A Conversation With Valerie Jarrett
A Conversation With Valerie Jarrett will give progressives across the country a chance to engage in substantive conversation with one of the president's most trusted advisors.
In the latest New York Times Sunday Magazine, President Barack Obama said of Jarrett, “She’s family—she combines the closeness of a family member with the savvy and objectivity of a professional businesswoman and public-policy expert."
The session will be moderated by blogger, commentator and comic Baratunde Thurston.
Baratunde Thurston is a comedian, author and vigilante pundit who successfully combines technology, politics and comedy. He co-founded the black political blog, Jack & Jill Politics in the summer of 2006, works as the web editor at The Onion and hosts Popular Science's Future Of on Science Channel. Baratunde has contributed to Vanity Fair, The UK Independent and WNYC, and with over 30,000 followers he tweets very, very hard.
Mr. Thurston, which he goes by in his bio, has often used satire as an expression of his activism and technology as a medium for that expression. He has self-published three books, including Keep Jerry Falwell Away From My Oreo Cookies and is currently writing How To Be Black, which will be published by Harper.
Baratunde was nominated for the Bill Hicks Award for Thought Provoking Comedy, declared a Champion of the First Amendment by Iowa State University, and called “someone I need to know” by Barack Obama. His stage presence has earned him speaking duties at the National Conference for Media Reform, Netroots Nation, South by Southwest Interactive & Film and Web 2.0 Expo. He has been featured various media outlets including ABC, NPR, BBC, CNN, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, C-SPAN and ComedyCentral.com.
Baratunde resides in Brooklyn, lives in The Internet and has over 30 years experience being black.
