No Longer White: Race in America
In the years following 9/11, DEAN OBEIDALLAH lost his ‘white card’ and white privilege as America began to view him as a minority, resulting in death threats from Neo-Nazi hate groups. He uses humor to share his unique personal story, and answers questions about how to have productive and honest conversations about race in America in a talk that will be impactful for any audience.
Countering Bigotry and Building Allies
Using facts and humor, DEAN OBEIDALLAH shares his unique experience of being a Muslim in America, counters negative stereotypes about Muslims, and offers powerful takeaways about how to overcome our biases – like making friends! His practical solutions for countering bigotry and building allies will resonate with any audience.
How to Have Productive Political Conversations
In this funny and informative non-partisan talk, DEAN OBEIDALLAH reveals how throughout history, we’ve always battled passionately over politics because to Americans, politics has always been personal. He offers practical insights about understanding our past that lead to engaging and more respectful conversations about politics.
Dean Obeidallah is a lawyer turned writer, national radio host, activist and award-winning comedian who has used his skills to counter bigotry and misconceptions about Muslims and race in America.
His unique story of once being a “white person” who had all the benefits of white privilege to a minority to ultimately a person targeted for death by white supremacists (who he sued in federal court and won) is both funny and informative. Dean shares through his own story how white privilege is real—since Dean lost his—to being the living manifestation of the concept that in America “race is a social construct.”
Dean can be heard nightly across the United States and in Canada on SiriusXM on “The Dean Obeidallah show.” He writes weekly for MSNBC.com, CNN.com and The Daily Beast on issues from politics to the Muslim community to the intersection of politics and pop culture. In his “spare time,” Dean also hosts Salon.com’s “Salon Talks” where he interviews newsmakers, authors and celebrities for the publication’s online video platform and writes an accompanying article.
You may have seen Dean on Joy Reid’s prime-time MSNBC show, The Reid Out as well as on various others MSNBC programs. He has also appeared on just about every CNN show on air as well as ABC’s Good Morning America and The View. In the world of comedy, Dean has appeared on Comedy Central’s Axis of Evil special, Comics Unleashed, and The Nightly Show.
In addition, Dean co-directed/co-produced the comedy documentary, The Muslims are Coming! designed to combat anti-Muslim bigotry and is the co-creator of the annual NY Arab American Comedy Festival that will celebrate its 18th anniversary in 2021.
My Speaker List
