Princeton Schools, Public Library To Host Forum On Social Justice

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton Public Schools and Princeton Public Library will jointly host Community Reads Forum, on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

In this forum, community members and students will come together to discuss the 2020 Summer Reading texts. During the summer, the school district and library gave out a reading list, and each book was selected for its explicit focus on social justice and the Black experience in America.

This was done after a wave of protests across American cities following the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black Americans. The idea behind the summer reading was to make community members reflect.

The readings gave students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members a moment to reflect on information and stories, and imagine ways of including diversity, rather than fearing it.

At this event discussion groups will be hosted by alumni of Princeton High School’s Racial Literacy and Justice class and by teachers, librarians and administrators.

Here’s the reading list:

• 3rd-5th graders: Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, by Rita Williams-Garcia
• 6th- 8th graders: New Kid, by Jerry Craft
• 9th graders: The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
• 10th graders: So you want to talk about race, by Ijeoma Oluo
• 11th graders: A Question of Freedom, by Reginald Dwayne Betts
• 12th graders: The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, edited by Jesmyn Ward

Click here to register for the event: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfN5iwZ-EIWbyhxTs348XooloYiQqSHOdIIsdaffHb-x0Y7Vg/viewform

Each participant will be asked their preferred discussion text and will be automatically routed into that group on the day of the event.