See Defamation, a play about race on the North Shore

 This Sunday  you can be the jury in this explosive play about a racially tinged court case. Written by Evanston native Todd Logan, Defamation presents a South Side African-American woman who sues a North Shore Jewish real estate developer. Logan is a playwright, filmmaker, and humorist who, in his words, "finally found a dramatic way into the subject (of modern segregation) through a story about a professional African-American woman, a successful Jewish businessman and a watch."

Sunday October 2nd, 3:30 pm, Evanston Public Library

Are We "Post-Black" Yet?

Here's another good possibility for a discussion, Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness? by Toure.

 "...Much has been written on the benefits that accrued to the generation of African-Americans reaping the rewards of the civil rights revolution. But we have heard surprisingly little from those in the post-civil-rights age about what these benefits have meant to them, and especially how they view themselves as black people in an America now led by a black president. In his new book, Touré’s aim is to provide an account of this “post-black” condition, one that emerged only in the 1980s but by the ’90s had become the “new black.”

See the New York Times Review, and let me know what you think!

October Discussion: Who Does She Think She Is?

As summer was winding down, we appropriately read and discussed the baseball-themed, A Well-Paid Slave, Brad Snyder's account of Curt Flood's struggles to establish free agency in the MLB. For October, we'll be kicking it with Benilde Little's rollicking look at African American family life: Who Does She Think She Is? What happens when smart successful "buppie" Aisha, daughter of a struggling single mother and social worker from Newark, gets engaged to upper crust Will, who is not only old, old money but (gasp) WHITE? Parents, step-parents, grandparents and friends all have their say in this sharply observed story, which touches on Black class anxieties as well as the taboo of inter-racial marriage. Don't miss it!!

Tuesday October 11th, 7:00 pm
Evanston Public Library, Church and Orrington, Evanston
Call 847-448-8620 to register and reserve the book