Thomas Chatterton Williams Speaking Fee: $10,000 to $20,000

A cultural critic for extraordinary times, Thomas Chatterton Williams brings his insightful perspective to subjects of race, Black identity and history, cancel culture, social justice, and inequality in America and beyond. His thought-provoking talks explore some of the most urgent questions confronting American culture today, intertwined with his own family’s compelling multigenerational story of transformation from what is called Black to what is perceived to be white. Called “a remarkable new literary voice,” Williams is the author of two highly acclaimed books, including Self-Portrait in Black and White: Family, Fatherhood and Rethinking Race, a TIME “Must Read” book, and Losing My Cool: Love, Literature, and a Black Man’s Escape from the Crowd. Together, these works established him as a leading voice on race, identity, and belonging in contemporary America, blending memoir with cultural criticism to challenge conventional narratives with clarity, intellectual honesty, and humanity. His most recent book, Summer of Our Discontent, offers a timely meditation on freedom of thought and the tension between principle and partisanship in the wake of 2020. Reflecting on the convergence of racial justice protests, the pandemic, and an increasingly polarized public discourse, Williams examines how moments of crisis can reshape institutions, norms, and public trust. Through examples ranging from racial justice activism and social media to public health and healthcare debates, he illustrates how questions of expertise, credibility, and social responsibility became deeply contested, revealing fractures in civic life that extend far beyond any single issue. A visiting professor of the humanities and senior fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College, Williams is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. Previously a columnist at Harper’s and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, his work has also appeared in The New Yorker, the London Review of Books, Le Monde, and numerous other publications, and has been collected in The Best American Essays and The Best American Travel Writing. A 2022 Guggenheim fellow and recipient of the Berlin Prize from The American Academy in Berlin, he was also a 2019 New America national fellow and is currently a visiting fellow at AEI. Drawing on his work as a writer, cultural critic, and scholar, Williams brings a thoughtful and nuanced perspective to audiences exploring questions of identity, democracy, and the role of free expression in modern society. He speaks with universities, cultural institutions, civic organizations, and policy forums about race, intellectual freedom, the responsibilities of citizenship, and the evolving debates shaping contemporary public life.