African American Literature Discussion Group: The Interrupters

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Interrupters

Hope everyone is enjoying Disintegration! I'm looking forward to another thought-provoking discussion this coming Tuesday at 7 at EPL.

Although Robinson's book doesn't spend much time on urban violence, it's an issue many in the African American community struggle with. The amazing Chicago organization Ceasefire has successfully reduced shootings in dangerous neighborhoods by mediating and intervening in crisis situations.Ceasefire's efforts have earned praise from the Department of Justice, and they are the subject of an outstanding documentary The Interrupters, which you can see for free at 2 Evanston locations this month.

Sunday January 15th 3:00 pm
Family Focus, 2010 Dewey Ave. Evanston

Followed by a Community Conversation with representatives from the Evanston Police Department, Restorative Justice Evanston, Evanston Township High School, and CeaseFire. Screening co-sponsored by Peaceable Cities Evanston, Family Focus, MOMs Saving Our Sons, and the Evanston YWCA.

Wednesday January 25th, 6:30 pm
Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Avenue, Evanston

The post-screening discussion will include Ameena Matthews, one of the CeaseFire violence interrupters featured in the film, along with Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and community representatives to explore the issues of violence, conflict resolution and restorative justice in our own community. Co-presented by Reeltime's Percolator Films and the Evanston Community Foundation.

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Welcome to the African American Literature Discussion Group blog!

Whether you are new to our group or a long-standing participant, feel free to check here for dates and locations of our book discussions, book reviews, commentary on African American literature, library issues, author events, or merely to share a post about an issue of interest. The AAL book group meets the third Tuesday of each month in the Evanston Public Library first floor Small Meeting Room and is open to the public. A list of upcoming titles is available on the Evanston Public Library website and you may register and pick up copies of each month’s titles at the library’s second floor Reader’s Services desk.

Here's a complete list of books we've discussed!

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Till our next post, happy reading!

Sincerely,

Lesley Williams
Book Discussion Facilitator

Evanston Public Library
1703 Orrington Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 448-8620

What to Read Next...The Hanging Bridge

From guest reviewer Vaughan Jones: We all have had lessons in history in college, but being young, and never being in the Jim Crow environment, there was no real connection to the level of hate and white supremacy in the community. The book connected how the lynching and violence was used as a continuing campaign of subjugation to have a cheap and spiritually defeated labor force be brutalized for the slightest of infractions. It was like reading Theodore White's " Making of a President". It put the reader right there n Shubuta, Clark County MS. You felt like you were witnessing the barbarism and hate, at the scene. I can understand how the African Americans in Clarke County endured the environment and like the Jews of Europe, not all of them felt they had alternatives. They just had to endure. Just unbelievable. The book is completely readable for all levels and not making it as A. Bartlett Giamatti once called academic writing, "High Institutional". The focus was on the 2 separate lynchings of 6 young black residents (4 in 1918 and 2 in 1942), and how Clark County's continued to resist to any form of change. But your highlighting the work of Walter White and the early NAACP took so much courage, very few people understand the risks those people took in getting the story on the lynchings across the South. You also highlighted the real genocidal acts taking place outside of Mississippi in other areas, an example was the outright murder of the Black farmers in Arkansas. In a lot of ways, the US is not unlike other countries like Germany who want only to either brush over the barbarism and crimes. In the writing of "The Hanging Bridge, Prof. Ward transitioned and highlighted the work of the African Americans, who were able to get Early Childhood Care, through Head Start and the efforts of the county political leadership to manipulate and hinder any efforts to have any political or economic independence. This book would be a great addition to the curriculum of Evanston Township High School and surrounding high schools for the students to have the insight on why the language of demagogues is so dangerous. It is not unlike a virus that infects a population with the results being mob actions and murders.

African American Literature Discussion Group

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Interrupters

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