White Plains Library Creates Book Groups For One Book, One White Plains

Press release from the White Plains Public Library:

October 22 2020

By Kristen, Adult Librarian

This October and November, the Library is facilitating conversations about Ibram X. Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist, which is quickly becoming an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step of contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society. As part of One Book, One White Plains, we would like to join your book group to help lead the discussion, or perhaps, you can pull together a group at your job or among your friends just to discuss How to Be an Antiracist.

Best of all, Dr. Kendi will be joining us on October 28 at 7:00 p.m. for a special virtual event with the White Plains community. Registration is now closed for this event.

In the meantime, mark your fall calendars and look into our digital and physical copies of the two books we'll be reading: How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (available in print and as a digital audiobook and eBook on OverDrive and Libby) and, for young adult readers (and all ages), Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning (available in regular print, large print, and CD audiobook from our physical collection and as a digital audiobook and eBook from OverDrive and Libby) by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.

Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America–but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. Instead of working with the policies and system we have in place, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.

In his memoir, Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science–including the story of his own awakening to antiracism–bringing it all together in a cogent, accessible form. He begins by helping us rethink our most deeply held, if implicit, beliefs and our most intimate personal relationships (including beliefs about race and IQ and interracial social relations) and reexamines the policies and larger social arrangements we support.

For young people, we will also be facilitating discussions of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, his young adult book with Jason Reynolds.

If you are interested in having a discussion with adults, contact Kristy Bauman (kbauman@whiteplainslibrary.org). If you are interested in a young adult group, contact Joshua Carlson (jcarlson@whiteplainslibrary.org).

Library's One Book, One White Plains Book Group Schedule:

Adults: How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

• Thursday, November 12 at 2:00 p.m. Register here.
  
• Monday, November 23 at 6:00 p.m. Register here.

Teens: Stamped by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

• Monday, November 9 at 4:30 p.m. Register here.

Parent-Child Discussion of Stamped by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

• Wednesday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m. Registration opens September 30th here.

Dr. Kendi's visit is sponsored by the White Plains Library Foundation and the Thomas H. Slater Center in partnership with: The Allstate Foundation, Friends of the White Plains Youth Bureau, NewYork Presbyterian Westchester Behavioral Health Center, White Plains Hospital, White Plains Teacher Association, Rotary Club of White Plains, Rabbi Shira Milgrom, African American Men of Westchester, White Plains Housing Authority, and the Westchester County Human Rights Commission.

This press release was produced by the White Plains Public Library. The views expressed are the author's own.