Women You Need to Know

Ijeoma Oluo

Past Event: Thursday, January 25, 2018

At Benaroya Hall — Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall

My anger is righteous and true. So is yours. You just have to find it.

— Ijeoma Oluo

As much as I’d like you to see me — as much as I’d like systemic racism to simply be a problem of different groups not seeing each other — I need you to see yourself, really see yourself, first. This is the top priority.

— Ijeoma Oluo

This event is sold out. We will sell standby the night of the event. Tickets are $40, cash preferred. Join us for the Seattle launch of Ijeoma Oluo’s second book, So You Want to Talk About Race.

Ijeoma Oluo is a Seattle-based author, speaker, active feminist and internet yeller. Oluo embodies a rare ability to be straightforward, funny, and effective in her coverage of sensitive and hyper-charged issues in America.

Oluo’s work focuses primarily on issues of race and identity, feminism, social and mental health, social justice, the arts, and personal essay. Her writing has been featured in NY Magazine, Jezebel, TIME, the Seattle Globalist, the Guardian, among others—her April 2017 interview with Rachel Dolezal for The Stranger, titled “The Heart of Whiteness,” quickly went viral after its publication and was called a “must-read” by TIME. No stranger to SAL events, Oluo has appeared on SAL stages as a Q&A moderator for our 2016/17 Women You Need to Know event with Roxane Gay and as a storyteller in our 2016/17 The Moth MainStage event.

Oluo’s forthcoming book, So You Want to Talk About Race (January 2018), is an accessible and actionable take on the racial landscape in contemporary America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the “N” word. Perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between people of color and white Americans struggling with race complexities, Oluo answers the questions readers don’t dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday white Americans.

Oluo is the Editor-At-Large of The Establishment, a media platform both run and funded by women, and she is the author of the first and second volumes of The Badass Feminist Coloring Book (2015), featuring celebratory essays on modern-day feminists. She earned her degree in Political Science from Western Washington University in 2007 and is the mother of two boys.

Selected Works:

Non-fiction
So You Want to Talk About Race (2018)

Essays
“The Heart of Whiteness” (2017) – The Stranger
“White People: I want you to understand yourselves better” (2017) – The Establishment
“I understand why people believe sexual predators before victims. I did” (2015) – the Guardian

Video

Ijeoma Oluo joins Rebecca Carroll for a live taping of her podcast pilot “Black Folks” at The Greene Space at WNYC.

Ijeoma Oluo speaks at the We Defy event at Town Hall Seattle on January 20, 2017.

Event Details

Benaroya Hall — Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall

200 University Street
Seattle, WA 98101

View directions.

This event will be held in the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. The Recital Hall is located on the upper level of Benaroya Hall, up the stairs to the left side of the Box Office. Benaroya Hall is located at 200 University Street, directly across Second Avenue from the Seattle Art Museum.

By Car

From Southbound I-5
Take the Union Street exit (#165B). Continue onto Union Street and proceed approximately five blocks to Second Avenue. Turn left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.
From Northbound I-5
Exit left onto Seneca Street (exit #165). Proceed two blocks and turn right onto Fourth Avenue. Continue two blocks. Turn left onto Union Street. Continue two blocks. Turn left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.
From Northbound Highway 99 (Aurora Avenue)
Take the Seneca Street exit and move into the left lane. Turn left onto First Avenue and proceed one block. Take the next right (at the Hammering Man sculpture) onto University Street. Continue up the hill two blocks to Third Avenue. Turn left onto Third Avenue. Continue to the next block and turn left onto Union Street. Make the next left onto Second Avenue. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your immediate left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.
From Southbound Highway 99 (Aurora Avenue)
Take the Denny Way/Downtown exit. Keep right and cross over Denny Way onto Wall Street. Proceed approximately five blocks and turn left onto Second Avenue. Continue south on Second Avenue approximately eight blocks. The Benaroya Hall parking garage will be on your left. The garage entrance is on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street.

By Public Transit (Bus & Light Rail)

Benaroya Hall is served by numerous bus routes. Digital reader boards along Third Avenue display real-time bus arrival information. For details and trip planning tools, call Metro Rider Information at 206.553.3000 (voice) or 206.684.1739 (TDD), or visit Metro online. The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, served by light rail, has a stop just below the Hall (Symphony Station).

Parking
The 430-car underground garage at Benaroya Hall provides direct access from the enclosed parking area into the Hall via elevators leading to The Boeing Company Gallery. Enter the garage on Second Avenue, just south of Union Street. Maximum vehicle height is 6’8″. Blink charging stations are available for electric vehicles. Visit the Benaroya Hall website for event pricing.

Parking is also available at:

The Cobb Building (enter on University Street between Third and Fourth Avenues).
The Russell Investments Center (enter on Union Street between First and Second Avenues).
There are many other garages within a one-block radius of Benaroya Hall, along with numerous on-street parking options.

Open Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where a captioning screen displaying the words that are spoken or sung is placed on stage. This option is present at every event at Benaroya Hall in our 2021/22 Season.

Closed Captioning is an option for people who have hearing loss, where captioning displays the words that are spoken or sung at the bottom of the video during an online event. Captioning is available for all online events; click the “CC” button to view captions during the event.

Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are devices that people with hearing loss use in conjunction with their hearing device (hearing aids or cochlear implants). Benaroya Hall has an infrared hearing system, which transmits sound by light beams. Headsets are available in The Boeing Company Gallery coat check and the Head Usher stations in both lobbies.

Sign Language Interpretation is available upon request for Deaf, DeafBlind, and hard of hearing individuals for both in-person and online events. To make a request for interpretation, please contact us at boxoffice@lectures.org or 206.621.2230×10, or select “Sign Language Interpretation” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process and we will contact you to confirm details. Please note: we appreciate a two-week advance notice to allow us time to secure interpretation.

Wheelchair Accessible Seating and Accessible Restrooms are available in all sections at our venues, and our venues are fully accessible to ticket holders with physical mobility concerns. Among other features, Benaroya Hall has designated parking spaces adjacent to elevators in their parking garage. Elevators with Braille signage go to all levels within the Hall. To reserve seating for a specific mobility concern, you may select “Wheelchair Accessible or Alternative Seating Options” during ticket checkout, and we will contact you to confirm details. For more details on their accessibility features, click here.

Guide and service dogs are welcome.

Gender neutral restrooms are available.

We are pleased to offer these accessibility services at our venues, and they are provided at no additional cost to ticket holders. Please contact us with any questions and feedback about how we can be more accessible and inclusive. Our Patron Services Manager is available at boxoffice@lectures.org, or Monday-Friday from 10:00am – 5:00pm at 206.621.2230×10.

For more accessibility information, please head to lectures.org/accessibility. If you would like to make accessibility arrangements you do not see listed here, please contact our box office or select “Other Accommodations” from the Accessibility section during your ticket checkout process, and we will contact you to confirm details.

Seating Chart