“The Fight Against DEI and a Pathway to American Renewal” - Robert Woodson

AIER’s Bastiat Society program in Washington DC will host an event with Robert L. (Bob) Woodson, Founder and President of The Woodson Center, and 1776 Unites.

Bob Woodson was a leader in the civil rights movement during the 1960s with Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote an inclusive society based on moral character rather than race or ethnicity. However, the political Left has discarded these ideals in favor of destructive and discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Mr. Woodson will discuss the ability of black Americans to achieve on their own without divisive DEI policies and the pathway to renew America’s historic principles of liberty, equality of opportunity, morality, and the goal of a non-discriminatory, color-blind society.

Mr. Woodson will also discuss the 1776 Unites project that he created in February 2020 to counter the radical 1619 Project developed by The New York Times in 2019. He will discuss 1776 Unites as an effort to speak for Americans of all races, creeds, and political convictions who oppose the efforts to demoralize and demonize the United States and its foundations from within and to turn its people against one another with false history and grievance politics.

Eventbrite registration is required to attend. Admission fee is $16 (only $8 for full-time students). Lunch will be provided.

-

Schedule:

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM: Lunch & Networking

12:30 PM - 1:15 PM: Speaker Presentation

1:15 PM - 1:30 PM: Q&A Discussion

-

More about the speaker:

Robert L. Woodson, Sr. is Founder and President of the Woodson Center and 1776 Unites. He is an influential leader on issues of poverty alleviation and empowering disadvantaged communities to become agents of their own uplift. Mr. Woodson is a frequent advisor to local, state and federal government officials as well as business and philanthropic organizations.

His social activism dates back to the 1960s, when as a young civil rights activist he developed and coordinated national and local community revitalization programs. During the 1970’s he directed the National Urban League’s Administration of Justice division. Later he served as a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Woodson is frequently featured as a social commentator in print and on-air media, including C-SPAN, CNN, Fox News, Meet the Press, and other national and local broadcasts. He has been a contributing editor to The Hill, The Washington Examiner, The Wall Street Journal, and has published in influential newspapers and journals such as Forbes, National Review, The Washington Post, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Vanderbilt Law Review, and other media outlets. He is the author of several books, including Lessons from the Least of These: The Woodson Principles (2020), Red, White, and Black: Rescuing American History from Revisionists and Race Hustlers (2021), and his latest book, , published September 2024.

Mr. Woodson is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship award, the Bradley Prizes from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Presidential Citizens Medal, the 2018 William Wilberforce Award, The Heritage Foundation’s 2020 Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship, and the 2021 Hillsdale College Freedom Leadership Award.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Mr. Woodson holds a BS degree in mathematics from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and a Masters of Social Work degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Host or Publisher AIER's Bastiat Society