Join our LIVE Book Club Conversation
-
![]()
Sept & Oct Book Club: Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings that Formed the Movement
Click for FREE RegistrationWhy did the president of the United States, in the midst of a pandemic and an economic crisis, take it upon himself to attack Critical Race Theory? Perhaps Donald Trump appreciated the power of this groundbreaking intellectual movement to change the world.
In recent years, Critical Race Theory has vaulted out of the academy and into courtrooms, newsrooms, and onto the streets. And no wonder: as intersectionality theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw recently told Time magazine, “It’s an approach to grappling with a history of white supremacy that rejects the belief that what’s in the past is in the past, and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it.” The panicked denunciations from the right notwithstanding, CRT has changed the way millions of people interpret our troubled world.
-
![]()
August book club: The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
Click for FREE registrationHeather McGhee’s specialty is the American economy—and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. From the financial crisis to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a common root problem: racism. But not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Racism has costs for white people, too. It is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all.
-
![]()
July book club: "Equity, Growth, and Community: What the Nation Can Learn from America's Metro Areas"
Click for FREE registrationAs America bolts toward a more multiracial future in the face of skyrocketing inequality, local leaders are desperately seeking strategies to foster more inclusive growth. Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor’s research uncovers a critical ingredient of success: diverse regional leaders coming together to build a foundation of shared knowledge and advance positive change.
-
![]()
June book club: "Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements"
Click for FREE RegistrationDrawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing traditions, including the Haitian Revolution, the US civil rights movement, and LGBTQ rights and feminist movements, Unapologetic challenges all of us engaged in the social justice struggle to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist. This book provides a vision for how social justice movements can become sharper and more effective through principled struggle, healing justice, and leadership development.
-
![]()
May book club: "Getting Around Brown: Desegregation, Development, and the Columbus Public Schools"
Join us next month!Drawing on a broad range of sources, including over sixty interviews, Gregory S. Jacobs argues that school desegregation in Columbus, Ohio failed to produce equal educational opportunity, not because it was inherently detrimental to learning, but because it was intrinsically incompatible with urban development. The city's uneven response to Penick v. Columbus Board of Education [1979], the case that brought desegregation to the Columbus public schools, ultimately sacrificed the long-term health of the city school district to preserve the growth of the city itself.
Click here for a free PDF copy of the book https://ohiostatepress.org/books/Complete%20PDFs/Jacobs%20Getting/Jacobs%20Getting.htm
-
![]()
April book club "My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies"
Join us next month!In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology.
The body is where our instincts reside and where we fight, flee, or freeze, and it endures the trauma inflicted by the ills that plague society. Menakem argues this destruction will continue until Americans learn to heal the generational anguish of white supremacy, which is deeply embedded in all our bodies. Our collective agony doesn't just affect African Americans. White Americans suffer their own secondary trauma as well. So do blue Americans—our police.
My Grandmother's Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not only about the head, but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.
Join us every Monday in April at 5:30 EST!
-
![]()
March book club "The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart"
Join us next month!The Purpose of Power is Alicia Garza's personal story, her background, her experiences in organizing, leading, and activism is general, and the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, but it is also the story of the utmost importance in organizing, participating, and actively working towards real change.
Join us every Monday in March at 5:30 EST!
-
![]()
February book club "Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity"
Join us next month!In Black on Both Sides, C. Riley Snorton identifies multiple intersections between blackness and transness from the mid-nineteenth century to present-day anti-black and anti-trans legislation and violence. Drawing on a deep and varied archive of materials, Snorton attends to how slavery and the production of racialized gender provided the foundations for an understanding of gender as mutable.
We are teaming up with Stonewall Columbus! Join us every Monday this month at 5:30pm.
-
![]()
January book club "The New Jim Crow"
Join us next month!The New Jim Crow is a stunning account of the rebirth of a caste-like system in the United States, one that has resulted in millions of African Americans locked behind bars and then relegated to a permanent second-class status—denied the very rights supposedly won in the Civil Rights Movement.
We are teaming up with Freedom Bloc and Central Ohio Restored Citizens Collaborative! Join us every Monday this month at 5:30pm.
-
![]()
December book club "The 1619 Project" ONLY 2 Mondays
Join us next month!The 1619 Project is a historical analysis of how slavery shaped American political, social, and economic institutions. U.S. history is often taught and popularly understood through the eyes of its great men, who are seen as either heroic or tragic figures in a global struggle for human freedom. The 1619 Project, named for the date of the first arrival of Africans on American soil, sought to place “the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”
-
![]()
November book is "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" by Isabel Wilkerson
Join us next month!In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more.
We are teaming with The Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. Join us every Monday from 5:30-7pm EST.
Our October book is "Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot" by Mikki Kendall.
WE HAVE A PARTNERSHIP!
We are teaming with Black Gurl Institute (BGI) every week in October.
BGI Mission: Black Gurl Institute is a social learning platform that redefines how Black women come together to learn, teach, talk, share, listen and laugh. In the BGI, we spend an entire semester on a topic of interest to many Black women so that we can engage in thought-provoking dialogue, become more self-reflective, and affirm one another. The goal of the BGI is to bring about and/or maintain healthy forms of Black female consciousness and have fun while doing so.
September Book Club "The Color of Law"
Join us for a FREE weekly online discussion about system racism in housing. Together, we explore how we can understand systems and institutions that oppress so that we can be better together.
Reading Schedule:
9/7: If San Francisco, Then Everywhere?; Public Housing, Black Ghettos; Racial Zoning
9/14: Own Your Own Home; Private Agreements, Government Enforcement; White Flight
9/21: IRS Support and Compliant Regulators; Local Tactics; State-Sanctioned Violence
9/28: Suppressed Incomes; Looking Forward, Looking Back; Considering Fixes
August Book Club "How to be an Antiracist"
Antiracism is a transformative concept that reorients and reenergizes the conversation about racism—and, even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. At its core, racism is a powerful system that creates false hierarchies of human value; its warped logic extends beyond race, from the way we regard people of different ethnicities or skin colors to the way we treat people of different sexes, gender identities, and body types. Racism intersects with class and culture and geography and even changes the way we see and value ourselves.
July Book Club "Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower"
Eloquent rage keeps us all honest and accountable. It reminds women that they don’t have to settle for less. When Cooper learned of her grandmother's eloquent rage about love, sex, and marriage in an epic and hilarious front-porch confrontation, her life was changed. And it took another intervention, this time staged by one of her homegirls, to turn Brittney into the fierce feminist she is today. In Brittney Cooper’s world, neither mean girls nor fuckboys ever win. But homegirls emerge as heroes. This book argues that ultimately feminism, friendship, and faith in one's own superpowers are all we really need to turn things right side up again.
How can we explore Blackness and creativity?
Krate Digga is a professional DJ who has successfully moved into the realms of producing, arranging, composing, teaching, mentoring, and executive producing a documentary.
Marshall Shorts is an award-winning entrepreneur, and creative, with a passion for inclusion, creativity, and community.
Tripp Fontane is a MC, Producer, Host, and Spoken Word artist who uses his life experiences to paint a very unique picture of his atmosphere and his upbringing.
Watch their TEDx talks!
How do we strengthen mental health in the Black community?
Chante Meadows is the owner of Meadows Counseling Group where she provides therapy to individuals and couples regarding relationship issues, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, confidence, and much more.
Brandy Wells is a licensed independent social worker specializing in childhood mental health and breaking generational cycles of trauma.
Watch their TEDx talks!
Teaching Whiteness, Art & Social Justice
Dr. Marit Dewhurst is the Director of Art Education and Associate Professor of Art and Museum Education at The City College of New York. She has worked as an arts educator and program coordinator in multiple arts contexts including community centers, museums, juvenile detention centers, and international development projects. She works with Keonna Hendrick to facilitate anti-racism workshops with museums and cultural organizations across the country. In addition to multiple journal articles and chapters, her first book, Social Justice Art: A Framework for Activist Art Pedagogy highlights how young activist artists make art to affect their communities. Her second book, Teachers Bridging Difference: Exploring Identity through Art describes how educators can use art to better understand themselves and their connections with people across different sociocultural identities.
How do we make the Black community sustainable?
Julialynne Walker, Esq. has over 30 years experience working with movements for social change in public and private sector organization. She has worked on domestic and international projects providing strategic planning in the areas of social development, change management, & public policy.
Ekundayo Igeleke is an educator, creative and grassroots organizer who earned his BA in Africana Studies & Sociology. He currently is the Chapter Organizing Director with Resource Generation. He has worked over the past 5 years on implementing prevention, intervention and restorative practices in schools and in communities of color.
Watch their TEDx talks!
Keeping Our Children Healthy
Dr. Chisolm is the Director of the Center for Innovation in Pediatrics Practice and Vice-President for Health
Services Research in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She is also a Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on improving health and healthcare for children and families with over 80 peer-reviewed publications on pediatric health services, outcomes, and disparities. Her current projects explore how health literacy, health policy, and social factors influence the health of at-risk adolescents transitioning to adulthood. Dr. Chisolm currently serves as the Chairman of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health and as a Board member for the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.
Watch her TEDx talk!
Teaching Students about Racism
The mission of Erase the Space is to connect students, teachers, and communities in a collaborative, non-competitive exchange over the course of a school year. We seek to provide authentic experience with difference and debate that mirrors the problem-solving situations found in life outside of the classroom. By engaging young people in exchanges early in their high school careers, we believe students will be better prepared to take on the most pressing social challenges and issues facing our city and nation with empathy and collaboration. Learn more at https://www.erasethespace.org/
Using vulnerability to grow with William Evans
William Evans is an author, speaker, performer, and instructor from Columbus, Ohio. He is the founder of the Writing Wrongs Poetry Slam and the co-founder and editor-in chief of BlackNerdProblems.com, a website focused on pop culture and diversity. William is a Callaloo Fellow, the poetry recipient of 2016 Sustainable Arts Foundation Grant, the 2018 Spirit of Columbus Foundation Grant and the inaugural Blackburn Fellow from Randolph College. His latest collection, We Inherit What The Fires Left, was published by Simon & Schuster in March 2020.
Dr. Edwin Lee II on student retention in higher education
Edwin W. Lee II currently serves as the Program Manager for Retention and Student Academic Success in the Office of Diversity, Outreach & Inclusion at The Ohio State University. He utilizes his background in Electrical and Computer Engineering (B.S. Louisiana State University 2009, M.S. and PhD OSU, 2014, 2016) to teach students in engineering how to learn through metacognition. He teaches several academic success courses for engineering students and is committed to developing them into well-rounded problem solvers, not just well-paid STEM professionals. Edwin also advises Ohio State’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.
Advocating for Change in Public School
Dr. William Hayes is the founding principal of Mastery High School of Camden, in Camden, New Jersey. Prior to his current position, he was a turnaround principal at Franklin D. Roosevelt Academy Pre-K-8 in Cleveland, OH. He is a 2007 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College and received his master’s in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2016 he received his doctorate of education from Vanderbilt University with a concentration in education leadership and policy. Hayes hopes to be a voice and advocate for change in public education. He has spoken at schools, universities, and conferences around the country and been featured in several local and national media outlets. His work and advocacy has focused on closing the access and opportunity gap for low-income children of color particularly in urban areas.
Dr. Treva Lindsey on constructing New Negro womanhood
Dr. Treva B. Lindsey is a professor of women’s studies at The Ohio State University. She is the author of the award-winning book Colored No More: Reinventing Black Womanhood in Washington D.C. Her work on Black feminism, African American history, popular culture, and gender and sexual politics can be found in leading academic journals as well as outlets such as The Washington Post, Zora Magazine, Vox, and The Huffington Post. She is recipient of several awards and fellowships. Follow her on Twitter @divafeminist.
Kimberly Brazwell on trauma-informed practices in schools
Kimberly Brazwell is a trauma-informed social justice advocate. With nearly 15 years in community and alliance-building, her expertise lies in resiliency efforts, the reduction of non-academic and non-occupational barriers to success, dialogue facilitation, and relationship building. She has a Bachelor of Science in Interpersonal Communication from Ohio University and a master’s degree in Educational Policy and Leadership from Ohio State University. Brazwell published a memoir on workplace trauma entitled, Browning Pleasantville. She was a contributing author of the textbook, Implicit Bias in Schools with a chapter entitled, “Practical Application of Implicit Racial Debiasing.” She also has two TEDx Talks – “Over, Under, Around and Through Trauma” & “Crazy and Black and Poor.”
Dr. Tamara Butler on Black girl literacies and justice-oriented education
She is an Assistant Professor of Critical Literacies in the Department of English. She holds a joint affiliation with the English Education and the African American and African Studies Programs. Her research on Black Girl literacies and justice-oriented education can be found in Review of Research in Education, Theory into Practice, English Education, Race, Justice and Activism in Literacy Education and more. Through her BlackGirlLand project, she explores Black women’s connections to land as documented in their life stories and creative works. In addition to being a member of the National Council of Teachers of English's Anti-Racism Educational Consultant Network, she also serves on the Executive Committee of English Language Arts Teacher Educators (ELATE). Visit her at tamaratbutler.com.
Amanda Erickson on helping teachers support LGBTQIA+ students
Amanda Erickson has been with Kaleidoscope Youth Center since 2017, focusing on advocating for LGBTQIA+ youth across Ohio through education and training for youth-serving professionals including teachers, social workers, and more. Amanda has a Bachelor of Science in Education from Bowling Green State University, and spent two years post-college as a Peace Corps Volunteer educating teachers in Vanuatu, in the South Pacific. Since returning stateside, she has worked in education and programming in the local nonprofit sector. She lives on a small farm in Northeast Columbus and enjoys spending time outside with her wife.
Dr. Alexandrina Agloro on community engagement through gaming
She is a media artist, community-based researcher, and doula who believes in the possibilities of the decolonial imaginary using ancestral technologies as liberatory tools. She is an Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and Innovation in the Borderlands at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. She is a Director of Situated Critical Race and Media (SCRAM), a multiverse collaborative feminist technology organization and is the Futurist for the Latinx Pacific Archive. See more about her work at: http://agloro.org.
Want more tips, stories, and resources about inclusion?
Every 2 weeks I'll send you an email packed with value.
And yes, you can unsubscribe at any time.