Caste Matters delves into the oldest surviving form of discrimination: Caste. Following the story of author Suraj Yengde, a first-generation Dalit scholar educated across continents, the book challenges deep-seated beliefs about caste and unpacks its many layers. It exposes the multiple humiliations suffered by Dalits on a daily basis, and their incredible resilience enabled by love and humor. Published by Penguin India in 2019, Caste Matters  was an instant bestseller in India.

The talk will feature Suraj Yengde in conversation with Cornel West. 

Suraj Yengde is an award-winning scholar and activist from India. Suraj is currently a postdoctoral fellow with the Institutional Anti-racism and Accountability Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School His recent work with the philosopher Cornel West has received global attention and calls for unity between African Americans and the Dalits. Suraj is the first Dalit Ph.D. holder from an African university (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) in India's history.

Cornel West is a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his MA and PhD in philosophy at Princeton. He has written 20 books and has edited 13. Dr. West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard Divinity School, and holds a joint appointment in the Department of African and African-American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.