Boots Riley
Thu February 4, 2027 at 6:30PM
Chan Shun Concert Hall, Chan Centre
Get TicketsBundles on sale Nov 12, single tickets on sale Dec 3
about the speaker
Boots Riley is a writer, director, screenwriter, producer, musician, and longtime activist whose work fuses politics with satire. His directorial debut, Sorry to Bother You, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, embedding economic and class critique into dystopian science fiction and bringing income inequality into wide public discussion.
His seven-part series I’m a Virgo, was released in 2023 to critical acclaim. It follows a thirteen-foot-tall Black man living in Oakland, and stars Jharrel Jerome, Brett Gray, and Walton Goggins, with a score by Tuneyards.
His second feature film, I Love Boosters, opened at SXSW before its nationwide theatrical release. The film follows a crew of professional shoplifters targeting a cutthroat fashion mogul, and stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, and Demi Moore.
Riley is the founding member and lead vocalist of both The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club, the latter featuring Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine on guitar. A dedicated community organizer, he was deeply involved in the Occupy Oakland movement and served as one of the leaders of the activist group The Young Comrades. He is also the author of the essay collection Tell Homeland Security—We Are the Bomb, published by Haymarket Books.
About the series
The return of Donald Trump to the White House has been described as a rupture – from democratic norms, from the post-war alliance system, from established economic models, and from the rules-based international order the United States itself built. Historians remind us, however, the pressures at play in this political moment are not new. American unilateralism, economic disruption, and democratic backsliding have deep roots and did not necessarily arrive with any one administration.
moderator
Shad
with Boots Riley
JUNO-winning Canadian rapper, a five-time Polaris Music Prize finalist, and former host of CBC Radio’s q and Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution.
Shad
with Boots Riley
JUNO-winning Canadian rapper, a five-time Polaris Music Prize finalist, and former host of CBC Radio’s q and Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution.
Shad (Shadrach Kabango) is a Canadian rapper of Rwandan descent known for pairing humour with weighty themes. He won a JUNO Award and is the only artist shortlisted five times for the Polaris Music Prize. He has hosted CBC Radio’s q and Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution, and has taught hip-hop courses at the University of Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier.
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