The Thinkable Montclair Speaker Series has been cancelled.
Scheduled to kick off on Oct. 27 with a talk by the National Book Award-winning writer Ta-Nehisi Coates at Lackawanna Station, The Thinkable Montclair Speaker Series has been cancelled.
Publicist Brid Walpole stated that the series has been cancelled “following the withdrawal of Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose team raised security-related considerations in recent days. We fully respect and support their decision and, after careful review with our advisors and partners, decided it was best to pause the broader series to ensure these events can take place under the right conditions.”
After the Coates event, the 10-month series was scheduled to feature five others, with six high-profile speakers: Cornel West and John Wood Jr., discussing justice, truth and democracy; evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, reflecting on the 50-year impact of his book “The Selfish Gene”; cognitive psychologist and psycholinguist Steven Pinker; linguist John McWhorter, speaking about race, identity and intellectual freedom in America; and journalist, women’s rights activist and founder of the My Stealthy Freedom movement Masih Alinejad.
Walpole declined to provide any further details about security concerns, but said that the series was not targeted, and that “Out of respect for Mr. Coates and his team, we won’t be sharing further details about those security concerns, but I can confirm there were no specific threats directed at Thinkable or the venue.”
Walpole said that ticket holders are being issued automatic refunds and will receive confirmation by email in the next few days. She added: “We’re grateful to the Montclair community for their enthusiasm and support, and we hope to bring Thinkable back to the region in the future.”
NJArts.net will provide updates when available.
For information, visit thinkable.events.
Click HERE for a July interview with series founder Desh Amila in which he discusses the series.
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