Hey everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to work in progress with Smarties. This week we are joined by a scholar, an

artist, a brilliant mind who I can say with no hyperbole

absolutely changed my life. Years ago I was invited to a convening of

artists and justice makers at Harvard by Professor Sarah Elizabeth

Lewis.

She is the John L. Lobe Associate Professor of the Humanitiesobe Associate Professor of African American Studies at Harvard University.

She serves on the Standing Committee on American Studies and Standing Committee on Women,

Gender, and Sexuality. And at Harvard Harvard Professor Lewis pioneered the course Vision and Justice, the art of

race and American citizenship, which she continues to teach. It is now part of the university's core curriculum.

Vision and Justice has turned into a book series

launched in partnership with Aperture.

And she was named an Andrew Carnegie fellow in 2022.

I could spend another eight minutes reading all of Professor Lewis's incredible honorariums and titles and about the journals

that she contributes to and the board services that she does. She is so

incredibly accomplished, but I want to get into this conversation because today she's here to talk to us about her new book called The Unseen Truths,

When Race Changed sight in America.

This book is a masterpiece of historical detective work.

And in it, Sarah exposes one of the most damaging lies in American history.

A surprising catalyst occurred in the 19th century, overlapping with the end of the

US Civil War, and it really is a mind-blowing truth to learn. To acknowledge the falsehood at the

core of racial order has proved unthinkable for generations in this country,

especially back when Jim Crow and segregation were taken hold.

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