In response to community interest, we have organized a discussion group to examine race and racism. Throughout the months of September-December, we will go through the workbook Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad. We will also share other books, articles, podcasts, films, and more as we go to provide context as well as contemporary and historical perspectives.
We are asking participants to sign up ahead of time, and to share their contact information (email) with us and with the group. Initial guidelines for participation include committing to doing the self-examination and journaling (“the work”), recognizing that this will be difficult, keeping all group discussions confidential, and respecting our own process and other participants’ processes.
- Sign up to participate in this group
- The first meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 30 at 4:00 p.m. outside behind the library. If it’s raining, we will reschedule.
At the first meeting, we will discuss “Part One: Welcome to the Work” and the appendix “Working in Groups.” We will also decide on how future meetings will work. We will break up into smaller pods or discussion groups for weekly or biweekly discussions, and plan to come together a few times throughout the project as a larger group. Meetings may be in person or online, depending on participants’ preferences and current state of the pandemic. We may also decide to create non-contemporaneous ways of participating like a shared Google Doc.
Thanks to a CARES Act grant administered by NH Humanities, we have ten copies of Me and White Supremacy to share and seven copies of the ebook reserved for Cook Library cardholders on nh.overdrive.com (download with the Libby app). You may prefer to purchase your own copy of the book.
Related resources:
- New Hampshire Humanities’ Black Thought Zoom program series
- Thursday, October 8, 6:30 p.m.: All Eyes Are Upon Us: Racial Struggles in the Northeast, From Jackie Robinson to Deval Patrick, a New Hampshire Humanities Zoom presentation cosponsored by Conway Public Library, Cook Memorial Library, Freedom Public Library, Jackson Public Library, Madison Library. Read more and get registration link…
- See a list of books on race and racism available from our library system
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Talking About Race toolkit