TED Resident Bayete Ross Smith, a multimedia artist, meets fellow Resident Fred Kahl, also known at the Coney Island sideshow as sword swallower the Great Fredini. [Dian Lofton / TED]
DPI Adjunct Professor Bayeté Ross-Smith has joined TED's third Residency Class. TED's residency program provides connections, resources, and support to creators, artists, and thinkers during a four-month program which culminates with the presentation of a TED Talk.
Recently, Ross-Smith has been embedded at the New York Times, producing content for Race/Related in collaboration with independent documentary organization POV. Bayeté has also worked to challenge assumptions with the Question Bridge project.
Bayeté's "Idea Wirth Spreading," on which he will focus during the residency:
How we can harness the philosophical approach of Black people and other people of color who have served in the U.S. military, despite knowing that the nation they were serving would continue to deprive them and their families of their rights as citizens, can be applied to resolving contemporary social issues and divisions based on race, ethnicity, sex/gender, economic class, sexual orientation and gender identity.