This event will consist in a screening of Mr. Derek Burrows' 2016 documentary film, Before the Trees Was Strange, which tells a complex story of how his family experienced race and racism in the Bahamas and the United States.  The screening will be followed by a talk-back session, in which audience members are invited to share experiences and discuss meanings with a panel, including, Mr. Burrows, law professor Dr. Melynda Price, and philosophers Dr. Gregory Fried, & Dr. Arnold Farr. The keynote event is made possible by the co-sponsorships of the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies, Peace Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Culture, &  International Studies Program at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Fried and Mr. Burrows lead the Mirror of Race project, housed at Boston College.  It is an online archive of early American photography with interpretation that "serve[s] as an opportunity to reflect on what race means in the United States today—and what it can, should, and should not mean in the future." This screening and talk-back are part of the project's outreach efforts.