While the #MeToo movement continues to call out sexual predators for past abuses and hold them accountable for assault and harassment, psychology professor Dr. Kira Banks asks us to pause, reflect on what we have learned from this movement, and consider how we might apply lessons from #MeToo to #BlackLivesMatter. Dr. Kira Hudson Banks studies how oppression affects us and how we can intervene.

Her research examines the experience of discrimination – its impact on mental health and intergroup relations. She said, “As a psychologist, I know how dehumanization enables us to act in inhumane ways and how over-focusing on the individual blinds us to the system that sanctioned the behavior.”

She has published in several American Psychological Association journals, and through popular media outlets such as Huffington Post and The Atlantic.

As a consultant, Kira has worked with schools, communities, institutions of higher education, and corporations to improve diversity and inclusion efforts and engage people in productive dialogue and action. Her consulting firm, The Mouse and the Elephant, develops customized curriculum to meet companies’ long-term needs.

www.kirabanks.com This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx