities and social conditioning more clearly – and unpack our biases, stereotypes and emotions. Crystal also discusses how concepts like transcendence, interconnectedness and compassion can be powerful tools for linking personal healing to social activism.

REVEALING WHITE SUPREMACY: WHY WE NEED A RADICALLY NEW CONVERSATION ABOUT RACISM

There is only one type of racism that has ever been institutionalized in the United States and it has a name—white supremacy. Yet talking openly about the social, political and economic dominance of people defined as ‘white’ has become something of a taboo. For many, the term ‘white supremacy’ feels radical and shocking. This wasn’t always the case. The frank talk about white racism that animated anti-racists protests, debates and even scholarship in the 1960s and 1970s came to be largely replaced with the empty rhetoric of “diversity and inclusion” and the watered down politics of post-racialism. Even the word ‘racism’ itself is often used as a euphemism to avoid acknowledging white supremacy. But if we are ever going to radically transform our society, we will need a bold new conversation about racism—one that doesn’t shy away from naming the specific form of racial oppression that systematically channels social, political and economic resources to people on the basis of their “whiteness” while exploiting and marginalizing people socially defined as “non-white”. This talk reveals the urgency and importance of expanding our collective understanding of white supremacy beyond extremism like neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. Drawing on her expertise and empirical research on white supremacy in the U.S. and Europe, Crystal shows how white supremacy is deeply tied to European colonialism, patriarchy, modern capitalism and the destruction of our ecosystem.

HOW TO BE LESS STUPID ABOUT RACE

Bringing critical race theory from the Ivory Tower to the masses, Crystal explains how systemic racism exposes us all to racial ignorance and provides a road map for transforming our knowledge into anti-racist change. Racial stupidity – in the form of misconceptions, misrepresentations and denial – is clearly an epidemic. And this is not a coincidence or a mistake: living in a racist society means that we absorb harmful ideas, stereotypes and biases. When left unchallenged, racial stupidity fuels discriminatory behavior, devalues the lives of black and brown people and reproduces the white supremacist status quo from one generation to the next. This wide-ranging talk unveils the historical roots of racial stupidity and explores how racial non-sense manifests in pop culture, (mis)education, media, politics and personal relationships today. But recognizing racial stupidity is not enough—we have to actually do something about it. Crystal seeks to inspire and empower those of us committed to building a more just society by showing how to leverage our racial literacy for anti-racist activism.

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