Kirin Thurman, First Person Project
<p>FPP-0066. Kirin Thurman interviewed by Alexander Stephens on June 19, 2015 in Athens, Georgia.</p><p>Thurman talks about his experience growing up Black in Panoramic City, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Thurman talks about his process of becoming race conscious while growing up in a very white county as one of a handful of Black students at the schools he attended. He credits his family's move out of Los Angeles as transforming his and his brother's lives by taking them out of a racist environment that he characterizes as being very alienating. He talks about his frustrations about the way white people respond to race and racism, but also talks about his marriage to a white woman and recounts the story of their first date. Thurman reflects on the Charleston church shooting on June 17, 2015, which occurred just two days before the date of this recording, and expresses frustration at the way that violence permeates U.S. culture.</p><p><br></p><p>This interview is part of the First Person Project, archived at the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries. To learn more about the First Person Project and browse other interviews, see <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="https://gate.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F1iLKjG0&token=b8a0cf-1-1598535618004">bit.ly/1iLKjG0</a></p>