POSTPONED!
Read the letter from Boots Riley below.
This was sent the night of Wednesday, May 15th, and is shared with permission. We will share more information as it comes.
Thank you for selecting me to be the Kamil Guest lecturer.
In light of the historic and overwhelming vote this evening by UC workers to go on strike in order to take action against the university for their attacks on students who are protesting the genocidal actions by Israel in Gaza- I am going to postpone my talk in solidarity.
The idea that workers hold the key to power and the ability to shape policy under capitalism through withholding labor- while building a larger radical movement to create a world in which the people democratically control the wealth we create with our labor- is one of the main themes in my art.
Thanks to you and whoever else is showing solidarity with the students who are trying to stop a genocide and change an apartheid-like system through forcing universities around the world to divest and sanction Israel.
Peace!
Boots
Boots Riley
Adam D. Kamil Guest Lecture
May 16, 2024
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
The Jeannie, Sixth College, UC San Diego
Light refreshments will be provided after the lecture. Free and open to the public!
Boots Riley is a director, activist, screenwriter, producer, poet, rapper, and speaker.
His directorial debut Sorry to Bother You premiered to strong critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival.
By embedding messages regarding economic and class critique as well as politically progressive movement building into dystopian science fiction satire, Sorry To Bother You brought issues surrounding income inequality into wide public discussion in the United States and abroad.
His seven-part series I’m A Virgo released in summer 2023 to critical acclaim. The absurdist comedy about a 13ft tall Black man who lives in Oakland, California stars Jharrel Jerome (who won an Emmy for his role in Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us), Brett Gray, Walton Goggins, Mike Epps, Carmen Ejogo, Kara Young, Olivia Washington, and Allius Barnes with a score by Tuneyards.
Boots Riley is also is the founding member and lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club featuring Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine on guitar.
A dedicated community based activist, Boots was deeply involved with the Occupy Oakland movement and was one of the leaders of the activist group The Young Comrades.
He is the author of the critically acclaimed collection of essays Tell Homeland Security-We Are the Bomb (Haymarket Books).
https://eviltwinbooking.org/speakers/boots-riley
Adam Douglas Kamil was a UC San Diego, Visual Arts Media major with a passion for the power of media to connect people. To honor the memory of their son, the Kamil family established the Adam D. Kamil Media Awards and Lecture Series. The Adam D. Kamil Guest Lecture is intended to inspire undergraduate students and to provide insight into the career of an established artist working in media production.
KAMIL GALLERY ONLINE
The Adam D. Kamil Gallery is a site for undergraduate art shows and hosts the annual Adam D. Kamil Media Awards. Visual Arts majors and minors at the junior or senior level are eligible to submit a proposal to show in the Kamil Gallery for one week during the academic school year. The online gallery is available to students throughout the year and can be used to share documentation of gallery exhibitions, or exclusively online exhibitions. All videos submitted for the Kamil Media Awards are viewable in the online gallery. Past online exhibitions remain viewable with the artists' permission.