Library Updates

You are invited to the first of a series of bi-monthly community conversations/book club discussions beginning Monday, August 10th from 5:30 to 7:00 PM. This series will take place virtually via Zoom. You can join by phone or computer or both. An invitation link to join the meeting will be emailed to you as the date approaches.

We’ll explore “The N Word: Who can say it, who shouldn’t, and why” by Jabari Asim.

One word – the “N” word – has both reflected and spread the scourge of bigotry in America over the four hundred years since it was first spoken on our shores. Learn the untold history of this word. What began as false generalizations became institutionalized in every corner of our society: the arts and sciences, sports, the law, and on the streets. Even used by hipsters and hip-hop icons today, the word has a charged history.

Jabari Asim has been described as one of the most influential African American literary critics of his generation. He was the editor-in-chief of Crisis magazine—the NAACP’s flagship journal — and was an editor at The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in Essence, Salon, the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice, the Hungry Mind Review, Emerge, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative Arts and is the author of six books for adults and nine books for children. His most recent works are “We Can’t Breathe,” “A Child’s Introduction to African American History,” and “Brother Nat.”
Asim lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College.

Join us for a book discussion on this most important subject.
A limited number of copies are available to borrow through Newark Public Library. It’s also available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Facilitated by Celeste Schantz, MS Ed, a reading and discussion program coordinator at Newark Public Library.
Participants are asked to register using the link above.
These Community Conversations are brought to you by Newark Public Library in conjunction with Wayne Action for Racial Equality. For more information, call (315) 331-4370.