Author Drops In to Branch Members’ Book Club!
The Branch members’ book club meetings are always something to look forward to for thoughtful discussions with interesting and caring people. Our most recent meeting on August 11th to discuss The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto was undoubtedly the most-looked-forward-to meeting in our history because on the day of the meeting, we received an unexpected and very exciting VIP RSVP- the author himself, Charles M. Blow! Thanks to our expertly-managed NAACP San Diego Branch Twitter feed, Mr. Blow saw the tweet about our book club meeting to discuss his book (on his birthday, no less), and retweeted our event to all of his 637,000+ followers, which resulted in getting RSVPs to our meeting from across the country and Canada(!) Then, on the day of the meeting, he asked to join us as well! Not only that, he featured us live on his Black News Channel show and interviewed us about his book! Needless to say, we were all very excited and overjoyed to share our discussion and meeting with Mr. Blow. If you’re wondering whether or not you should read the book, I think all members attending the meeting would agree, yes, yes you should.
Our book for September will be The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee, which discusses the negative economic impact of racism on everyone in our society, of any race. Please join us! We are meeting at 6pm on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. To join, just send an email request to bookclub@sandiegonaacp.org.
May 11: How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country’s most essential stories are hidden in plain view
December 8: The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty
A renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry—both black and white—through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom.
November 10: A Little Piece of Light by Donna Hylton
Random Family meets Orange Is the New Black in A Little Piece of Light, a memoir of survival, redemption, hope, and sisterhood from a bold new voice on the front lines of the criminal justice reform movement.
October 13: Stamped by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi
This is NOT a history book.
This is a book about the here and now.
A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.
A book about race.
September 8: The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
Heather 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. But how did this happen? And is there a way out?
August 11: The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto by Charles Blow
The Book Club is reading The Devil You Know, about the potential for Black power in the South.