This Fall, we look forward to our 2nd Annual Citywide Read, One Book, One White Plains. This year we will be reading: How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi 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.
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.
As part of One Book, One White Plains, the Library 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. 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) and mark your calendars for the virtual event on October 28th.