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January Conversation on Race Explores How Language Shapes Equity
Talbot Family Network will launch the January installment of its Conversations on Race series with a new community partnership and an interactive program focused on language, power, and equity.
The event will take place on Monday, January 26, 2026, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Fello’s Port Street Commons, located at 480 Port Street in Easton. A light dinner and refreshments will be provided.
For January, Talbot Family Network is partnering with Shore Lit to present a 90-minute facilitated program centered on Critical Language Awareness and Linguistic Justice. The session will explore how language shapes perceptions, reinforces bias, and influences a sense of belonging, with an emphasis on listening, reflection, and dialogue.
The program is being designed and facilitated by Shore Lit Founder and Director Kerry Folan, who will incorporate audio storytelling and guided discussion to examine how oral prejudice and assumptions about language affect individuals and communities. The format is intended to encourage shared learning in an accessible, welcoming environment.
“Conversations on Race creates space for our community to engage with complex issues in thoughtful and meaningful ways,” said Nancy Andrew, executive director of Talbot Family Network. “This partnership with Shore Lit allows us to explore race through the lens of language, which is central to how we connect, include, and understand one another.”
“Our conversations about race often focus on visual signifiers and perceptions. But there are also relationships among race, language, and power,” said Folan. “This conversation draws on my training as a professor of writing and literature and invites people to reflect on their own experiences with language, considering the often invisible power structures inherent within and the impact of linguistic hierarchies on our perceptions of race.”
The event is free and open to the public, with advanced registration required and seating limited. Registration is available at bit.ly/jan26convo.
The Conversations on Race series is held monthly from September through May, typically on the last Monday of each month. Each session stands on its own while contributing to a broader community dialogue on race, equity, and inclusion. Partners for the 2025–26 series include Shore Lit, the Water’s Edge Museum, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and others.
Shore Lit is a nonprofit literary organization based on Maryland’s Eastern Shore that promotes reading, creative writing, and literary engagement across the region. Through free author talks, youth writing workshops, and literacy programs, Shore Lit amplifies diverse voices and creates experiences of joy and connection around storytelling. Its programs serve readers and writers across ages and backgrounds throughout the Mid-Shore, with more at www.shorelit.org.
Talbot Family Network serves as Talbot County’s Local Management Board, established by the state of Maryland to improve coordination of services for children and families. TFN identifies local priorities, targets resources, and fosters collaboration across agencies and communities. More information is available at www.healthytalbot.org/about/talbot-family-network/.
