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Racial Justice Book Club

Who We Are:

Formed in 2020, club members introduce a book they’d like to read, or if accessible to all, a video or audio pertinent to the subject. We all vote on a favorite selection a month in advance. 

What We Read:

After reading/listening to book (or watching movie, podcast) about race and/or multicultural issues, we discuss what stands out, or how it impacts one’s perspective. Although our thoughts are primarily on the state of racial justice in the U.S. today, we welcome all points of view.

When We Meet:

Second Monday of each month at 6:30 PM CTS. For now, our meetings will be virtual on Zoom. Check for our book selection at https://www.bookcellarinc.com/calendar 

How To Join:

Contact JD at racialjusticebookclub@outlook.com with your email address for invite link.

2026
Monday, January 12 @ 6:30 PMThe Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to Present by David Treuer (p. 1-280)
Monday, February 9 @ 6:30 PM - The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to Present by David Treuer (p. 281-528)
Monday, March 9 @ 6:30 PM America for Americans: a History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika Le
Monday, April 13 @ 6:30 PMPatriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny

2025
Monday, January 13 @ 6:30 PM - On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care by Victor Ray
Monday, February 10 @ 6:30 PM - "40 Acres and a Lie" (3-part podcast) by Alexia Fernandez Campbell, April Simpson, and Pratheek Rebala
Monday, March 10 @ 6:30 PM - Kindred by Octavia Butler
Monday, April 14 @ 6:30 PM - Night Flyer by Toya Miles
Monday, May 12 @ 6:30 PM - Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial That Riveted the Nation by Brenda Wineapple
Monday, June 9 @ 6:30 PM - The Seed Keeper: a novel by Diane Wilson
Monday, July 14 @ 6:30 PM - The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
Monday, August 11 @ 6:30 PM - Beloved by Toni Morrison
Monday, September 8 @ 6:30 PM John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg, (p. 1-350)
Monday, October 13 @ 6:30 PM -  John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg, (p. 350-704)
Monday, November 10 @ 6:30 PMIllegally Yours by Rafael Agustin
December: No meeting!

2024
Monday, January 8 @ 6:30 PM - Killers of the Flower Moon: the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
Monday, February 12 @ 6:30 PM - The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Monday, March 11 @ 6:30 PM - Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
Monday, April 8 @ 6:30 PM - 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
Monday, May 13 @ 6:30 PM - The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Monday, June 10 @ 6:30 PM - Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity (compiled) by Michelle Norris
Monday, July 8 @ 6:30 PM: Bandwidth Recovery For Schools: Helping Pre-K-12 Students Regain Cognitive Resources Lost to Poverty, Trauma, Racism and Social Marginalization, by Cia Verschelden. 
Monday, August 12 @ 6:30 PMProud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Monday, September 9 @ 6:30 PMLet Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
*Tuesday, October 15 @ 11:30 AM*: Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming by Ava Chin 
Monday, November 11 @ 6:30 PM: The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois
December: No meeting!

2023
Monday, January 9 @ 6:30 PM- The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast by Kirk Wallace Johnson
Monday, February 13 @ 6:30 PM- American Psychosis: An Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy by David Corn
Monday, March 13 @ 6:30 PM- How The Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, by Clint Smith
Monday, April 10 @ 6:30 PM- Wildland:  The Making of America’s Fury, by Evan Osnos
MAY: There will not be a meeting of the book club this May.
Monday, June 12 @ 6:30 PM- Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Monday, July 10 @ 6:30 PM: Recitatif by Toni Morison
Monday, August 14 @ 6:30 PM: White Too Long: The Legacy Of White Supremacy In American Christianity by Ropert P. Jones
Monday, September *25* @ 6:30 PM: All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, A Black Family Keepsake, by Tiya Miles [DATE CHANGE]
*Tuesday*, October *10* @ 11 AM: South to America: a Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry [DATE CHANGE]
Monday, November 13 @ 6:30 PM: Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
December: No meeting!
 
2022
Monday, March 28 @ 6:30 PM- The 1619 Project by Nicole Hannah-Jones (Ch. 1-6)
Monday, April 11 @ 6:30 PM- The 1619 Project by Nicole Hannah-Jones (Ch. 7-13)
Monday, May 9  @ 6:30 PM- The 1619 Project by Nicole Hannah-Jones (Ch. 14-18)
Monday, June 13 @ 6:30 PM- Negroland by Margo Jefferson (RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 20TH DUE TO WEATHER)
Monday, July 11 @ 6:30 PMThe Three Mothers by Anna Malaika Tubbs
Monday, August 8 @ 6:30 PM-  South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War by Alice L. Baumgartner
Monday, September 12 @ 6:30 PMThick And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom 
Monday, October 10 @ 6:30 PMPresumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights by Erwin Chemerinsky
Monday, November 14 @ 6:30 PM- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
 (No meeting is planned for December).
 

 2021

Monday, October 11 @ 6:30 PM - Three Girls from Bronzeville by Dawn Turner
Monday, September 20 @ 6:30 PM - On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
Monday, August 9, @ 6:30 PM - The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGee 
Monday, July 12 @ 6:30 PM - The Night Watchman by Louise Erdich
Monday, June 15 @ 6:30 PM - Philly D.A by PBS Independent Lens series
MondayMay 10 @ 6:30 PM - Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger by Richard Wilkerson and Kate Pickett
Monday, April 12 @ 6:30 PM - My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem
Monday, March 8 @ 6:30 PM -Amend: The Fight for America series on Netflix
Monday, February 8 @ 6:30 PM -The Violence Inside Us by Chris Murphy
Monday, January 11 @ 6:30 PM- You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar

 

2020

Monday, December 20 @ 6:30 PM- Caste:The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Monday, November 9 @ 6:30 PM - A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn (Ch. 11-20)
Tuesday, September 29 @ 7 PM - A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn (Ch. 1-10)

Monday, August 31 @ 7 PM - Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side by Eve L. Ewing
Monday, July 27 @ 7 PM - Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations about Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Paperback Fiction

Dear Debbie
By: McFadden, Freida
Jane and Dan at the End of the World
By: Oakley, Colleen
Kills Well with Others
By: Raybourn, Deanna
Heap Earth Upon It
By: Howarth, Chloe Michelle
Claire Darling
By: Kazumi, Callie
Good Girl
By: Aber, Aria
Blob
By: Su, Maggie
Californians
By: Castleberry, Brian
Sirens
By: Hart, Emilia

Hardcover Non-Fiction

Neptunes Fortune
By: Sancton, Julian
Chicago Way
By: Gebert, Michael
Five Bullets
By: Williams, Elliot
Football
By: Klosterman, Chuck
Flower Bearers
By: Griffiths, Rachel Eliza
Language as Liberation
By: Morrison, Toni
On Natural Capital
By: Dasgupta, Partha
Island at the Edge of the World
By: Pitts, Mike
Discovery of Britain
By: Robb, Graham

Hardcover Fiction

Hes the Devil
Author: Coventry, Tobi
Anatomy of an Alibi
Author: Elston, Ashley
One Sun Only
Author: Bordas, Camille
Vigil
Author: Saunders, George
Its Not Her
Author: Kubica, Mary
George Falls Through Time
Author: Collett, Ryan
Darkrooms
Author: Hannigan, Rebecca
Secret of Snow
Author: Harnesk, Tina
Isles of the Emberdark
Author: Sanderson, Brandon