The Origin of Others

Have you ever wondered why we create an "us" versus "them"? Discover how the need to define an "other" has shaped history, literature, and our own identities. This powerful exploration reveals the mechanics of othering and how it leads to racism and dehumanization. Based on Toni Morrison's celebrated lectures, you'll uncover the psychological and literary tools used to construct otherness. Learn how language, fear, and the desire for belonging are manipulated to justify exclusion and violence, and find out how you can begin to recognize and dismantle these constructs in your daily life.

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison is one of America’s most celebrated authors, whose work fearlessly explores the complexities of race and identity. Drawing from her decades-long literary career and her own experiences as a Black woman in America, Morrison deconstructs the insidious language of racism. Her profound analysis in The Origin of Others grew from a series of lectures at Harvard, offering a powerful, personal, and scholarly examination of how we create "otherness" to define ourselves.