As racial tensions continue to flare around the nation, two speakers coming to Vashon this month are hoping to use historical events to start discussions about race and social justice.

Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA) is presenting the lectures on Sunday, Oct. 16, and Thursday, Oct. 20. First up will be Seattle Art Museum (SAM) curatorial assistant Carrie Dedon, who will speak about the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement and the role photographers played in documenting Jim Crow-era segregation. Then, Humanities Washington speaker Eva Abram will discuss the issue of racism, the negative attitudes surrounding it and what it takes to defeat it.

Stephen Jeong, VCA’s director of performing arts, said that due to current events, the organization has been thinking about bringing in social justice programming for awhile.

“With police violence and everything, it’s a topic that has been in the forefront of all our minds,” he said. “It’s natural (these issues) make their way into our programs, which provide information about and access to what is relevant.”

Dedon’s talk on Sunday is part of VCA’s Arts & Humanities lecture series. She recently finished curating an exhibit for SAM called “Go Tell It: Civil Rights Photography,” which features works by photographers Dan Budnik, Danny Lyon, Roy deCarava, Robert Frank, Gary Winogrand, Marion Post Wolcott and many others. These photographers documented Jim Crow-era segregation and leaders of the civil rights movement, but also reached into the post-segregation era to expose continuing racial injustice.

To create that connection between then and now, the exhibit features post-Civil Rights Movement works from the 1990’s and 2000’s, including Joseph Norman’s sympathetic portraits of gang members in the 1990’s.

The portraits “question the continued disenfranchisement of young black men,” the exhibit’s webpage indicates.

Also bringing racism into current times, a 45-minute documentary by Philadelphia artist Shikeith called “#Blackmendream” is included in the exhibit. According to the documentary’s page on the video-sharing website Vimeo, “#Blackmendream” creates “a virtual ‘safe space’ through hashtagging, enabling Black males to pull apart emotional restrictions often denied through crossroads of race and gender.” It portrays black men with their backs to the camera talking about what it means to them to be a black man and what it means for their hopes and dreams.

“It’s rooted in historical material extending to current day,” Dedon said of the film.

Dedon will talk about the exhibit, but she says her talk will focus on the artists’ belief that “their work was an agent of change in and of itself.”

“I’m not isolating it in its historical movement, but connecting it to what’s happening today,” she said. “Obviously I want to inform people about the historical pieces, but I want to make sure these conversations go forward.”

The conversation will continue on Oct. 20 with Abram, who will lead a discussion about modern day issues — police brutality, the presidential election and the political practice of gerrymandering to name a few — driven by the topic of racism to find out “where we are and where we need to go.”

The event is part of Sustainable Vashon’s effort to teach islanders about racism, white privilege and culture. The effort kicked off with the All Island Reads program in June, which provided a reading list of books appropriate for all ages that discussed racism and race issues. Now, Abram’s talk will continue the island discussions around institutional racism and defeating it.

Speaking of Vashon specifically, Abram addressed the fact that the island is mostly white, but said that does not excuse anyone from not discussing and acknowledging that racism exists.

“People think it doesn’t need to be discussed. That’s totally wrong,” she said. “People think (racism) is a black problem or a minority problem, and it does not at all mean it’s a problem for the dominant group. That’s where we get into discussion.”

She said that she hopes to facilitate the dismantling of racism by urging people to be introspective and asking the question: “I’m white, I’m benefitting from this system. Why do I want it to change?”

Abram acknowledged the fact that racism, politics and the nature of the issue is difficult to talk about because emotions run high. Therefore, her talk will be followed by a workshop on how to talk to others with different points of view.

“Civil Rights Photography at SAM” with Carrie Dedon: 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct.16, at the Katherine L White Hall.

Tickets are $16 for VCA members and students, $18 for seniors or $20 general admission.

“Defeating Racism Today: What Does It Take?” with Eva Abram: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Katherine L White Hall.

Admission is free, but online registration is recommended.